we both know what it cost him to earn it. And those costs are sitting on this porch.
I can tell Grandpa is thinking the same thoughts I am, the slight frown hidden beneath his beard proof, and so I change the subject. “I’m getting a little more used to New York,” I say and offer a smile that I know will ease his worries. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the people, though. And I don’t mean the type of people. I mean the number of them.”
Papa chuckles.
“You could fit all the people in this town in one Starbucks there.”
“Yeah, I bet,” he says. “But it’s good for you, baba. You see more people. Make friends. Maybe even meet husband… when you’re forty.”
A giggle bubbles out of me, just as the screen door opens. Leo steps out, freshly showered. He’s in his work clothes now: plain navy V-neck, khaki shorts, and sand-colored boots. Same muscles. “Hey,” he says, looking between my grandpa and me. “Sorry to interrupt…” he trails off.
Papa looks up at him, then points to his truck sitting in the driveway. “In the back. For you. Surprise.”
“For me?” Leo asks, eyebrows raised.
Papa nods.
Leo heads over to the truck and lifts a rocking chair from the bed. His grin is wide when he walks back with it, places it next to my grandfather’s. “You didn’t have to do this,” he says, sitting on it. He makes a show of running his hands along the armrests and rocking back and forth. “It’s perfect. Thank you.”
Papa smiles. “Of course. You’re here all summer. Need to sit.”
Leo’s phone rings, and he takes it out of his pocket. “It’s the hardware store,” he tells my grandpa. I don’t focus on his voice, on the deep tenor of it or the way he says, “I’ll be there soon,” right before hanging up.
“Good!” Papa rubs his hands together. “Now, we get started.”
Leo grins at him. “Finally, huh?”
I’d noticed not much work was being done at the house, but I didn’t bring it up. Honestly, I thought the whole working-on-the-house thing was just a cover-up for Leo being here.
“Mia, you go with the boy. Help him.”
Leo’s gaze snaps to mine before looking away. He says, eyes wide and ahead of him, “It’s okay; I’ll be fine on my own. I’m sure Mia has plans.”
I check my phone, no text from Holden. No genuine excuse.
Before I can speak, Leo adds, “And I might need the passenger seat for the smaller things… like screws and… stuff.”
Papa sighs. “She go.”
“Really, it’s fine.”
“She go,” Papa says and then reaches into his pocket for his wallet. He pulls out a bank card and holds it out to me. “She pays. See?”
“Oh, I can pay for it and then—”
“Bullshit,” Papa snaps, and I can tell it’s making Leo uncomfortable to have to fight him on this. Admittedly, I hate it for him. “She go.” Papa looks at me. “You go?”
I swallow my nerves. “Yes, Papa.”
Chapter Twenty
Leo
This is going to be harder than I thought. Not even the making excuses or the ignoring part. Just the simple act of existing part. Mia’s in the passenger seat of my truck, and she’s wearing a dress, and I’d never seen her in a dress before. It’s nothing flashy or revealing, but the mere fact that she’s in it and she’s next to me in it is driving me insane.
“You’re going the wrong way,” she says, and I don’t know how considering we literally just pulled out of the driveway. “The hardware store’s the opposite direction.”
Right. I’d forgotten that just because she was constantly on my mind, it didn’t mean that she lives in there. “I haven’t had breakfast,” I tell her, my voice cracking from the dryness of my throat. “I was going to grab something at the diner real quick. Is that okay?”
“Sure.”
When we get to the diner, there’s an awkward silence—a pause. I had planned on eating in because I like to watch the world from behind a window, but now that she’s here… “I’ll just get it to-go. Did you want something?”
She shakes her head. “I’m good.” Then her eyes trail to a group of guys sitting on the outside tables. They don’t seem to fit in with our surroundings. They look like they belong in a frat. Mia must pick up on the fact that I’ve followed her gaze because she says, “They’re seasonals.”
“Like, summer hands?”
She nods, her brow pinched as she watches them.
I look back at the guys,