by Mari Carr
Leo nodded. “I get that.” He’d always liked Yvonne’s mother, but he’d never realized how much he had in common with the older woman. He always felt like he was just going through the motions day after day too.
“Anyway, Dad told her he’d teach her how to get a life in seven lessons.”
“I’m sensing a theme here.”
“You have a life,” Yvonne pointed out. “Too much life. My secrets are going to help you navigate the waters and find happiness.”
“Yvonne,” he started. It occurred to him he’d probably made her think he was actually taking this tutoring of hers seriously, when the hard truth was, he didn’t have time to play her game.
“Pop Pop has always said the fruit didn’t fall far from the tree where I’m concerned. Said I may look like my mom, but I act exactly like Dad. Which means I’m persistent and hard to shake…like a bad cold.”
“Sounds about right,” he said wryly.
She didn’t take offense. That was one of the things he liked best about her. Yvonne could dish it out, but she could take it too. She wasn’t one of those overly sensitive women who was forever getting her feelings hurt. “Lucky for you, you’re about to benefit from that persistence.”
Leo laughed, the sound rusty to his own ears. He didn’t laugh nearly enough these days. “Lucky isn’t the word I’d use.”
“Don’t worry. Aunt Riley and I discussed all of this earlier. You’re in good hands.”
He groaned as Yvonne gave him a shameless wink. If Riley was involved in whatever this scheme of hers was, he was fucked. He loved her aunt Riley, but he preferred it when she turned her “attention” to other poor, unsuspecting souls.
The idea that Riley and Yvonne had plotted out a way to get him out of his funk wouldn’t bode well for him. He was about to say “thanks, but no thanks” again when Yvonne stood up, crossing the room.
She pulled her phone out of her back pocket and paired it with the Bluetooth speaker on his bookshelf. She scrolled through her song list until she found what she was looking for.
He grinned when Kenny Chesney started playing. He liked country music a lot. It was one of the first things that had drawn him to Denise back in high school. In retrospect, he could see it was really one of the only things the two of them had in common.
Country music and then Vince. That was it.
“American Kids” started playing as Yvonne moved in time with the beat. She danced back across the room toward him, her hands outstretched.
He shook his head, but she wasn’t swayed.
“Dancing is a great way to get out of your head.”
Leo knew for a fact that was a bold-faced lie. Dancing made him way too self-conscious.
“Leo,” she persisted.
He sighed and gave in. Dancing was the least he could do, considering she was trying to help him. He held on to her hands and spun her around a few times as she giggled.
Her light brown hair flew around her freckled cheeks. He’d always thought Yvonne was pretty, in a cute-little-sister way…but he was starting to realize that kid-sister thing didn’t apply anymore. Actually, it hadn’t in a long time. She’d evolved from that to a close friend to…fuck, whatever this was tonight.
He’d always called her a wild spirit. She was free and happy in a way he’d never achieved.
As the music continued, he started moving his feet a bit more, laughing at her antics and the way she sang along even though it was clear she didn’t know two-thirds of the words.
They must have made too much noise because both boys came sprinting down the hall, pulling up short when they saw him there—dancing. He was ready to shoo them back to their room, but he realized from the bright smiles on their faces that his stress the past few weeks had cast a pall over all of them. He wasn’t the only one who needed a break.
He crooked his finger. “Don’t leave me here looking like the only idiot. Start dancing.”
Clint’s eyes lit up, the overactive boy not needing to be convinced. He started imitating all the dance moves he’d learned from Fortnite.
Vince, however, was too much like him, more reserved, too serious. Plus, at twelve, he still wanted to act like a kid, but there was that “cool factor” to combat.
Vince’s tween inclinations were no match for Yvonne, who walked over and pulled him into their dancing circle the same way she had Leo. The two of them spun, wobbling unsteadily after they’d managed to knot themselves up. Neither of them seemed to care. They were having too much fun.
Leo started mimicking Clint’s crazy moves as one song changed to another, and then another, Boomer trying to jump up on them, barking in his doggie excitement.
Nearly an hour passed and they’d all worked up one hell of a sweat. They collapsed on the couch and chairs in the living room, smiling widely.
“What a workout,” Yvonne declared breathlessly.
Even Clint, who had more energy than twenty people, was sitting still, exhausted from their exertions. He yawned, and Leo realized it was way past their bedtime.
“Back to bed, fellas,” he said.
He was surprised when neither of them fought him, though Vince did stop just before leaving the room to look at Yvonne. “I liked dancing with you.”
Her eyes twinkled, her cheeks pink with pleasure. “Ditto, Vince. You’ve ruined me for all other dance partners.”
He smiled and followed Clint down the hallway.
“Ruined you, huh?” Leo rose and crossed the room to her phone. He scrolled through the song titles until he found a good one.
When “Mean to Me” came on, he turned to face her, his hand outstretched.
Unlike him, she needed no convincing.
She stood up, letting him pull her into his arms as they swayed slowly to Brett Eldredge’s singing.
Yvonne rested her cheek against his chest. She was half a foot shorter than him, the pixie to his giant.
