Wild Spirit Page 16

  Yesterday, he’d gone to see his dad after work, but today, he’d called en route and his mom, hearing the exhaustion in his voice, had insisted he go home instead, promising that his dad was settled in for the evening and resting peacefully.

  He had tried to talk to Vince yesterday, but his son was giving him the silent treatment, still seething with an anger Leo had never witnessed in the young boy. He’d been too tired to engage in battle, so he’d simply walked away.

  Tonight…tonight he needed to clear the air. Leo couldn’t go on like this. He was strung out and so fucking tired. Of everything.

  He pushed himself up from the couch and headed toward Vince’s room, dreading the coming confrontation. He passed Clint and Ryder, who were heating up some leftovers in the kitchen for dinner.

  “Oh, hey, Leo. Didn’t hear you come in. Man, you look wiped out.” Leave it to Ryder to state the obvious.

  “Yeah. Vince in his room?”

  Ryder nodded. “Dinner will be ready in fifteen.”

  “Cool.” Leo hadn’t eaten much the past few days. He simply couldn’t work up an appetite.

  He continued down the hall until he reached Vince’s room. He stood in the doorway, looking in. Vince was playing a video game, beating away at the controller like it had personally insulted him. From the way his son’s shoulders stiffened, Leo knew his presence had been noticed.

  He walked in and dropped down on the edge of Clint’s bed, facing Vince. “Turn that off for a second.”

  Vince slid him a sideways glance, then paused the game. He didn’t speak, not bothering to offer him a hello or even a fuck off.

  Leo had considered what he wanted to say on the drive here. In the end, he’d decided there was no point in sugarcoating it or hemming and hawing. “I just wanted to let you know,” he started, “that Yvonne and I have broken things off. We’re going to go back to just being friends.”

  Vince’s expression, which had been nothing more than scowls since the day of the fair, morphed to one of pure confusion. “What?”

  His question took Leo aback. “We’re not going to keep dating. You said you didn’t want things to change and, well, we get it. Vince, I know the last few months…hell, the last few years have been hard on you. They’ve been hard on all of us. Losing your mom like we did, well, there’s just no replacing her. She was a very special woman, and she loved you more than anything. But I hope you know that I love you too, that I’d do anything for you. It’s been a crappy summer for you, and I’m sorry, but I promise from now on—”

  “You were dating Vonnie?” Vince interjected.

  That wasn’t exactly the response Leo was expecting after his heartfelt speech. He nodded. “You saw us kissing on the Ferris wheel.”

  Vince shook his head. “No I didn’t.”

  “Oh. Well, you got so angry the other afternoon when you got home from camping, when she was here, I assumed—”

  “She’s here a lot.”

  Leo wasn’t sure he’d say a lot, though now that he thought about it, before they’d changed the status quo on their relationship, she probably did drop by once or twice a month, and she was almost always bringing them food.

  “So you didn’t know I was seeing Yvonne?” Leo asked. Now he was confused. If Vince didn’t know about their relationship, what was that violent outburst about?

  “No.”

  “Why were you upset after getting off the Ferris wheel, then?”

  Vince picked at his bedspread, and Leo got a sense the boy didn’t want to tell him the real reason for his anger.

  “Vince,” Leo prodded.

  Vince lifted one shoulder. “There’s this girl I like at school, Delaney, and she said she liked me too. But I saw her when me and Clint were on the Ferris wheel. She was walking around with this other boy in our class, Valentino. They were holding hands.”

  Ah. Things were starting to clear up. It wasn’t puberty making his son a bear. It was love’s cruel sting.

  “I see. But that doesn’t really explain the other day when you got home from camping. Why were you so mad at me?”

  The scowl returned, and it was obvious Vince was still angry. “Uncle Josh told me we’re moving to the farm.”

  “He what?”

  Vince’s tone became heated again. “You said me and Clint could stay together, that we could live here. I don’t wanna live on the farm! I’m not changing schools either. I’m gonna ask Ryder if I can stay here with him when you go.”

  Leo felt his own temper spark. Not at his son, but at his brother. Jesus. Josh had been a pain in the ass for weeks, but to go behind Leo’s back and tell Vince…

  No wonder the kid was freaking out.

