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“Leo thinks everyone’s a friend, even the people who used to be mean to him,” Hendrix said.
“He’s not capable of holding a grudge,” Lynn agreed.
Stuart leaned against the railing. “How’d your date go? I hope Leo didn’t screw it up just by being there.”
“Not at all. It wasn’t really a date, anyway,” Hendrix said. “I was just meeting someone for coffee.”
“Someone?”Lynn said.
“Veronica from our insurance place.”
“Oh, I’ve met her,” she said. “She’s a pretty girl.”
And yet he hadn’t felt any attraction. “She’s nice, too,” he agreed blandly.
“So...do you like her?” Stuart asked.
“More or less.”
Lynn frowned. “That sounds pretty neutral.”
“It is,” he confirmed.
Stuart shoved his hands in his pockets. “Then you won’t be asking her out again.”
“Probably not. But Leo fell in love while we were out.”
“With Veronica?” Lynn asked.
“With Ellen,” he clarified.
Lynn frowned. “Not... Ellen Ellen.”
Hendrix folded his arms as he leaned against the railing, too. “Yep. That Ellen.”
“How?” she cried.“Why?”
Stuart remained conspicuously silent.
“She was working at the dessert diner today—and for some reason, Leo took an immediate liking to her.”
“He was probably drawn to her tattoos,” Lynn said with a grimace. “He loves them and has been begging to get one. How’d she react?”
“She was surprisingly...sweet.”
“Sweet?”Stuart echoed. “That isn’t an adjective I’ve heard used in connection with my daughter very often.”
Hendrix recalled the smile she’d given Leo and was still impressed by how genuine it had seemed. He’d gotten a tiny glimpse of how Ellen behaved when she actually liked someone. “Apparently she doesn’t feel as though Leo deserves her hatred as much as the rest of us.”
“At least she’s not cruel enough to mistreat someone like him,” Lynn said.
“I doubt she’s cruel at all,” Stuart said. “She’s angry. And she’s got a right to be.”
Lynn scowled at her husband for sticking up for Ellen. Hendrix knew his aunt felt threatened by Stuart’s daughter—and probably guilty, as well, for walling her out when she should’ve been more inclusive. He knew Lynn to be kind and loving. She’d been a second mother to him. But he could see where she could’ve done more for Ellen, who was a year younger than he was and had been only ten when Stuart left Jan.
“She got a bum deal,” he admitted for probably the first time.
Lynn didn’t like him supporting Ellen any more than she liked Stuart doing it and broke off the conversation right there. “I guess we’ll leave Leo here with you, then. You can just bring him when you come to work in the morning.”
