Текст книги "Coming Home"

Автор книги: Priscilla Glenn

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Текущая страница: 2 (всего у книги 25 страниц)

Nothing.

“Shit,” she said again, gripping the steering wheel with both hands and letting her head fall back against the seat.

It was gone. She had lost it.

She had lost her mother’s bracelet.

Leah’s father had given it to her mother on their eighth wedding anniversary, the same day she had given birth to Leah’s little sister. Embedded in the white gold of the bracelet were three solitary diamonds. One for each baby she had given him, he had said.

Leah had always loved that bracelet, even before it was hers.

With a pathetic sniffle, she started the car and pulled dejectedly out onto the street. She had combed the deli, scoured the sidewalk, torn apart her purse, shook out her clothing, searched the car. Someone must have taken it. There was nowhere else it could be.

She approached the stoplight at the end of the street, still fighting tears, when suddenly it hit her.

Leah bolted upright in her seat. “Oh my God,” she said to herself, slamming on the brake before making an outrageously illegal U-turn in the middle of the intersection. The orchestra of horn blasts only served to amplify her urgency as she sped down the road that would take her back to her old house.

Traffic had started to pick up, making the ride back to the house twice as long as it should have been. By the time she pulled onto her old street, it was already dark. There were still no parking spaces on the road, so she pulled into the empty space in front of Catherine’s driveway again, throwing the car in park and not even bothering to turn it off before she jumped out. She ran to the gate and unlatched it, flinging it open as she bolted across the tiny yard.

Leah knocked on the door, standing up on her toes so she could see in the tiny window along the top of the door. After about a minute of silence, she knocked again, this time a bit more forcefully.

Still nothing.

Desperate and having no shame, she walked to the window on the side of the house, cupping her hands around the side of her face and pressing her nose against the glass. The house was completely dark.

“Damn it,” she whispered, walking back to her car and plopping inside before she slammed the door closed behind her. She reclined the seat and cranked up the heat, fully intending to wait there until Catherine returned.

Forty-five minutes later, she was starving, she had to go to the bathroom so badly she thought she might cry, and it had begun to snow. The lights were still off in the house, and no one had returned. Was it possible that Catherine had already turned in for the night? If that were the case, she would feel like a complete moron waking the poor woman up and dragging her out of bed for something that might be a lost cause anyway.

Whatever the case was, Leah knew she couldn’t stay there any longer.

With a frustrated sigh, she sifted through her purse and pulled out an old receipt and a pen, leaning on the dashboard to scribble a quick note to Catherine.

Catherine,

I think I may have lost my bracelet in your house. It’s really important to me, so if you find it, could you please give me a call?

She signed it with her name and her phone number before throwing the pen somewhere on the passenger seat and exiting the car.

Leah walked quickly through the side yard, blinking back the snowflakes that peppered her vision as she opened the screen door and closed the note inside before running back to the car.

Twenty minutes later, she had just merged onto I-95 when a loud bang nearly forced her heart out of her chest. She gripped the wheel firmly, glancing in her side-view mirror; she couldn’t see anything that she might have collided with, and it definitely didn’t feel like the car took a hit.

Just as her body began to relax back into the seat, the car began to pull awkwardly to the right.

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me,” Leah groaned, putting her blinker on and fighting her way through the traffic over to the shoulder. She put the car in park and crawled over the console, opening the passenger door and hanging her head outside as snowflakes clung to her hair and eyelashes. Sure enough, the right front tire was completely flat.

She collapsed back into the car, pulling the door closed behind her and covering her face with her hands.

Lucky day, indeed.

“Christopher, I swear to God, if I see your hand near this plate again, I’m chopping it off and making it the centerpiece.”

“Those are some tough words from someone who can’t even kill a spider,” her brother replied, reaching around her and grabbing another piece of salami off the plate of antipasto Leah was arranging.

She tried to grab his hand, but he was quicker, taking a step back and holding up the stolen piece of meat like Rafiki holding baby Simba in the opening sequence of The Lion King.

Leah tried to suppress her smile. “You’re a moron. We’re eating in like twenty minutes. Stop acting like an animal.”

He shoved the salami in his mouth as he leaned toward her, growling rabidly and chewing with his mouth open.

“Oh my God,” Leah said with a laugh, pushing him away. “Alexis! Come get your husband out of the kitchen before I kick his ass!”

A minute later, Alexis appeared in the doorway, folding her arms over her swollen belly and trying to look stern. “Christopher, leave her alone.”

