Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
Andie was used to crying children. Their hugs and teary grins often made a difficult day completely worth it. She wasn’t used to inconsolable children that flung themselves around her legs and wouldn’t let go.
There were days she wished for an assistant teacher. Today, for instance. An extra set of hands, and arms, would always be welcomed in her world. The rest of her students played contently, so Andie slid to the floor to address her clinger.
“Hey, Emma, what’s wrong?” Andie hoped the baby wasn’t sick again.
Emma sniffled and rubbed her nose into Andie’s shoulder.
Andie shifted until her back was supported by a wall and rubbed a hand up and down the little girl’s back. At least she could see most of her room. It took a few minutes, and more calming words, but Emma’s sniffles slowed. She spoke, the words muffled by Andie’s now wet shirt.
“Sweetheart, it’s going to be okay.”
Emma pulled back, wiping her nose with her sleeve. “I don’t want you to go.”
Andie knew from experience there were multiple possible meanings behind that sentence. “What do you mean, sweetie?”
“I don’t want the school to close. I want you to stay!” Emma burst into tears again and sagged into Andie’s arms.
Gut punch delivered, preschooler style. Andie took a deep breath. A few kids glanced her way and she worried she’d have more crying students on her hands. She tapped a finger to Emma’s nose and looked into those watery blue eyes. “Now, where did you hear that?”
“Dad and Papa were talking about how they need to find a new school for me next year. But I don’t want a new school. I want to stay here. With you!”
Andie’s heart tore a bit. Change was hard. Especially at four years old. “You’d have a new teacher next year anyways.” And soon, kindergarten.
“No. I don’t want a new teacher. I want you here.” Emma stomped.
Andie needed a redirection, and fast. “I know. I understand you. But I have a question for you. What did you get your fathers for Christmas?”
“They buy me gifts. I don’t have money to buy for them.”
“What if we made them something?”
Emma sniffed and ran a sleeve under her nose. “Okay.”
Andie brought Emma over to the crafts table to get her started on a handmade gift. She knew the less she said the better. Small ears picked up things and she didn’t know what any of the other students had overheard or been told.
She wanted to tell Emma that an appeal had been filed, and they could save the school. But that would give Emma hope that Andie struggled to hold onto. They’d filed appeal after appeal already, and all had been denied. All the love that everyone had for the school had yet to be enough to save it. Because in the end, it came down to the dollars and cents, and the town simply didn’t have enough.
With Emma refocused, Andie stood and checked on each of her students. No more tears, no one else seemed affected by Emma’s outburst. So far. It had taken Emma nearly halfway through the day to crumble.
“Miss Andie, I made a tower!”
Andie smiled at Kayden, beaming up at her with the biggest smile. “I see. That is a big tower.”
“I made it myself!”
“Nuh-uh, I helped!” Xavier said.
“Did not.” Kayden pushed Xavier.
“Did too!” Xavier pushed Kayden back.
Andie sprung into action as the tower fell, separating the two amid the fallen blocks. Never a dull moment in her job. She wouldn’t change a thing.
Except for the appeal to go through with budget for an assistant. That she would change.
The scents of wood and dust filled the air as Leo investigated the midcentury modern dining set Dean had brought in from an estate sale. Dentz Antiques tended to have older styles, but Leo couldn’t deny this beauty had potential, and it belonged in a shop like theirs.
After he got a chance to play up that potential for all to see.
The sleek lines exuded grace. A warm cherry wood lurked under years of neglect. One corner had water damage stripping away at the finish. Cup rings existed in other parts, but only this area had the extensive damage. He touched the wood, seeking its story. Household leak? Kids’ corner where things spilled on the regular? Had it been left outside and this corner got uncovered? So many options. He’d never quite know the answer, but one thing held true: This table had been well loved.
He’d make sure it would be loved again. It had the character someone would spend good money for.
Family dinners could happen here again, children working on homework. All that the table had already experienced would happen again—as soon as Leo finished shining it up and showing others what he saw.
The fourth chair wobbled more than he liked, and he had it upside down, studying how it originally went together, when heavy footsteps alerted him to company.
“You’re still here?” Dean asked, sliding up next to him, hands in his pockets.
