26. Eliza
ELIZA
Laura
You better be coming to dinner tonight!
I grinned at the text from Lily’s mom. Not even a few minutes later, my phone was ringing.
“I’ll be there, Laura. No need to panic,” I teased.
“I know you’ve missed me.” There were still a few hours until dinner, and I was using the time to catch up on chores and water my plants.
I also wanted to meal prep a soup for the week that Leo had written me a recipe for… and bought me ingredients to make.
I didn’t even know when he’d had the time to grocery shop, but when I got home today, there was a paper bag of groceries and a recipe in his messy scrawl. That man was too good for this world.
“I have missed you.” Laura’s warm, familiar voice filled the line. “But I also wanted to assure you that I completely understand if you have other plans. No pressure at all if that’s the case. I didn’t want you to think my text was too demanding.”
“Laura,” I said with a laugh. “I think I’ve known you long enough to know that you’re never demanding.
” She was one of the most understanding people I knew, and it was one of the things I loved most about her.
“Who’s going to be there tonight?” I had the phone propped up with my shoulder as I moved around the apartment.
Laura started to list off everyone I’d expect to be there in addition to her and Mark—my brother, Gran, Wes, Jules, Lily, Gabe, and Hal. “Oh! And Leo, of course. How could I forget. We’ve talked with him here and there at Lake Ridge, but an invitation to dinner was long overdue.”
“He’d mentioned you reached out. We’re heading over together, actually.” I regretted the words as soon as they left my mouth.
“Oh, really?” Laura’s voice went up an octave
“Yes, really, but don’t read too much into it. We’re just friends.”
She hummed. “I think I’ve heard that story before.”
I ignored that comment and instead asked what was for dinner.
With the weather warming up, Mark was firing up the grill for the first time this year.
Memorial Day was less than a week away, but with how busy that weekend was at Lake Ridge, we weren’t all planning to get together the weekend of. Instead, we were having dinner tonight.
Laura and I chatted for a few more minutes before hanging up, and the hours until dinner went by in a blur of cleaning and cooking.
With my keys in my hand and purse on my shoulder, I left my apartment and closed the door just as Leo was doing the same.
“Hey, perfect timing,” I said, my eyes roaming over his tall, broad frame.
His jeans perfectly hugged his muscular thighs, and his navy short-sleeved button-up with the first couple buttons open perfectly molded to his body.
He was holding a canvas bag, likely with a gift for Lily and Wes’s parents, because of course he would.
Once his door was closed, he turned toward me, and I saw the desire in his gaze immediately.
Every inch of my body heated from his slow perusal.
He sauntered toward me, but I couldn’t move.
I couldn’t do anything but look up and reach toward him.
My hand wrapped around his arm, and I pulled him closer, leaning up on my toes to press a kiss to his mouth.
I pulled away in a daze. “You can’t look at me like that tonight.”
“And you can’t go around kissing me like that.”
“Uh, yeah, because you were looking at me like”—I circled my finger in his direction—“like that.”
“How was I looking at you?” he murmured, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me closer.
We were the only ones in the hallway, but even if we weren’t, I didn’t have enough self-control to pull away. “Like you wanted to pull me into your apartment and fuck me.”
A mischievous smile spread across his face. “Then I was looking at you just right.” He reached for my hand, sliding his fingers through mine. “C’mon, I’ll drive us.”
I let out a laugh but followed him with ease, realizing how perfectly my hand fit in his.
Mark and Laura lived about a mile south of downtown, so the drive was only a few minutes, but that was enough time to get myself together and stop thinking about the man next to me—and how much I wished he’d pulled me into his apartment…even if it meant we’d been late to dinner.
“Feel free to park anywhere,” I said as Leo drove up the long, paved driveway. I took note of the cars already parked. “Everyone should be here, and I don’t think there should be anyone here you haven’t met,” I said, thinking if there was someone who Leo hadn’t run into yet. “You’ve met Hal?”
“I met him a couple weeks ago at Lake Ridge. He plays poker with your brother, Gabe, and a few older guys in town, right?”
I nodded. “That’s him. He also owns the hardware store in town and managed the building before Lily and Gabe. Crazy that you’ve been in town for a month already,” I admitted. I wasn’t sure where the time had gone or why it felt like Leo had been in Golden Falls longer.
“It’s hard to believe,” Leo said, turning off the engine. There was something in his voice that I couldn’t read. I couldn’t tell if he wanted to leave or if he wanted to stay.
Once we got out of the car, we walked toward the multi-story gray house with white trim and black shutters. Laura and Mark’s house was straight out of a magazine. It gave off a historic and timeless element while still managing to look and feel modern.
With the laugher and conversation coming from the backyard, I didn’t bother leading us to the front door.
Instead, we followed the noise and the smell of burgers and went straight to the side of the house.
The backyard was equally as stunning as the home’s exterior.
