Coming Home(6)

Leah’s eyes widened in alarm just as Catherine looked at her, waving her hand dismissively in his direction.

He turned the corner then, propping a Christmas tree up against the wall in the living room. Leah could see him through the half wall as he unzipped his jacket with one hand and pulled off his gray wool hat with the other, revealing a mess of inky black hair sticking up in every direction. He placed his keys on top of the wall and ran his hand through his hair, walking through the small kitchen toward the dining area. As he entered the room, he lifted his eyes, stopping short as they made contact with Leah. Against the dark tone of his hair, they were shockingly blue.

“Hi?” he said, his brow furrowed.

“Daniel, this is Leah.”

He cast a confused look at Catherine before bringing his eyes back to her.

“I’m the stupid *,” she said.

She heard Catherine chuckle beside her, and Leah smiled when Daniel had the good graces to look embarrassed.

“Sorry…I…”

“It’s okay. Sorry about making you have to walk with that tree,” Leah said, motioning toward the living room.

He nodded, still looking sheepish, and Leah couldn’t help but find his embarrassed awkwardness somewhat charming. She couldn’t decide if she wanted to put him out of his misery or needle him just to keep it going a bit longer.

“Listen,” she said, walking over to the chair to grab her coat, “if your tow truck guy is already on his way, could he just tow me over to Giovanni’s? That’s where I’m headed.”

He stared at her for a second before amusement flickered behind his eyes, and the corner of his mouth lifted.

“That’s sort of frowned upon,” he said, and Leah nodded in feigned disappointment.

“Damn,” she said, zipping up her jacket and wrapping her scarf around her neck. “Well, in that case, I better get going. Catherine, it was a pleasure to meet you. Thank you so much for everything.”

Catherine shuffled toward her, holding out her arms, and Leah leaned down and gave her a gentle hug. “Anytime, dear. Next year you come right on up to this door and give it a knock, okay?”

“I will,” Leah promised, and Catherine gripped her hand and gave it a squeeze.

“You take care, honey.”

As Leah made her way toward the door, she nodded a farewell to Daniel, and he returned the gesture; it looked like he wanted to say something, but he remained quiet as he stepped to the side to let her by.

The cold air seemed less offensive as she made her way across the tiny yard, feeling strangely at peace for the first time in a while. Leah unlatched the gate, and as she turned to close it behind her, she let her eyes rove over the yard one last time. This time, she pictured Catherine sitting in a folding chair, drinking a cup of tea while she watched her grandson paint the fence. Leah smiled to herself as she closed the gate and turned toward the street.

She had just reached her driver’s side door when she heard his voice.

“Hey, hold up a sec.”

Leah looked up to see the screen door swing closed behind Daniel as he jogged toward the gate and unlatched it. “Listen,” he said as he approached her car. He shoved his hands in his pockets before clearing his throat. “I just wanted to apologize. For the whole stupid * thing.”

And there it was again—that endearing self-consciousness.

“It’s okay,” Leah said. “It was a stupid * move.”

He smiled, revealing a set of dimples. “Yeah. It was.”

Leah laughed to herself as she reached into her purse for her keys. “Wow. That was seriously the worst apology ever.”