I expect Leland toremind her that he and I aren’t truly a couple. Instead, his smilewidens and his fingers tighten on mine. “That’d be great. Let’splan something soon.”
He saysgoodnight to Evie and Wesley, and I walk with him to the door. “I’mglad you came over tonight,” I say. “I really enjoyed yourcompany.”I also really enjoyed kissingyou, I add silently. “And all the food too.Thanks again for that.”
“Anytime,” Leland says. “I love hanging out withyou.”
He bends to put onhis shoes, so he misses what I’m sure is a goofy smile caused byhis words. I rein in my expression as he straightens and dons hisjacket.
“I’llsee you soon?” It might be my imagination or a case of wishfulthinking, but he sounds hopeful and just a taduncertain.
“Ofcourse. Felicity asked me to come in tomorrow afternoon, so I’lllikely see you then. And I’m still waiting on that invitation todinner at your mom’s.”
“Right,that. I’ll talk to her about it tomorrow and let you know.” Hewaves over my shoulder, telling me Evie and/or Wesley are watching.I open the door and move so my back is against it, giving us amodicum of privacy to say goodbye. Not that we need it. It’s notlike I expect Leland to kiss me again, although I certainlywouldn’t be opposed to it.
The corners of hismouth twitch as he moves past me into the hallway. “I’m guessingEvie’s not known for her subtlety?” he asks quietly.
I shake my head,pressing my lips together to hold back a laugh. “Definitely not.She never was, but she’s been extra protective since…”
His expressionturns solemn. “Right. I guess it’s not so bad when you look at itthat way.”
“No,I’m lucky to have someone who loves me so much and wants the bestfor me.”
He bobs his head,rocking back and forth on his heels. “Well. Goodnight, Stella. Ihad a great time. Wait, I already said that, didn’t I? It bearsrepeating, though.”
Something like delight bubbles up inside me. Is LelandLevesque actuallynervousright now? “It does bear repeating. Goodnight,Leland.”
As he leans in topress a lingering kiss to my cheek, that delighted feeling risesinside me like champagne bubbles, making me feel light and airy. Iwatch him walk down the hall and disappear into the stairwell, andthen I remain where I am for a moment longer, telling myself I needa minute before facing Evie. In reality, I want to enjoy thisbubbly feeling for a little while longer.
CHAPTER EIGHT
That weekend, Evieand I meet Hollie and Louisa at the diner for breakfast. I’vealways cherished my time with my three closest friends, but Iappreciate it even more now that Wesley is around. It’s feltnatural for our foursome to expand, and I love that my brother fitsso comfortably into our group, but I hope we never get to a pointwhere it can’t just be the four of us, even for short periods oftime.
“Boysnot joining you today?” Bea asks, approaching the table with herorder pad at the ready.
“Wesleyand Leland are coming later for coffee, but it’ll just be the fourof us for breakfast,” Evie says.
“Nocute Scot?” Bea’s smiling eyes land on Louisa, who blushes at themere mention of Fergus. “He came in one night this past week fortakeout and I convinced him to stay and eat here. When I told him Iwas going on break, he asked me to sit with him and he bought me apiece of pie. We had a real nice chat. If one of you doesn’t scoophim up…” She trails off, casting a glance over her shoulder towardher husband in the kitchen. As if sensing her eyes on him, Horatiopauses what he’s doing and looks our way, sending his wife a wink.“Never mind,” she says, turning back to us with a grin.
Once Bea hasdeparted with our orders, I turn my attention to Hollie, who’s beenwearing a slight frown since we arrived. “You look abit…stormy.”
Hollie releases along, weary sigh. “I may look stormy, but I feel stupid. I’mofficially done with online dating.”
“Oh no,what happened?” Evie asks.
“Didyou finally meet that guy you’ve been talking to on the datingapp?” Louisa asks.
Hollieand Evie joined a dating site a couple months ago. Evie went on afew lackluster dates and then decided her heart and mind weren’t init. Hollie has chatted with a few guys, although hasn’t been on anydates. Shedid,however, meet someone she likes and has been talking to him for thelast few weeks. We’ve pressed her for details, but she’s beentight-lipped about it, claiming she doesn’t want to jinx it, andpromising to tell us if and when there was anything totell.
Hollie presses herlips together and sits back as Bea approaches with our drinks. Whenshe’s gone again, Hollie continues. “You know how hesitant I wasabout the whole online dating thing. When SC and I startedchatting, I liked him immediately. We had a connection, and heseemed so great: smart, funny, charming. He even typed in fullsentences and used proper punctuation.”
I lift my coffeecup and take a sip to cover my amusement, and Evie does thesame.
“Thiswas his first foray into online dating too, so we were both kind ofwary,” Hollie says. “We shared bits and pieces of our lives, ourinterests and hobbies, our hopes for the future. We had a lot incommon, but we never gave too much personal info, and all ourconversations happened through the site’s private messaging.Earlier this week, he asked if I’d like to finally meet for drinksand possibly dinner if we felt as much of a connection in person aswe did online. I worked up the courage to say yes, and we arrangeda time and place. I showed up, and…”
We’re all leaningin now, waiting for Hollie to continue. None of us speak, eventhough I’m sure I’m not the only one who wants to bombard her withquestions.
“Hedidn’t show up,” Hollie says faintly. “I waited, ordered a drink,waited some more. I double andtriplechecked our messages to makesure I got the time and place right. Thenkeptchecking to see if he’d messagedme. I even messaged him to see if everything was okay, but didn’thear back. I finally left and, when I hadn’t heard from him by thismorning, I deleted the whole damn app from my phone. This basicallyconfirmed everything I needed to know about onlinedating.”
Evie rests herhand on Hollie’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Hol.”