Somehow it didn’t feel awkward.
It felt good.
Right.
When the song ended, she stepped away. Neither of them had spoken as they danced.
“What are you thinking about?” she asked.
He looked at her for a second, trying to remember. “Nothing,” he confessed. “I wasn’t thinking about anything.” Not the farm or his father’s declining health, not the pile of laundry or Vince’s bad attitude. For the past hour, he’d forgotten it all and just…danced.
“Shit,” he murmured. “You’re good.”
She giggled with absolute delight. “Damn right, I am. The next time you’re feeling super stressed out, put on Kenny Chesney and start tapping your foot a little, get out of your head and into the music, okay?”
“It’s a deal.”
“Well.” She walked toward the front door. “I should head home. It’s late.”
“Thanks again, Yvonne. Text me when you get home so I know you made it safe.”
He gave her a hug at the front door, resisting the temptation once again to kiss her. He worried the next time the opportunity presented itself, he wouldn’t be able to hold back.
She waved, and he watched from the front porch until she got in her car and pulled away.
He returned to the living room even though there was still more laundry to be done and sat back down on the couch. As he recalled, tonight wasn’t the first time he’d danced with Yvonne.
The first time they’d danced had been at Denise and Ryder’s wedding reception.
Leo had wound up at the pub, pissed as fuck, after the wedding invitation had arrived in the mail. Whenever he was down in the dumps, he went to the pub. The place soothed him. Actually, it was the people in the place who always managed to put him back on his feet.
Yvonne, who had only been nineteen at the time, had been on her way out to meet some friends. She’d stopped when she had seen him sitting there, scowling at his diet soda, wishing he was old enough to order something stronger. He’d shown her the invitation and insisted there was no way in he
ll he was going to the wedding, but Yvonne had told him to RSVP that he was attending, then she informed him she was going to be his plus one.
He wasn’t sure what sort of strange power she had over him, but he’d done as she said. Of course, he’d been no happier the night of the wedding…
* * *
Leo sat in the corner of the hotel ballroom, watching the bride and groom slowly swaying together to their first dance. Denise had thrown the nuptials together rather quickly, the reason for this big day evident from the baby bump showing beneath her dress. She was pregnant again. Only this time, she’d said yes to the father.
Yvonne leaned closer. “Easy, Leo. You sort of look like a serial killer right now.”
He didn’t bother to point out he was feeling pretty murderous. She had to realize that by now.
He’d been a shitty date since picking her up, despite her attempts to keep things light and easy.
He continued to watch the newlyweds sway, his mood getting blacker by the second, until Yvonne turned her chair so she was facing him. “Look at me.”
He cast her a sideways glance, then his gaze returned to the dance floor.
“No,” she insisted. “Look at me. Just at me.”
There was something in her voice that penetrated the black haze in his head. He shifted. “What?” he asked in a brusque, rude manner.
“Do you know why I told you to come to this wedding?”
He shook his head. In truth, he’d spent most of the night certain this was the dumbest fucking thing he’d ever done.
“I don’t think Denise invited you to rub your nose in her happiness.”
Leo didn’t believe that at all.
“Leo, you want to be a part of Vince’s life, right?”
He narrowed his eyes. He was a part of it. That chubby toddler was the best thing to ever happen to him. “Of course I do. I am.”
“There are two ways to do that—one good and one horrible.”
“What are you talking about?” he asked.
“You and Denise didn’t work out. That’s just a fact of life. Something it’s taking you some time to come to grips with because of Vince. I mean, most of us break up with a boyfriend or girlfriend and it’s easy to move on because we cut that person out of our lives completely. We don’t see them because…why would we? Unless we’re a masochist.”
Leo felt the first upturn of his lips all night. Yvonne had a very logical, very funny way of explaining things sometimes. “So you’re saying I’m a masochist?”
“I’m saying you don’t have the option to stop seeing Denise. Every time you pick up Vince or drop him off, it’s like you’re pulling the scab off a wound and it starts bleeding again.”
That was exactly how the past two years had felt. He didn’t respond, but he nodded to let her know he was still listening.
“I think Denise hopes that by showing you it’s possible to move on…maybe you’ll try.”
He crossed his arms, wanting to reject that idea, even though he wasn’t an idiot or some heartsick fool who couldn’t let go. It had become pretty clear to him in the past few months that lately it wasn’t his broken heart that was causing all this resentment he felt toward Denise, it was his wounded pride. She’d said no to him and yes to Ryder. That chafed. Bad.
“Do you love Vince?”
He scowled. “You know I do.”
“And you want to be a part of his life?”
“Why do you keep asking that like it’s a question? I am a part of his life. I’m his dad. Not fucking Ryder Hagen.”
“There.” She put up her finger. “That right there. You can’t say that.”
“Why not? It’s true.”
Yvonne reached out and took his hand in hers. “It’s not. Not really. Ryder is now Vince’s stepdad. He’s going to grow up with you…and with Ryder in his life. You say you love your son, so now you have to prove it.”
Leo frowned, feeling like he’d been showing his love ever since the day his son was born. “Prove it how?”
