“It’s Leo Morales’s baby, you know.”
Yep, that did it. So much for kind, calm,orcollected. The elder Foxes’ heads snapped up in unison, their expressions uniformly aghast. Her mother’s eyes even strayed to Faith’s midsection.
“What did you say?” Betsy whispered.
Faith snorted and rubbed her stomach rolls. “Come on, that’s pudge, not a pregnancy.” Hadn’t her parents made damn sure Leo wouldn’t impregnate their daughter years ago? “What I mean is, Dig Greener is Leo’s baby. It’s his pet project at Digham.”
Her mother smoothed a hand over her immaculate bob—a sure sign that she was ruffled—and her father dropped the paper onto his plate of scrambled eggs.
“Are you telling me that boy works for Big Dig?”
When she woke up this morning, she hadn’t intended to choose violence, but there she was. Might as well have fun with it.
“Thatmanis a grant manager for the Digham Foundation. He’s the one who got me the money I needed to keep BUILD going.” Franklin blinked at her as she casually twisted the knife. “In fact, we were having drinks last month when we ran into George. George Voit. He asked how you were doing.”
His jaw dropped. “You and that boy had drinks withGeorge Voit?”
“That man,” she said testily. “And yes, that’s what I said. George is excited about the new program. And I’d love to tell you about it since you’re bothsointerested in my work, but I’m already late. Thanks for the coffee.”
She set her dainty little cup down with a clink, crammed the rest of her muffin into her mouth, wishing she’d ignored her mother’s greeting and grabbed drive-through coffee the way she’d intended. Too many conversations with her parents ended like this one, with her intentionally pushing their buttons and them not knowing or caring about how to deal with their rebellious daughter. No mantra was strong enough to help her get through these encounters.
She really needed to set aside time to figure out her living situation, but she’d been going nonstop with the normal back-to-school craziness alongside rehiring her staff and getting Dig Greener up and running. Plus she felt a little uncomfortable giving herself a chunk of the grant to put down first and last on a new place. She’d worry about paying herself once everything at work had stabilized, but with her parents’ travel schedule taking them out of town all the time and her own dawn-to-dusk work life, it was easier to just kind of coast along in her old canopy bed for the time being.
So she’d add apartment-hunting to her to-do list, but right now she needed to double-check that she’d loaded all the signage, brochures, and swag that she’d need into her old reliable car, then head to the Cavelier County fairgrounds where the Gourd Olde Days Festival was held every year. She’d just parked in the packed-earth lot closest to their assigned table, which was still quite the hike, when her phone dinged.
Leo:Here yet? I’ll help you carry the stuff.
As far as texts went, it was about as practical as it got, but she still clasped her phone to her heart. Was it pathetic to swoon over a man who showed up and offered to be helpful? And did it increase or decrease the patheticness when the man in question was the love of her high school life who’d gotten even hotter since then?
Faith:That would be great. Lot C, third row.
Ten minutes later, she was leaning against the passenger-side door, enjoying the sun on her face, when she discovered a sight she enjoyed even more: Leo weaving through the rows of parked vehicles on his way to her. When he was close enough, he shook his head.
“I still can’t believe you drive the same car.”
She patted the hood of her ancient Audi. “I never joke about my ride.” And speaking of things she wouldn’t mind riding. “Look at you, Mr. Corporate Casual.”
She kept her tone light, but heat twisted in her belly. The fit of that Digham Foundation polo shirt ought to be illegal. It was just tight enough to show the ripple of his back muscles as he loaded the boxes of supplies onto her little dolly but not so tight that it looked like he was trying too hard.
And then there were his jeans. Lovingly broken in. Tight around thighs that had clearly been used for… she had no idea, actually. Digging? Hauling rocks? Cutting through the jungle with a machete? Some part of his do-gooder past life had given him leg muscles she wanted to wrap herself around.
“You ready?”
Flustered, she tore her eyes away and waved a hand in front of her burning cheeks. “The sun! It’s so hot out here.”
His tongue peeked out of the corner of his mouth as he smirked. “If you say so, Dutch,” he said. “Let’s do this.”
* * *
Two hours later,Faith had had enough.
“I need you to knock it off, Leonidas.”
Their table at the Gourd Olde Days Festival was on a prime stretch of the fairgrounds, at the intersection of the rides and the concession tents where the festival-goers could buy every squash-based food item in existence. She’d interacted with a handful of families who’d been involved with Beaucoeur BUILD over the years and collected at least two dozen names of kids interested in Dig Greener. And she’d managed to do it all despite the storm cloud lurking behind her.
Leo folded his arms and scowled even harder. “Knock what off?”
“This”—she waved a hand—“this whole vaguely hostile vibe you’ve got going on. You look like you’re ready to order a hit on the next person who takes a brochure.”
