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Ding-dong.

The doorbell had Leah stepping out of the way. She wondered who else was joining them.

“Do you have the money?” Tracy asked Paul.

He nodded. “I’ve got it. You guys can head into the dining room.”

As Leah followed Tracy, she glanced around at the house. It was nice but not anything fancy. It was the type of place where you could feel at home. She wondered if she’d ever get to that point.

She’d noticed Paul had grown quiet. She wasn’t sure if he was always quiet or if he was uncomfortable with her presence. She worried her bottom lip. What if he didn’t like her?

“I just need to get some glasses from the kitchen,” Tracy said.

“I can help you.” Leah followed her into a big kitchen with a table with four chairs next to a picture window overlooking the back yard, which was camouflaged by the darkness of an early winter evening.

Tracy turned to her. “I apologize if I talk too much. I’ve been this way my whole life. Lucky for me, Paul isn’t a big talker, but he is a good listener. Plus, I really am happy to meet you. I can’t wait to learn more about you.”

“There isn’t really anything that interesting about me.”

“I doubt that’s true.” Tracy opened a kitchen cabinet and took out five glasses.

There was a stampede on the stairs. As though they sensed dinner, the two boys from earlier at the inn appeared. One was a little taller than the other. She would guess that he was maybe thirteen, and his brother was a couple of years younger.

When they noticed her in the kitchen, they skidded to a stop. Their gazes moved from Leah to their mother.

“Is it time to eat?” the older one asked.

The younger one said, “I’m starved.”

“Is that the way you greet our guest?” Tracy arched a brow.

The boys turned to Leah. She sent them a smile. “Hi. I’m Leah.”

The taller boy said, “Hi. I’m Bobby, and that’s my younger brother, Sam.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both.”

Before she could think of what else to say, they turned back to their mom. “Can we eat now? Please.”

“Your father just paid for the pizzas. They’re in the dining room.” Just as the boys were about to race off for the food, she said, “Wash up first.”

“Why are we eating in the dining room?” Sam asked.

Tracy opened a cabinet door. “Because we have a guest, and we want to make a good impression.”

There was a collective “oh” from the boys.

Dinner consisted of four medium pizzas. They didn’t know what type of pizza she ate, so they got a veggie lover’s, pepperoni, meat lover’s, and a supreme. She let them know that she wasn’t a picky eater. When she saw the boys glom onto the meat lover’s pizza, she chose the veggie lover’s.

Throughout dinner she learned the boys liked to play soccer. They thought school was okay but not their favorite. They’d rather be outside helping their father with his landscaping business.

Tracy worked as a paralegal in town. She liked her work, especially the part about her boss giving her flex time so she could be there for her boys’ activities.

Paul loosened up over dinner and told her that he’d started his own company shortly out of high school. It had started with him mowing yards. As his list of clients grew, so did the services he offered.

And then it was Leah’s turn to tell them that she was born in Los Angeles. She told them how her mother moved around frequently. Maybe she should have held back, but if this was going to work out, she wanted to be honest from the get-go. She told them how as a kid, they moved up and down the west coast as her mother moved from job to job. And that Leah had gone to college and graduated with her bachelor’s degree.

She told them about her position as office manager of a talent agency. At first the boys didn’t realize exactly what she did, but once they put it together, they peppered her with questions about all of the famous people she’d met. The next thing she knew, they were asking their parents when they could go visit her in California.