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Logan broke away from the kiss and looked up to find Leo, holding Bea’s hand at the top of the plane’s stairs.
Logan laughed and put his hands up. “You caught us, buddy. Is it okay?"
“Kissing’s gross,” Leo said, making his way carefully down the stairs with Bea holding tight to his hand. “Does this mean we’re going to the picnic?”
Ella laughed as he reached the bottom step and ran toward them, letting them fold him in their arms. “I think that’s what it means.”
Logan looked down at them. Right now, it was more than enough.
42
Ella rushed around the house, grabbing towels and blankets and sunscreen and dumping everything into the beach bags she’d been packing all morning.
“Bea, can you grab the tamales from the fridge?” she called out.
“Already done,” Bea said, setting a covered container on the coffee table.
“You didn’t have to make anything,” Logan said, kissing Gabriella’s forehead. “There’s always so much food.”
“I wanted to contribute to the picnic,” Ella said.
It had only been a few days since she’d decided to stay in California, but she was already settling into a different pace of life. She’d asked Nathan for a leave of absence, and he was transferring the Vitsin case to another D.A. Gabriella felt bad that he didn’t know it was all for nothing — the case would eventually be dead along with Yakov Vitsin — but there was nothing she could do about that.
Some secrets had to be kept.
She’d spent the first few days of her sabbatical sleeping in and walking the beach with Logan and Leo. She’d even called her mom in Florida to get her tamale recipe.
“Are we missing anything?” Gabriella asked, looking at the three beach bags, two blankets, tamales, and container of cupcakes she’d baked at the last minute the night before.
“I think we could be moving to a deserted island and not be missing anything,” Logan said.
“Ha-ha. You won’t be complaining when you get your hands on my mom’s tamales,” Gabriella said.
“I remember your mom’s tamales. Why do you think I was always over at your house?” He donned an expression of mock surprise. “Oh… you didn’t think that was to see you, did you?”
She smiled and shook her head.
“Let’s go troops,” Bea said, picking up the tamales and heading for the door. “Hot-bodied bodyguards wait for no man. Or woman.”
“You’re really incorrigible,” Gabriella said, picking up two of the beach bags bursting at the seams. “Why didn’t I know that before?”
“Surprise,” Bea said, heading for the car.
Gabriella had been relieved when Bea offered to stay in California. It was closer to her kids in Washington and she wasn’t eager to leave Leo. Her presence gave him some much needed continuity, and it gave Gabriella a steady hand during the times when she panicked about stepping back from her career.
It took two trips to carry everything to the car, but they finally got everything loaded and Leo buckled in.
Logan got into the driver’s seat with a sigh. “This… isn’t like my usual pre-picnic routine.”
“And what was that like?” Gabriella asked.
“Basically? Put on my shoes and grab my car keys.”
She patted his hand. “Yeah, those days are gone, mister.”
He smiled. “I’m not mad.”
He started the car and Leo clapped in the back seat. “Going to the beach picnic!” he sang. “Going to swim with Aunt Willow!”
The radio had been left on from Ella’s last trip to the grocery store, and the soothing sound of the NPR newscaster filled the car.
“Yakov Vitsin, mob boss with the notorious Baranov bratva in Chicago, was found dead in Lake Michigan today. Vitsin was scheduled to go to trial in less than a month for the murder of Bayard Owens. A statement released by police said the investigation is ongoing.”
Logan met Gabriella’s eyes and hurried to change the station. “Let’s listen to music.”
Gabriella smiled at him and sat back in the seat, turning her gaze on the water stretching to the horizon. “Music sounds good.”
* * *
