Page 49 of Leo
“Uh, sorry.We just got the site set up today and—”
“And”—she smiled, motioning for her photographer to do his thing—“I’m very interested in the story behind this place.If you’re cool with talking to me, I want to do a write up and maybe a bit of a deep dive into hows, whys, and whos behind Nice Buns.Not a bio piece,” she assured me.“Just focused on the place and all the things that make it amazing.”She fished out some forms from her hot pink vinyl bowling bag purse and laid them on the countertop.“Take a few minutes to read over this and we can get started if you’re down.”
I nodded, a little rattled but… excited.Yeah, I decided.Definitely excited.“How long should this take?”I asked, poised to sign the forms allowing them to take photos and use images of the shop in the article.“I’m still running a business here so—”
“It’ll take however long it takes.”She shrugged.“But you’ll forget we’re here after a bit.Trust me.I’m very good at what I do.”
My head bobbled like it was on springs.“Right.Okay… Well.Let’s do this.”
* * *
“Why are you acting all mopey?”Bethany said, poking at me with her holey-socked foot.“Is it because Leo was too busy to come by for lunch today?”
“No,” I protested, though I felt my face warm as I applied myself more dedicatedly to the carton of fried rice in front of me.“I’m not moping.It’s just everything that went on today.Still kinda shocked.”
“That newspaper lady was nice.Do you think she meant it, what she said about an internship?”It had been the one thing on her mind since meeting Reba at the shop after school that afternoon.Rather than hurry off to her next thing, Reba—who’d been there all day with Reynolds—had lingered to talk to Bethany for a little while, no doubt seeing the hero worship forming on my sister’s face within seconds of being introduced.
Reba Howe had charmed Bethany’s socks off without even trying.She had gauged ears, snake bite piercings, and more visible tattoos than not.She wore all black and a necklace with a charm on it that she informed Bethany was aconite in resin.She’d listened when Bethany shyly admitted she wanted to be a writer, mostly a journalist but she also liked writing poetry.
It was all I could do not to jump in and ask her since when, and why hadn’t she ever showed me her work.Our mom had been a poet and we had boxes of her handwritten poetry books, things she’d worked on from her childhood until the week she died.
Maybe it’s time to give them to Bethany instead of letting them collect dust in the hall closet, waiting for someone who’s not coming back…
Reba had been a breath of fresh air for Bethany, like seeing an adult version of the person she wanted to be.Reba had been kind, mentioning that the regional paper she worked for often had summer internships for high schoolers starting their junior year and suggested Bethany work on a portfolio so she could apply when the time came.
Bethany had stars in her eyes for the rest of the day and well into evening.Seeing her happy for the first time in ages—truly happy, without that tinge of surly, self-conscious anger and frustration clouding it.
“I think,” I said, addressing her internship excitement, “she was giving you a fact about the place she works and not making a specific offer, but you should definitely pursue it.Take her suggestion about getting a portfolio together, maybe talk to your writing teacher about how to make a good one—”
“I think I’m going to join the school paper for an elective in the spring,” she mused, staring off into space.“Paper and maybe the poetry club.”She darted a shy glance my way.“Mika mentioned they were starting one, since a lot of the kids in creative writing are more into short stories and stuff but some of us like doing poetry better.”
I nodded, clamping down on my first instinct which was to lean in and demand she tell me more about Mika, since this was the second time she’d mentioned her in twelve hours and she seemed to have some sort of influence on Bethany’s life now.Is she really your friend or are you projecting?Is she nice?Who else do you talk to at school?Who are their parents?Instead, I nudged the fried rice toward her.“That sounds awesome.”
Bethany gingerly took the carton, eyeballing me warily.“Well?”
“Well what?I’m full.You can have it.”
“I’m waiting for the part where you give me the third degree about the poetry club and Mika and the school paper and ask me if I’m alright and blah blah blah.”
“I never blah, blah, blah, thank you very much.”She quirked a brow at me, and I couldn’t help my grin.“I yada, yada, yada.”
“Oh my god.”
I managed to dodge the thrown napkin but wasn’t fast enough to avoid the eggroll.
* * *
Bethanyand I made it through one whole movie and two episodes ofLower Decksbefore she was conked out on the sofa.I missed the days when she was small enough for me to carry.Now, she was almost my height and there was no way I’d be able to lift her without doing myself damage.I tucked her in under the light blanket we kept on the sofa back and I gathered up our trash, tossing it out in the kitchen, and putting our silverware into the dishwasher for the next day’s wash.It was late for me—just past ten—but I imagined Leo was still up.His days started later than mine usually, and I could just picture him using his evenings to take care of things around the house or, hopefully, relax and just have time to himself.
Or with you.You can lie to Bethany about it, but you can’t lie to yourself.You want him here with you right now.Quiet house, Bethany’s asleep, you’re all alone and thinking in third person…
I groaned, closing my bedroom door behind me and shedding my clothes in short order.I couldn’tnotthink about Leo, even while getting ready for bed.Had it only been one day since we’d spent the entire night together?It felt like a week.
Maybe it’s going too fast,I thought with a hint of panic.Hell, if Bethany came to me and described something like this… Okay, I’d want to kill the guy for taking advantage of my kid sister because she’s only fifteen, for fuck’s sake, but if shewasin a situation like this, I’d probably tell her that she needed to slow it down.
But unlike Bethany, I was an adult.I was an adult who knew what I wanted and that was Leo.
Not just the sex part, though that was pretty fucking fantastic so far, but I wanted him in my life.I wouldn’t say I was in love with him, but the potential was definitely there.It could happen, might happen, if we didn’t run away from it.
