“Acrying shame indeed,” Leland says softly. He inches closer to me,taking my fingers lightly in his like he did earlier on our way tohis car. He looks like he’s about to say something when a flash ofred catches in my peripheral vision, and I turn to see Nellebarrelling toward us.
“Thereare the lovebirds,” she says, one hand landing on Leland’s shoulderand the other on mine. “What do you think? Pretty impressive setup,huh?”
“Veryimpressive,” Leland agrees, saluting her with his beerbottle.
“Everything looks great,” I say. “Thanks for inviting us,Nelle.”
“Ofcourse! Eric and I were saying we should make this a yearly thing.Oh, look, there’s Jan! You two mingle and we’ll catch up later,okay?” And with that, she scurries toward a woman I vaguelyrecognize. They greet each other with high-pitched chatter,cackling as they embrace.
“Iamnotdoing thisevery year,” I tell Leland.
He chuckles,taking a sip of beer and then glancing at his watch. “We’re noteven staying for this whole thing, let alone coming back nextyear.”
A few of thepeople we were talking to earlier join us at the bar, and we fallinto easy conversation. Leland tells them about his new businessventure with his sister and how I’ll be working with them. I lovehow he says ‘with’ and not ‘for’. Someone makes a joke about mixingbusiness and pleasure being a bad idea. Leland shakes his head,looking right at me as he says, “I can’t imagine anything betterthan getting to spend every day with Stella.”
Oh,he’s good. Maybe a littletoogood because I believe every word.
Our little groupbreaks up and drifts apart, and Leland and I decide to wander theroom and mingle. Leland asks if he can get me another drink, but Isay no. He stopped at one beer since he’s driving and, as much asI’d like another cocktail, I want to keep my wits about me for theconversation we need to have after the reunion. We do snagsomething to eat from every passing waiter, though.
As we make our wayaround the room, I notice a series of poster boards withphotographs on them. I pull Leland in that direction and we spend afew minutes laughing at how he’s in nearly half the pictures. I’min the background of a few—looking miserable in most of them—andthere’s a cute shot of Sylvie and me taken during the last week ofgrade eleven.
“Stella.” Leland is a few feet away, looking at the last boardof pictures. I join him, following his line of sight to a pictureof…us. It wastaken in the cafeteria; we’re sitting across from each other, headsbent close over a plate of cookies. My mouth is open mid-laugh andLeland is grinning. He taps the writing underneath:Leland Levesque and Stella McGrath. Taken bySylvie Bell.
“I hadno idea she took this,” I say, my voice barely above awhisper.
“Meeither. We sure do look happy, though.”
Wedo.Ido. I spentso much of that year being miserable, but you’d never know it fromlooking at this photograph. For some inexplicable reason, my eyesfill with tears. I blink them away, practicing a subtle version ofthe deep breathing exercise Evie guided me throughearlier.
“Youokay?” Leland asks.
“Yeah,fine. I just…really like this picture.”
“Metoo.” He studies my face, then glances around, his eyes settling onsomething across the room. “I’ll be right back. Are you good herefor a minute?”
I laugh lightly,shooing him away. “Of course. I’ll be here.”
I continueperusing the photos, smiling to myself when I find a shot of Lelandand Wesley in their basketball uniforms. The smile slips and Iswallow a groan when Nelle sidles up beside me.
“Inever would have thought you had it in you to snag a guy likeLeland,” she says.
I let out adisbelieving laugh. “Why, Nelle? Because he’s so out of myleague?”
“No,it’s not that. That came out wrong.” She falls silent for a moment,as if she’s picking her next words carefully. That would certainlybe a first. “It’s just that as popular as Leland was in highschool, he didn’t date much. At least not that I saw. He moved fromgroup to group, was friends with everyone, or at leastfriendlywitheveryone. I always had this feeling he was a big fish in a littlepond, you know? Like Bellevue was too small to containhim.
“And Iguess I was right because he went on to this jet-setting,international businessman lifestyle, right? But then he returned tothis little pond, and somehow it seems like a right fit. I alwaysthought part of the reason he didn’t date in high school wasbecause it would take someone extraordinary to catch hisinterest.”
Several beats ofsilence pass as I take in what Nelle said. “Are yousaying…?”
“I’msaying…”She cuts me off, but then the words hang there, and I wonder if sherealizes she just paid me a huge compliment and wants to coursecorrect. “I’m saying you’ve changed a lot since high school. You’renot the person I thought you were.”
“Theperson you knew back then wasn’t really who I was. Who Iam.” I consider goinginto detail, but I can see Nelle’s interest fading already as shetries unsuccessfully to keep her attention on me. I laugh under mybreath, and her gaze shoots back to me.
“What?”
“Nothing.” I got more from Nelle tonight than I ever expected,and I’ll take that as a win.
A warm handsettles on the small of my back a second before Leland steps upbeside me. “You two…catching up?” He asks this carefully, and Iknow he’s really asking if everything is okay. I give a small nod.“Good. You ready to go, Stels?”
