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Living History Illinois Flockify DM, Saturday 9:55 AM @AlCaponesGhost25
SingerQueen: What sits at the bottom of the sea and twitches?
Living History Illinois Flockify DM, Tuesday 07:49 PM @AlCaponesGhost25
SingerQueen: Did I stump you with that one?
Living History Illinois Flockify DM, Thursday 11:55 AM @AlCaponesGhost25
SingerQueen: Hello?
In the week leading up to Halloween, I’m too busy to do much besides run the store and sew. I squeeze in a visit with Harvey who’s making progress with his walking, but training is a no-go. It almost feels like Leo and I are avoiding each other. My only interaction with him for the week is a wave or two through the windows and a comment he leaves on my Instagram post featuring Boris snoozing at my feet.
Did you register him as a lethal weapon yet? he writes. *Winky face emoji.*
It’s probably for the best that that’s all I get, but it also doesn’t feel like enough. His visit at my place still lingers in my mind like a cliffhanger at the end of a chapter where I’ve yet to turn the page.
The day before Halloween, however, I am done with all the preparations, most of my customers have picked up their costume orders, I’ve delivered the masquerade ball gown, and all I have left to do are the last few touches on my Belle dress.
Micki texts me as I’m finishing up the hem.
Be ready at 8. No excuses.
The last thing I want after this week is a night out, but one of the breweries nearby has an annual fall event the last weekend of October with apple-themed brews and all-you-can-eat BBQ that we always go to. A promise is a promise. Jaz will be there, too, as well as a couple of Micki’s colleagues from the salon who I’ve met before, so I know it’s a fun crowd. As long as I can muster up enough energy, it’ll be a good time.
“That’s what you’re wearing?” Micki frowns when I let her and Jaz in a little before eight. “You do remember what it’s like to go out, right?” She heads straight for the closet and opens the door, shaking her head. “I’ve neglected you. This is what happens when they flee the nest,” she complains to her sister. “A complete hermit.”
“What’s wrong with this?” I look down. Cozy knitted sweater, my favorite corduroy skirt, thick leggings, and combat boots. Perfect for a chilly, beer-filled fall evening.
“Nothing. If you were headed for the mall…” Micki turns around, a black off-the-shoulder top in her stretched-out hands. “Put this on. Keep the rest, but no grandma sweaters tonight.”
Jaz checks the time. “We have fifteen minutes.”
“Okay, okay.” I do what Micki asks, then return from the bedroom and give them a spin.
“And earrings.” Micki points me back to where I came from. “And run a brush through your hair, please. God, I can’t wait to get my hands on that tomorrow.”
Micki has persuaded me that, if I’m dressing up as Belle, I need princess hair to complete the illusion, so tomorrow I’m sitting my butt in her chair next door for a trim and style before trick-or-treating begins.
Jaz stomps her feet by the door. “Come on, people. Let’s go.”
“Schnitzel and Brew” has a long line of people waiting to get in, but with reservations, we pass the line and are seated without delay. Roderick and Donna from the salon are already there, so the first few minutes are a flurry of hugs and catching up.
“The first round’s on me,” Roderick says. “Prost!”
I tip back my Honeycrisp ale, and when the fizzy brew hits my system, the demands of the week finally drain away.
There’s live music, five different kinds of brats, ribs, slaw, laughter, and more beer. For the first time since I took charge of the store, I’m able to let go. One night. I’ve earned it.
“I hear you’re competing at Winter Fest this year,” Donna says when we’re in line for the bathrooms during a break from eating. “With the little one.”
“Cholula. Yeah.”
“Can she really balance on another dog?”
I could slap Micki. She wasn’t supposed to talk about that. I have no idea if Cho is going to pull it off in the end. So far, I’ve only been able to get her to climb onto Cap when he’s lying down. “We’re working on it,” I say. “I’m trying different things.”
We’re finishing our second round of drinks when Micki puts her hand on my arm and points to the entrance. “Look who’s here.”
I direct my attention to the crowd at the door, and there’s Leo accompanied by a slightly shorter version of himself and a redhead with an expensive blow-out.
“You should go say hi.” Micki nudges me.
Roderick leans forward. “Who are we talking about?”
“The king is here,” Micki says under her breath.
“He is?” Roderick’s head spins toward the door.
“The king?” I ask Micki. “You’d better not let Leo hear that or his head will explode.”
“I heard from a client that he was fired from his fancy Wall Street job, and there’s a lawsuit,” Donna says.
“No way,” Jaz says.
“Yeah, the king is no crook,” Roderick counters. “Look at that honest face.”