  “We’re not moving,” Leo said, once he’d taken a deep breath and calmed down. As soon as he left this room, he was calling his brother and setting the record straight once and for all, on a great many things.

  “But Uncle Josh said—”

  “I know what Uncle Josh said, and I know that’s what he wants, but I already told him—and now I’m telling you—we aren’t moving to the farm. I’m not taking you away from Clint or your school. I promised you that when I moved in here, and I stand by my word.”

  Everything in Vince changed. His tense shoulders relaxed, his face cleared and, for the first time in days, the boy smiled.

  God. Leo was like his mother, but damned if his son wasn’t even more like him. Leo was going to have to find a way to help his son deal with his stress better. Maybe Yvonne could share her secrets for a happy life with Vince too since—

  Yvonne.

  “So you really didn’t know about me and Vonnie?” Leo asked.

  Vince shook his head.

  “Well, now you do. So…how would you feel if—”

  “I love Vonnie!” Vince exclaimed loudly. “Can she come here and live with us? She makes real food and cookies and helps me clean my room. And she likes Fortnite, even though she’s really bad at it.”

  It was obvious Vonnie’s love of video games was what truly sealed the deal for his son. Leo laughed and laughed and laughed. He laughed so loudly, Ryder and Clint ventured from the kitchen to see what the ruckus was about.

  Ryder smiled at him. “Everything good in here?”

  Leo nodded, then considered Vince’s request. “Yeah. We’re getting there. Maybe you and Clint should come in for the rest of this discussion. There’s something I want to run by you all.”

  Leo crossed over to sit next to Vince as Ryder and Clint took the spot he’d just vacated.

  “What’s up?” Ryder asked.

  “Apparently my brother told Vince we were moving to the farm.”

  Ryder and Clint both looked shocked. And upset.

  “You’re moving?” Ryder asked, alarmed.

  “You can’t!” Clint looked as if he was prepared to chain himself to Vince to keep them in the house.

  Leo didn’t think Ryder and Clint knew about Josh’s lie, and their reactions confirmed it. “No. Josh wants us to, but we’re not. If fact, I’m going to suggest some changes for the way we run the farm that should actually allow me to do more of the work from home.”

  “That sounds great,” Ryder said. “Now that I’m through the training phase of my job, I should be here more too.” He looked at Clint and ruffled his son’s hair affectionately.

  “The other thing is,” Leo said, for Clint’s benefit, not Ryder’s, “I’ve been seeing Yvonne.”

  Ryder glanced at Vince apprehensively. At least Leo and Yvonne hadn’t been the only ones to misread his son’s outburst.

  “Seeing?” Clint asked.

  “I’m dating her,” Leo clarified. “She’s my girlfriend.”

  Clint, in typical fashion, bounced on his bed excitedly. “You are?! I love Vonnie! She plays video games with us and brings me milk with a straw when my tummy hurts and has Spiderman Band-Aids in her purse.”

  Leo wasn’t aware of the Band-Aids. She no doubt kept those on hand for the boys. He was amused by Vince�
��s and Clint’s lists of Yvonne’s stellar attributes. He had about a million and twelve things to add to it as well.

  Leo looked at Ryder. “I know neither one of us has really dated much since…”

  Ryder winced slightly. He always did whenever anyone got too close to mentioning Denise’s death. The other man nodded.

  “The thing is, I’m in love with Yvonne, and I’m pretty damn sure she’s it for me.”

  Ryder smiled. “She’s definitely it for you.”

  “Yeah, well…” Leo ran his hand through his hair. “We have to figure out what that means for us.” Leo gestured around the room at the four of them.

  “That shouldn’t be too hard. We’ve been planning the renovations to the house for months, and we’ve got the blueprints from the architect. All we have to do is stop dragging our feet and hire a contractor.”

  Leo grinned. “As luck would have it, Vonnie’s uncles run their own construction business.”

  Ryder rolled his eyes. “I’ve discovered over the years there are very few needs that Yvonne and Darcy’s family can’t meet.”