“You have to love Vince more than you hate Denise and Ryder.”
“I don’t hate—” He stopped. The way he was looking at the happy couple right now, the way he’d been acting like a bear with a thorn in his paw ever since getting the wedding invitation, the cold way he’d treated Ryder every time he came along with Denise to pick up Vince, certainly gave that impression.
“You don’t?” she asked.
He grimaced, and she smirked.
“You’re kind of a smartass,” he said, though there was no heat behind the words.
She laughed. “I’m a total smartass, and you know it.”
“You’re right,” he said. “About all of it.”
“The smartass part?”
He shook his head. “The rest.”
“Sorry,” she joked. “I’m not sure I heard that. I’m what? I’m what?”
Leo reached out and tugged her hair playfully. “You’re right. Except about the hate. I don’t…” He searched his feelings to be sure, but he couldn’t find that emotion inside him. “I don’t hate them. I’m mad and I’m hurt and…I don’t hate them,” he said again, the words getting easier with each repetition.
“I know that.”
“So what’s my next move?” he asked.
“I’m going to tell you what Pop Pop always tells me. Love is always easier than hate. If you remember that, you’re golden, and it shouldn’t be too hard for you because you love Vince and you want what’s best for him. Kids are very perceptive. They will feel what you feel, and I can’t think of anything worse than putting a child in the middle of a war and forcing them to choose sides when it comes to their own parents.”
“I would never do that.”
“Not consciously, but…”
But Vince would still pick up on Leo’s vibes. So what was best for Vince was for Leo to put away this anger and resentment so that he could work together with Ryder and Denise to raise their son in two caring, safe, happy homes.
“Okay. I get it.” It would take him a bit of time to figure out how to deal with his feelings, but he had a very good reason to try. An adorable, growing-too-fast, chubby-cheeked reason. “I’m not sure why you keep putting up with me. I haven’t been all that great to hang out with the past couple of years.”
“We’re friends, Leo. That means we’re there for each other. Period.”
The first dance was over and other couples were starting to head to the dance floor.
“Come on,” she said as Alabama’s “Dixieland Delight” started playing. “I love this song, and I have no intention sitting at this table with your grumpy ass all night. Let’s have some fun.”
They were halfway to the dance floor when they encountered Ryder and Denise heading back to their place at the head table. One glance at the anxious look on Denise’s face proved Leo had been a true asshole.
Leo stuck out his hand to Ryder. “Congratulations, man. I hope the two of you will be very happy together. It was a great wedding.”
The couple looked shell-shocked for just a moment, then it was just as Yvonne had said. The whole situation that had felt unbearable a few minutes ago was suddenly easier.
Denise thanked him for coming, and the two of them chatted about how adorable the ring bearer, Vince—who was now spending the night with Leo’s parents—looked in his little tux at the wedding earlier.
Yvonne congratulated and hugged Denise…
* * *
…and everything turned out exactly as Yvonne had predicted. The two of them had danced the rest of that night, laughing and acting like fools, and all the hard feelings he’d harbored toward Denise and Ryder melted away. Somehow she’d managed to take what he’d been certain was going to be the shittiest night of his life and made it fun.
She’d done the same thing tonight, swooping in to save him at a time when he’d never felt lower.
Yvonne had always been there for him, always in the background, helping him, guiding him…al
l in the name of friendship.
He’d spent so much of his life living on autopilot, letting circumstances and timing decide his path rather than taking hold of the wheel.
Yvonne was right. It was time he stopped overthinking things and started going after what he wanted.
And right now, what he wanted…was her.
Chapter Four
“Anyone up for placing a bet?” Yvonne asked as she pointed the remote at the TV, clicking through the channels until she found the baseball game. It was only her, her cousin Finn, and his best friend, Miguel, hanging out in the Collins Dorm tonight, since Colm was out on a date and Darcy was MIA.
There were four cousins currently living in the apartment where Pop Pop and Grandma Sunday had raised their seven children many, many moons ago. When Pop Pop got older and the family started to worry about a nearly eighty-year-old man living alone, Riley had added an addition onto her house and moved him in with her family. Which left the apartment above the pub empty, until the cousins began graduating from high school and college and decided to save money by rooming here together.
Aunt Riley had dubbed it the Collins Dorm, and for the past decade, most of the cousins had taken up residence there for some period of time. While Lochlan and Fiona had never lived in the dorm, Caitlyn, Ailis, Fergus, Sunnie, and Padraig had all moved out after finding love and building new homes and new lives.
As one of the older cousins, Yvonne missed the days when there were quite a few of them coming and going in the apartment. As more and more of her cousins fell in love and moved on with their lives, she felt herself feeling a bit left behind.
Not that the apartment was quiet. That would be impossible with Finn as a roommate. The guy always had something crazy going on, and with Miguel as his constant sidekick, there was never a dull moment.
“Nope,” Finn said. “None of us would bet against the O’s. Besides, I’ve already got twenty bucks on the game with Lochlan. Asshole must have been dropped on his head as a baby. Never known a Collins to bet against the home team as much as he does.”
