I shrugged. It might be fun to see some people from high school. “Sure. What time?”
“I'll pick you up at, like, 6:30?”
“You remember where I live?” I asked.
“Of course.” She laughed at me and shook her head. “I gotta run. We'll see you tonight!” She looked over her shoulder as she walked out.
I walked with my fabric to the cash register. It must've been just me whose senior year was a haze. Maybe the year after that had erased high school from my memory.
Jessica pulled in the driveway right at 6:30 with her brother and two other friends I barely remembered.
“Hey, it's my prom date!” Kyle laughed. “Good to see you, Leigh. You dyed your hair brown.”
“Uh, yeah.” I wasn't sure what to say. I ran my hands through it self-consciously. It was the one thing that was impossible to hide. “I look too much like my brother when I'm blond.” It seemed like an excuse that a twin would understand.
He laughed at that, like I'd hoped.
“Kyle leaves on his mission in two weeks, can you believe it?” Jessica asked.
“Wow, where are you going?”
“Japan. I'm pretty excited to learn a new language.”
“Yeah, no kidding.” There was no way I'd be able to serve a mission, not with my health history. I wasn't sure if I wanted to or not, but it sucked a little to have options taken from you.
We loaded up on way too much sugar and popcorn at the movies, and after my long drive and afternoon shopping, I was ready for bed.
“Home, Leigh?” Kyle asked. “Or are you ready for another stop?”
“Home would be great.”
We pulled up to my parents’ house in minutes. Jessica and Kyle were still talking about the movie.
I reached down for my purse, and Kyle was at my side of the car before I had a chance to get out.
“Uh, thanks.” Sometimes Mormon boys were so over polite. We were just friends—who barely knew each other. He didn't have to get my door.
“It was great to see you again, Leigh. I think the last time was Prom—well, and I guess graduation.” He smiled at me over the doorframe.
“Right,” I agreed.
“Well, maybe we'll all get together before you disappear again,” he teased.
“I'm around until school starts back up.”
“I'm around for the next two weeks,” he said back.
“Okay, well, see ya.” I walked to the door. My body was exhausted and ready for bed.
I laid out the fabric in front of me. I'd found the perfect dinosaur material for a backpack for Nathan. I wanted him to have something he could put his stuff in when he visited his dad. I envisioned little pockets all over it for his little cars, dinosaurs, and the small people he carried around with him. I cut out pajama pants for Jaron, Brian, and Nathan out of a black and white pirate print. I laughed as I sewed them, picturing the three of them on the couch in their matching pj's watching SpongeBob. Or maybe Nathan on the couch and the big boys on the floor. I laughed again at the memory.
As I finished presents for Christmas, it made me happy that I'd done something for everyone with my own hands.
I got a call from Kyle the night before Christmas Eve.
“Leigh? It's Kyle. We're all making a run for the border, wanna join us?”
“A what?”
He laughed. “We're going to Taco Bell. How do you not remember that?”
“Oh, right. Yeah, why not?” I didn't have anything else going on.
“Great, we'll see you in, like, a half an hour.”
“I'll be here.”
I ran into the bathroom, threw on some mascara, and smoothed out my hair to pull it up. I couldn't believe how long and thick it had gotten in only one semester. I had a hard time getting it all to stay.
I heard a car pull up, so I wandered outside. Brian and Nathan were in the driveway, and Kyle and Jessica were in the street.
“Hey!” I waved.
“Hey, Leigh!” Kyle waved.
Nathan got out of the car and ran toward me. I picked him up, even though he was too big, to plant a huge kiss on his cheek. “How's my little man?”
“Pretty good.” He smiled as I set him back down.
Jaron came out of the house, and there were suddenly a lot of people in the driveway.
“Hey guys, this is my brother Jaron and his friend Brian. And this is Brian's son, and my totally special friend, Nathan.” I punched Nathan softly on the shoulder. “This is Kyle and Jessica. I went to high school with them.”
