Chapter 11

Downstairs she started a pot of coffee and worked on cleaning up the mess from the night before. She was loading the dishwasher and nearly jumped out of her skin when Jon snuck up behind her. “Morning” he whispered in her ear. Leana dropped the dishes she was holding and they crashed to the counter. “Jesus Jon! What the hell is the matter with you? Are you trying to kill me?!” He laughed at her. “I was just saying good morning. What are you doing here, wait,” he put his hand up, “I’m not sure I want to know the answer to that.” Leana rolled her eyes at him. “It’s not what you think. All I did was sleep here. That’s it.” “Right. This is Richie we are talking about. When he has a beautiful woman with him, the last thing he wants to do is sleep.” “Fuck you” she told him with a smile as she finished loading the dishwasher. Leana reached for a mug and poured herself some coffee. “You really want to know what happened?” He eyed her over his coffee cup, “sure, if you want to share all the horny details.” “You have a one-track mind my friend. How Dorothea has put up with you for so long is beyond me. Come on, let’s sit down.”

They took their cups and sat down at the kitchen table. “Before I tell you about last night” Leana started, “can I ask you a question?” “Sure” he told her as he scratched his chest and stretched. Leana looked at him for a minute; she couldn’t believe she was actually sitting there with him. How many times had they sat down with coffee or whatever to talk? He and Dorothea had been her closest friends and even after so many years it felt like slipping into her favorite pair of shoes, it was that comfortable. “Leana? Hey.” She snapped her eyes up to Jon’s. “What?” “Where did you go? You were going to ask me a question.” Her cheeks reddened. “Sorry, took a trip back in time for a minute. Okay, I was just curious, how’s Dorothea?” Jon smiled at her, “she’s good Leana, real good. She will be jealous that I got to see you and she didn’t though.” “Well, you be sure to tell her I said hello. I have missed her.” Jon nodded, “she’s missed you too babe. Now, what happened last night?”

Leana sipped her coffee, “I came back last night after you all had gone inside…” she filled him on what had transpired. “Jon, he apologized to me. I never thought that would happen.” Jon reached over and rubbed the back of Leana’s hand. “He’s a good guy, a little messed up right now, but he has a good heart.” Leana nodded. “I know, but I just don’t know if I can go down that road again. It took a long time to get back on track after that. I don’t know if I could handle that again.” Dave and Tico wandered in at that moment, both with surprised looks on their faces when they saw who Jon was talking to. “Morning” Leana said cheerily to them. “How about some breakfast?” “Sure” they all nodded in agreement. Jon piped up, “as long as you’re cooking.” Leana looked at David and Tico, “how have you put up with him for so long?” They looked at each other and then back at her, “he pays us.”