Page 74 of Clean Sweep
I stopped, closed my eyes, and drew in a deep breath. Eight hours of rambunctious boys, hilarious board games, and way too much food lay behind us. The most wonderful eight hours I’d had in years.
Celeste’s breath puffed out in front of her like a fog as she moved ahead of me toward the truck.
“Welp,” she cried, “that was unexpectedly amazing and maybe the best Christmas party that I’ve ever been to.”
“Same.”
She sent a wry glance my way as she climbed into the truck. It groaned from the cold as we climbed in and shut the doors, the slam echoing as they closed together.
“Leslie was attentive to you tonight,” she sang.
Like the boys, Celeste was intentionally in the dark about what had happened between me and Leslie over Christmas Day. After I’d left Leslie’s house on Christmas evening, I’d returned home, picked up Celeste the next day, and we’d spent time together until today, two days later.
Now that I’d seen Leslie again, however, I couldn’t get her out of my head.
Herorthose hot kisses.
I shook my head to clear those thoughts and jammed the keys into the ignition, ignoring Celeste’s delighted titter of amusement. Right now, I didn’t want to know what such a laugh meant. I just wanted to get home, fall asleep for ten hours, and wake up ready to tackle this whole I-really-like-Leslie thing.
Or did we need to yet?
My mind spun over the last few hours as Celeste and I quietly drove through sleepy little Pineville and toward the canyon. I still had an hour of driving ahead of me, and I was glad of it. Something about tires on pavement made it easier to think. Besides, Celeste seemed contemplative herself, so we left each other to our thoughts.
Seeing Leslie alone on Christmas Day, and in her element as a single woman—the life she’d inevitably live after Blake left the house—was a whole new side of her. The side with her boys all under her care? Well, that had changed her even more.
The joking-but-still-doting mother fit her well. She somehow tempered the line of concerned, but not overzealous, with a casual finesse. I imagined a rampantly anxious mother lived underneath her calm expression, but she’d never revealed a glimpse of it. Her boys seemed to feel free to live their lives how they wanted.
No small feat.
My appreciation for Leslie had only grown tonight, particularly the quick way she allowed Celeste and I to be pulled into the party for a second time. Landon and Starla had arrived with Starla appearing much less green than the last time I saw her.
She’d given me an extra long hug with a whisperedthank you so much.
“Dad?”
I startled back to life with a shake of my head. “Sorry,” I murmured, “what?”
Celeste lifted one eyebrow, assessing me with a critical gaze. “You all right?”
“Yep. Sorry. What did you say?”
“I just wanted to know how you felt about tonight.”
“Great.”
“Great?”
“Yeah, it went really well.”
She let out a long breath. The heater had started to catch up, removing the cold tinge from the air. Her breath didn’t show anymore, and the backs of my thighs warmed from the seat heater.
“What about you?” I asked.
“Quite fun.”
“You sound surprised.”
“I was. Four barely-post-adolescent males? No thanks. But it was fine. Max is really funny, I loved Nicholas on the guitar—smoking hot on any man—and Landon and Starla were adorable together.”