  The two of them laughed, then Leo jumped up from the bed as something else occurred to him. He’d been so stressed out and upset, he’d lost track of the days. “What day is it?”

  Ryder seemed surprised by Leo’s abrupt question. “The nineteenth. Why?”

  “Shi—nanigans,” he said, just stopping himself from cursing in front of the boys. From the look on Vince’s face, it was clear he hadn’t fooled his son about what he’d truly intended to say. Which reminded him. He still needed to have a word with the kid about his own foul mouth, but that would have to wait.

  “It’s Vonnie’s birthday. Her party’s tonight.” Leo glanced at his watch. “Right now, in fact.”

  Ryder stood up as well. “I’ll go turn off the oven.”

  Leo smiled, slapping his roommate and friend on the shoulder. “The four of us have a party to crash.”

  Clint hopped up from the bed, jumping from one foot to the next. “A party!” he shouted, then he started doing that damn flossing dance. “Is there dancing?”

  Ryder laughed, trying to do the same move and failing miserably. “You’re pretty good at that.”

  Vince laughed, and Leo soaked up the sound. It had been too long.

  “Everybody get ready. We’ll leave in ten.”

  Leo and Ryder went to their own bedrooms, while the boys scurried around in search of their shoes.

  Leo hopped in the shower, scrubbing off the day’s worth of farm dirt in record time. Then he put on clean clothes and prayed Yvonne would be happy to see him. See them. He wanted Ryder and both boys with him so she’d see exactly what she was getting into, but more than that, so she’d see how much they all wanted her with them.

  With any luck, his unusual family was about to get bigger. Yet another new normal.

  He smiled as he considered her secrets to happiness. With her, he’d found the real Leo. A man who’d learned to laugh and dance more, who’d learned to embrace the chaos surrounding him rather than let it get him down, who’d searched for his dream and found it with her. Tonight, he was taking a risk.

  He was reaching out and grabbing his happiness with both hands.

  Because she was his happiness.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “And now, for your viewing pleasure,” Uncle Sean said, talking into the mic on the small stage at Pat’s Pub. “It’s Darcy and the Dreamcatchers.”

  Her family had closed the place for the night to throw her one hell of a thirtieth birthday party. Sean, Riley and Darcy had gotten together and organized a variety show as part of the entertainment. So far, she’d been serenaded by Aunt Teagan and Uncle Sky, as well as Fergus’s new girlfriend, Aubrey. Her cousin Oliver and his best friend, Gavin, had wowed her with a few magic tricks, Pop Pop had led them all in a rousing singalong of “Finnegan’s Wake,” and other family members had done silly acts to make her laugh.

  God only knew what she was about to be subjected to, but she knew it was going to be funny when Darcy and her best friend, Brooklyn, took the stage with Finn and Miguel. Yvonne knew none of them could sing worth a damn, so she tried to mentally prepare herself when the music started.

  The foursome had choreographed a whole lip-synching routine of Paul Simon’s “You Can Call Me Al.” Everyone in the pub erupted in laughter when Darcy pretended to sing—she knew every word—as Brooklyn, Finn and Miguel handled all the backup parts and pantomimed playing all the instruments. The whole performance was flawless and hilarious.

  Or it might have been, if Yvonne had been in a partying mood.

  Today was actually the first day she’d managed to not cry. Though she’d had a few wobbly moments.

  Leo had texted a couple of times since she’d broken things off with him, but they’d been simple exchanges of information, mundane stuff about moving his dad to a rehabilitation facility and letting her know the restaurant’s vegetable delivery would be a day late. She suspected he was trying to prove to her that he could do the “just friends” thing by keeping the lines of communication open. But each time he’d sent something, it set her heart to aching again.

  Darcy had been her rock, constantly trying to bolster her, though her cousin had been shocked to hear that Vince didn’t approve of Yvonne dating his dad. More than once, Darcy had shaken her head and said, “But Vince loves you,” which—though a sweet sentiment—only broke Yvonne’s heart all over again. Because the truth of it was, she cared for Vince very much as well, and to think he didn’t like her hurt almost as much as losing Leo.

