“I didn’t care,” Leonard says with a shrug. “But I didn’t come here to mess it up. I was going to wait until the dancing started to talk to you, but I had to step out when I heard your speech.”
“So this is the criminal,” Grandpa Frank said in an amused tone. “I hear Constance has given you her approval.”
“I’m lucky enough to have it, sir.” Leonard gives him a sidelong glance as we hustle down the sidewalk. “I take it you’re the cheating Grandpa Fruckface?”
I give Leonard a nudge with my side. “You trying to get yourself another shove?”
But my grandfather laughs. “He says it like it is. I value that in a person.”
He means it. It’s one of the thingsIvalue about him—and my grandmother. Part of me wishes they’d been able to work things out, but Nana deserves better than someone who’d step out on her, and I’m in a generous enough mood to think she’ll find it. Maybe one of her five thousand activities will lead her to the senior citizen hotshot of the year.
“Where are we going?” Josie asks.
Laughter bubbles out of me as Leonard swings our connected hands. “You’re coming with us?”
She shrugs. “I like Texas Roadhouse.”
“You know, none of this would have happened if you hadn’t told them I was going to fuck up the cake,” Leonard points out.
“I know, ironic, isn’t it?”
Well, she has a better understanding of irony than Alanis Morisette, I’ll give her that.
As we approach the parking lot, I notice Leonard’s friend Danny standing by a map of the grounds. He looks uncomfortable.
“Shit, who did that to you?” he asks, taking in Leonard’s cake hair. We probably smell like stale champagne too.
“Fate,” Josie says with no mark of humor in her voice.
“Can we ditch the psychic?” Grandpa Frank asks.
“She’s killing the vibe,” Leonard agrees.
She ignores them both, her gaze narrowing in on Danny. She lifts her ridiculous crystal ball necklace and studies him through it for a second before whistling.
Danny gives her a frown that reminds me of my eleventh-grade math teacher. No one says anything, Josie included.
“Okay,” I say, curiosity prompting me to break the stand-off. “You clearly want someone to ask you what you’ve seen. What’d you see?”
“You’re gonna be the fourth one to fall,” she tells Danny after a second, watching him with a knowing look. “You’ve already met your soulmate.”
“What?” Danny asks. It’s not exactly eloquent, but he looks like he’s a stuffed animal that just got all his fluff yanked out.
“You heard me.” She nods at Leonard, then says, “I see five of you. Three of you have already found your soulmates, and you’re the fourth. Except you made a bad impression on her. You’ve got to turn it around.”
“Whoisthis woman?” he asks, lifting his gaze to Leonard.
“I’m Josie.” She holds out her hand for a shake that he doesn’t give. “I’m a psychic, and I have a feeling I’ll be hearing from you.” Then she looks at Grandpa Frank. “So Texas Roadhouse is a no?”
He’s nonplused by her supposed vision. “A no for you.”
“And for you,” I tell him. “Unless you want to go with Danny. I’m bringing Leonard home.” Just saying it makes me feel warm inside. Like I wasn’t doused with champagne and asked to leave a wedding.
Danny shrugs at Grandpa Frank. “I’ll bring you.”
“So, wearegoing?” Josie asks. “I really like their hot wings.”
“Not you,” Danny says pointedly.