Page 69 of Worst in Show

“They’re both lawyers,” Leo says, close enough to my ear that his breath teases goose bumps out of my skin. “Busy, busy, right guys?”

Bennett pulls his attention from his phone to Leo. “What’s that?”

“Work keeping you busy?”

“Always. Speaking of which, when’s this little suburban sabbatical over? I bet the city misses you.”

Leo runs a hand through his hair. “Yeah, no, I’ve still got… um… some time.” He glances at me, a strange expression flitting across his face.

“Man, I wouldn’t know what to do with myself. All that time off.”

Time off? What’s he talking about?

Donna’s voice cuts through the silence at the table. “I knew the gossip about you being fired wasn’t true. Didn’t I tell you that?” she asks Roderick. She puts another piece of pretzel in her mouth and leans forward. “But doesn’t opening a store defeat the purpose of a sabbatical? And what are you going to do with it when you go back to New York?”

Leo has become immobile at my side, and that’s when I put two and two together. His brother doesn’t know about the store. Bennett thinks Leo is here temporarily.

Is he?

I look at Leo’s profile. Will someone else take over the store once he’s got it up and running? I don’t want that. I want his jaw to unclench, and his shoulders to relax. I want him to challenge me to another bet.

“How about another round of drinks?” he asks. “Cora, another ale? Micki, Jaz, what are you having?”

Bennett scrutinizes Leo, forehead creased. “What the fuck, Useless? You started your own firm? Here? Why?”

Useless? Firm?

Leo forces a smile. “Um, sort of. How about I tell you all about it later? More drinking, less talking.”

There’s enthusiastic agreement all around the table except from Courtney. She looks at her shiny wristwatch. “I don’t know.” She faces Bennett. “When did you tell Diane we’d be back?”

He finishes the rest of his lager in two gulps. “Yes, we should probably head out.”

Next to me, Leo leans back as he exhales. “Are you sure? The night’s still young.”

“Yeah, man. We’ll see you for lunch tomorrow, though.” Bennett pulls the chair out for Courtney, and they gather their jackets.

They take their leave, and for a long moment, no one at our table speaks. Finally, Micki grabs her drink and moves to one of the now-empty chairs. Reluctantly, I scoot away from Leo to give us both more space.

Micki looks at us above the rim of her glass. “Fine, I’ll be the one to address the elephant, then.” The glass thumps when she sets it down. “You.” She points a finger at Leo “Your brother doesn’t know you opened a branch of Canine King here?”

“I thought I was the only one who picked up on that,” Roderick says. “Yeah, what’s the deal there? And nice going, Donna—you almost outed him.”

“What? I didn’t know,” she protests.

“You shouldn’t be ashamed of it,” Jaz says. “It’s a good store.”

Leo puts his hands up. “It’s fine. I was going to tell him tomorrow anyway. That, or he’d find out when they come trick-or-treating.”

“Why haven’t you told him?” I ask. “Or do you not want to talk about it?”

He fiddles with the signet ring he always wears on his right hand and glances toward the others. “Yeah, maybe not.”

His unwillingness to share stings. I know he doesn’t owe me any explanations, but I want to know what’s going on in his head. He’s always so reluctant to talk about his life before he moved here. Is there something to the rumors Donna heard after all?

When the chitchat resumes, Leo leans closer to me. “I forgot to tell you there’ll be more people at lunch tomorrow. If you want to skip out on training, I’ll totally understand.”

I scrunch up my nose. “Actually, it’s my bad. Micki is doing my hair before the Halloween extravaganza starts, so I can’t come. I should have told you sooner.”

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