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“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.
