Page 4 of Wild Spirit

Leo didn’t even crack a smile. “I wish.”

His subdued tone captured Yvonne’s attention. Leo had been delivering produce from his family’s organic farm since graduating from high school and entering the farming business full time. He and his brother, Josh, worked with their dad, who had farmed the same land with his father, while his mother and sister ran the farm market. Back in the days when it had been her grandmother Sunday running the restaurant, the deliveries were made by Leo’s grandfather.

Leo came by twice a week with fresh vegetables, and he typically hung out for a little while to shoot the breeze with her and Riley, or popped over to the pub to say hey to Padraig. For a few months last year, she and Leo had even taken up running together a couple mornings a week because Yvonne had wanted to lose weight, and she’d coerced him into joining her because, while he was totally fit, she’d thought it would help him manage his stress. The jogging club hadn’t lasted long, both of them excellent at coming up with excuses not to run.

Yvonne had noticed he’d been a bit of a bear for the past month or two, not saying more than a few words before rushing out again. She was starting to miss him.

“What’s wrong, Grumpy Gus?” she asked, pressing her shoulder into his, trying to provoke at least some sort of smile. “You doing okay?”

Leo’s frown was firmly in place, as he merely nodded in response.

“You know, I was thinking,” Yvonne said, starting to worry about him. Leo was always pleasant, polite, and when she managed to get him to sit still for three minutes, he was funny, great company.

Not that she’d convinced him to indulge in too many of those rare relaxing moments since they’d both left high school and started their own careers. Leo was—plain and simple—a workaholic. And while she didn’t find that particularly healthy, he’d always been pretty good at juggling all the balls, so she tried to accept it as part of his nature.

“Thinking about what?” he prompted, clearly intent on heading out without even taking a minute or two to visit like he usually did.

“When was the last time you hung out at the pub with a bunch of us? I know Lochlan, Colm and Padraig would love to see you and catch up. I swear it’s been at least a year since we’ve had the whole gang together.”

“That April Fools party,” Leo responded.

His answer took her aback. Had it really been that long? “Seriously? That was nearly a year and a half ago.”

“I don’t have a lot of free time right now, Yvonne. I was lucky I managed to make it that night.”

“Make some time,” she suggested. “If you don’t mind me saying, you look worn out. A night with the Collins clan can cure a lot of ills. Why don’t you stop by tonight after—”

“Tonight won’t work.”

“Why not?”

Leo sighed. “Listen, Yvonne. I need to finish up these rounds and get back to the farm. We’re shorthanded and there’re a bunch of crops that need to be harvested.”

“You’re always shorthanded,” she grumbled.

“Maybe some other time, okay?”

Before she could reply or even say goodbye, Leo was already out the back door.

“Damn,” Riley said, sliding next to her. “That boy is headed for a breakdown.”

“He’s thirty-one, Riley. Hardly a boy.”

Riley shot her a look. “That’s not the point. Leo looks stretched about as thin as a body can get. I’m starting to worry about him.”

Yvonne nodded, turning when the timer went off to pull the large pan of shepherd’s pie out of the oven. She’d been helping her aunt cook in the restaurant since middle school. She loved to cook, loved spending time here in the midst of all the delicious smells, reworking old recipes that had been passed down from Grandma Sunday to Riley, and now to her.

This restaurant was her happy place, her Mecca, her dream job. Sunday’s Side was connected through a large open doorway to Pat’s Pub, the business her Pop Pop had been running ever since he’d arrived in America from Ireland.

Her dad, Ewan, managed the restaurant with her aunt Keira, and Yvonne’s plan for the future included cooking in the kitchen and eventually taking over the running of Sunday’s Side, after Dad and Keira retired. Her cousin, Padraig, planned to assume the helm on the pub side and was already sharing the tasks associated with running it with his father, Tris.

Yvonne had known pretty early on exactly what she wanted to do with her life, so from a career standpoint, she’d always had her shit together. It was everything else she couldn’t seem to get a handle on.

“I’m worried too,” Yvonne confessed. “But what can we do? You know Leo. He’s a private guy and he’s not the type to complain. If he doesn’t want to tell me what’s going on, I’m not sure how to help.”

Riley shook her head. “If the mountain won’t come to Muhammad, Muhammad must go to the mountain.”

“Meaning?”

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