  Yvonne painted on a smile and pushed out a few laughs at her cousin’s performance. She didn’t want Darcy to think she wasn’t grateful for her efforts. Under normal circumstances, this would have been the best party of Yvonne’s life.

  Instead, her heart simply wasn’t into it.

  Yvonne reached up to adjust the tiara her dad had gifted her with at the beginning of the evening, proclaiming her the party princess tonight and his princess forever. She’d teased him for the cheesy sentiment, but when he hugged her and told her that—cheesy or not—it was the truth, she sniffled and told him she loved him.

  She looked around the room and felt guilty. Here she was, surrounded by family and friends who wanted nothing more than to help her celebrate thirty years of a wonderful life, and somehow, in the midst of it, she was unbearably sad.

  She tried to shrug off the feeling, tried to find a way to live in the moment.

  For weeks, she’d been trying to teach Leo how to get through life by focusing on the positives, by finding the joy in small things.

  She needed to practice what she preached.

  “Darcy is hilarious,” Kelli said, topping up both of their glasses from the pitcher of margaritas on the table. “I love this song.”

  Colm, who was sitting on Yvonne’s other side, rolled his eyes. “You would. Do you think anyone’s going to sing anything from this decade?”

  “You could always get up there and belt out a tune for us,” Kelli said, though Yvonne knew hell would freeze over before that happened. Colm did not sing.

  “This isn’t karaoke night. Besides,” Colm said smugly, “I already did my act with Caitlyn.” He glanced at Yvonne. “Thought it was pretty good myself.”

  Kelli snorted as if he was crazy, while Yvonne laughed. Colm and her oldest cousin, Caitlyn, were partners in their own law firm. They’d written and read—via beat poetry style—a silly piece entitled, “Now that you’re thirty, it’s time for a will.”

  “I loved it,” Yvonne said. She really had.

  “Stick to law, Colm. Shakespeare, you’re not,” Kelli joked as she pitched a pretzel across the table. It bounced off Colm’s forehead.

  “Real mature, Kell,” Colm said, but before he could lob his own salty cannon back, Padraig, the other occupant of their table, raised his hands.

  “I’m calling for a peace treaty right now. Don’t make me send the two of you to separat
e corners.”

  Kelli had been Padraig’s forever friend when they were all growing up. And while she adored Paddy, she merely tolerated his twin, Colm, the two of them constantly bickering over silly stuff. Yvonne didn’t have a clue why they rubbed each other the wrong way, but it had been the status quo since they were all kids, so no one bothered to question it anymore.

  “Watch the show,” Padraig said, drawing their attention back to the stage just in time to see Finn and Miguel playing pretend horns, their movements so synchronized, Yvonne wondered how many times they’d practiced this. The idea that they’d gone to so much trouble touched her.

  “This is terrific,” she mused.

  “They’ve been practicing for the better part of a week at my place,” Padraig said. “Finn and Miguel must’ve watched the video with Paul Simon and Chevy Chase a million times. Honestly, if I never hear this song again, it’ll be too soon. Which is a shame because I really like it.”

  Kelli gave Padraig a pat on the shoulder, feigning consolation. Padraig laughed, then glanced in Yvonne’s direction. She’d been watching Darcy lip synch, but had forgotten to school her features.

  “How are you holding up?” Padraig asked. His question had Colm and Kelli both looking at her as well.

  She lived and worked at the pub with her family, which meant it would have been impossible to hide her broken heart from them. Especially since her eyes were perpetually red and puffy from crying. She’d only managed to look halfway decent for tonight’s shindig because Darcy and Caitlyn had dragged her into the bathroom upstairs and covered up all evidence of her misery under six inches of concealer.

  Yvonne shrugged. “I’m okay. It’s not like I lost Leo completely. We’re still going to be friends.”

  “Damn,” Kelli muttered.

  Yvonne was confused when Colm nodded at Kelli’s curse and said, “This party is finally about to get interesting. Thought we were going to make it through one whole Collins event with no drama.”

  Before she could ask what that meant, a familiar voice murmured behind her, “We’re not going to be friends, Vonnie.”