That shook her back to reality. The spell broken—or at least temporarily set aside for now—they moved to the same table they met at last week and took seats, Preston joining them. There was a white mug half filled with coffee and bearing a pale pink lipstick print.
Teddi grabbed it and held it up. “Can I get anybody coffee?”
“I have had more caffeine than I need today, but thank you,” Leah said. Kelly shook her head.
“You’ve met Preston?” Teddi asked, and at their nods, she went on. “He’s my right hand around here. I will be your point of contact always, but if for some reason you can’t get ahold of me, don’t hesitate to call him.”
“I have access to everything Teddi does,” Preston added, his smile revealing the perfect white teeth Leah expected. “Files, vendors, your details, any emails. It’s unusual for Teddi to be completely out of reach, but if she is, I can usually get to her.”
“It’s true. I can’t get away from him.” Teddi exchanged a look with Preston that told Leah they were yin and yang to one another, their fondness obvious.
The down-and-dirty came next. Leah listened but let Kelly take the lead. Casual observer was the role she took on, and she couldn’t help but smile as Kelly became more animated. Teddi watched her with a soft expression, probably humoring her. There was no way Teddi hadn’t heard this stuff a million times, but she never rushed Kelly, never interrupted her, and seemed to understand every single thing Kelly said.
And Teddi was beautiful. Leah took in the ivory sweater dress Teddi wore, a classic contrast to her olive skin. Gold bangle bracelets jingled softly when Teddi moved her hand. Her hair was down, a soft brown that looked like it might be a shade darker underneath. Subtle brown eye shadow accentuated the deep dark of Teddi’s incredible eyes, and her full lips shone with the glimmer of a coat of lip gloss, just a hint of pink.
And it wasn’t odd at all that she noticed Teddi’s impressive posture, right? Her spine was straight, her shoulders squared the whole time she spoke, twisted, moved her arms. Teddi wasn’t tall—maybe two inches taller than her—but she seemed it. The way someone carried themselves said a lot about them, her mother used to say, and nobody in her recent memory illustrated that point better than Teddi Baker. Her presence said: Yes, I’m attractive. I also run this show and will snap you like a twig if I need to.
Leah felt the corners of her mouth tug up at the thought.
“What are you smiling at?” Kelly’s question took her by surprise, and Leah sat up a little straighter. Teddi’s eyes were on her as well, and Leah swore she could feel them, straight down to her—
“Just happy to see you so happy,” she replied, pulling an answer out of her ass so fast she even impressed herself. Teddi’s gaze stayed on her for an extra beat. It did things to Leah.
Shoulder bumps were Kelly’s signature move of affection, and she leaned into Leah with one. “Can you give Teddi the deposit?”
“Oh. Of course.” Leah fished her wallet out of her purse and pulled out her Visa card.
Preston took it from her hand and slid it through the Square he’d plugged into his tablet. “Leah Scott,” he said as he watched the transaction on the screen. “Your name seems familiar to me.”
“Pretty common name,” Leah said.
“She’s a lawyer,” Kelly said, pride in her tone.
“Oh yeah?” Preston turned the tablet around and pointed. “Just sign here with your finger.”
Leah hated signing with her finger, always felt like a five-year-old trying to sign her name in crayon, and she squinted, certainly signing as slowly as one.
“What kind of lawyer?” Preston asked.
Leah hit the green button that read Done. “I’m a divorce attorney.”
A heavy coffee mug had to hit the ground just right in order to shatter, and Teddi’s apparently had, the sound of the crash startling the other three enough to make them each flinch in their seats. Leah’s head whipped toward Teddi, who sat wide-eyed and seemingly shocked, a Rorschach inkblot of a coffee stain blossoming on her beautiful ivory dress.
“Oh my God, are you okay?” Kelly sprang into action, her kindergarten teacher reflexes kicking into high alert as they did any time something was spilled or broken.
Teddi stood slowly, head down, her focus seemingly on the puddle of coffee and pieces of mug scattered across her hardwood floor. “I’m fine. I’m sorry. Clumsy. I’ll just…” She pointed over her shoulder, blinked several times, never meeting Leah’s eyes, then turned on her heel. “Preston, set up the next appointment, would you?” In the next three seconds, she had disappeared into the back.
A full five seconds of silence passed before Kelly and Leah exchanged looks. “Um, is she okay?” Leah asked Preston, whose head was turned toward Teddi’s exit.
“Uh, yeah. I’m sure she’s fine.” He turned back around. Uncomfortable. It was the only way to describe him. “Let’s get your next appointment on the schedule.”
Ten minutes later, Leah and Kelly stood at Kelly’s car, almost mirroring the first time they left Hopeless Romantic. It had been a beautifully crisp fall day, but now the crisp had kicked up and the beautiful had pulled back. Leah put her hands in the pockets of her long coat.
“That was so weird,” Kelly said, pulling open her car door and slipping inside.
“Right?” Such a strange reaction to a broken mug. Leah looked back at the storefront. “Do you think she cut herself?”
“Or she’s allergic to divorce attorneys.” Kelly chuckled and started the car. As if sensing Leah’s confusion, Kelly said, “That’s when she dropped the mug. When you said you were a divorce attorney.” With a snorted laugh, she asked, “You didn’t handle her divorce or something, did you?”
Leah blinked at her.
Kelly’s smile faltered, no longer lighthearted. “You didn’t, did you?”
“I…” Leah wrinkled her nose and shrugged. “Is she divorced? I mean, I guess it’s not out of the realm of possibility.”
“Oh, great.” Kelly let her forehead fall against the steering wheel, then immediately lifted it up again. “Well, we’ve paid a deposit and she’s the best in the business, so let’s hope, if you did, we can all just remain professional.”
“Yeah. Okay.”
“She got me, Leah.” Pleading her case. Thrilled and happy. Excited anticipation. Leah loved seeing these things on her sister’s face, hearing them in her voice. “She got everything I mentioned. I felt so comfortable with her.”
“I know.”
“I don’t want to unhire her. She’s exactly what I want.”
“Then we won’t.” Leah swallowed the twinge she felt at that last line. “We’ll work it out. Don’t worry.” Words she’d said to Kelly their entire lives, and she’d always made it so, no matter how much of a pretzel she’d had to twist herself into. She always worked it out. For Kelly.
Kelly held her gaze for a beat. “Okay. I love you.”
“Love you, too.” Leah slammed Kelly’s door and watched her pull away. One last glance at Hopeless Romantic. No Teddi standing in the window. “Well, that’s a damn shame,” she muttered, waiting an extra moment or two, just in case. Then she turned away and headed toward her car.