“Yeah, Christopher, leave her alone,” Leah echoed.

“Okay, okay,” he said, holding his hands up in surrender before turning to leave. He darted his hand out quickly, swiping a piece of ham on his way out.

Leah rolled her eyes while Alexis sighed. “I swear, when people ask me if this is my first child, I’m always tempted to say no,” she said, looking over her shoulder at her husband.

Leah smirked as she drizzled the balsamic vinegar over the salad.

“What can I help you with?” Alexis asked.

“Nothing. Go sit. I’m almost done in here.”

“You sure?”

“Yes. Sit. Rest. Your days of sitting and resting are numbered,” Leah said with a wink, grabbing the wooden spoon from the counter.

Alexis leaned over and kissed her cheek, discreetly pulling a piece of cheese from the plate between them, and Leah quirked her brow.

“For the baby,” Alexis said innocently, popping it in her mouth before she went back out to the living room.

Leah laughed as she brought the salad and the antipasto out to the table and uncorked two bottles of wine. She glanced at her watch before wiping her hands off on her mother’s apron and loosening the strings.

“Hey, Sarah?” she called.

“Yeah?”

“Can you come in here for a sec?”

A moment later, her sister’s head popped around the corner. “What’s up?”

“Can you just watch the sauce for a minute? I’m gonna go upstairs and change.”

“Yup,” she said, coming into the kitchen and pulling herself up onto the counter, swinging her legs from side to side like a child.

There was only a three-year age difference between them, but Sarah had always seemed so much younger to Leah. Physically, they were complete opposites: Sarah was almost pixie-like, standing at five-foot-one, while Leah towered over her at five-foot-seven. Sarah’s hair was long and straight, a warm caramel color that showed hints of red in the sunlight, while Leah’s was a chocolate brown, falling just past her shoulders in subtle waves. Their only similarity was their eyes: large and deep green, surrounded by a fringe of thick lashes.

Leah nudged her little sister playfully. “Is Kyle coming later?”

“Yeah, for dessert.”

“You know, a guy who comes to spend Christmas with a girl’s family after dating her for only two months means business.”

“Well, duh. I mean, who wouldn’t want to hold on to this?” she said, gesturing at herself.

Leah burst out laughing, throwing the apron at her sister before running upstairs to the bedroom that had been hers as a teenager. Her father had moved them all to Bedford shortly after their mother’s car accident. Leah had been about to start seventh grade at the time, her brother about to begin high school, and their father had told them he was moving them for the sake of their education—that the city schools were in bad shape, and he wanted them all to attend a good high school. But even at twelve years old, Leah knew the real reason.

He had a hard time living in that house without her. They all did.

Leah stripped off her “cooking T-shirt”—an old shirt so splattered and stained it looked like a Rorschach test—and pulled a fitted green sweater over her head. She glanced down, tugging the sleeve over her bare wrist. It had been two days since she’d left the note at Catherine’s. The optimist in her wanted to believe that maybe her note had blown away in the storm, and that was why Catherine hadn’t called. But the realist in her knew that if she hadn’t called, she hadn’t found it. And if she hadn’t found it by now, she wasn’t going to.

Leah knew she couldn’t hide the lost bracelet forever, but she just wanted to make it through the holiday before she had to come clean and tell her father.

After changing into a pair of skinny jeans, she came back downstairs and turned into the kitchen just in time to see her father sneaking a piece of salami off the serving platter.

“Daddy,” she said, and he dropped it quickly, spinning in her direction.

“Princess. You look beautiful.”

“Nice try,” she said, walking over and sliding the platter out of his reach. “You know you’re not supposed to be eating that.”

He rolled his eyes. “It’s Christmas, Leah. I’ve been good all year.”

“I know, but you have to take it easy with that stuff.”

Her father reached over and pinched the tiniest sliver of salami off the plate, nibbling it off the tip of his finger before raising his eyebrows at her. “Happy?”

“Don’t be like that,” Leah sighed. “I’m just looking out for you.”

He walked over to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. “I know,” he said, kissing the top of her head. “But it’s been two years. My blood pressure and cholesterol are both good. You gotta stop treating me like I’m made of glass.”

Leah nodded and looked down. It didn’t feel like two years since her father’s heart attack. It felt like it could have been yesterday. She could remember every horrible detail with perfect clarity, right down to what an awful excuse for a daughter she had been.

