Chapter 18
Via and Leo got out of the car, him carrying Sir in the catpack and her hauling a large canvas grocery bag filled with hot
dogs, potato chips, ranch dip, a two-liter of soda, and some outrageously sweet snack cakes as they went to the front door.
She knocked once and walked in. “We’re here!” she announced.
“Hello!” Mom breezed into the living room with a beaming smile. A little too quickly, like she had been hovering in the nearby
hallway. “I’m Gayla. So wonderful to meet you, Leonardo.”
“You too, Mrs. Brewster.” Leonardo? he mouthed to Via.
Via shrugged. Maybe Dora had told her his full name.
“I’m so glad you can join Octavia on her annual camping trip,” Mom continued. “It’s a family tradition.”
“Really.” He arched an eyebrow at Via.
Dad walked into the room. Her parents both had on matching game day gray-and-red Ohio State sweatshirts, just like the one
Via had on. The university was their alma mater and where they’d first met.
Dad shook Leo’s hand. “Nice grip.”
She struggled not to roll her eyes. Why did her father always have to comment on somebody’s grip?
“Sorry I couldn’t fix your sink the other day. Had an emergency.”
“Fergus did an excellent job,” Leo said. “Still no leak.”
“He might hate plumbing, but he’s good at it.” Dad put an arm around Via’s shoulders. “Hi, sweetheart,” he said softly.
She leaned her head on his shoulder for a brief moment. “Hi, Dad.”
“We have everything ready for you on the back deck,” he said.
“You didn’t have to do that. I could have gotten everything out of storage.”
“It’s no bother,” Mom said.
Sure enough, everything she and Leo needed was on the large patio table. Her sleeping bag and Fergus’s for Leo to use, a camping
lantern, two big blankets, among other things. “Grab what you can,” she said to Leo, picking up her rolled sleeping bag and
the lantern and opening the sliding door.
He put Sir’s catpack over his shoulders and picked up the rest of the items. Mom and Dad led the way past their patio and
covered in-ground pool, then down the incline of their huge backyard, to the flat area where the firepit was. They lived at
the end of the neighborhood, and their house was the only one in the small cul-de-sac. Behind the fenced-in backyard were
thick woods. The barest of breezes wafted through the colorful trees and the weather forecast called for clear skies and a
cold night. Perfect camping weather.
“Need any help?” Dad said, putting his hands on his hips.
“No thanks.” She set down the sleeping bag. “Leo, you can let Sir out.”
“You sure?” he asked, putting the rest of the supplies on the ground.
“It’s all fenced in,” Mom pointed out. “Sir’s used to the backyard. He’s not going anywhere.”
Leo took off the pack and unzipped it. Sir jumped out and dashed to Mom, who picked him up. “Who’s a pretty Sir?” she cooed, rubbing behind his ears.
“Handsome,” Dad said. “He’s handsome, Gayla.”
“He’s pretty and handsome.”
Sir was also eager to explore, so she set him down. Then she said to Via, “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Sure.” She followed Mom a few feet away from the camping site.
“He seems nice,” Mom said with a sly smile. “Very handsome.”
“Sir Meow? Yes, we’ve established that.”
“You know who I’m talking about.” She lowered her voice, even though Leo and Dad were too far away to hear her. “I was surprised
when your father said he was coming with you.”
“He didn’t want me camping alone.” She glanced over her shoulder to see Leo crouched near the ground, attempting to unroll
Fergus’s sleeping bag while Dad picked up twigs for kindling and put them in a pile next to the firepit. The bag seemed like
a foreign object to him, but he was really giving it a try.
“What did you say when you told him you weren’t?”
The question stopped Via in her tracks. It wasn’t like she didn’t have the opportunity to clarify it for him. She could have
told him when the subject was first brought up in her office, or when he returned to the café after his clash with Constance.
But she didn’t take him seriously the first time, and he was so angry the second. It was also fun to see his surprised face
when she pulled into her parents’ driveway.
“I see,” Mom said, no longer smiling.
“We’re friends,” Via insisted.
“Your father and I were friends,” she reminded her. “Until we weren’t.”
“Leo and I are different.” The reverse of her parents actually. They had feelings before they became friends. Chemical feelings. Certainly not anything like love. “I learned my lesson with Trevor. Trust me, I’ve got my eyes wide open now.”
“I do trust you, honey. And we all have a past. No one’s perfect.” She briefly touched Via’s cheek and smiled. “Don’t mind
me, I’m just being a mom. I can’t help it.”
Via hugged her. “I wouldn’t want you any other way.”
Mom glanced at her watch, then motioned to Dad. “Kyle! The game’s starting soon.”
