“Youhave no idea,” I say with a laugh. “They wanted me to stay withthem when I came back, but Evie offered me the spare room in hercondo. We figured it was our last chance to finally live out ourteenage dreams of being roommates. It wasn’t long before my parentsgot their wish of a McGrath child returning to the house,though.”
Leland smilesaround a bite of cookie. “And is living with Evie everything youtwo always dreamed it would be?”
There was a pointin our teen years when at least half of Evie’s and my conversationsstarted with ‘when we live together’. We imagined we’d stay up lateevery night, host an endless stream of parties, and cook fancymeals together. In reality, we’ve spent a lot of nights in front ofthe TV drinking wine and eating take-out; Evie heads to bed aroundten most nights so she can be up early; and the only people we’vehad over are Hollie, Louisa, and Wesley. But there’s been a lot oflaughing until we cry, crying until we laugh, conversations thatrange from deep and serious to silly and ridiculous. I’ve felt moreat home in the three months I’ve lived with Evie than I did in thefive years of my marriage.
“It’seven better than I imagined,” I tell him. “What about you? Whatbrought you back to town? Last I heard, you were living thejet-setting life, working for some big consultingcompany?”
One side ofLeland’s mouth curves. “Have you kept tabs on me, StellaMcGrath?”
“Wesleyhas mentioned you a few times over the years,” I say breezily.Then, feeling emboldened by how easy Leland is to talk to, I add,“You’re a hard one to keep tabs on otherwise. I’ve never been ableto find you on Facebook.” Every once in a while when I’m feelingnostalgic—or just plain curious—I’ll do a quick search for Lelandon social media. The most I’ve ever found is a private Instagramaccount, but I never had the courage to send him a followrequest.
“Iactually joined a month or two ago after avoiding it for years. Mysister wanted help with her store’s social media presence, and Itold her I’d set stuff up for her, which required me to finallycave and start a profile. I’ll send you a friend request.” He saysthat last part with a twinkle in his eyes.
“Trynot to be too jealous of my exciting life when you add me. Anyway,back to your reason for returning to our fair city.”
“Right.As much as I loved my job and all the traveling, I was starting toget…nottiredofit, but ready for a change, I guess. I can say I’ve been to allthese places around the world, but I hardly ever saw more than theinside of hotel rooms, conference rooms, or whatever scenery waszooming by the window on my way to meetings.
“It wasalso a lonely way of life; I had just started toying with the ideaof finding a way to put down roots when my sister asked for help inexpanding her business. She has a successful store in Toronto, andshe wanted to expand with a shop here in the Village. I offered toinvest, put my business degree to use in a completely differentway, and now we’re in business together.”
“That’samazing.” As I say the words, something in my mind clicks. “Wait,your sister isn’t Felicity by any chance?”
“That’sher. You know her?”
“We metwhen I lived in Toronto. And now I’m wondering if I knew her inhigh school and don’t remember. I never knew her last name, butIdidalways thinkshe looked familiar…”
“Youmight have known her,” Leland says. “She mostly hung out with theband kids, though.”
Wow. It really isa bizarrely small world.
“I’mnot sure whether you meant to or not, but you avoided my questionearlier about how it feels being back in Bellevue,” Lelandsays.
“Ah,you noticed that, did you?”
“I’vebeen told I’m very observant.”
Laughing lightly,I select another cookie from the plate to buy myself time. “Beingback in Bellevue has been weird in a lot of ways. I still have abunch of things to figure out, but having my friends and now mybrother in my corner has made the transition easier.”
Heleans forward, planting his elbows on the table and pointing tohimself with both hands. “Andyou’re dating an amazing guy whoalsohappens to haverecently returned to town.”
An embarrassedlittle squeak escapes me. I slap a hand over my face, then prop mychin on my fist. “Yeah, about that…”
When I don’tcontinue right away, Leland raises his eyebrows expectantly.“Mmhmm, go on. As your boyfriend, I feel I deserve anexplanation.”
I can’t help thelaughter that spills out of me at his playful tone. “You got aninvitation to the reunion Nelle mentioned, right?”
“I did.Another reason I regret joining Facebook, if I’m honest. I haven’tresponded yet, as you heard.”
I waita few beats, but he doesn’t offer further explanation. “I don’tparticularlywantto go. I was friends with that group for less than a year, andI wasn’t even reallyfriendswith most of them. We were all just together alot.”
“Samehere,” Leland says. “So why not just decline and get it overwith?”
I liftone shoulder. “I wish I knew. I guess it’s partly curiosity; it’dbe a good chance to see the few people I’d actuallyliketo seeagain.”
“I’mguessing Nelle isn’t one of them?”
Iscoff. “Nope.There was a time when I thought we were friends or atleastcouldbe,but she had this weird obsession with my past. She was alwaysasking about my old life and my old friends—whoweren’tmy old friends, they justweren’t around as much. She seemed to enjoy bringing me down andthen keeping me down, making it seem like I could confide in herand depend on her. I was desperately trying to stay afloat at thetime and didn’t see how gross and toxic her behaviorwas.”
Leland nodsslowly. “You said you were friends with them for less than a year?What about your last year of school?”