“Besides,” her father said. “I eat healthy practically every other day of the year.”

Leah smiled up at him. “Only because I go on reconnaissance missions through your fridge and cabinets and do your grocery shopping for you.”

“I didn’t say I was responsible for my healthy eating habits, just that I had them.”

The corner of her mouth lifted in a smile just as Christopher’s voice boomed through the house. “Not for nothing, but I’m about to eat my fucking arm out here!”

“Watch your mouth!” Leah and her father yelled in unison.

She glanced up at him, rolling her eyes, and he laughed softly, kissing her head again before grabbing one of the serving platters and bringing it to the table.

A few minutes later, they were all seated as Leah poured everyone a glass of wine. As soon as she placed the empty bottle on the table, everyone turned to look at her father, sitting at the head.

He cleared his throat and raised his glass. “Here’s to good health, good food, my wonderful children, and my little grandbaby on the way.”

“Here, here,” Chris said, lifting his wine, and everyone followed, the delicate clinking of glasses echoing around the table.

“We miss you, Dee,” her father said just as everyone took a sip.

Over the top of her wine glass, Sarah made eye contact with Leah, smiling sadly, and Leah looked down, focusing on dishing out the food.

As soon as everyone’s plate was full, the atmosphere grew lighthearted again; the entire first course was comprised mostly of Sarah informing everyone at the table—as only she could—of all the “crazy shit” she had learned in her most recent psychology class, interspersed here and there with Christopher trying to convince everyone that, boy or girl, he’d be naming his future child Humperdink.

Sarah helped Leah clear the table after dinner, and as they were getting the dessert ready, Kyle arrived. Leah watched her sister’s face nearly split in two with the force of her smile, and she released her from any further hostess duties so she could spend time with him.

Leah smiled in approval as Kyle pulled the chair out for her sister and asked her what dessert she’d like, serving her before he took anything for himself. She’d only met him a few times, but he seemed like such a genuine guy. There were so many times she caught herself wanting to tell her sister how much she liked him, but she always stopped herself. The truth was, as convinced as she was that Kyle really cared about Sarah, she couldn’t get past the possibility that she might be wrong. It didn’t have anything to do with Kyle—there was nothing about him that made her feel unsure. It was just that Leah had been wrong about that sort of thing before.

Devastatingly wrong.

After everything had been cleaned up, Chris and Alexis left, followed by Sarah and Kyle. As her father settled into his recliner with the remote, Leah made her way to the mud room, switching the load of laundry she had started earlier over to the dryer. She came back to the living room and collapsed on the couch, yawning for the fourth time as the day finally started catching up to her.

“Leah, go home and get some sleep.”

“I will, as soon as your laundry’s done.”

He turned in his chair. “I can fold my own laundry, princess.”

Leah eyed him doubtfully and he laughed. “It may not be pretty, but it will be folded. Go home and get some rest. You’ve done enough for today.”

She opened her mouth to answer but was cut off by another yawn. Her father lifted his brow at her and she sighed.

“Okay, okay. If you’re too tired to fold the entire load, just take out your button-downs and hang them so they don’t wrinkle,” she said, standing from the couch and stretching.

“What would I ever do without you?” he said sarcastically, but Leah could see in his eyes that there was truth to his words.

She leaned over and kissed his forehead. “Good night, Dad.”

“Send me a text when you get home, please.”

Leah nodded, dropping her eyes as she remembered how irritated she used to get by his constant request to be notified whenever she arrived somewhere. Sometimes she wished she could go back and slap her younger self. Of course he was uneasy about his loved ones getting in a car and leaving. Of course he had a fear of them never reaching their destination. He had every reason to feel that way.

“I will,” she said. “Love you.”

“Love you too. Thanks for everything today.”

After lethargically gathering her things, Leah walked down the driveway and started the car, pulling out onto the road before it had even warmed up. She had a twenty-five minute drive back to her apartment, and she decided it would be in her best interest not to turn the heat on, hoping the cold would keep her awake. Her eyelids suddenly felt like they weighed a hundred pounds, and all she wanted to do was get home and crawl into her bed.

The muffled sound of her phone ringing inside her purse snapped Leah out of her daze, and she immediately glanced down at the clock on the dashboard.

It was after eleven.

Few things made her more anxious than an unexpected late-night call.

With one hand on the wheel, she leaned over to the passenger seat and began rummaging through her purse. As soon as her hand wrapped around it, she swiped her thumb over the screen and pulled it out of the bag, hoping she made it before the call went to voice mail.