Dad’s head bobbed up and he dumped the last handful of twigs into the pile. He waved to Leo, who nodded back. “Coming!” he
yelled, hurrying toward them.
“Your dad never moves that fast unless there’s football on the screen,” Mom said. “If you need anything, let us know. The
back door will be unlocked like always.”
Dad rushed past them. “Gayla, get a move on. We don’t want to miss kickoff.”
Mom winked at her and hustled up to Dad, giving him a whack on the butt as she passed him by. He laughed and chased her up
the hill.
Via smiled, then turned and went back to help Leo with the firepit. He’d spread out Fergus’s extra-large sleeping bag next
to hers. “Who unrolled my sleeping bag?”
Leo raised his hand, not looking at her. He was bending down near the pit, examining it intently. “Did you want it somewhere
else?”
“It’s fine there.” She knelt down next to him as he leaned forward and started rearranging the twigs into a pyramid shape.
“I thought you said you never went camping.”
“I haven’t.” He grabbed one of the fire-starter bricks and tucked it under the twigs. “Matches?”
“In my bag.” She went to her food supply bag and took out a small box, then walked back to the pit and handed it to him. In a couple of minutes, he had a nice fire going. “Impressive.”
“Hardly. The fire starter does all the work.” He stood. “What next?”
“Once it gets hot enough, we’ll roast hot dogs.”
“I haven’t had a hot dog in years.”
She put her hands on her hips. “For a fancy Harvard Boy, you sure are missing out on a lot of simple things.”
“I’m starting to realize that.” He looked around. “Do you always camp in other people’s backyards?”
“Nope, just Mom and Dad’s. When we were little, my siblings and I used to camp here a couple times a year. We felt so grown-up
being on our own even though our parents weren’t very far. When I moved back, I decided to restart the tradition.”
“Then it’s more about family than the camping,” he said, tending the growing flames.
She sat next to him. “I suppose it is.”
“Do your brother and sister still camp here too?”
“No. They prefer campsites, like normal people.”
Leo scoffed. “Who wants to be normal?”
He made it so easy to like him. She grinned and drew her knees to her chest. “How did you learn to start a fire? Were you
a Boy Scout?”
“Scouting is far too pedestrian for a Brewster.” He would have sounded like a snob save for his deprecating tone. “I learned
how to light one at boarding school.”
Her jaw dropped. “You went to boarding school?”
“In Switzerland. When I was twelve. I was supposed to stay until I graduated high school. I hated every minute of it, from the second I stepped on the plane. I’ve detested flying ever since.” A pause. “No matter how many times I begged to come home, I was told no.”
Via grew quiet. She couldn’t imagine Leo begging for anything.
“I decided the only way to get out of boarding school was to get expelled. I made some attempts—failing grades, insubordination.
Those were ignored too. I ended up setting fire to the dumpster behind the gym.”
“What?” she said, unable to hide her shock.
“I figured it was far enough away from any buildings that no one would get hurt. Fortunately I was right. The fire was pitiful
and burned out quickly. But it was finally enough to get me shipped back home. Turned out no amount of money could influence
the headmaster to ignore arson.”
“How did they find out it was you?”
“I told them.” He finally looked at her, a flicker of shame in his eyes. “Not my proudest moment.”
“You were twelve.”
“I was an idiot.” He sat back on the grass. “My parents paid restitution of course. But once I got established at my company,
I sent a big fat check to the school. The same headmaster was still there. He was floored. Told me that he’d never had a former
expelled student make amends like that.”
Sir sauntered over and parked between them. “That was a great thing to do.”
“It was the right thing to do. I’m lucky my father didn’t kick me out of the house. Constance didn’t speak to me for two months
after I arrived home. She’s a master at the silent treatment.”
Via couldn’t imagine not talking to her mother, or any member of her family, for that long. Her heart went out to him. “I’m so sorry you had to deal with all that, Leo. School, your parents being mad at you . . . all of it.”
“I could have handled it better. Like not committing arson.”
“But—”
“It’s okay, Via. Life wasn’t all bad as a kid, and I got along pretty well with my dad once I was a Harvard boy.” He smirked.
“Where are the hot dogs? I’m starving.”
She paused, and for the first time since meeting him, she was certain he wasn’t telling her the truth. Not about being hungry.
She believed he was. But she didn’t buy his blasé attitude over what sounded like a borderline abusive childhood. After seeing
how he reacted to his mother and the fury she brought out in him, the way he was brushing off his feelings right now made
her want to hug him, to take away the pain he was fighting to hide, what she knew was under the surface.
He picked up a big stick lying nearby and started poking at the fire. She stared at his profile. Yes, he was gorgeous. Smart.