AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Most boys like pizza,” Yvonne mused.
Vince shrugged. “Not every night. Can you bring us dinner again tomorrow?”
“Well—” Yvonne started.
Leo stepped closer and put his hand on his son’s shoulder. “No. She can’t. She’s already gone out of her way to feed us tonight. Come on. You two go get your showers, and then you can watch TV in your room for an hour before bed, okay? We gotta head out to the farm early tomorrow.”
“Aww,” Vince groaned. “We’re going out there again? I wanted to go to the pool with my friends.”
“Maybe one day next week,” Leo said, trying to figure out where he’d squeeze that in.
Both boys started to head out of the room, but they stopped at the doorway, turning back to hug and thank Yvonne for the dinner and the cookies.
Leo smiled. As much as they frustrated him sometimes, there was no denying they were good boys, and he was very proud of the polite young men they were growing up to become.
“Okay. One more thing,” she said, starting down the hall, clearly intent on tackling the laundry.
Leo reached for her hand, tugging her back. “I’m drawing the line there. You’ve already done enough, Vonnie. I can handle the rest.”
“I swear you are the most thickheaded man I’ve ever met. Didn’t we just go over this? You don’t have to do everything alone.”
“Seriously?” he teased. “You’re calling me thickheaded? Let’s face it. When God was handing out stubbornness, the Collins family got in line twice.”
She laughed and corrected him. “Three times. But that’s okay because we also tripled up on the lines where they hand out fun, humor and good looks, so it evens out in the end.”
Leo rolled his eyes, perfectly accustomed to her silliness, and not completely disagreeing. He’d spent countless hours hanging out with her and her cousins in high school, and even in the years since. There was no denying they were a fun family, a direct contrast to his very quiet, very solemn one. Not that his family wasn’t loving, they just didn’t laugh much. Hell, they rarely talked except to discuss work.
Lochlan and Yvonne had been the first friends he’d made at school. Up until sophomore year, his mom had homeschooled him, his sister, and his brother because they’d needed help with the farm. However, when Leo—the baby of the family—hit fifteen, he’d decided he wanted to go to a real high school, and he had put his foot down. After much pleading, his parents had given in to his request.
Lochlan and Yvonne had found him wandering around the cafeteria with his lunch tray on the first day of school, regretting his insistence at attending public school when faced with finding somewhere to sit. He figured there was nothing more intimidating on the planet than a high school cafeteria full of teenagers. Fortunately for Leo, Lochlan had waved him over to their table, and Yvonne had started asking him a bunch of questions about himself. By the time lunch had ended, both Collins kids felt like old friends.
And before Leo knew it, they—and their entire family—were.
“So we’re doing laundry,” she said.
“You’re incorrigible, Yvonne.”
“What?” she asked, pretending to misunderstand him. “Adorable, you say?”
She bent over and picked up a piece of paper that had fallen from the pocket of Vince’s jeans, then grinned. “Uh-oh, Dad. I’m not sure if you’ve had ‘the talk’ with Vince yet, but it appears he’s caught the attention of a little girl named Delaney.”
Leo took the paper from her and skimmed the love letter. “Shit. I’m not ready for this part of parenting.”
“He’s still young. I suspect you have a couple years before it gets really serious. Of course, once he hits high school, all bets are off.”
Leo looked back down at the paper. “I don’t know. Delaney has professed her undying love here. Sounds like wedding bells might be ringing in his near future.”
Yvonne laughed. “I wouldn’t worry too much about that. Girls fall in and out of love all the time. In fact, I was madly in love with you when I was a freshman.”
That tidbit took him aback. “Seriously?”
She nodded earnestly.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Yvonne rolled her eyes. “For one thing, I was fourteen, and nowhere near as confident and mature as I am these days.”
Leo reached out and ruffled her hair playfully. “Not sure ‘mature’ is a word I’d use to describe you even now.”