“Hello?”

“Hi. Um…is this Leah?”

Her brow drew together as she pulled the phone away from her ear, squinting at the screen before bringing her eyes back to the road.

“Yes, this is Leah,” she said cautiously. “Who is this?”

“It’s Danny.”

Danny? Who the hell was Danny?

When she didn’t say anything, he added, “We met the other day.”

And then it clicked.

“Oh! At Catherine’s house?”

“Yeah. She gave me your number so I could…oh shit. I just realized what time it is. Did I wake you up?”

“No, it’s fine. I’m actually driving home right now and trying not to fall asleep at the wheel, so you waking me up is a good thing.” She sat up a little straighter, hoping he was calling her with good news.

“Alright, well I just wanted to tell you that I think I found your bracelet.”

“Oh my God!” Leah gasped. “You’re serious? You really found it? Please say you found it. You’re not messing with me, are you?”

He laughed lightly. “Well, if I were messing with you, I’d feel pretty shitty about it now.”

“You’re being serious? You have it?”

“A gold bracelet. Kind of looks like it’s braided? Three diamonds in the side?”

Leah exhaled heavily as her eyes filled with tears. “Yes,” she whispered.

“I have it right here. It was on the floor in the guest room.”

“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you,” Leah sighed. “I can’t even tell you how relieved I am right now. Will Catherine be around tomorrow? I can come down and get it.”

“Well actually, that’s what I’m calling about. I’m gonna be in White Plains tomorrow meeting a friend for lunch. Gram said you lived an hour north, so I figured White Plains is probably about halfway for you, right? Do you want to just meet there? I figured it would shorten your drive a little.”

“Sure, that works. Where are you having lunch?”

“Uh…The Cheesecake Factory. On Maple Avenue. Do you know where that is?”

“Yep. I’ve been there a few times.”

“Alright, cool. I’ll be there around one,” he said

“Perfect. Really, Daniel, thank you so much.”

“Danny.”

“What?”

“You can call me Danny. No one really calls me Daniel.”

“Oh, okay. Well, Danny, you seriously just made my night.”

“Glad I could be of service,” he laughed. “So I’ll see you tomorrow at one?”

“Tomorrow at one. Thanks again.”

“No problem. Good night, Leah.”

“Good night.”

Leah ended the call, tossing the phone onto the passenger seat before turning on the radio. She cranked it up, singing along while she drummed her fingers along the side of the steering wheel.

She felt like she could run a marathon right now.

It seemed like seconds later that she pulled into the parking space in front of her apartment, and just as she turned the radio down, Leah heard the double beep that signaled an incoming text message. She assumed her father had jumped the gun, thinking she had forgotten to text him.

She was wrong.

Merry Christmas, beautiful. Call me. I miss hearing your voice.

The smile faded from her lips as she read the text. She had removed him from her contact list, so under Sender there was simply a number—but it was a number she knew all too well.

“Unbelievable,” she muttered, deleting the message before she tossed the phone back into her purse.

And then she gave it the finger.

She could not believe he was starting up again, and she was even more aggravated that he had managed to ruin her good mood. Did he really think she would want anything to do with him ever again? Did he see her as being that pathetic?

Leah scowled as she got out of the car, realizing that he probably did. She had given him every reason to think that, allowing him to manipulate her over and over. Why should he think things would be any different now?

She carefully traversed the icy walkway leading up to her door, balancing her bags and her plastic container full of leftovers. As soon as she was inside, she kicked off her shoes and made a quick stop in the kitchen to put away the food before sending her father a text, letting him know she was home.

Leah stripped down to her underwear and crawled into bed, suddenly too tired to even think about putting on pajamas.

She pulled her comforter up to her chin, and before her mind could rehash the infuriating text, she was fast asleep.

Danny DeLuca glanced at his watch before shoving his hands back in his pockets.

It was twenty after one.

“Excuse me,” someone said as they opened the door to the restaurant, and Danny stepped to the side, allowing the man to pass.

He didn’t know what to make of it. She had seemed too excited over the bracelet to be a no-show. Plus, he hadn’t pegged her as the kind of girl who would stand someone up anyway.

Not that he even knew anything about her.

He lifted his chin, blowing his breath out in puffs of vapor and watching it dissipate before his eyes. This was a sign. The universe telling him what he already knew. If he had anything resembling a brain in his head, he would walk away right now. Give the bracelet back to Gram and let her handle it.

