“You’ll be okay going by yourself?”
“I’ll be fine. Shannon will take good care of me—as a friend and nothing more. You need to trust me on that, Randall.”
“I do trust you,” he says softly.
“I love you.” I can’t help but smile when I say it.
“I love you so much more. Tell Leslie I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
* * *
Although I’ve not met Leslie’s mom, I’ve seen photos of her, and I have no trouble spotting her at the airport. When I wave and catch her eye, she beams at me and then draws me into a hug when I reach her.
“It’s so nice to meet you, Wendy. And I’m so sorry about Leslie. She caught me on the phone before I left home to let me know what happened.”
I give her a sad smile. “I’m the one who should be saying, ‘I’m sorry about Leslie,’ to you. You’re not going to get to see her now. Instead you get to drive a stranger around.”
“You’re not a stranger. You’re my daughter’s best friend, and I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“All good, I hope.”
“Of course. Now, let’s get you out of here and grab some lunch before I take you to Shannon’s to get settled in.” She starts walking toward baggage claim, and I fall into step beside her. “Unless you’d be more comfortable staying at our house, since Leslie’s not here? I know it’s not convenient because we live so far out of the city, but we’d be glad to have you and to drive you wherever you need to go.”
“Thank you so much for the offer, but I’ll be fine with Shannon. I don’t want to put you out.”
“Well, the offer stands, so if you change your mind, let me know.”
The two of us make small talk as we wait for my suitcase and then drive to a locally owned soup and sandwich shop for lunch.
“This place is lovely,” I say. “It feels so homey.” The small dining area is set up more like a dining room in a home than a restaurant. It holds six tables of various sizes and styles, but they all complement each other.
“It’s my favorite place. I always eat here when I come to the city.” She chuckles. “I bet it sounds funny to you for me to call Little Rock a city, considering it’s about twenty times smaller than Chicago.”
I smile. “It’s more like a big town to me, but it’s much larger than your town, right?”
“Yes, Oakville’s population is just under two thousand. And we live in the country, so our population is two—or three this summer since Cynthia’s home from college.”
“And she’s coming into the city this evening, too, right?”
“Yes, she has a part-time summer job at the Oakville newspaper, and she’ll drive in with her father after work.”
“I bet she’s sad she won’t get to see her sister.”
“She doesn’t know yet.”
My eyebrows arch. “No?”
“No, I’m not going to tell her until she gets here, or I’m afraid she won’t come. Not that she wouldn’t want to meet you, but her sister was the real draw.”
“I get that. I wouldn’t be all that excited about driving forty minutes to meet my little brothers’ friends, if my brothers weren’t going to be there. But will she be mad when she finds out you could have told her but didn’t?”
“She’ll be fine. She loves spending time with Shannon, and I want her to meet you. From what Leslie has said, there’s a chance you could be extended family someday.” She gives me a sly grin.
“Oh, she said that, did she?”
“Granted, she didn’t say much other than you’re dating Ash’s brother. But she was excited about the prospect of the two of you maybe being sisters-in-law someday, in addition to being best friends.”
“I think there’s a good chance we will be,” I admit with a smile.
