Leo's Chance(73)

I look up at him. "Um, Leo, we should probably go. Aren't we trespassing?"

He smiles, taking my hand and pulling me up and toward the house. "Actually, no. Come with me. I have something to show you."

I follow him back downstairs, confused. He leads me into what used to be the living room and leaning up against the wall is something under a draped sheet. He pulls the sheet off and I take it in for several seconds before clapping my hands over my mouth to keep myself from sobbing again.

It's a sign, and it says, "The Willow House," and has a beautiful Willow tree surrounded by children running and playing and reading beneath it.

"I bought this property, Evie, and the empty lot next to it," he says quietly, watching my reaction closely and bringing his arms around me. "I thought we could open a community house for kids who are in the foster care system and could use a place to come after school and on weekends. A place for them to belong that’s stable and unchanging. I was hoping you’d run it."

I gaze up into his warm brown eyes and in this moment, fall even more deeply in love with him, something I didn’t think was possible.




Nine years later



I put the last chrysanthemum in the window box and scoop dirt around it with my hands, filling it in and then arrange the ivy between the bright yellow and burgundy flowers, making sure it drapes just so. I stand back and smile, admiring the beauty of the fall plants. I brush my hands off and then gather my gardening tools together. The kids and I had spent the day planting and doing yard cleanup, and that window box was the only thing we hadn’t gotten to. I had promised them I’d finish it tonight.

I walk inside and just as I’m drying my hands off, I hear Leo’s voice calling my name. I rush to the front excitedly. "Hey, baby." He smiles when he sees me, a large pumpkin in each arm.

"Hi." I grin, going to him and tilting my head up to kiss him on the lips as he leans down to meet me.

"Did you find enough?"

"Yeah. We had to go to five different grocery stores, but I think we rounded up at least one for everyone. There are over fifty in the back of the truck."

"Thank you." I smile, putting my hand on his cheek and gazing into his eyes, so easy to get lost in.

"You’re welcome. But baby? These pumpkins aren’t exactly light. Where should I put them?" He’s grinning at me though.

I blink. "Oh! Sorry. Here. Put them here." I indicate the large table that I’ve decorated with a fall themed orange, plastic tablecloth. Perfect for messy pumpkin guts.

Leo sets the two pumpkins down. "Are the boys with Mr. Cooper?" I ask.

"Yeah. I dropped them off at his place after we picked up the last batch of pumpkins. I told him we’d be by to pick them up on our way home. They were a big help with the pumpkins, even Cole."

I nod and smile, happy that our boys are spending time with the man who is like a grandpa to them.

I do the last of the cleanup as Leo brings the pumpkins inside. When I walk back out to the main room, the table is crowded with pumpkins of all sizes. We’ll have a fun day carving them tomorrow.

Nicole and Kaylee and her little brother Mikey are coming by to help. Nicole is pregnant with her and Mike’s third child, a happy surprise. I know that seeing her teeter around here in her crazy heels and big pregnant belly is going to give me a heart attack. And I know she’ll tell me to stop being silly, that just because she’s pregnant, there’s no reason for her to wear the frumpy, orthopedic wear that I’d have her in if I had my way.

Leo grabs my hand and pulls me toward the stairs and I follow, knowing where he’s taking me. We enter the small room at the back and he opens the window and helps me climb through, onto the roof. I walk a little ways to the side and sit down. He sits down next to me, and I put my head on his shoulder as he pulls me close to keep me warm.

"This is my favorite place in the world," I whisper in his ear.

He smiles and brings my arms up and around him. "This is my favorite place in the world," he says back, smiling.

I nuzzle into his neck and smile against his skin, kissing him there and then laying my head on his shoulder again as we both look out across the night.

It was nine years earlier that my Leo had proposed to me on this roof. We were married two months later in a small ceremony with our closest friends, the family we had chosen, in attendance.

Right after our wedding, Leo had hired a construction company to come in and re-hab the entire property, it being important to both of us that we fix it up rather than tearing it down and starting from scratch. The roof of the house was re-shingled, but other than that, it remained unchanged, ours.

Several months after that, when The Willow House project was in full swing, I had taken my husband’s hand and led him out to our roof, and under a warm summer sky, I had told him that I was expecting his baby. He had stared into my eyes, frozen for several beats before that beautiful smile that I love so much spread across his face, and he pulled my shirt up and kissed my belly again and again as I laughed. Then he had pressed his cheek there and looked up at me, and I had seen my beautiful, uncertain boy in his expression. I had run my fingers through his hair and whispered, "Yes, Leo, you’re going to make an amazing dad. Some people just know things in their heart."

He had smiled at me and then suddenly looked panic stricken as he practically dragged me back to the window. "What are you doing?" I had laughed.