“Yeah, I’m still here. Where do you expect me to be after you dump a truckload of furniture?”
Dean looked around at the items Leo had spread out, each with papers attached to them chronicling what they needed and their potential worth. “You’ve got to save something for tomorrow.”
Leo fiddled with the leg some more. “Why put off to tomorrow what you can get done today?”
Dean laughed. “That one only works if you took a day off every now and then. Did you even eat lunch?”
Leo flipped the chair upright and rubbed his forehead. Then did so again with his other arm to remove the dust. “Is it noon?”
“Oh man,” Dean snorted.
“One?”
“Try three forty-five.”
Leo faced his brother, sure he had misheard. Dean repeated the same scary chronological number sequence.
Leo scrubbed a hand down his face. It was nearly four. He’d planned to leave by four to get ready for his date. He even arrived at the shop early to make up for it, too. None of that mattered when he’d been in the zone. Didn’t matter how many times he’d been teased for it, he never quite managed to not get lost in a work-related time warp. If Dean hadn’t interrupted him, he would have kept going until he finished the job.
And then he would have been late for his date with Andie.
“Aren’t you hungry? If I miss a meal my stomach yells at me. You just go into a work-mode coma.”
Coma. Time warp. He’d heard it all. “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” His stomach took that moment to grumble, not in the past three hours. At least, he didn’t think his stomach had grumbled.
Dean walked around the dining room set. “I knew this one would be a good one for us. Hoped it would be a really outstanding one.” Dean gave Leo puppy dog eyes.
Leo shook his head. “It’s good, but not that good. I need to fix at least one of the chairs.”
“And the armoire?”
They both turned to the item in question.
“A bit more worn than the rest. It’ll make someone happy.”
“But no dollar signs in our eyes. Got it.” The words may have been casual, but they held the heavy weight of their reality.
“We’ll keep this place.”
Dean flashed a smile, a fake one, that Leo could see through because he knew his brother well. “Of course. We break it, we bought it, right?”
Leo groaned and began putting items away to close up for the day. “If that were true, we’d be the owners by now.”
Dean helped, and they worked together side by side like they’d done for years.
“Got any other estate sales booked?” Leo asked.
“Just one, I’m not expecting much. Might be a few good odds and ends but that’s it.”
They needed more than that. Time was running out, and their options dwindled by the day. Leo wouldn’t give up. He’d find a way, even if it took him until the very last second.
The large white envelope that arrived for his father suggested the last second could be as early as tomorrow. In truth, he didn’t know what information was in the letter, only that it was from the business lawyer, and he doubted it was paperwork to pass Dentz Antiques onto the next blood generation.
His stomach grumbled again.
“Feed that thing already. I’ll finish up here.”
Leo paused. He took in all the items out of place and had flashbacks to a younger Dean assisting in putting away Legos. Leo had organized the blocks, he just needed a few pieces put back. Dean had created a tornado that never got back together again. “I’ll be fine.” He had an order and a way of organization for new items coming into the shop. There were systems to uphold. If Dean put something away wrong, he’d be lost trying to get back on track.
Dean opened his mouth, ready to protest, as usual.
“I’ve got this.”
Dean snapped his mouth closed and turned, but not before Leo caught the hurt on his face. His voice bounced into the shop, echoing and losing clarity.
“What was that?” Leo spoke loud, a force of habit when he couldn’t hear.
Dean angled his head back, not stopping. “I said, suit yourself,” He yelled.
Leo watched him walk away, wondering what he missed.
Andie stood in her closet, in her bathrobe, staring at her clothes. Her hands still sported a light red and green tint from the art project of the day, and no amount of exfoliating brought her back to normal.
“I guess I’m going be festive tonight,” she grumbled to herself. “What goes with red and green?”
Her phone rang from the pocket of her robe and she pulled it out to find an incoming call from Sarah. She clicked answer. “Exactly the person I needed; help dress me for this date.”
“Well hello to you, too,” Sarah said, voice lifting at the end in amusement.
Andie switched ears. “Hi. Thanks for calling. Can you help me?”
Sarah’s chirpy laughter echoed through the line. “Not much better, but considering I called to check in on your upcoming date, I’ll give it a pass. What are you currently wearing?”
