Leo was beside her, on the porch steps, his beer growing warm beside him. “It’s a lot different than city life, I suppose,” he said.
“In so many ways,” she said, sighing. “I always wanted to live in a big city, you know.” She gave a little laugh. It seemed strange in a way, like a different person, a person who saw the world differently, who didn’t yet have enough experience to form a true opinion. “I wanted to be in the action. To be around people. Funny then, that lately, I’ve spent so much time alone.”
“I don’t mind it much,” Leo said. “Being alone.”
She frowned. There was still so much about himself that he wasn’t willing to share, but she’d learned something new tonight.
“You never mentioned you were a lawyer,” she said. It was a strange piece of information to withhold, and she couldn’t help but wonder what else she didn’t know about him.
He shrugged. “Didn’t seem to matter much. That’s all behind me.”
“What kind of law did you practice?”
“State prosecutor,” he said, and Gemma raised her eyebrows.
“I’m impressed!”
He gave a good-natured laugh. “You shouldn’t be. It was just a job, but…I enjoyed it.”
“So why’d you give it all up then?” she asked.
He was quiet for a long time. “I told you about my mom, and the garden.”
She nodded. Smiled fondly. “It reminded me of my Gran. She taught us that sort of thing, too.”
“And she learned from her father. From Edward.” His own smile was sad. “My mother died a few years ago. My dad was gone long before her.”
Gemma didn’t quite know what to say. “I’m sorry,” she said. It was obvious that they had been close.
He shook his head. “At the time I was working, and I was getting ready to propose to my girlfriend. And then…”
Then. That word said so much, didn’t it? Everything could be going along fine, and then…
“My brother and I argued about the ranch and what to do with it,” Leo said.
“Sounds like me and Ellie,” Gemma said, feeling her stomach tighten.
“I got that distinct impression tonight,” he said, raising an eyebrow. “Take it from me. These kinds of arguments can have lasting consequences.”
She didn’t like the ominous warning. It tapped into her greatest fears. What would happen to her relationship with Ellie if she pushed the issue? But to not push it made no sense either. Ellie needed a push; she always had. She needed guidance, and structure, and someone to ease her in the right direction.
She grew silent, thinking of the art studio, and Ellie’s paintings, and everything she had created for herself all on her own.
Maybe she was wrong. Maybe Ellie was all right, all on her own.
Maybe, she was being selfish.
She swallowed hard, not liking that thought.
“I assume that your brother won the argument,” she said, pushing away the thoughts of her own situation. “Seeing as you’re here.”
“He won. But only because he had support in the matter.” He shot her a look. “My own girlfriend sided with him. The truth of the matter was that she didn’t want to live on the ranch. She liked the other side of me, the buttoned-up side. When I found out…Well, I had to end it. Returned the ring to the store the very next day.”
She set a hand on his arm, and he didn’t move away. “That couldn’t have been easy.”
“It wasn’t,” he said. “I thought life was good. I had a family, a career, the family ranch…and then, well, it just seemed like there was nothing left for me there anymore. My brother wanted to take the ranch in a commercial direction. But to me…that was my home.”
“So you came here,” she surmised.
He nodded, keeping his eyes high, up at the sky. “Seemed like the only place that made sense. My grandfather is here, and he’s getting on in years, and even though I never came here with my mother, I can sense her here. And the work is good for me.”
He said it as an afterthought, and she eyed him for a minute, not entirely convinced.
“It’s important to have roots,” he said. “And the island has been good to me. No bad memories here.”
None at all, Gemma thought, sighing as she looked up at the old Victorian house behind her.
“Do you miss it?” she asked. “The ranch?”
“No sense in looking back,” he said gruffly.
“Easier said than done.” She glanced at him, deciding she was willing to share more, too. “I was supposed to be getting married next month.”
He looked at her with interest. “Now that couldn’t have been easy.”
“It wasn’t,” she said. “Especially when he got engaged to someone else shortly after calling things off. But coming here…I feel better. I feel almost…hopeful.”
Their eyes met, and for a moment she almost had the sense that he was going to lean in, felt the brush of his arm against hers, saw the slight parting of his lips.
Just as quickly, it was over.
He cleared his throat. Looked up at the sky.
“You can see the entire Milky Way from here,” he said.
“My Gran used to show us the constellations,” she said, looking up. She could still remember gathering with her sisters, in their pajamas, on the front porch, Ellie always the most eager, and the most curious, so easily dazzled by nature when so many others took it for granted.
Maybe, like she’d taken this place for granted.
“I’m glad we met, Leo,” she said, slanting him a glance.
He nodded. “Me too. And I’m sorry for what that guy did to you. You deserve better, you know.” He gave her a long look. “You’ll find it.”
She frowned slightly at his wording. Here, she’d stared to think that she had maybe found it. With him.
“Do you think you’ll ever want to share your life with someone?” she asked even though she wasn’t so sure that she should be asking, or even if she should want to know. She felt a connection, one that she hadn’t sought out or even hoped to find, but it was there, within her reach, and this time, she didn’t want it to slip away.
“Nope,” he said simply, and even though the word was small, the implication was huge.
She stared out into the distance, trying to process what he had just said, knowing that she had no reason to feel the disappointment in her chest that she did, but it was there all the same. The door had been shut. The intention was made clear.
“Look, it’s nothing personal,” he said, giving her a little shove with his elbow.
She didn’t smile. “So you’re giving me the whole it’s not you, it’s me speech?”
He winced. “Well, when you put it that way…”
She stood up and brushed the seat of her dress, even though she was fairly sure that Hope had swept the patio until every last cobweb or grain of sand was gone. “Forget it. You don’t owe me an explanation.”
“It sounds like I do,” he said, looking up at her. He tapped the spot where she had just been, showing no signs of moving. “Sit, please.”
It was tempting, but she knew that there was no choice. She had flashbacks of Sean doing the same thing, pulling her back, trying to let her down gently, trying to convince her that she was better off this way, that it hadn’t been working, and that in time she’d see that too, when she was ready.