Chapter 18 #3
The way Leah smiled at that—Luca had to actually look away. He wasn’t entirely sure what was happening to him today in this kitchen, if he’d ever felt such a surreal ping pong of different emotions. It was possible he was having a mental breakdown.
“You were talking about school buses?” Emerson encouraged.
“Oh, yes, all the kids are doing it these days for their weddings. You hire a school bus to pick up guests from their hotel, or whatever dropoff point you want, and they transport the guests back and forth. People get a kick out of it, pretending they’re kids again, and it’s safer, too, so folks can drink without driving.
You have plenty of space out here and on the road that goes up toward the old barn”—Leah walked into the living room, pointing out the window before returning to the kitchen—“for the cars of the actual wedding party, so that’s set.
But everyone else takes the school bus. If you’re careful about how you have people park here, the driver will even have ample space to turn around. ”
Luca watched Emerson turn it over in his head.
“That’s…great,” he said slowly, “but it’s so close to the wedding to figure this all out. What if Ben and Alexei can’t find an available school bus?”
“Oh, they already have it all set.” Leah leaned against the kitchen island, a smug smile tugging at her lips that she tried to hide.
But Luca knew this look, too. This was the part she was proudest of.
“I talked to Liv who talked to Mae who got me Ben’s phone number.
I gave him the name of a guy I know who works for the buses. It’s all set.”
“It’s all set?” Emerson blinked at her.
“Of course,” Luca said fondly. “The gossip phone tree of Greyfin Bay.”
Leah waved her son off.
“You call it gossip; I call it community organizing. Potato, pah-tah-to.”
“That is…and they’re really okay with it? Ben and Alexei?”
“Oh yeah. They love it. Ben offered me an invite to the wedding to express his gratitude. Which I’m not taking, considering I’ve never met these fellas and I know what one extra plate costs in terms of catering at these things, but if you need me around on your side the day of, I am one hundred percent here. ”
As long as you’re feeling okay that day, Luca said inside his head, but knew better than to say out loud.
Emerson opened and closed his mouth wordlessly, seeming a bit stunned.
“Anyway, I also heard you had one of the Gutierrez boys out here looking at the barn. I’d love to hear what they said and see how it’s lookin’, if that’s all right with you.”
“How did you hear—” Emerson shot a glance at Luca, but Luca only shook his head. A grin tugged at Emerson’s mouth. “Potato,” he said softly, which struck Luca as so fucking funny that he had to slap his hand over his mouth to hide the smile that was happening on his face.
“Of course it’s all right with me, Leah.” Emerson walked toward the sliding glass door, taking off his apron and draping it on a chair on the way. Once they were all outdoors, Leah walked beside Emerson while Luca trailed just behind, like an errant puppy.
“Where are the wedding guests staying?” he asked their backs.
“A hotel in Lincoln City,” Leah turned her chin to say.
“That makes sense.” Greyfin Bay was small enough that the only places for visitors to stay were individual rentals like Luca’s cabin or the dilapidated Fin Inn on the edge of town.
Luca hadn’t thought much about the actual logistics of the wedding until right now, but he was real glad Ben and Alexei weren’t staying at the Fin Inn.
“I should have offered my cabin to Ben and Lex,” he said. “For the day of at least, for getting ready and stuff.”
“Oh, that would’ve been a lovely idea!” Leah paused to turn to Luca with a smile. “But I’m sure they’re already all set.”
“Well,” Emerson said slowly, hands in his pockets, “I think the plan was them getting ready in my house. But if they want to go the patriarchal way of getting ready separately…maybe one of them could use your cabin, and one could use the house?”
Luca retrieved his phone.
“Let me just double check—” He cleared his throat. “Yeah. Have some people checking out that morning, but it’d be clear by ten.” Open for the rest of the day. On a Saturday. “I’ll send Ben a text.”
Leah patted Luca’s cheek again.
“How is the rental business going, by the way? Had any jerks since those people the other week?”
“No, everything’s been fine.” Just fine! Luca thought, feeling halfway delirious again. Everything was totally, completely fine!
“You had jerks at your cabin?”
Emerson frowned, in that deep way that made the dimple in his chin pop.
“Just some people that left it kind of a mess.” It had been more than a mess, really—there had been scratches in both the floor and Luca’s bedframe that Luca couldn’t just sweep away.
He still felt pissed when he thought about it enough.
He was just usually too busy breaking his back on a farm and fucking Emerson King to think about it. “It’s fine. Come on, let’s keep going.”
With one last look at Luca, Emerson kept walking.
Leah was full of compliments before they even stepped inside the old barn.
“Look at this door!” she enthused, pushing it back and forth in a show of how easily it now swung open.
Emerson grinned. “I am pretty proud of that, gotta say.”
Things only got more exciting for Leah Yaeger once they were inside.
She was impressed with how much cleaning Emerson had done, his repairs to the gaps in the walls; she hummed with understanding as Emerson explained what the Gutierrez boys were going to do this week to reinforce the beams; she was charmed by the strings of warm globe lights Emerson had strung across the ceiling, hanging down from the hay loft.
Luca hung back, arms crossed as he listened in. He was charmed, too. By all the work Emerson had done. By how easily Emerson and his mom interacted. The fact that his mom had randomly shown up at Emerson’s door at all, and the fact that Emerson seemed delighted by it.
She could be your mom, too, he thought, even if he felt insane thinking it. Because truly—what the fuck? He didn’t even know what was happening between him and Emerson, not really, not with any confidence, and yet here his brain was, still thinking things like—
She would love you, too. Like you’ve always deserved to be loved.
He listened to Emerson and Leah discuss plans for the wedding, and for the first time, through the haze of his delusional thoughts, Luca could actually picture it.
Golden light in the wildflower fields. Laughter and music filling up this old barn nestled in the trees.
Everyone would be so happy, Ben and Alexei so in love.
And then—
And then what?
Luca’s heart beat so loudly, his brain feeling thick and heavy, dragging on his neck like a drunk bobblehead, that he barely heard anything else Leah and Emerson said the entire walk back down the hill.
Emerson’s hands rested casually in his pockets, Leah’s gait slow but steady while the sun shone happily on their shoulders.
Like they’d known each other forever. Like they’d all always been right here.