Andie tightened the sash, swallowing a laugh. How kind of Sarah to think she’d gotten farther than this. “A bathrobe.”
“Oh, so you don’t need my help.”
Andie sighed and rummaged through the colorful array of her tops. “I’m getting dressed for dinner, with no immediate plans for after.”
“I’m pouting at you.”
Andie chuckled and pulled out a black top. “What goes with the lingering dye of red and green?”
“Ouch. Wrong holiday colors.”
“No kidding.”
“What are your options?”
Andie studied the silky material in her hand. “Black?”
“I know it’s slimming and all, but don’t you want something cheery?”
She hung the shirt back on the rack. “And we’re back to the red and green.”
Andie ruffled through her clothes to the sounds of Sarah’s laughter.
“If this guy really likes you, he’s going to like you in whatever you wear. Be you. Be comfortable.”
Andie considered that, and it gave her zip ideas on direction. “You know that doesn’t help the indecisive!”
“Has it really been that long since you went on a date that this is such an issue?”
Andie slumped to the floor in front of her clothes. “Perhaps.” She’d been focused on her father as his health declined, and between his care and her students, there hadn’t been much time for anything else. That didn’t change when he passed and with the school closing and her job search there were days Andie simply collapsed into her bed at the end with no desire for socialization.
Sarah sighed. “Switch to video.”
Andie pulled her phone away from her ear and did as she was told.
“Good, now slowly scroll your closet.”
“Must you use your teacher voice for this?”
“If you don’t slow down I’m going to have to!”
Andie’s arm started to hurt as she held her phone, slowly shifting through her closet until an “ooohhhh” came through the line.
She faced the camera. “What?”
“My two o’clock, teal and sparkly. Red and green won’t clash but it’s a more blueish tone so doesn’t scream ‘jingle my bell.’”
“‘Jingle my bell?’ Really?”
“Well, I’m all for some jingling, but this is your life not mine. Yesssss! That could work.”
Andie held the dress out and had to admit, it was nice. A clearance find from last year, never worn, as the tag clearly informed her. The silky feeling material had a fun shimmer to it, the sleeves poofing just enough to add more flair.
“Thoughts?”
Andie bit her lip. She’d bought it because it was cute and looked good on her. But clearly with the tags still on, she hadn’t found a chance to wear it.
Maybe that had changed. And if it hadn’t, maybe she needed to make it change.
“I think a date is a perfect excuse to cut off the tags.”
Sarah squealed. “Yes! Try it on and show me!”
Andie put the phone down and changed into the dress. It slipped on, silky against her skin, hugging her curves. She felt good in it, and it looked just as good as she remembered.
She collected her phone.
“Ooh, yes! Hot! Leo’s going to swallow his tongue!”
Andie slid a hand down her side. “It’s good, isn’t it?” She displayed her more colorful hand. “Huh, it kinda blends.”
“Multicolor works for art-day mishaps. Why has it taken us so long to learn?”
“Because we both need to get out more.” Andie caught a glimpse of the time and swallowed. “He’ll be here in ten.”
“Then what are you doing talking to me! Go get finished! And have fun!”
The call disconnected and Andie hurried into the bathroom to fix her curls. At least its normal state was messy; she’d given up on smooth years ago. A fresh coat of makeup and she managed to exit her bedroom the same time as the knock at her door.
“Showtime.”
Her heels clicked against her hardwood floor as she walked across the room, opening the door to Leo. He stood there, haloed by the poor hall lighting, hair slicked back, blue shirt, collar open at the neck, and a black jacket. It looked as though he hadn’t shaved since the morning, the five-o’clock shadow darkening his jaw.
Andie nearly swooned.
His dark eyes raked her in from head to toe, before settling on her face. “You look beautiful.”
Her cheeks lifted, part in thanks and part in embarrassment. Compliments always gave her a little kick, albeit an awkward one. “Thanks. You look nice yourself.”
He cleared his throat. “Shall we? I know we’re going to the same place but if you prefer to take separate cars, I understand.”
She swooned in a completely different manner. “My friend knows where I am and who I’m with, but the fact you acknowledge it means a lot.” She grabbed her jacket and purse.
“I have an older sister. She made sure to tell both me and my brother her reality.”
“Smart woman.”
