Page 74 of Extra Witchy

“That’s up to you. If you choose not to go, I get it.”

“No, let me shower, and then we’ll take off. How far is it?”

Quickly, he checked as she got out of bed. “Looks like a couple of hours, the other side of Chicago in the northern suburbs.”

“Okay. Will you drive?”

“Absolutely. I showered last night, so I just need to get dressed.”

He did that in a hurry while she went to the bathroom, and then he went to the kitchen to make her an omelet and toast. The coffee was ready by the time she came out, looking preternaturally perfect as always. Though he’d only lived with Sarah for a short time, he knew it wasn’t normal how fast Leanne got ready. Her makeup always looked flawless, and it should’ve taken at least half an hour to do her hair. As ever, he didn’t mention it, except to say:

“You look beautiful. Hungry?”

“Maybe I shouldn’t be under the circumstances, but I am. Thanks, hon.”

Frankly, he envied her a little. If something happened to Wade, he doubted Tanner would even call him. His mom probably wouldn’t either. For them, it was so easy to write him off, glad Leanne had shown up to take Trev off their hands. Now they could focus on the good son. He forced himself to let go of that bitterness. Sometimes a tree had to be pruned to live, and that was how he felt about putting his family behind him. Trying to earn their approval might have eventually killed him.

“I’ll head down first and start the car, get it warmed up for you,” he said since he’d finished eating first.

She stood abruptly and clutched him in a worryingly tight hug. “I don’t deserve you.”

“What?”

“You’re always doing stuff like that without being asked. You’re the kindest person I’ve ever been with, and I…” She drew a breath, swallowing whatever she’d almost said. “Now’s not the time, dammit. Not when we’re in a rush.”

“For what, thank-you sex?” he asked in confusion.

“That would be fun, but no. Are you wearing the necklace?”

“Every day.”

Her fixation on that worried him a little, but if it gave her peace of mind, the pendant didn’t bother him. In fact, he liked knowing how much it meant to her. It wasn’t a ridiculous assumption to imagine that he mattered as well, right? Sometimes it felt like they truly were married, like forever and all, but the fear of being discarded lingered. They’d agreed to keep things flexible, which meant either one of them could call it quits at any time.

That’s like trying to build a house on quicksand.

Ten minutes was long enough to warm up the car. He had it toasty when she burst out of the building, practically running, even in heels. Leanne skidded on an icy patch on the pavement, and he half came out of the car, even knowing he was too damn far away to save her. Yet she caught herself, slipped a few steps, and kept coming. That was Leanne, graceful and self-sufficient even in the middle of a stumble.

She said she doesn’t deserve me, but it’s the other way around.

He reached across to open her door for her, and she slid into the car, breathless, in a burst of nearly winter wind. “Go, go, go, they’re after us,” she joked.

Sometimes she was like this, charming and silly, and he would’ve kissed her, except they were on their way for her to meet her dying father for the first—and probably last—time. So it didn’t fit the mood. Instead, he touched her cheek with a chilly hand then mapped the route on his phone and put the car in reverse. Leanne buckled in as Trev backed out of the parking spot and passed through the checkpoint at the gate.

“Do you want to talk?” he asked.

“About what?”

“Anything.”

“You already know most of it. Junie wasn’t great at being a single mom. I pretty much raised myself. I earned my own money from the time I was eleven or so. I took a course at the hospital in CPR and babysat neighborhood kids. Frankly, their parents shouldn’t have trusted me. I was a kid myself, but…” She lifted a shoulder.

“You grew up fast.”

“I had to,” she said bluntly. “Because Junie wouldn’t. As for my dad, you know as much as I do.”

“Then, if you don’t feel like—”

“I didn’t say that. Actually, I owe you an explanation about how I ended up with two divorces behind me when I’m not even forty.”

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