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“I can come back?” he confirmed once again when she let go of him.
“Of course,” she said.
“When?”
“Hendrix has my number. We can arrange something for this coming week.”
Seemingly placated, Leo climbed into the truck, leaving Hendrix and Ellen standing there, looking at each other. After the affection she’d shown Leo, it would’ve been natural for her to hug him, too—if he were anyone else.
But he wasn’t.
“Thanks for everything you’ve done for him,” Hendrix said, gesturing vaguely to the passenger seat, where Leo was putting on his seat belt.
Ellen shoved her hands in the pockets of her cutoffs as if she felt the same awkward tension between them. “No problem.”
He started to open his door but turned back at the last second. “Maybe I can come back sometime, too,” he said and was gratified when she didn’t react as negatively as he’d expected. As a matter of fact, she didn’t react negatively at all. She seemed surprised but ultimately gave him a somewhat confused response.
“If you want to.”
He grinned at her. “I want to,” he said. Then he waved at Brant and Talulah who were still sitting on the porch. “Night,” he called out and couldn’t resist whistling to Neil Diamond’s “Cherry, Cherry” which was playing on Leo’s favorite radio station as he drove with his cousin to the Fetterman house. There was something exciting about Ellen’s reaction when he’d shown interest in returning. It hadn’t been an unequivocal, excitedyes. But it’d been a yes that suggested he wasn’t the only one who was feeling differently about their relationship.
“I love Ellen,” Leo said.
Hendrix chuckled. “I can see why.”
“That went well,” Talulah said, smiling coyly as Ellen returned to the porch.
Ellen chose to play dumb. “What went well?”
“Having Leo and Hendrix here,” Brant replied, also smiling like the Cheshire Cat.
“I much prefer Leo to Hendrix,” Ellen said, reclaiming her glass.
“Of course,” Talulah said. “Leo’s harmless. He could never hurt you.”
“Hendrix couldn’t hurt me, either,” she argued, pretending he didn’t matter enough to make that possible. But she was leery of him for a reason. She tried telling herself it had everything to do with how he’d made her feel on the occasions she’d seen him while she was growing up—unaccepted, unattractive, unwanted and inferior—but that wasn’t the entire truth, and she knew it. The way he was talking to her and looking at her lately was...discomfiting. But in a much more positive sense. It was almost as if he found her attractive—not that she could believe that was truly the case. She didn’t think she’d be Hendrix’s type even if they didn’t have good reason to dislike each other. “He’s just grateful that I’m being so good to Leo,” she said. “Leo means a lot to him.”
“I’m sure he is grateful for that,” Brant said. “He’s been protecting Leo ever since he moved in with Lynn and Stuart. It’s probably a breath of fresh air to have someone else care about him, too.”
“Everyone who knows Leo cares about him,” Ellen said, shrugging off Brant’s words.
“Not necessarily,” Talulah said. “They know him and might give him a kind word or a wave when they see him, but they don’t take a personal interest and help entertain him the way you have.”
Ellen finished what was in her glass. “Maybe that’s true. But I’m not doing it for Hendrix.”
“He’s still grateful,” Brant pointed out.
“Whyareyou doing it?” Talulah asked.
“I don’t know. I guess it’s because...because Leo’s so easy to love.”
“And you need someone to love. I’ve been telling you that for a long time.”
She needed someone to loveher. But she’d needed that for years, which was why she’d finally allowed Talulah to convince her to try online dating. The person she was looking for wasn’t Leo. “I just enjoy being around him.” His innocence and sweetness made her feel good. So did his lack of criticism and judgment.
“Could befriending Leo have anything to do with your father?” Talulah asked.
“In what way?”
