William took a long pull of beer. “At least the dorms didn’t have bullet ants.”
Both men shuddered, clearly lost in some past ant-based trauma, before William ambled to the grill to fuss with the food.
“I tell you all this,” he said, “to explain that neither of us any sense of style beyond ‘is it clean enough to wear in the jungle?’”
“Not true. Nothing we owned was ever truly clean,” Leo said, and they both laughed.
Faith drank in the sight of them before murmuring, “Oh my God, the women of Beaucoeur are going to eat you both up.”
Her comment had William laughing even harder, but it brought Leo’s scowl back. That, she realized, was on brand for each of them: William laughing, Leo brooding. A flavor for every craving. Almost against her will, her eyes drifted to her right, where Leo’s throat worked as he took a long pull from his bottle. She gripped the arm of the chair to keep from flinging herself onto his lap to press her lips against that bit of skin. William was attractive, sure, but she only had eyes for one person here.
She was on the brink of completely spiraling when William changed the subject.
“So what pop culture did we miss over the past decade?”
She leaped on the topic. “Let’s see… about a dozen newStar Warsprojects and at least threeBarbarian Time Brigandmovies.”
William chuckled as he flipped the steaks. “Oh, that one made sure we saw every newBTBmovie as soon as they hit Brazil.” He jerked his head toward Leo, and Faith laughed.
“Still a fanboy, huh?”
He gave asorry, not sorryshrug. “It’s not like you ever stop loving Griff the time-traveling dragon.”
“Nerd,” William coughed out. But it was an affectionate roast, and the three of them debated the merits of the biggest sci-fi franchises until William pulled the meat off the grill and served them up with baked potatoes and asparagus he’d charred over the flames. They ate around the fire, which the men assured her was normal for them, and even though she was much more of an indoor cat, it was a fun vibe.
Once they’d finished their meals and dug into her brownies, Faith remembered that she was actually there for a reason beyond dinner with two good-looking guys. She set her empty plate aside, wiped her mouth on a napkin, and summoned her most professional tone. “William.”
“Faith,” he said immediately.
“You wanted to make some plans. Should we start talking about that now?” she asked.
“You bet.” He leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees, his half-full bottle of beer dangling from his fingers. “I’m thinking I could adapt a few of the educational programs I ran in South America. Lots of emphasis on sustainable practices and preserving native plants. The importance of biodiversity. Things like that but tailored to Beaucoeur’s specific demands.”
“Sounds great,” she said. “How can I help?”
“Pedagogy. Make sure my lesson plans are appropriate for each of the ages I’m working with.” The laid-back guy from earlier in the day was nowhere in sight now. “I also need time to get up to speed on the needs of the area. The landscape, the physical resources. I’d love to start a mentoring program for kids who’d like careers with park districts, national forests, that kind of thing. And I need to know what hands-on programs would be most beneficial.”
“I can help with that.” Leo was sprawled in his chair, a relaxed counterpoint to William’s all-business body language. “I majored in Forestry at SIUC. Did my capstone project on conservation needs in the state park system.”
Faith blinked at him in surprise. “You went to Southern? That’s not what we…”
Her throat tightened as the memories rushed in.
“Lots of things you don’t know, Dutch.” His eyes locked on hers and didn’t budge.
The plan had been for him to find a job so he could move to Evanston with her. She’d study business at Northwestern while he figured out what he wanted to do with his life. And after she graduated, they’d move to that cabin in the woods he always talked about. That part had been hazier for her, but Leo wanted it so badly that her high school self had believed they’d make it work.
They hadn’t, of course. That plan had imploded when their relationship did, and he’d reentered her life again a few months ago as a fully formed adult with a history she wasn’t privy to. It broke her heart a little.
“Sorry,” William said. “What am I missing here?”
She and Leo both jolted as if his words had broken the spell locking them into place. William looked from his friend to her as he waited for someone to provide an explanation, but Faith had no idea what to say. Had Leo not told him anything about their history? And if not, why not? The two of them seemed so close.
Leo was apparently too busy locking his jaw shut to clarify anything, but somebody had to saysomething, so she finally mumbled, “Um, Leo and I knew each other in high school.”
William’s confused expression didn’t clear up at her halting explanation—until it did.
“Oh, you twokneweach other in high school,” he said. “Got it.”
