Chapter 14 Leo #2
“Huge understatement.” Miranda grinned, and my heart skipped at how radiant and lit from within she appeared.
Fifteen minutes later, Katy dropped off our food.
The Landslide’s basic menu obviously hadn’t changed in decades, but the fare was delicious in the way only small-town bar food could be.
Like the recipes had been perfected over generations.
The walls of the place reflected the same hometown aesthetic, covered in photos of Coleman Creek citizens over the years.
After finishing our dinners, we played pool, and I caught Miranda staring at a faded color photo tacked up near the restrooms. In it, a couple sat at a booth near the bar, smiling widely, brown beer bottles in hand.
Based on the clothes and hair, I guessed the picture was taken in the mid-to-late 80s.
The man had silvery-blond hair and deep wrinkles next to his eyes.
The woman appeared significantly younger.
And familiar.
“Your mom?” I asked. I'd never seen photos of Alice Davis at this age.
“And my dad.” Miranda’s response caused me to do a double take. “He was twenty-five years older than her.” She tsked. “It was quite the scandal back in the day, but they didn’t care. They made it work for fifteen years.”
I knew Miranda’s father died when she was a baby, but I didn’t know he’d been that much older than her mom. The only picture of him at the house was a faded wedding photo.
Staring at the image, there was no doubt in my mind that Miranda’s parents had been deeply in love. “Fifteen years doesn’t seem like a long time,” I said. “Then again, some people go their whole lives without ever finding love for even a day.”
She must have caught the hitch in my voice because she coiled her arm around my elbow.
“I know it’s been a while since we talked about…
about…” She whooshed out a breath. “It’s been a minute since we did any kind of deep dive into your being asexual.
And I know you’re living a perfectly complete and full-throated existence without a romantic partner.
But I hope you never forget how much love you have in your life.
You’re my best friend in the world. It might not be the same as what my parents had, or what people imagine when they think of a relationship, but I do love you, Leo-Bear. ”
I leaned over to kiss the top of her head. “I love you too, Panda. And trust me when I say our relationship has fulfilled me in ways I didn’t even know were possible.” She had no idea how much.
Her expression was serious as she gazed up at me. “No matter what happens, after all of this. With Stone or…whatever. Never forget that I love you. Even when we were fighting and not talking, I never stopped.”
I couldn’t decipher her words. Or figure out why she sounded so forlorn. My guess was that she wanted to make a real go of things with Stone and was trying to put me on notice that she might need to spend time working on that.
She reached out with a finger to touch the image of her father.
“He died when I was fourteen months old. Maureen has some memories of him, but it’s sketchier for Marley, and I don’t remember a thing.
Our mom told us some stories, but mostly, he’s an enigma.
Except the one thing everyone who’s known our family seems to agree on is that, of the three of us, I’m the most like him personality-wise.
Mom used to say I got his cheerful temperament and wicked sense of humor.
When I started traveling in college, she talked to me about how he’d done the same thing in his early years, before they met.
His employees at the plant loved him because he was a good boss.
The kind who let you off early if your kid had a baseball game and never had a harsh word for anyone.
It makes me feel good to know we’re alike, that I have something of his legacy even if he didn’t get to raise me.
I don’t miss him the way I miss my mom, of course, but I wish I could have met him.
” She paused before concluding, “I feel his absence. Not like grief. More like a missed opportunity.”
I pulled her to my side and glanced at the picture again. At her father’s wide-open smile, so like hers. “I’m sure he’d be proud of you.”
“I hope so.”
“Miranda?”
We turned to see a man with curly brown hair lumbering toward us. I knew I’d met him before, but I couldn’t place him.
“Kase! Hey.” Miranda clapped her hands together, looking down at the two preschoolers giggling and clutching his legs. “I see you’ve developed a parasitic condition.” I recognized the small boy and girl as Katy’s kids.
The man chortled. “Alright, you hooligans,” he said, peeling them off his jeans. “Go find Mommy.”
As the kids scampered to where Katy waited by the counter, he walked over to us with a tentative smile. Miranda had no such hesitancy, pulling him into a hug.