They exited to the hall and she locked her door.
“And she has a daughter, so if we even dared to try and forget and get comfortable with our privilege, my niece would remind us.”
“Your niece and not your sister?”
They hadn’t moved beyond her door, standing there in the dimmed lighting of the hall.
“Yes, my niece. A firecracker from day one.”
“You’ve mentioned this niece before. I suspect she’s a handful.”
“Not one you’d want in your class?”
“Depends on if she’s a helpful firecracker or pot-stirring one.”
Leo faced down the hall to the elevators and began walking. Andie fell into step beside him. “A bit of both. Depends on her mood.”
Andie chuckled. “Then I’m sure she would have been a blast, and part of the reason why I am extra colorful for this date.” She held out her hands, and even in the dim lighting her chosen career showed loud and clear.
“Oh, wow.” Leo reached out, gently cupping his hands under hers. The contact barely there and still able to send a spark right up her arm. “If that was your day, Millie would have arrived home looking like a Christmas tree stand-in.”
Andie laughed and lowered her hands. The loss of contact didn’t diminish the lingering spark—the kind that made her want more. She hoped the quick rub of his hand on the back of his neck meant Leo felt it, too. “I did have a handful of students who will need a good bubble bath tonight.”
“Not staying festive?”
Andie held up her hands again as Leo pressed the button to call the elevator. “Considering this is after exfoliating, I suspect we all will be a little extra festive for a few days. If only I got some blue in there.” Andie tried to pout, but she ended up laughing at herself instead.
The elevator arrived and they stepped in. “Well, I think you look lovely, and that includes the festive coloring.”
“You really are being careful not to put down my job,” Andie smirked.
“I learn from my mistakes when I can.”
His words held a weight she suspected didn’t tie into their conversation. The elevator doors closed and the metal box lurched into action. Curiosity welled up inside, but she suppressed it. Leo would be a person to enjoy in the moment. Whatever troubles he had going on in his life would still be there after she left.
Leo didn’t choose the fanciest restaurant in the area. Truth be told, he wouldn’t even begin to know where they were and if the food was any good. He worked too much, sacrificing his personal life to try and repair his professional one. If he didn’t sway his father soon, he would have failed in every direction.
He pushed those thoughts aside. He could worry about it after Chanukah. Certainly not when he had Andie sitting across the booth from him. The midweek crowd meant the tables on either side of them were empty, creating an intimate experience. It also created a quieter one, which gave him a better chance at hearing. He’d been here a few times before, found the food to be good, the staff friendly, and the atmosphere comforting. Maybe not on a wine-and-dine level, but he never claimed to be a wine-and-dine guy.
“You’ve mentioned your niece a few times, who else will be at your family Chanukah celebration?”
Leo reached forward to grab a roll from the basket. “You’re curious about that?”
Andie waved a hand in the air. “Humor me, what does Leo’s family tree look like?” In contrast to her hand, her aura felt heavy, like this simple conversation held more weight than he could imagine. Her leather cuff caught his vision and something clicked. His family was alive and well and often giving him grief. Andie’s was gone.
He leaned back, taking a bite of the still-warm sourdough roll. He took on a light tone, wanting to lift the mood. “So you want to know about my family now?”
Andie smiled, but he noted not as wide as usual. “Families fascinate me. Especially as I no longer have much of one of my own.”
He studied her face, the way the lighting smoothed over her cheeks, the leather cuff she wore even with her dress. “And this helps you?”
“For some reason, yes. Even if I’m missing the small one I used to have, I can still be interested in others.” She wiped a line of condensation off her water glass. “Besides, I hope to have a big family one day, or at least, a bigger one.”
Leo didn’t understand it. The beauty across from him had a mesmerizing aura. Who wouldn’t want Andie to brighten up their family? “I hope you do as well.”
She smiled at him, this one full. It lit him up, a warmth tumbling out from deep within. An urge for more than this night and this week welled, but he quashed the notion as fast as it began.
“I’m one of three kids. The middle child.”
“Is it as bad as they say to be the middle child?”
He glanced down at the crumbs on his plate. He wasn’t your typical middle child, not since his hearing changed. But that wasn’t what she asked for. “Well, I’m the oldest boy, so take middle with a grain of salt. My sister is the oldest, she’s the mother of my niece. My younger brother is single and works with me. Mom and Dad are still alive. Sometimes my uncles will join us, but the extended family doesn’t do much outside of the big events.”