“Nice to meet you.” Jaron nodded. Brian reached into his car again.
“Do you guys want to join us?” I asked Jaron and Brian.
“No thanks. We'll let you little kids have fun,” Jaron teased.
“Fine. We'll see you old guys later on then.” I started toward Kyle's car.
“Are you coming home tonight, Leigh?” Nathan asked.
“Of course.”
“In time to say good night?”
“I'll make sure of it.”
“Okay.” He darted into my parents’ house. Brian and Jaron followed with Brian's bags.
I ran down the driveway to catch up with Kyle and Jessica, who already neared their car. Eager to go, I was sure.
“Wow, your brother and Brian are so cute.” Jessica smiled from the backseat.
I laughed. “Well, Jaron is dating my roommate and Brian is just, Brian. I don't know. He's, like, five years older than us.”
“And married?” she asked.
“Nope. He's divorced.”
“Well, in that case…” She sounded hopeful.
“Whatever, Jessica.” Kyle rolled his eyes at her. “How about you, Leigh? Dating anyone at college?”
“Nope.” I shrugged. “Just trying to get through school.”
“And how's that working out for ya?” Jessica leaned between the front seats.
“Only marginally well,” I answered. Evan and Noah popped into my head almost immediately.
I barely made it home in time to kiss Nathan good night.
I had just woken up Christmas morning when my phone rang. I reached out to my nightstand to answer. It was a two-oh-six number. Seattle. Noah. Nervous tingles immediately filled my chest.
“Hello?” I beamed.
“Merry Christmas, friend.” I heard Noah laugh on the other end.
“Merry Christmas,” I laughed back. Nervous energy didn't allow for anything else.
“Did I wake you?”
“No.”
“I hope you have a nice day.”
“You too.” I rolled onto my stomach.
“Well, I guess I'll see you back at school.” Was that it? Was he already trying to get off the phone?
“Probably,” I said.
“Probably?” he teased.
“Okay, I'm sure I'll see you back at school.”
“Whew, good. I thought I might have lost you there.”
“Nope.”
“Definitely nope?”
I laughed at him. “Definitely nope.”
“Are you at your parents’ house for the whole break?”
“Yep.”
“All right. Well, I'll see you later then.”
“See you.”
I hung up and dropped the phone on the floor. What a bizarre conversation. I was smiling like an idiot. Noah took the time to call me on Christmas.
Nathan's backpack was a huge hit. The boys dressed up in their pj's like I knew my mom would make them do. I now had a great picture of them, almost like I'd pictured in my head.
Brian handed a small package to my mom. She paused and looked at Brian. “You didn't have to do anything for us, Brian.”
“I know.”
My mom slowly unwrapped it, stealing short glances Brian's way as she did. Her hand came to her mouth, and I saw tears at the corners of her eyes. I stood up and walked over to see. Brian had done a drawing of Jaron and I. I recognized it from a picture my parents had taken on
the temple grounds on the day I went through. My head was on Jaron's shoulder, and we were both smiling, our hands together on Jaron's lap. I had chills. Brian was a genius.
Mom tilted the picture so Dad could see. He nodded in appreciation and patted Brian on the back. Mom stood up and pulled Brian into a long hug. I started to wonder if she'd ever let him go. “Thank you,” she whispered in his ear.
“You're more than welcome.”
Mom finally let him go and set herself on Dad's lap.
“It's amazing, Brian.” I looked over at him in awe of his talent once again.
“Thanks.” He sat back down with Nathan, who immediately crawled onto his dad's lap. They did amazingly well as a little family of two when Brian was able to have him. I wondered what circumstances enabled Brian to have Nathan for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. On top of that, I wondered where Brian's family was—if he had any.
I sat underneath the blissfully warm sun on the patio, my legs stretched out in front of me and my eyes closed. It felt heavenly.
“Leigh?” Mom called through the open window. “Kyle's here to see you.”