Danny sighed, pulling his phone out of his pocket.

Ten minutes. He’d give her ten more minutes.

He scrolled through his apps and opened Words With Friends.

“Oh, bullshit!” he laughed when he saw Jake’s 103-point word. He had built off the C in Danny’s laces to make the word quixotic.

The direct message that accompanied Jake’s move read simply: BOOYAH, BITCH!

Danny smirked as he hit reply: I’d be impressed if I thought for one second you knew what that word meant, or even how to pronounce it. Dick.

“Fucking cheater,” he laughed, hitting send.

“Hey.”

Danny lifted his head to see her standing in front of him, her arms crossed over her chest and her shoulders shrugged against the wind.

He cleared the screen before putting his phone back in his pocket. “I was right about to give up on you,” he said, ignoring the quickening of his pulse.

“Sorry. Parking was awful. I forgot about the gift-returners who would be out today,” she said, waving her hand in a circle around her head.

He nodded, looking around them. “Ungrateful bastards.”

The corner of her mouth lifted in a smile before she said, “You didn’t have to wait outside. It’s freezing.”

Right. He was supposed to be inside. Having lunch.

He shrugged dismissively, scratching the back of his neck. “It’s fine.”

Leah tucked her chin into her scarf and looked up at him from under her lashes. “You’re taller than I remember.”

He smiled then. Not just because of how she looked staring up at him that way, but because of her comment. Like they were long-lost friends who had just been reunited.

There was something so damn charismatic about this girl. He’d spent barely five minutes with her that day at Gram’s, and yet she had managed to charm him. He liked that she wasn’t afraid to call him out on his shit; there was a confidence about her that not a lot of girls had—a toughness—but at the same time, she had been so incredibly compassionate and sweet when it came to Gram.

“So,” she said after few seconds of silence, bouncing up on her toes and looking at him expectantly.

“Oh shit. Sorry,” he said with a laugh, taking his hands out of his pockets and reaching inside his jacket. He pulled out the tiny sandwich bag with the bracelet inside, holding it out to her, and she unfolded her arms, ripping her gloves off and tucking them under her elbow as she took it from him.

She had the bracelet out in an instant, taking the sandwich bag between her teeth to free her hands as she held her forearm against her stomach, trying to close the clasp around her wrist.

The wind was relentless, blowing the plastic bag and strands of her dark, wavy hair into her face, and every few seconds, she would flick her head to the side, trying to clear her vision while her numb fingers struggled with the tiny clasp.

Danny pressed his lips together, fighting a smile as he watched her blow a raspberry with the bag still between her teeth, trying to get an errant strand out of her eyes. He reached down, taking the plastic between his fingers.

She jolted as her eyes flashed to his, and he quirked his brow, giving the bag a little tug.

Leah released it from between her teeth, and he crumpled the bag and shoved it back in his pocket. “Better?”

She smiled self-consciously. “Yeah, thanks,” she said, her eyes dropping back to the task at hand.

When she finally closed the clasp, Leah wrapped her hand around the bracelet, holding it against her skin and closing her eyes. She exhaled heavily as her entire body relaxed, almost as if she had just been relieved of some terrible pain.

She looked so vulnerable standing there like that, and Danny suddenly had the ridiculous urge to pull her against his chest and wrap his arms around her.

“Thank you,” she said as she put her gloves back on.

“You’re welcome.”

“Okay, so,” she exhaled, starting to walk backward. “I’ll let you get back to your friend.”

“Actually…he couldn’t make it.”

What the hell are you doing?

She stopped short, her shoulders dropping. “Oh. Well, now I feel bad.”

“Why do you feel bad?”

“Because you came up here for nothing.”

“No I didn’t. I came up here to give you back your bracelet.”

“You know what I mean,” she said with a huff, and Danny smiled.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said with a wave of his hand. “I work near here. I was gonna stop in and check on some shit anyway.”

Yeah. That sounded good.

“Oh. Alright,” she said as she started to walk backward again. “Well, thanks again.”

With every click of her heel against the pavement as she walked away from him, his unintended resolution became stronger.

And when she turned her back to him, he couldn’t stop himself.

“Hey, Leah?”

She stopped, cocking her head over her shoulder.

“Since we’re here, did you want to grab lunch?”

Stupid. So fucking stupid.

She turned to face him, but her expression was hesitant. Almost startled.

