but he’s too busy watching them, his brow knitted. We stay quiet a moment, both of us watching our son. Then he throws his arm over my shoulders, bringing me close. “What are you thinking?” I ask him.
Leo shrugs. “Just wondering…” he says, turning to me. “Has he ever had an outburst at the farm?”
I try to remember if he has, but I can’t think of a single time. “Not that I recall.”
Leo nods at this. “Noises get to me,” he states.
My eyebrows raise. “Noises?”
“Yep. People. Crowds. Noises. I get, like, anxious. I feel like I’m always on the edge of a panic attack that never comes.”
“Did you feel like that in New York?” I ask, my brow dipped in concern.
“A little. It would’ve been worse when I was a kid. It’s gotten better, though. I think college helped.”
I nod as if I understand, but my mind is spinning, running in circles. I look back at our little boy while he, Preston, and Katie play together, their laughter unconfined. And slowly, surely, I feel the tightness I’ve carried in my chest for over eight years begin to fade, to dissipate.
Chapter Eighty-One
Mia
Lucy and I walk, elbows linked, behind the kids while Cameron and Leo walk them to each door, letting them knock. I smile every time they squeal when they get treats. “Benny’s having fun,” Lucy hums.
“He is. This is his first real Halloween. We don’t get to celebrate it at home.”
“No?”
I shake my head. “We live in an apartment above a hotel, so the whole door-knocking thing would probably be frowned upon.”
“Right. Yeah, Leo mentioned that,” she says, and then she turns, looking at someone behind us. I follow her gaze to Mr. Preston, his smile strained as he looks down on us.
“Lucy, any chance I could steal Mia for a moment?”
“Sure.” Lucy untangles her arm from mine before joining the kids.
“Mia,” Mr. Preston deadpans. I look behind me for my dad and Tammy, making sure they know exactly what’s happening. They’re only a few steps behind, and Dad jerks his head, just once, a silent message. Behind them is Holden, chatting up a young mom holding a baby dressed as a pumpkin.
“Mr. Preston,” I reply, voice wavering.
I wonder what he has to say that he couldn’t say in front of everyone else. Does he want to thank me for bringing Benny here? Because I didn’t do it for him. Does he want—“You know why I invited you to stay with us those summers?” Or he could say that.
Looking up at him, I shake my head. It’s all I can do. “Because Kathy—my late wife—she would’ve done the same thing.” He shrugs. “Sometimes, I try to do things because I know she’ll be proud of me. My kids are all so proud of her. She was… an amazing mother. And I want my kids to think of me the same. I think that’s every parent’s goal, right?”
Another nod.
“But I think there was something more. My wife believed undoubtedly in fate, and you... you spending time with Leo those summers here and even the ones at your grandpa’s farm... you changed him, Mia. He went from this quiet kid who just followed the crowd and did what was expected of him, to this man who… who stood proud, who gained a purpose. And I…” He clears his throat before adding, “I didn’t see the changes in him until it was too late. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I overstepped, Mia. And I owe you a giant apology. The fact that you’re even here shows a level of maturity and grace, that, to be frank, I don’t carry myself. I’ve proven that. So…” He stops in the middle of the sidewalk and drops his eyes to mine—eyes filled with desperation and longing—not for me, but for the little boy currently running toward me yelling, “Mama, Mama, look!”
“I hope you don’t hate me for speaking out of turn, Mia. And I hope you can forgive me one day,” Mr. Preston says, stepping to the side so my son can get to me.
Benny’s holding up a yellow flower, probably picked from someone’s garden. “I got it for you.”
“It’s beautiful, Benny.” I take it from him. “But you shouldn’t—”
“He asked permission from the owners,” Leo cuts in, standing beside his dad. “I didn’t even tell him he had to. He just did it.”
“That’s very polite of you, Benny,” Mr. Preston coos. “I don’t think my sons would’ve done that.”
Benny giggles. “Silly