Page 60 of Clean Sweep
I spun away from my perusal of the river outside and walked closer.
“Need me to run to the store?”
She hesitated. “No, let’s do that together. I totally forgot to grab breakfast at the shop and I’m starving.”
“Sounds great.”
Secretly, I was relieved she didn’t want to send me off without her. Time alone with Leslie would be at a premium and I didn’t want to miss the chance.
She pulled out a separate paper, made a note, and then straightened up. A clatter came from just outside.
Without missing a beat she said, “Oh, that must be Jax. Benjamin recruited him from the gym to bring all the luggage over from Maverick’s and his place while the Mercedys are at breakfast.”
“Where is the Mercedy family eating?” I asked as I leaned against the fridge. Leslie had spread out some of her papers—it looked to be a timeline that she’d put together—and she consulted it with a click of her teeth now.
“I booked out the whole Diner for them this morning. They’re eating there from 8-10, and then they’ll be here. The Big Cousins are getting rides right to the Diner.”
A metal clock set in a moose head with antlers coming out the side revealed the time as 8:05.
“We have time.”
“We do,” she murmured.
Once her initial checks were completed, we stepped back outside with a new list of things to grab at the local market.
Leslie seemed to mentally set aside that task, because she looked over to me with a little smile as we approached the truck. Snowflakes twirled around her as she pulled her hood over her head, white and gray fur framing her face in a lovely way.
“You sure you’re up for this all day?” she asked. “It’s glorified parenting, that’s all. After we get the final missing touches that Maverick asked me to make sure we have, we need to round up the rental ski gear from Pineville Outfitters. There’s a group of them going cross country skiing, another group that’ll have a rental van drive them to Jackson City for downhill skiing and snowboarding, while yet another group stays here for board games. After that’s settled, we confirm catering.”
I grinned. “Never wanted to be anywhere more than this.”
And I meant it.
13
LESLIE
If you counted all the little things thatdidn’tgo wrong, the launch of the Mercedy family reunion was an utter success.
Aside from a catering snafu, some lost gluten-free bread that later reappeared in a toddler’s bag, and a few breakdowns amongst the children who didn’t want to share beds, very little fell apart.
Tanner followed along like a quiet shadow, but it didn’t bother me. He found his own things to take care of that I didn’t notice, like a screen door that hung loose and a couple of lightbulbs that needed to be replaced. When it was blatantly clear that the cleaning crew had forgotten to sweep and mop the laundry room, he had it whipped together in a trice.
My hero, indeed.
His calm presence grounded me during a day when I felt fear all the way to my bones. Impressing Maverick and Bethany hovered at the top of my to-do list. Although they were practically family, I still wanted to do my job well. It had been far too long since I had something to own and take pride in outside of my house.
Toward the end of the day, when dinner arrived and Maverick’s sisters set it out on a long buffet table, Maverick caught my eye. He motioned toward the butler’s pantry with a tilt of his head and I nodded.
Without thinking, I reached over and put a hand on Tanner’s arm.
“I’ll be just a minute,” I said quietly. “Mav needs something, but then I think we can go.”
Tanner nodded and gave me a smile. I returned it, feeling like he’d just dipped me in a warm bath all the way to my toes.
Maverick stared at a box of cereal with a critical eye when I slipped into the butler’s pantry. He put a heavy hand on my shoulder and said with a grin, “You killed it, Leslie. This is absolutely perfect.”
Relief slipped through me, but I attempted to hide just how deep it went.