“It’s so good to see you!” she enthused. Turning to me, she asked, “Leo, have you met Kasen yet? He’s a…friend of Marley’s, and all of us, really.” To Kasen, she said, “This is Leo, James’s brother.”
Kasen shook my hand. “Hey, man. I think we met at the wedding reception, right?”
I snapped my fingers. “That’s it. I was trying to place you. How’s it going?” I recalled hearing that Kasen and Marley used to date before she met James, and he’d known Miranda since she was young.
“Can’t complain.”
Miranda looked at where Katy was setting up her kids in a booth with a tablet and two headsets. “Babysitting?”
Kasen crooked an elbow to grab the back of his neck. “Yeah. Rosie, Braxton, and I are good friends. Since I mostly work from home and we’re neighbors, I help out when I can.”
“That’s so sweet of you,” Miranda said.
“Really, it’s no big deal. They’re great kids.
” Suddenly, Kasen’s features changed like he’d turned on a mental lightbulb.
“Oh, shit! I just remembered I read about you two online. Everyone’s talking about it.
My parents even mentioned it.” He grinned at Miranda.
“Your sisters are going to flip when they find out.”
She rolled her eyes. “About Stone? They don’t care who I’m friends with. They’ll understand why I kept it quiet.”
“Not that. They’re gonna be pissed that you two have been dating in secret this whole time.”
I curled a protective arm around Miranda’s shoulders. “We had our reasons. They’ll get over it.”
Kasen lifted his hands. “Hey, man, no judgment here. I think it’s great. Miranda’s like a little sister to me, and if she’s happy, then I am too.”
Katy’s younger child, the little boy who’d tripped Miranda at the party, shouted across the room, “Sen, come watch with us!”
Kasen smiled. “Duty calls.” He slapped my shoulder and nudged Miranda into another quick hug. “See you soon, I hope.”
We watched as he sat down with the kids and Katy brought over plates of mac ’n’ cheese for them.
“I’m glad he seems good,” Miranda said. “He was a little weird when Marley and James first got together.”
“Yeah, James mentioned that. I guess enough time has passed.”
“Sure. Time heals heartbreak and all that.” She looked at the picture of her parents again. “Then again, Mom never dated again after losing Dad. One great love was enough for her.”
A shrill ringing invaded the air. Katy went behind the bar and picked up the handset of a heavy, old-fashioned phone.
“I can’t remember the last time I saw a landline,” I said as Miranda and I slid back into our booth.
“If that gets you going, you should check out the pay phone at the bowling alley.”
“Seriously? I’m totally doing that.”
“Such a city boy,” Miranda chided.
“And you’re not a city girl?”
She shook her head. “As much as I love Los Angeles and even Seattle, I’ll always be more comfortable here. It’s hard to explain, but I’ve been all over the world, and no place makes sense to me the way Coleman Creek does. It’s like it’s magical. I know that sounds corny, but it’s true.”
I took in the pictures of Coleman Creek citizens plastered to every inch of wall space.
While The Landslide's interior was clean, no one would describe it as “modern.” But there was something cozy about the mismatched chairs and weathered booths, like the unfussiness welcomed everyone.
A Christmas tree in the corner glittered with baubles and homemade ornaments.
It listed to the side under the weight of a beer can star.
Strands of twinkle lights looped around light fixtures with no rhyme or reason. It was the opposite of picture-perfect.
Just like the town. I could see why she loved it.
Miranda jumped in her seat when Katy slammed the handset onto the receiver, groaning.
“What’s the matter?” Kasen asked with concern.
“That was the mayor. George and Kenny Waldman got into a minor fender bender tonight. They’re okay, but they both need to stay off their feet for a week, plus George has a fractured elbow.”
Miranda edged out of the booth and sat at the bar. “That’s too bad, but…why did he call you about it?”
“Because The Landslide is a sponsor of the town’s holiday events.
We’ve got the tree all set up for the lighting this weekend, but the Holiday Hoopla doesn’t start getting assembled until mid-week.
George and Kenny own a construction company and always volunteer to help.
The mayor wanted to see if I had any ideas about how we could replace them. ”
“I can help,” Kasen offered. “My work hours are flexible, and both my elbows are unfractured.”
At his deadpan delivery, I eyed him. I could be friends with this guy.