He raised his bottle in a toast, which jostled Leo to life, although he barely glanced up from the flames dancing in front of him. “That was a long time ago. It’s no big deal.”
Faith tried like hell not to react, but his words hit her like a slap, and she surged to her feet.
“Hey, I should go,” she said with a shaky laugh. “I’ve been here way longer than I intended.”
She suddenly became aware of the cold night air pressing in around their cozy fire circle, and she wrapped her cardigan tighter around her midsection. “Thanks so much for dinner, William. It was fantastic.”
He and Leo both stood too, but William was the one who moved first, slinging a casual arm around her shoulders. “Thrilled you could make it. I can’t wait to see what we can do together.”
She jumped a little at the unexpected contact but relaxed just as quickly. He smelled wood smoke and citrus, and honestly the extra warmth was welcome now that she was farther from the fire.
“Will you guys eat the brownies if I leave them?” Dumb question, but she needed to get out of there as quickly as possible.
“Absolutely,” William said. And then he was steering her toward the door as he ran down his plans to hit the ground running next week at BUILD.
When they reached the sliding door into the house, Faith paused and looked back. Leo was standing motionless; his face was obscured by darkness and his silhouette outlined by the fire. But she could see that his hands were jammed into his pockets.
“Good night, Leo,” she called, then slipped into the house without waiting for him to respond.
TWELVE YEARS AGO
When he heard her Audi grind to a halt and her car door slam, he stopped pacing around his bedroom and stepped onto the porch, leaning against the rusty metal railing with as much disinterest as he could muster.
“Making a charity call,duchess?”
The word was poisonous on his lips, and he could see when she registered that this wasn’t the same pet name he usually used.
“No.” Her face was splotchy as she approached, stepping over the cracked concrete where only weeds flourished. She was still in her white ruffled dress. Hell, her graduation party was probably still in full swing. He bet her parents were popping another bottle of champagne right now and wondering where their little darling was. “You’ve got it all wrong. You were never, ever—”
“Never supposed to see that? Yeah, I bet not.” He sneered the words, and she stopped short on the sidewalk. “Poor, pathetic Leo, too dumb to know just how dumb he is. Thank God you were there to fix me.”
She was near tears. He was too, but he kept it locked down.
“Never. Not once did I think that about you.” She climbed the steps and tried to put her hands on his chest, but he flinched backward, and her arms dropped to her sides.
He wanted to believe her. God, he did. But he’d read the college admissions essay her father had shown him, seen in her own words the way she took credit for working with him on his math homework, for introducing him to the study skills she’d researched online.
“You diagnosed me,” he spat out. “Are you a fucking doctor now?”
She didn’t answer, so he asked again, louder. “You gave it a name. What’s wrong with me, Faith?”
She dropped her head and whispered, “Dyscalculia.” Then she looked up, eyes glistening. “But it was just a suggestion I read! And yes, Ididlook up ways to help you learn. I helped you pass algebra, didn’t I? You graduated because of me. You’re welcome, by the way.”
She hurled the last words at him. Good. He wanted to have this fight.
“You made me some… someprojectto help get you into college.” He slashed a hand through the air. “You wrote about me. About how you bought me lunch and helped me study. About how stupid I am, and howbefriending mewas such a growth experience for you.”
“Never stupid, Leo. Never. It’s just, my father thought…”
Her words trailed off when she glimpsed his furious expression.
“Your fucking father.” He actually might puke. “Glad he found some way to make all the time you spent with me worthwhile.”
“I didn’t even end up submitting that stupid essay! Quit being an asshole and listen!” she shouted. “It felt wrong to talk about you like that, so I changed it to what I learned on my mission trip to the Appalachians.”
His laugh was cruel and exactly what she deserved. “So you wrote about some other poor kids. Great.”
“It’s totally different!” She stamped her foot, just a rich girl throwing a tantrum. “I don’t even know why my dad showed you the old one!”
