“My grandma would really like that. She spent a lot of time making those.”
“Seriously? Oh my god, I’ll tell her that she did an amazing job. She did. You all did. Thank you. Thank you for having my crazy family over, and their dog too, apparently. Thank you for putting up with our curse and our antics and our craziness. Thank you for- for just being- so- so solid and good through all of this. If we really are cursed, then I’m glad it’s you.”
Daniel is the kind of person who doesn’t need to respond to that. He just smiles at me softly and, taking my hand, strolls with me through the kitchen in pursuit of more normal company, cheese, and pickles.
We leave the door locked, letting my brothers and cousins sort out their surliness out there in the pool.
Chapter 11
Daniel
After the house is cleared out, I feel like collapsing on the couch- not from relief, well not solely from relief, but from exhaustion. Meeting family is hard work, even if they did a lot of the hard stuff for us. Ellis, Luna, Lindy, and Elodie are great. It’s clear that Leandra adores the new members of her family. If the curse really did choose them all, it did well. I have to say, I also really enjoyed Leandra’s granny. She’s a firecracker, but a fun firecracker. I like that my grandma has her as a friend. It made the whole afternoon that much easier. My grandma is quieter- not shy, just more muted than Leandra’s granny- and they balanced each other out well.
Eventually the guys got out of the pool and towels and lectures were handed out, then everyone cleared out because dry clothes were in order. My grandma could be persuaded otherwise and stuck around to help with the clean up, but now it’s just me and Leandra in the house, and the quiet is nice and peaceful.
Leandra is standing near the doorway, after just having waved my grandma off. She looks tired too, and for a second I’m worried about her, that all of that was way too much, but she smiles brightly at me when she catches me staring at her from a few feet away, an empty meat and cheese platter in my hand. It’s the last thing left to clean up. Somehow it got missed in my grandma’s clean all sweep.
“Wow,” Leandra sighs. “That was- uh- just- wow. Maybe I should leave it at that.”
“It was wow in a good way.”
Her smile grows and her eyes get shinier and yup, it’s official, I’d do anything to make her smile. “I’m glad that you can say that with a straight face. I almost believe you.”
I set the tray down on the coffee table where I found it and walk over. She meets me halfway, but instead of walking into my arms like I intend, she turns and plops down at the piano bench a few feet away. She pats the empty spot, enjoying herself immensely.
“I’d like to see if you can actually play this thing. You said you could, but I’m not sure I believe you.”
“A challenge?” My brows shoot up. “I’m always up for one of those.”
“Even if the challenge is to go another round with a cactus?”
I shudder. “Alright, so I have to insert a caveat. I’m usually up for a challenge.”
I shit down deftly beside Leandra, trying to ignore the way her leg brushes mine and how that makes my leg burn and how that fire travels straight into my groin, which is fully healed now, thank you very much. I pop open the lid with practiced ease and set my hands on the keys. They feel cool to the touch. We put down all the shades, since the sun was becoming unbearably hot, but the piano always stays cooler over here. It’s in the corner of the room, and right above it is a vent for the air conditioning.
“Any requests?”
Leandra shrugs. “Anything. Whatever you want. Actually, no. That’s not a challenge. I demand classical. Something- I don’t know. Something high quality.”
“Hmmm. Alright. Here we go.”
I don’t need sheet music. I have a good memory for music. I started playing young and I have a good number of pieces stored away in the old memory bank. I start on something classical, as per request. I can remember the notes, but for the life of me, I can’t remember the name of it. It’s remarkable that my hands remember which notes to play with ease, the music pouring out and filling the room, the sounds filling up every space, resonating through the bones of the house, but my mind has pretty much blanked on everything else. Everything except for Leandra. Who is still sitting close to me. Her leg is still touching me. The heat is pouring from her, and I’m close enough that the gentle lilac of her perfume tantalizes me every single time I drag in a breath.