His words acted like a release valve, easing some of the pressure Flora was feeling. It was one less thing to worry about, and she was grateful for his support. “I’ll let her know tomorrow.”
“Take care of yourself.” He made a move toward his own car, then turned back again. “Oh, and I’ll see you on Saturday at two.”
Flora’s brow furrowed. “You will?”
“Awareness Day at the animal sanctuary. Trust me. You’ll love it and your little whirlwinds will have a great day out.” With a wave of his hand, he went to join Laurie, who was waiting beside their car.
“Everything okay?” Leon called across from where he was loading his own vehicle.
Since he was holding a cat carrier that was making some remarkable high-pitched noises, she decided against confiding that Cameron’s invitation had aroused discomfort. The truth was that she was unsure about her reception among the townspeople of Stillwater. She was the new-in-town doctor who was the last person to have seen two of her murdered patients alive. It wasn’t the best recommendation for the Ryerson Center, or the way Flora wanted to be introduced to new people.
At the same time, Cameron was right. The twins would love to see all the animals.
“Meet you at my place,” she replied, keeping her inner debate to herself.
It was only when she got behind the wheel that she realized she’d forgotten to talk to Laurie about Jennifer Webster, the receptionist who had worked for half a day before quitting her job. She made a mental note to call the police chief in the morning.
Chapter 7
Bungee began his introduction to his new home by staging a protest and refusing to leave his cat carrier. Flora suggested they leave him in the kitchen with the door to his crate open while they got Stevie and Frankie into bed.
The layout of the house was open, with a small porch, a large family room, and stairs leading off the kitchen.
“As you can see, I wasn’t expecting company.” Flora turned to look at Leon with a laughing expression as she indicated the toy-strewn floor of the family room. They each carried a sleeping twin as they carefully navigated the hazards. “The plan was to tidy up once we got home from your place.”
He followed her up the stairs and into a bedroom containing two small beds with dinosaur pictures on the quilts and an abundance of cuddly toys. The twins didn’t stir as Flora undressed them, changed them into pajamas, and tucked them in. Leon watched her face as she bent to kiss them. He was surprised by the warm glow her expression triggered deep in his chest.
Since Karen’s death, he had shut himself off from images of family life. He didn’t begrudge other people their happiness, but it was usually too painful to view it up close. Although seeing Flora with her boys reminded him of what he’d lost, being with them didn’t bring an overwhelming rush of grief and pain. Instead, he was surprised to find he enjoyed spending time in their company. It was impossible not to be drawn to Stevie and Frankie, and watching Flora engage with them was like listening to the notes of an old, familiar song.
Somehow, the trauma of losing his wife had made him shut out the memories of his own happy childhood. This little family brought them back. Incomplete snippets that came together to make a patchwork quilt of sights, sounds, scents, and tastes. Warm milk and cookies. The smell of his grandmother’s button box. Shouting himself hoarse at the football game. Watching the moths dance in the golden light of the porch.
Life goes on. He looked up to find Flora’s gaze on his face. If you let it.
“I suppose you get tired of people asking how you do it?” he asked, after she had switched the baby monitor on and carefully closed the door. “Work full time in such a demanding job and take care of twins, I mean.”
Flora led the way back downstairs. “I’m a mom and a doctor.” She led the way through to the kitchen. “I don’t know any other way to do this. But I’m no superhero.” She turned to smile at him as she reached into the fridge and brought out a plastic box containing leftover chicken. “My boys are my life, and they rule my life. They are a pair of miniature dictators.”
She fascinated him. They had both been through tragedy, but they had dealt with it in completely different ways. Everything about Flora, like her name, was vibrant and alive, the opposite of how Leon felt most days.
“They do everything together, but they also fight all the time,” Flora continued. “Their new word is ‘want.’ As soon as they hear something, they want it, even if they don’t know what it is. And one wants anything the other twin has. Including me. Although I have two knees, they both want to sit on the same one. I sometimes wonder if it would have been different—”
She knelt on the floor, concentrating on her task as she placed a few pieces of meat beside the cat carrier. When she looked up, the smile was back, but it was just a little too bright.
“Having two parents would obviously have been easier. On all of us.” She managed a laugh. “Or maybe not. They’d probably have been fighting over who got to sit next to daddy at dinner time.”
“It must have been hard.” Leon looked away briefly as Bungee emerged and ate the pieces of chicken.
“You find ways to deal with it.” Her gaze was steady on his profile. “But you already know that.”
“My way was at the bottom of a bottle.”
“Mine might have been the same if I hadn’t been pregnant,” Flora said. “Now, I see flashes of them growing up and it scares and enchants me at the same time. I actually
