26. Get Her On Board
Get Her On Board
Leo
‘I’m so fuckin’ bad at this.’ I laugh as I reel in a big fat nothing, yet again. Fishing is not my thing, but Doug likes to get all outdoorsy from time to time, and my staying in town to plan the wedding means I get dragged along.
‘Yeah, but you’re pretty, so we keep you around.’ Doug snickers.
This feels good, being back in town. It’s been so long since I’ve had the opportunity to be here for an extended period like this. I love my life in the city. I love my shop, but I love Forest Falls, and I love my people. Right now, more than usual, I really fucking love my dad and Lucy; without knowing it, they helped me get my plan together.
When I showed up at the barbecue, my only plan was to play it cool, not make a beeline for Zoe but stay back and remind her how well we all fit together — me with her family, her with mine. I hadn’t accounted for the goddam white sundress she was wearing, her tattoos beautifully on show, and that lilac hair I’ve been obsessing over, hanging in waves to her shoulders. She was beautiful, and I almost choked on my own damn tongue the second I saw her.
I needed to figure out a way to insert myself back into her life without it being obvious and putting pressure on her, and then my pops made it all so easy. When he told me they’d decided to finally go and get married, I knew it would give me the chance to spend more time in town, more time with munch, showing her how good we could be.
Now I know what I have to do — just be around her, be myself, be us the way we always were.
‘Ooh, this is a big one.’
I sit and watch as Doug reels in his catch.
‘What’s Cara doing today?’ I ask absentmindedly.
‘I don’t know, hanging out with Bo.’
I love that they’re the kind of couple that gives each other space without needing to know all the details.
‘I love seeing you happy, man.’ I smile, and he turns to me, beaming.
‘Yeah, it feels pretty good.’
Doug drops into the chair next to mine, and I hand him a beer from the cooler next to me.
‘Do you think you’ll get married?’
‘Without a doubt.’ I widen my eyes at the speed of his answer, and he laughs. ‘I love her. She’s fucking beautiful, for a start. She makes me laugh, she challenges me, and it’s the best sex of my life, brother.’ He drops his head back, and I know he’s thinking about it. ‘She’s perfect.’
‘She’s great with Bo, too,’ I add, and he smiles wide, nodding enthusiastically.
‘They fuckin’ adore each other. If I didn’t already love Cara, seeing her with Bowie would seal it.’ He swigs from his bottle, and I do the same. ‘Listen, Leo. I know I said I didn’t think you could do it, and I’m sorry for that. I want you to have this. Every morning, I wake up knowing I have the love of my life next to me, and it feels like nothing else matters, you know? All the dumb shit I’ve done, the mistakes I’ve made, doesn’t matter because having her in my arms washes it all away.’
I blow out a breath at his poetic honesty. I’ve never heard him talk like this.
‘When did you know?’ He waits for more. ‘That it was love, the real deal.’
‘Ah,’ he smiles again, ‘way sooner than I admitted it, even to myself. When I couldn’t get her out of my head, and just the thought of her made my guts knot up, and when I craved just a glimpse of her. When I lost her and thought I wouldn’t get her back. It wasn’t one big moment, you know? It was moment after moment of, holy shit, I can’t live without this woman.’
‘Yeah.’ I think about Zoe. It’s different because I’ve always known it was her, even when I knew it couldn’t be. That’s the reason I never did the relationship thing. What was the point when I would always be in love with her?
‘Can I ask you something?’ He turns his head to look at me, and I nod as I take a drink. ‘Why now?’
‘What?’
‘Why do you want a relationship now after never wanting it before?’
‘I told you, I…’
‘You thought you got somebody pregnant, yeah, I know, but I can’t put it together why that would change your whole outlook.’
I inhale deeply, then fuck it, I dip my toes.
‘It didn’t. I always wanted it.’ Doug’s eyes widen, and he turns his body more to face me head-on. ‘Wanting it was never what stopped me — it was about connection. I never found it, not with any of the women I met. No spark, nothing that made me want more with any of them, so I stopped trying.’
‘Leo…’ His frown has me turning my gaze to the water, focusing on the glistening ripples in front of me.
‘It’s not a big deal, man. I had a lot of fun for a lot of years, but now, I want more. I want to wake up feeling what you feel, knowing that I have the woman of my dreams in my arms. I’m ready.’
‘She’s a lucky woman,’ he murmurs, and I turn to him, wondering. Does he know? ‘Whoever she may be, when you find her, she’s gonna know she’s the luckiest woman in the world to have a man like you.’
‘Love’s made you soft, brother,’ I joke to take the heat off me, and he shakes his head, laughing low and slow, and I know that laugh.
‘Nah, makes me hard as a fuckin’ rock.’
‘You’re an animal.’
The bastard just grins. ‘You’re damn right, and Zoe’s taking Bo on Friday, so I can show my girl just how much.’
Hmm… interesting.
‘Taking her where?’
‘Nowhere, just to her place for the night. I’m going to grill us a couple of steaks, open up a bottle or two of wine, and rattle the walls of that old house.’
‘That kind of talk will have you putting a baby in her before long.’
‘I’d do it tonight if she’d let me.’
‘Damn. Who are you?’ I laugh, and he shrugs.
‘I love her. I love our little family. It’s too soon, I know that, but we can practice, right?’
‘You sure can, man.’
I smile, and we fall quiet, him thinking about Cara, me thinking about my plan. Bowie’s staying over at Zoe’s. This could work…
‘Leo Bennett, what can I do you for?’
I grin as I walk into Bree’s office and lean down to kiss her cheek.
‘Shrimp, look at you, queen of the castle.’
I drop down into the chair in front of her desk, and she laughs, a sound I’ve heard a million times but one that will never fail to make me smile. Campbell women don’t hide a damn thing. Lynnie taught her girls to love who they are and show that to the world, and I adore her for it.
‘You want somethin’, spill it.’
‘Man, you’re good. You ever consider police work?’
‘Baby, I’m about to read you your rights for wasting my time,’ she smirks, ‘what do you need?’
‘I just heard that Bowie is spending the evening with munch, and I don’t get a lot of Bo time, so thought I might stop by, but I don’t want to interrupt girl time if you’re hanging out there too.’
‘Girl time. You don’t want to interrupt girl time. That’s what you’re goin’ with?’
I laugh. I can’t help it because the look in her eyes is pure mischief, and I love finally talking to someone who, even if neither of us is saying it directly, knows what I’m getting at.
‘What else would I go with, chief?’
‘I don’t think you want to get into that, Leo.’ She pulls up her phone, and my heart races. Please don’t tell Zoe I’m here. ‘Well, would you look at that,’ she widens her eyes at me, then her cell phone, ‘I was going to hang out at Zoe’s tonight, but something just dropped into my schedule.’
She smirks, and I grin widely.
‘I love you, Breanne Campbell, you know that, right?’ I stand and head around to hug her and kiss the top of her head.
‘You better,’ she calls out as I back out of her office. ‘Don’t waste this opportunity, Leo,’ she points at me, ‘get her on board.’
With a last smile, I turn and walk away, knowing two things for sure: Zoe has talked to Bree about us, and Bree wants it to happen. I can work with that.