There was a large patio with a dining set and bistro lights.
Mark had an expansive grill and outdoor kitchen, perfect for warm nights like tonight.
Wooden steps took you down to a fire pit surrounded by chairs, and another set of wooden stairs took you down to the dock.
I had so many memories in this yard that it was hard to believe they’d all been in this lifetime.
I had no clue where the time had gone. One moment, Lily and I were chasing each other through the grass dreaming about what we were going to do, and the next, we were in our twenties making those dreams a reality.
Within seconds of us showing up, a chorus of, “Hey, Leo!” sounded from the group.
“Good to see you all, too,” I joked with a wave.
I immediately spotted Lily and Jules, and they were going to be my first stop, but I wanted to make sure Leo felt comfortable first. Although, by the looks of it, he fit right in.
He fell into an easy conversation with Laura and Mark, handing them the bottles of wine and whiskey he’d picked out.
“There’s my girl,” Gran said as she pulled me into a hug.
I pressed a kiss to her cheek before pulling back, taking in her embroidered jean jacket. “Okay, fashionista. Where’d you find this?”
“Oh, this little thing?” She spun, showing off the jacket embroidered with bright flowers. “I found it while I was out thrifting.”
“Where was my invite?”
“You were busy working, but don’t worry, I got you a few things, too.” She gave my arm a squeeze.
I continued my round of hellos and hugs, finally making it to Jules and Lily. They were sitting next to each other on one side of the table, and I took a seat across from them. Lily already had a glass of wine ready for me.
“Cheers,” I said as I picked it up, clinking my glass with theirs.
“So, you and Leo arrived together,” Lily commented after her sip.
“Because we live in the same building. Remember when you and I would carpool when you lived across the hall?”
“That was different,” she said simply, and I couldn’t argue with that.
“He’s getting a much warmer welcome at his first dinner from Wes than I did,” Jules teased, which had Lily and me laughing.
“I still can’t believe I missed that.” I’d been down in Madison for my yoga conference last summer during the first dinner Jules attended here.
While Wes and Jules were inseparable now, they’d had an interesting start when she first got to town, including not the best initial impressions from Wes, who was being a stubborn asshole and trying to fight his feelings. “Luckily, it all worked out.”
“Very true,” Jules said with a dreamy sigh. I didn’t have to follow her gaze to know that she was looking at Wes.
“Oh, come on,” I groaned. “Enough with the googly eyes.” Laura had set out bowls of snacks on the table, and I grabbed a pretzel to throw at Jules.
Lily leaned in, her voice a loud whisper, “Like you didn’t have them when you walked in with Leo.”
I didn’t have time to correct her before everyone made their way over and joined us at the table.
Leo took the seat next to me, and Lily gave me a see?
look before taking another sip of her wine.
I wasn’t sure what this proved, but I wasn’t going to switch seats just because he sat next to me.
And of course I was going to smile at him once he made his way over. I wasn’t a monster!
Mark and Laura were at the heads of the table, with Cooper, me, Leo, and Gran on one side. The other side had Hal, Gabe, Lily, Jules, and Wes.
“Leo, I haven’t had nearly as much time with you as I’ve wanted. You’ll have to come over to my house for dinner one day. Can’t say I’m the best cook, but I’m sure we’ll figure something out,” Gran said.
Cooper and I snorted, because Gran wasn’t wrong. She could make a delicious soup, but that was about it. There was a reason why growing up the three of us spent many dinners at the Richards family home.
“I’d be happy to come over and cook you something. Let me know if you have any requests.” Leo’s voice was smooth, charming, and gentle. He not only had a way with words, but he also made those around him feel comfortable. And none of it was an act—it was just who he was.
“You’re quite the gentleman, Leo,” Gran said warmly, patting his hand. “Did you know my psychic lives in Maple Bluffs? Have you gone to her before?”
I was about to interject, because the last thing I needed was my sex curse being brought up at the dinner table, but Leo said, “Yeah, I know exactly who you’re talking about.
Dottie is a good friend of my grandma’s.
I haven’t gone to her for that reason, but I’ve spent a good amount of time with her.
Not so much recently but when I was growing up. ”
Dottie…why did that name sound familiar beyond her being my Gran’s psychic. I’d definitely heard that name before.
I inadvertently let out a gasp loud enough to stop everyone’s conversations when the pieces came together. Everyone looked at me with concern washing over their features. I cleared my throat. “I’m—I’m fine. My bite of food went down funny,” I assured.
“Here,” Leo murmured, refilling my water glass.
I thanked him and took a sip, my mind reeling.
Dottie the Maple Bluffs psychic was the same woman who’d interrupted my kiss with Leo three years ago. The same woman who’d told my grandma that’d I’d be okay and that my cursed sex life would right itself…all around the time Leo had arrived in Golden Falls.
That was an odd coincidence.