“Oh. I, um…I don’t really…I mean…”

“If you’re hungry,” he offered. “Since we both made the drive.”

She started chewing on the corner of her lip, glancing around as if looking for a way out of the situation.

Leave it alone, asshole.

“So, are you hungry?” he asked, ignoring the voice in his head.

She pressed her lips together as she shrugged slightly. “A little.”

He took a step back and opened the door, gesturing for her to enter, and Leah looked at the entrance, still wavering.

“Did you know they have tiramisu cheesecake here?”

She swiped the hair out of her eyes, looking back at him.

“Godiva too,” he said. “And Reese’s.”

Her posture relaxed a bit as the corners of her mouth turned up slightly.

“No dice?” he asked. “How about lemon-raspberry? Caramel apple? Just tell me what’s gonna get you in here.”

She laughed then, looking down as she shook her head. Danny watched her shoulders rise as she took a deep breath, and then she lifted her head and walked toward him.

“Just so you know, you had me at Godiva,” she said, continuing past him into the restaurant.

Danny chuckled as he followed her inside and approached the hostess, and she led them to a small table up against the far window. He leaned over, pulling the chair out for Leah before he walked around to his side.

“Thanks,” she said softly, removing her jacket and hanging it on the back of the chair.

As Danny removed his own coat, his eyes instantly dropped to take her in. He felt like such a scumbag, but he couldn’t help it. Everything had happened so fast back at Gram’s that day, so he hadn’t really noticed—although looking at her now, he couldn’t understand how he’d overlooked it.

She had one of the most incredible bodies he’d ever seen.

She wore a fitted sweater that reached her hips with some type of stretchy black pants that emphasized the tone of her legs. Slim waist. Phenomenal chest. She was long and lean, with gorgeous, feminine curves in all the right places.

And a pair of knee-high boots.

Jesus.

He forced his eyes back up to her face, realizing what a creep he must have looked like.

Her eyes were on his chest before they flitted up to his face and then away, and he tried to hide his self-satisfied smirk as he sat across from her.

A waitress approached their table before he could say anything, handing them a set of menus and taking their drink order. As soon as she left, Leah opened her menu and looked down, scanning the pages as she chewed on the side of her lip. He could see her body moving slightly as she tapped her foot restlessly under the table.

She was uncomfortable.

Danny would have chalked it up to his insensitive ogling, except he knew she hadn’t caught him. Besides, she’d seemed uneasy long before that, from the moment he asked her to join him.

He had no business being there with her. It was an asinine decision, any way he looked at it. But the damage had already been done. So now, he wanted to make the best of it.

Even if it would never go beyond this afternoon.

“So,” Danny said, flipping open his menu, and Leah glanced up at him.

“So,” she said with a tentative smile.

They looked at each other until Leah started chewing on her lip again, dropping her eyes back to the menu.

“Where were you driving home from?”

“Hmm?”

“Last night. You said you were driving home and trying to stay awake. Where were you coming from?”

“Oh,” Leah said, looking up from the menu. “My dad’s house.”

“Ah,” Danny nodded. “Big family gathering for the holiday?”

“Not really,” she said. “What about you?”

He shook his head. “Dinner with my sister and her boyfriend-of-the-minute. Stopped by Gram’s for a bit. Found your bracelet,” he said, nodding toward her wrist. “And then I hung out with my buddy at his job.”

Leah made a face. “He had to work on Christmas?”

“He’s a bartender. It got busier than they thought it would, so he got called in,” Danny said, turning a page of the menu.

“On Christmas night? Where does he bartend?”

“The Rabbit Hole.”

“Here in White Plains? That’s only a few blocks from here.”

Danny lifted his eyes, a slow smile curving his lips. “I know where it is.”

She closed her eyes and shook her head quickly as she mumbled, “Right. Duh.”

“Have you been there?” he asked, watching the most attractive blush color her cheeks as she refocused on the menu.

She nodded. “A while back.”

“That means a lot to you, huh?”

Leah looked up at him questioningly, and he pointed to her wrist, where she was carefully rolling the bracelet between her fingers.

She dropped it like it burned her, looking somewhat embarrassed as she brought her hands under the table and gripped the side of her chair, shifting it slightly.

“It was my mom’s,” she said, picking up the menu and studying it with renewed intensity.

Danny watched her for a moment before lowering his eyes. There were a hundred reasons he could think of that might have caused her to use the past tense in that last sentence, and none of them were good.