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“Can’t miss the bouncy castle.”
I smiled. “Of course not. Have fun.”
“Will you be here when I get back?” he said.
I looked around the kitchen and at the five-star food no one was interested in. But when my gaze landed back on Leo’s, I nodded. “I have pizzas to order, don’t I?”
“Yay!” Lyssa said and the other kids j
umped. They ran out, pulling Leo behind them, to the castle. Pulling out my cell phone, I dialed and waited on hold for pizza. Staring out the kitchen window, I watched a six-foot-three Greek god of a man hop into an inflatable pink castle with a horde of six-year-olds and start jumping.
Between the smiles and laughter and the genuine look of happiness in Leo’s eyes, something shifted in my chest. Like witnessing reality was too much to bear. He was meant for this kind of thing. Meant for a family. Meant to be loved by so many.
Because he was easily lovable.
That much was obvious.
I glanced around the kitchen, surrounded by boxes of my mistake, in a dress that suddenly felt stiff, and the realization that all the fun was far away from me. Yet somehow Leo made me feel okay. Like I could stay. Like I just may belong a little. As long as he thought I was okay, maybe I really was.
I hung up with the pizza guy as Lyssa came running into the kitchen.
“Paige,” she whispered loudly, barreling straight for me with wide eyes filled with some kind of nervousness.
“Is something wrong?”
She took a few breaths, obviously tired from sprinting, and looked over her shoulder. “Ricky is here. He came.”
I frowned. “You say that like it’s a bad thing. Don’t you like him?”
“Shhh,” she hissed at me and looked over her shoulder again. Apparently a six-year-old’s love was a big deal. “I didn’t know my mom invited him.”
“So you like him, but you want to stay away from him?”
Lyssa nodded spastically and right then, I understood what the kid was going through. Still, I had to ask, “Why?”
She looked at her feet and fidgeted with her sparkly dress. “I don’t know what to say. He’s very cool, you know.”
“I see. So, the cool guy you like is here and you’re having a hard time talking to him?” She nodded. “Sounds like a pretty big problem.”
She nodded again. The look on her face kind of killed. The poor kid was stressing out and in that moment I could relate. I looked around the kitchen, spotted a pad of paper and a cup of pens on the counter near the phone.
“What if you had something super cool to show him?”
Lyssa’s head snapped up. “Like what? He’s a boy and I have girl toys.”
“I’m not talking about toys.” Well, sort of not. “I’m talking about magic.”
Her eyes shot wide and I grabbed a piece of paper and a pen. “You know magic?” she asked.
I scoffed and began folding the paper. “God no. But this thing?” I made one more fold, a few flaps, marked a few words and . . . “This thing is like gold.” I held it up and Lyssa’s eyes went even wider.
“What is it?”
“It’s an origami fortune-teller.” I put my fingers in it, showing her how it opened and closed. “Here, I’ll show you how it works. Pick a color.”
“Pink!”
Of course. Should have known judging by the sparkling marshmallow she was wearing, but the kid did look pretty cute.