“That reads like a generic family tree. What does it feel like?”
He’d never been asked, but Andie leaned forward, elbows on table, as if Leo prepared to share the secret of the universe. “We’re … complicated.” He took a sip of his drink. Andie didn’t move, not allowing him off the hook but also not pushing him. “Mostly we’re a family that gets along, enjoys each other’s company. My brother and I work for my dad.”
“That’s nice.”
He couldn’t stop the harsh, quick laugh. “No, it’s not. I was an asshole of a teenager, roped Dean into my antics, and that’s why Dad won’t sell the business to us.”
“Ouch.”
“He has other reasons besides that, but I’m trying to win him over.”
“Well, I hope you succeed.”
A silence encompassed them, accentuating the lively chatter at other tables. “What was it like, before your father passed?”
Andie sighed and fiddled one red-and-green hand on her cuff. “It was nice. Quiet. Just the two of us, since the rest of my family is not worth the drama. We spent a lot of time together in general, but he always made the holidays special. Maybe it was just the way he was or to make up for missing my mother and not having a large supportive family. But it shaped me.”
Lights practically danced in her eyes as she talked about her upbringing. “It suits you.”
She grinned. “Thanks.”
Cheering erupted from a large group in the corner. A woman held up something she pulled out of a bag. Andie turned, watching the commotion with him. When she faced him again her eyebrows were raised, a question on her face, and he hadn’t a glimmer of an idea why.
“Did you hear me?”
An uncomfortable vibe settled over him. In his experience, people looked at him different after knowing he had a disability. Especially his father.
“No, I did not. I’m hard of hearing.” He pointed to one of his hearing aids. He didn’t have long enough hair to cover them, but the neutral tones of the aids and the thin tubing, along with the general low observance level of the population, meant he’d only had one person who had spotted them on their own, and that person happened to wear hearing aids as well.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I asked what was going on over there.” Her voice came louder than it had before.
“Don’t be sorry. I hadn’t told you.”
She studied his face, what she looked for he couldn’t begin to guess. “Fair enough. Have you always worn hearing aids?”
“No.”
She waited but he didn’t want to get into it, not here, not now. Didn’t want to give her a reason to look at him differently.
He nodded to the noisy table. “Whatever is going on over there seems to involve the bags they have on the table.”
Andie nodded and checked on the table. She made sure to face him before speaking. Or she faced him after he didn’t respond—either option held possibility. “Family gathering or business Yankee swap?”
He studied the group. Most appeared around the same age, and not all the same race. Another person opened a bag, pulled out what appeared to be a stuffed chicken toy. “If it’s family then it’s a chosen-family situation.”
This person pointed across the table, where a man held up his hands in surrender and the crowd laughed some more.
“Oh, perhaps a secret Santa?” Andie scooted her chair so she could see the crowd and him. “And I think ‘chosen family’ works for them.”
“Where’s your chosen family, Andie?”
She fixed her chair, her brown eyes landing on his. “I have a few good friends, but I mostly haven’t found them yet.” She shrugged. “Maybe they are in Ohio, waiting for me.”
His smile slipped but he forced it back in place, though he didn’t like her answer. He wanted her family to be here, with him. Not chosen but family family. It filled him up, a missing part now found. The feelings crawled out of all the locked boxes he held deep inside, from the two years he wanted to be right here, with Andie, and hadn’t. Bigger than their short time together allowed for. He’d thought his feelings were a crush, a desire for her when life didn’t allow for it. He’d underestimated his own emotions. Their meal arrived with such perfect timing he could have kissed their waiter. A distraction was exactly what he needed. Andie wouldn’t be his family. She’d be merely a beautiful CliffsNotes , a holiday tale.
“I know there is a family out there waiting for you, because any family would be lucky to have you as part of them.”
Andie paused with a fork in her hands. “That’s really sweet. Thank you.”
He focused on his food. Kicking himself for waiting too long to make his move. If he hadn’t … well, no use in wondering, he couldn’t change the past any more than he could prevent damaging the grandfather clock in the first place.