“Ipromise to be better company than a random seat filler.”
“I haveabsolutely no doubts about that. I suppose I should mention thebanquet is this Saturday.”
“Well,you should have told me that earlier,” I say, tugging my hand fromunder his and throwing both hands in the air. “That’s way too soon,I couldn’tpossiblygo. Maybe my brother could go with you. Or yoursister.”
Lelandlaughs softly, shaking his head. “Wesley has a DJ gig that night,although Felicity did say she’d be on standby if I decided I didn’twant to go solo. I’d much rather go withyou, though, Stella.”
“Eventhough I’m your third choice?” I joke. “Or fourth, I guess, sinceyour mom wanted to go with you.”
I expect him tolaugh, but his expression sobers. “You were my first choice,Stella.” He closes the distance between us and grips my shouldersagain. “I just didn’t want to add to everything you have going onright now by asking you to return to the school. I can imaginebeing there would stir up a lot of stuff for you. And…in that samevein, I suppose I should tell you Nelle will be there.”
I letout a loud, drawn out groan. “Well now Ihaveto go. You know Nelle will besuspicious if I’m not with you. Plus, what kind of girlfriend wouldI be to let you go alone, especially since you’re giving a speechand wearing a suit and everything.”
Onceagain, I expect Leland to laugh at my theatrics. Instead, theearnest, searching look on his face nearly takes my breath away.I’ve had my share of guy friends over the years and none of themhave ever looked at me the way Leland is right now. Hell, half thepeople I’vedatedhaven’t looked at me this way. It’s a mixture of affection,admiration, and a touch of heat, although I worry I’m imaginingthat last part.
Itbecomes clear I’mnotimagining it when his eyes dip down to my mouth. Aninvoluntary sound slips past my lips. It’s soft enough that I hopeLeland doesn’t hear it, but he must, because his eyes flick back upto mine and there’s a question there now.
My answer is akiss. It’s a quick one, a mere touching of lips, a test of sorts.Leland’s hands move from my shoulders down my arms until hisfingers twine with mine.
“Stella, I—”
“Dessert time!” Lana says, bustling into thekitchen.
My first instinctis to spring away from Leland. Thankfully, his grip tightens onmine, reminding me this would be a normal way for a mother to findher son and his girlfriend during a moment alone. He keeps hold ofone of my hands while releasing the other so I can turn to faceLana. Felicity enters the room, her face scrunched in apology as ifshe tried to slow her mom down, but she got away fromher.
“Stella, dear, Leland mentioned your birthday is coming uplater this month. I didn’t want to be presumptuous and assume I’dsee you that day since things between you and Leland are stillfresh—although Idohope my son has something nice planned for you—so I madecupcakes for dessert. I hope you like carrot cake.”
I’m so stunned andtouched by the gesture, my voice comes out faint when I say, “It’smy favorite.”
Lana’s smilewidens. “It’s Leland’s favorite too. You two really are the perfectmatch.”
Yep. Things aredefinitely getting more complicated.
CHAPTER TEN
Evie opens theapartment door and freezes when she sees me sitting on the floor infront of the coffee table. With a grin, she holds up a paper bagfrom the bookstore. “Apparently our psychic link is as strong as italways was.”
“Whatdid you buy?”
She kicks off hershoes and hangs up her jacket before sliding down onto the floorbeside me and dumping out the contents of the bag: two stainedglass coloring books and a package of markers.
“Inoticed you usually use pencil crayons, but a sales associate sawme looking at these books and said markers work best.”
Evie’s thoughtfulgesture leaves me speechless. I move aside the coloring book I wasusing and pick up one of the ones she bought. Coloring has been anoutlet for me since my therapist suggested it after my accident.The activities I could do were limited, and I was prone to bouts ofdepression and anxiety that left me feeling hopeless and exhausted.I thought it sounded ridiculous and juvenile, but I eventually gaveit a shot. It didn’t take long for me to discover the repetitive,mostly mindless activity quieted my racing thoughts. All theseyears later, it still has the same soothing effect.
“Thankyou.” I’m afraid to look at her in case it causes me to give in tothe tears that are building behind my eyes. “That’s mighty thoughtyof you.”
Eviesnorts out a laugh at the inside joke, a reference to one of ourfavorite childhood movies, Disney’sRobinHood. She gives me a one-armed hug and thenhops up from the floor, suggesting I pick pages for us to colorwhile she changes out of her work clothes.
She returns a fewminutes later with two small glasses of wine. “You not seeingLeland tonight?”
“No, hehad a bunch of paperwork to do,” I tell her. “We hung out withFelicity at the store today and had lunch together. And he took meout for pizza last night.”
Evie makes anindecipherable humming sound. I debate questioning her, but my bestfriend isn’t one to hold back, so if she has something to say, Iknow she’ll say it sooner or later. She watches me for a momentbefore picking up a red marker and getting to work on the page infront of her.
“Youand Wes going out tonight?” I ask.
“We’resupposed to, yeah. He’s doing some overtime and he’s going to callme when he’s done.”
