Coming Home(26)

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Holly said, holding up her hand. “You’re not being serious, are you? If so, I have a lot of schlongs to return before Saturday.”

Leah choked on the sip she’d just taken, bringing her napkin to her mouth, and Robyn tried not to laugh as she said, “Can we at least come to an agreement that I don’t have to wear any of them?”

“No promises,” Holly said, smiling innocently up at the waiter who had come to take their order.

They spent the rest of the meal discussing last-minute details for Robyn’s party. The topic of Danny didn’t come up again, and Leah was grateful. She understood why the girls were so excited; she had been turning down every guy who showed interest, every offer to be set up, for the past two years, refusing to even entertain the idea of getting involved with anyone. And despite what Holly had said, it wasn’t because she thought all guys were like Scott. She knew that wasn’t true. It was just that she didn’t have the motivation to try and figure out which ones weren’t. And even if she did, it wasn’t like she could trust her own judgment anymore. Not when she spent the better part of three years thinking Scott was the best thing that had ever happened to her.

She found it somewhat ironic that overcoming her trust issues was a hundred times harder since the person she couldn’t trust was herself.

Besides, they were making the Danny thing out to be a much bigger deal than it was. It wasn’t some romantic rendezvous—it was lunch. Plus, he hadn’t even asked to see her again, so rehashing it just seemed kind of pointless.

By the time Leah got home, she was so tired and distracted, she almost missed the sound of her phone ringing. As she opened her front door, she pulled it out of her purse and glanced at the screen, tossing the bag down on a chair.

Butterflies flooded her stomach.

Incoming call from Danny.

She had programmed him into her phone—like he’d told her to—just in case she ever had any car trouble and needed help.

At least, that’s what she told herself.

Leah closed her eyes and inhaled a deep breath, exhaling slowly before she hit the button to take the call.

“Hello?”

“Hey, it’s Danny.”

Her smile faltered at the brusqueness of his voice.

“What’s up?” she asked. “Is everything okay?”

“Gram just called me. She didn’t have your number. Why did you send her daffodils?”

His tone made her stop in her tracks. It was almost…accusatory. It didn’t make any sense.

“Um,” Leah answered, running her hand through her hair, “I just…I mean, I really appreciated what she did for me that day, so I wanted to do something nice for her.”

“That’s not what I meant,” he said. “Why daffodils?”

Leah closed her eyes as she rubbed circles over her temple with her fingertips. She couldn’t understand what was happening. Was he angry with her? For sending his grandmother flowers?

“I don’t know. I saw that she had a bunch of them around her house. I assumed she liked them.” Her stomach dropped as she added, “Did I upset her or something?”

Danny exhaled heavily into the phone, and it was several seconds before he spoke again. “No,” he said softly. “You didn’t upset her. She wanted me to thank you.”

“Okay…” Leah said, trailing off.

“Look, I’m at work, though. I gotta go.”

She shook her head slightly. “Okay.”

“Alright. Bye.”