“Um, okay. He can just come on back,” I called back.
He walked through the door a moment later.
“Hey, what's up?” I asked. I sat a little more upright so we could talk.
“Oh, I was just driving around.” He sat down on the chair next to mine.
“Don't you leave in a few days?” I asked. “On your mission?”
“Yeah. I'm kind of starting to freak out about it.”
“I'm sure you'll do great.” Why was he here?
“We all kind of missed you last year. No one knew where you were.” He rested his elbows on his knees and looked up at me.
“Oh.” I didn't know how to answer that. I sat there, having no idea what to say to him. He looked like he needed a hug, but I certainly didn't know him well enough to give him any kind of comfort.
“Well, I'd better be off.” He stood up abruptly.
“Okay.” Who drives around and stops for a two-minute conversation? I stood up and walked with him into the house.
“Would you write to me once in a while? On my mission?” He looked worried, like I'd say no. Who would say no to a request from a missionary?
“Sure, Kyle. I'm sure your sister will have the info for me.”
“I wrote down what you need to have. They make it really easy now.” He pulled a note from his pocket and handed it to me. We stopped in the entryway. I slid the note into my pocket, having no idea what to say to him.
“Well, I'd better get home.”
“Yeah, I'm sure your family wants to see you as much as they can before you leave.” I nodded a few times, waiting for him to tell me what he actually came here for. It was like he was trying to say something that just wasn't coming out.
We stood in silence for a few moments.
“Well, good luck.” I reached out my hand to shake his, and he put his arms around me and pulled me into a hug. That was unexpected. I patted him on the back and opened the door for him as he left. How weird.
I heard low chuckling to my right. Brian and Nathan were in my parents’ living room watching TV. Brian looked at me with a smile.
“What's so funny?”
“You are absolutely clueless, Leigh,” he said.
“About what?” I rested my hands on my hips.
“About that boy totally liking you.”
“What? Kyle? No…” Could he? “But I didn't even do anything.” I thought again. “No… You're wrong.” I shook my head. How could Kyle like me? I hadn't seen him in more than a year.
“I'm not wrong, Leigh. It's a good thing he's leaving on his mission or you'd have another Evan on your hands.” His body started shaking in laughter again.
“Not funny.” I walked back up the stairs. Brian didn't know what he was talking about. No way.
“You're too cute for your own good,” Brian called up after me.
I closed my bedroom door. I didn't want to think about another guy liking me. I hadn't done anything! Did I have to be mean to everyone?
I stood in front of the mirror and slowly made myself more presentable than I had since arriving. I ran my hair through a curling iron, which took forever. It had grown in thick and was getting longer fast, resting between my shoulder blades. I took more care with makeup than normal, just for fun, and threw on my favorite ballet flats that weren't nearly warm enough for Provo at that time of year.
“Leigh?” Jaron called up. “You ready?”
“In a minute!” I hollered back down.
“Seriously, what are you doing?”
“I'm a girl, Jaron. The St. George Temple will still be there in ten minutes!”
I looked around for my little fitted jacket before heading down the stairs.
“You look nice. Are you expecting Kyle?” Brian teased as I hit the entry.
I threw him a look. “No.”
“Relax, Leigh. I'm just giving you a hard time.” He smiled at me as he walked through the front door with his son.
“This is where I'm going to get married.” I stood still and firm in front of the temple, hands on hips and completely certain.
“Really?” Jaron asked, surprised.
“Yeah. It's laid back down here, you know. Not as many weddings and not as many people. I like it. Besides, this was my first temple, so it holds a special spot for me.”
“I like it too,” Brian said.
I looked down at Nathan, who had come to stand next to me. “Did you know that they didn't do the top the way Brigham Young said it needed to be done and then lightning struck the top and they had to rebuild it? The second time around, they did it right. It's taller now.” I thought Nathan would think that was cool.
“Lightning?” Nathan asked.
