36. Leo
Chapter Thirty-Six
LEO
Dora peered up at me with her hands on her hips. “They need a bed.”
It was amazing how quickly I had come to know her little traits. Hands on hips meant she was prepared to put up a fight about something. In this case, it was totally unnecessary. If she wanted a bed for the cats, it was a done deal.
“We’ll pick out a bed for them,” I said simply.
When her brows hitched up in surprise, my heart twisted in my chest. I would never know all that she experienced with her mom, but I had enough sense to recognize money had been tight. I wasn’t rich by any means, but I could cover the bills and buy cat beds. Those were the things that mattered.
Dora’s hands fell from her hips. She blinked up at me before her face cracked into a wide smile. “Yay!” She clapped her hands together. “When can we go?”
I glanced at my watch. “Now?”
“Yes, please.”
Off we went. Although Willow Brook had grown some recently, it was still a small town and always would be. Our options for cat bed shopping were the grocery store’s pet section and the small pet selection at the local hardware store. I decided we should try our luck at the grocery store first because I could get groceries at the same time.
“This one!” Dora announced a little while later at the grocery store. “Can we get two?”
At my nod, she selected two cat beds. They were pink with sparkly stars on them. I didn’t think the cats cared about the color, but Dora sure did. After that, we did a loop through the store, and I picked up some groceries for the upcoming week. After we brought everything back to the house and she supervised the cats as they inspected their new beds, Dora asked to go to Firehouse Café.
“To see Casey,” she explained as she looked up at me. “Are you having a slumber party with her tonight?”
I glanced at Dora. “Excuse me?”
“That’s what you do. I have a slumber party with Grammy and you have a slumber party with Casey.”
I bit back a sigh. Moments like this made me want that instruction manual. What was I supposed to say? Technically, she was accurate. I recalled back when Dora first came to stay with me that her therapist in Juneau had recommended to be honest whenever I could, even if it was awkward. Delaney had reinforced that, clarifying that sometimes kids would guess things and it was important to provide the information in a neutral, honest way.
I held Dora’s gaze. “Sometimes. How do you feel about that?”
“Well, I want you to marry Casey, so I feel good about that,” she said matter-of-factly.
Oh, fuck.
Scrambling mentally, I cleared my throat. “Well, uh, I don’t know if Casey and I are having a slumber party tonight. But we can go into Firehouse Café and maybe we’ll see her.”
Dora cocked her head to the side, scrunching her nose up as she considered this. “You don’t know if she’ll be there?”
“I don’t. She’s not always there. Sometimes, Janet, or Josie, or Luna is working.”
“Oh, okay.”
Dora said an elaborate goodbye to the cats and got her bucket purse.
A little while later, we were in the thick of an awkward situation. Casey’s smile was beyond strained, and her parents were there with Nathaniel and his parents. Dora had blinked up at Casey and asked her if she was okay, but Janet blessedly kept her occupied by bringing chalk and markers over to our table for her.
When I got up to go to the restroom, I was trying to figure out how to get a moment alone with Casey. Janet caught me by the elbow. “What is it?” I asked.
“I think you need to do your thing,” she whispered.
“My thing?”
“You’re Casey’s pretend fiancé. I think you need to make it really convincing right now.”