Honest or not, I am looking at Leo’s face. I feel like I haven’t looked at it in forever. The way it animates when he laughs, that thing he does with his eyebrows when he listens, the curve of his lips.
“We can add a few chairs,” Jaz says, seemingly having forgotten that he’s not supposed to know that I know her.
What? “No, I’m not sure that’s a…” But she’s already halfway across the room when I finish my sentence. “… good idea.”
And now they’re talking. She’s shaking Leo’s companions’ hands. They’re looking at me. I smile and wave. There’s something tentative in Leo’s movements as he lifts his hand in response, but then he nods at whatever Jaz is saying, and they all head our way. By the time he reaches us, he’s his regular, confident self.
“So you guys know each other?” he asks in greeting. “And your hair is blond, Jaz.”
Jaz’s face falls. “Shit. Sorry, Cora. I wasn’t thinking.”
“She’s my sister,” Micki volunteers. “Ta-da!”
“Really?” He cuts a glance from Micki to me. “Should I be concerned at this little undercover operation?”
I smile sweetly. “Depends. Do you have a bunch of skeletons in your closet I’ll be able to use against you?”
“You wish.” He grins, and I turn the proverbial page to the next chapter.
Finally.
“Cora, this is my brother, Bennett, and his wife, Courtney.” There are handshakes all around, more introductions, and a scramble to find more chairs for our table. We commandeer two, but a third one is not in the cards.
“That’s okay, you squeeze in next to Cora on the bench,” Micki says to Leo.
“You sure?” He looks to me.
Micki nudges my arm. “Come on, make room.”
What choice do I have?
Once we’re all seated, Bennett orders another round of drinks and appetizers for the table. If I understand him right, this is a rare night off for him and his wife. The kids are with the aunts, and they’re all staying the night there to take part in the festivities tomorrow. I only pick up snippets of the conversation after that—I’m too distracted by Leo pressed up against my side. Every time he goes to take a drink, his arm brushes mine. When he laughs, it reverberates from his muscular thigh, up my hip, and through my core and chest. The warmth from his body becomes my warmth.
The truth dawns on me halfway through Courtney’s story about some trip they went on last year to Sweden or Switzerland or someplace like that: I’ve missed seeing him this week.
“You okay?” Leo asks, his voice a murmur beneath the din of the room. “You’re quiet tonight.”
I have another sip of my beer before I turn to look at him. He’s so close that I see the dark blue star closest to his pupil. His lips part, and I look away.
“I’m good. I’d forgotten your brother was visiting.”
Another silence stretches between us. I smile and nod to something Bennett says without knowing what it was. My skin tingles, hyperaware of only Leo. His movements. His breathing. Does he want more space? Should I move closer to Micki? I fold my arms tightly, clasping one hand in the other.
“What do you do, Cora?” Courtney asks suddenly. Everyone turns to me.
“Um, I…” I reach for my beer but change my mind before picking it up.
Leo’s knee presses into mine. It’s subtle, but I’m not imagining it. I’m here , it says. Relax. Little does he know his body heat is the main reason I’m strung this tightly. At least that last move serves as confirmation that he doesn’t mind my proximity.
Finding my nerve, I flex my leg his way in return and take a deep breath, relishing the full-femoral contact. “I run a small pet shop,” I say.
“How quaint.”
“Or it’s my grandpa’s, but he’s recovering from a broken hip at the moment. Usually I’m more of a helper, but right now it’s just me.”
“Ah.” Courtney turns and flags down a server, having already lost interest. Maybe that’s what happens when you’ve married into the Canine King conglomerate.
I bite down on the inside of my cheek. “What about you?” I ask. She doesn’t hear me.
“They’re both lawyers,” Leo says, close enough to my ear that his breath teases goose bumps out of my skin. “Busy, busy, right guys?”
Bennett pulls his attention from his phone to Leo. “What’s that?”
“Work keeping you busy?”
“Always. Speaking of which, when’s this little suburban sabbatical over? I bet the city misses you.”
Leo runs a hand through his hair. “Yeah, no, I’ve still got… um… some time.” He glances at me, a strange expression flitting across his face.
“Man, I wouldn’t know what to do with myself. All that time off.”
Time off? What’s he talking about?
Donna’s voice cuts through the silence at the table. “I knew the gossip about you being fired wasn’t true. Didn’t I tell you that?” she asks Roderick. She puts another piece of pretzel in her mouth and leans forward. “But doesn’t opening a store defeat the purpose of a sabbatical? And what are you going to do with it when you go back to New York?”
Leo has become immobile at my side, and that’s when I put two and two together. His brother doesn’t know about the store. Bennett thinks Leo is here temporarily.
Is he?