"It was an accident. I think he should stay home from school," Leo said, as they drove home from the hospital. He knew too much about accidents.

Leo didn't know why he reached over and patted her hand. Was it to reassure her or him? Watching his son being sutured, he felt emotional. Cody's perfect leg would be scarred forever. He remembered inspecting him after his birth. As Cody slept, thoughts of Autumn filled Leo's mind. To keep from going under, he squeezed Isla's fingers. Cody was fine, and Autumn never would be, but he wasn't alone. Isla cared about his children more than he could have asked a nanny.

When he pulled his hand back from the reassuring pat, his fingertips brushed her soft leg. Ever since she started wearing shorts, he was hyperaware of her. Truthfully, it was since his nightmare in the basement. The dream which followed was not his only one. Sometimes Autumn appeared, and once Reagan surprised him, but they always included Isla. Typically, he could compartmentalize his dreams from real life, but with his defenses down he crossed the line.

Riley ran to him as he carried sleepy Cody into the house. She looked up at Leo, and he nodded. "He's fine. Eighteen stitches! He'll sleep, but I'm going to put him in my bed in case he wakes up in the night."

The last thing he needed was Cody wandering at night and falling down the stairs. When he returned Zach had pizza out.

"Eat. Both of you." Zach put slices on plates.

Leo was so hungry he bit into a piece cold. "Thanks for your help. I owe you."

Zach laughed. "You owe me about six weekends of babysitting."

Leo snapped his head. "Do you have something to tell me?"

"What? No! Not for a few years. Lilli is still establishing herself."

Leo smiled. "Good plan."

Zach shifted his feet. "I think I'm going to ask her this weekend."

"Finally! You said the same thing months ago, and you've had the ring for months."

Zach nodded. "I know and she knows thanks to office gossip."

Leo put down his pizza. "Hold on. No one knows you two are together, but they know you bought a ring! Who do they think it's for?"

"I do not know. Chelsea acted sympathetic like she had when Ann announced her move to New York, so she must assume my relationship ended."

"Backup. What does Ann have to do with anything?"

"I took Ann out to celebrate NYC, and my former assistant spread rumors I was proposing to Ann."

"So she's accused you of having two relationships and knows nothing about the one you're in?"

"Yup. And no one, but me, knew when Ann dated Josh Roche."

"Chelsea will know when you're engaged."

Zach laughed. "Lilli wants to keep it secret and have me come back with a wedding ring."

Leo laughed. "So she knows it's coming, and it's a slam dunk she'll say yes. That's good."

Zach frowned. "Did you think you'd get rejected?"

Leo shook his head. "We talked about our future. The surprise is in the proposal. What's your plan?"

"Yeah, Zach!" Riley had been listening. Leo looked around the table; Isla was as well.

"I would love to be on the beach, but Lilli will drop the ring in the sand."

"Tie a string to it." Everyone looked at Riley. "If you tie a string to the ring and you, then it can't get lost."

Leo laughed. "Then you would really have her on a leash."

"Girlfriend, you're a genius."

Riley pouted. "When you get married, I can't be your girlfriend."

Zach smiled. "You'll always be special to me and Lill. I should go. She's hanging out with her old roommate. I have to pick her up."

Riley said, "Tell Lilli that Isla needs to go shopping again, so she can swim in the pool."

"The pool. That's seven weekends."

Leo shrugged. "I'm not worried. By the time you have a kid, Riley will babysit."

Riley said, "Isla can."

Leo wondered if Isla would still be with them when Lilli had a baby. His chest ached at the thought of her gone.

Zach laughed. "That's not payback. Hey, I'm glad Cody is fine. Oh Isla, I found your book on the front steps. She's one of Ann's authors. I remembered working on that manuscript."

As Leo said goodbye to his friend, He glanced at the romance novel. Isla's cheeks were pink. He grabbed another slice. "Did you get enough?" She nodded without making eye contact. He wondered just how embarrassing the novel was. Hoping to rescue her, he said, "I'm glad you're reading. Keeping the house is not a full-time job. I think you clean it before it's even dirty."

She looked up. "I have a schedule."

She stood and took a piece of paper off the bulletin board inside the pantry closet door. He hadn't noticed it. Her printing was perfect like Lilli's.

"Except the kitchen and laundry, you could do half one week and half the next. When school gets out, you will have a full-time job."

She nodded. "In the pool?"

He smiled. "In the pool. Riley, time for bed. I'm going to sleep too."

He didn't want to leave Cody alone. Before he got in bed, his phone rang. It was Percy. He totally forgot they had a phone call scheduled. He went downstairs to talk.

"I'm sorry. I missed..."

"Your assistant said family emergency."

Leo shut his eyes. He hated those words. "Cody fell on his bike. He has a few stitches on his leg."

"But he's okay? Weird, I called my mother and Autumn was agitated today."

Leo sighed. "Don't tell me she somehow knew Cody was hurt."

He often thought her soul was gone already. Her body looked empty. He also feared she felt trapped in between, not quite the purgatory he learned about. Either way, he wished he could let her go.

"I don't know, man."

"Can we reschedule?" Leo couldn't focus on business.

"We have a writer interested. We'll need to get the two writers together. I see a series of sit downs, so about a week. Do you want to stay with me?"

"Nah, I can expense our hotel rooms." Staying with Percy would put him in a downward spiral.

"Will you see her?"

Leo knew he would, as much as he hated to see her. He would go. "Probably."

He turned to see Isla behind him at the sink. He doubted she heard anything. At times, he considered telling her the truth about Autumn, but he feared she would tell him he was wrong. He would hate to lose her respect.

He cleared his throat. "That was a work call. I'll definitely be going to LA for a week sometime soon."

She nodded. "That's why you invited me to stay. What about after?"

Leo shook his head. "That was my excuse for inviting you to stay. I really wanted to keep you safe. You needed a home, and I have one."

"So, I can stay?"

He nodded. "For as long as you want to. According to Riley, long enough to meet Lilli's baby."

Isla smiled. "Lilli's going to be married?"

Leo winked. "She won't be living in sin."

"I'm learning, everyone does."

Leo chuckled. "Many. Yes."

"Did you?"

"Do you mean with my wife?" She nodded. "Yes. We dated a long time before we got married."

"But you still divorced her?"

Leo nodded. "I have to get back to Cody."

It had been a long emotional day. He had no intention of discussing his divorce. He woke from a nightmare. Cody was falling with Autumn. He turned towards his son and listened to his even breaths. In the middle of the night, he did something he didn't do often. He prayed, as he thanked God for keeping his son safe. He asked him to take Autumn. Hearing she was agitated reiterated his belief, she needed peace.

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