“Yep.” I took his hand.
“Cool.” I was right.
“I think so too.”
We pulled in our parents’ driveway to see a beautiful fourdoor Mercedes. We exchanged quick glances.
“Whose car is that?” Jaron asked.
“I have no idea. Must be friends of Mom and Dad, huh?” I looked over at him.
Jaron shrugged.
We came in the front door, and Noah sat in the living room with my mom and dad. I stopped in the doorway of the small room and stared, probably open-mouthed in shock.
“Noah?” I hadn't expected to see him. I'd only heard from him the one time. Talk about big gestures. What was he doing here?
“I thought I'd drop in and surprise a friend from school.” He smiled his beautiful smile at me.
“Wow. Well, this is definitely a surprise.” I was thrilled.
“I was hoping you'd like to grab a bite to eat?” he asked.
“Well, I know my mom was planning…” I wasn't sure how she'd feel about my skipping out on dinner again.
“Oh, Leigh, don't worry about it. You two go out and have fun. We'll see you when you make it back.” Mom winked. They'd obviously been talking for a while.
“Okay,” I said slowly. I wondered what kind of embarrassing Leigh stories had come out. At least he still looked genuinely pleased to see me.
“So, it looks like you've met my parents.” I laughed a little. I suddenly felt nervous and jittery, but in a good way, because I was filling with little butterflies as I talked. “And this is my big brother Jaron and his good friend, Brian, and my special little man, Nathan.”
“Nice to meet you, Noah.” Jaron stepped around me into the room, followed by Brian.
“Noah.” Brian shook his hand. He turned back out of the room quickly. “Hey, Nathan, let's get you a snack.”
Nathan pushed past me to follow his dad into the kitchen. Brian didn't always have a lot to say, but he was usually friendlier than that.
“So, are you ready to go eat?” Noah stepped toward me.
“I guess so.” I smiled widely at him as he opened the door for me.
“Have fun!” Mom waved from th
e living room.
Noah closed the door behind us and stepped toward the beautiful car in the driveway.
“I…” I had no idea what to say.
“Good surprise, or bad surprise?” He lifted one corner of his mouth up in a half smile as he opened the passenger door for me.
“Good surprise.” Our eyes caught for a moment as I stood on the opposite side of the door from him. And just like that, my chest tightened up, and I had to remind myself to breathe.
twenty
“Nice car.” I took in my surroundings as he started down the street. It smelled like leather and new car. I breathed in deeply.
“It's my dad's.” He ran his hands around the steering wheel. “I'm driving it to him in Vegas and then flying home.”
“Sounds like a terrible chore.” I laughed a little.
“Well, I wanted to drop into St. George to see a friend of mine anyway.” He glanced over at me, his smile still in place.
“I see.” I looked over at him. “So, what exactly are we doing?”
“We're taking my dad's car to Vegas.”
“Tonight?” My eyes widened in surprise.
“Yep.” He smiled. “I already talked to your folks. It's okay. I don't think our dads know each other, but your dad recognized my name. They were both lawyers in the same city for a while. Besides, it really doesn't take all that long, and there's a fun little spot I'd like to take you to dinner.”
“In Las Vegas.” I wondered if I'd be able to move. It felt like I froze in place, in a wonderful place that smelled like excitement, new car, and whatever subtle cologne Noah wore.
“Yes, in Las Vegas.”
“Oh my gosh.” I didn't know what to do with myself. I was the girl who just got picked up and taken out on a surprise date by a hot guy in a hot car.
“Don't expect this every time.” He leaned in toward me as he drove.
“What do you mean, every time?” I asked.
“You know, just in case I feel the need to surprise you again or we decide to avoid starvation together. That's all.” He tried to act relaxed and like this was all normal, but his hands clutched tight on the steering wheel, and I guessed he had about the same amount of nervous energy that I did. I could barely sit still.
The Next Door Boys Page 12
