He’d attempted to be unfazed by Sarah’s fast growing relationship with Leo, but she knew him too well. He hadn’t asked her to, but for the following couple of weeks, she kept the details of her conversations with the guy to a minimum, telling him only what he needed to know. Being busy with school, practice, games, and work helped.

Then, just three weeks after having that long ass chat with her brother and then a few with her dad, Sarah announced the inevitable. “I think I’m ready to meet Leonardo in person.”

They’d been sitting in a back booth of the restaurant after their shift, having dinner. Angel stared at her for a moment, curious that she didn’t say her dad also. “Just Leo? What about your dad?”

She shrugged, moving her food around on her plate. “I don’t know. I haven’t heard from him in a while.”

It wasn’t until that moment that it occurred to Angel she hadn’t mentioned her dad in the past week or so. Just Leo. “Why? Did something happen?”

Her eyes shot up and met his. “No.” She shook her head quickly. “We had a few three-way chats, and I spoke with Dad privately twice. The conversations with him never felt quite as comfortable as when I talk to Leonardo. I don’t know. It was weird, almost as if he were more interested in asking questions about my mom than me.”

“Your mom?”

“Yeah,” she nodded. “He asked a lot about stuff I didn’t remember. Like where we lived when I was very young and if we’d ever lived with anyone else. He wanted to know if it was always just the two of us or if there’d been anyone else helping us out financially. Stuff like that. I don’t know if he’s feeling guilty for not being there and needs some kind of confirmation that we didn’t suffer too much or what. But the whole time I could sense my answers weren’t satisfying him. Quite honestly, even though I really tried, I don’t remember that far back.”

“He can’t expect you to, Sarah.”

Inhaling deeply, she continued. “He mentioned some jewelry he’d hoped my mom had held on to so she could eventually pass it on to me and asked if she had, but she never has. The second time I spoke with him he brought it up again. I guess he thought I’d ask her, but I didn’t.” She frowned. “I know things were tough for us, and she mentioned needing to pawn stuff to get by. If she had to pawn the jewelry, so be it. I’m not gonna make her feel guilty for doing what she had to do. So why bring it up? If she still had the jewelry, I’m sure she would’ve mentioned it. Anyway”—she shrugged—“it’s been almost two weeks since I last spoke with him. No emails. No nothing. When I’ve asked Leonardo about it, he says he’s not sure what’s up with him either, only that the last he heard was he was working a lot of overtime.”

That still seemed odd. Almost two weeks? First, he’d gone out of his way and had even driven out to Flagstaff to hunt her down, and then once he found her he just disappeared? Not that Angel cared if her dad ever resurfaced again. Angel was still of the belief that the guy didn’t deserve to be a part of Sarah’s life, but he hated that he sensed Sarah’s disappointment. This was exactly what he’d been afraid of when she first told him about her dad looking for her. As much as he still didn’t trust Leo completely, at least his interest in meeting her hadn’t fallen through.

“So when did you wanna meet with Leo?”

“I don’t know. We’re all so busy. I’ll talk to him about it tonight. I was thinking maybe we can meet halfway somewhere to make it fair to both of us,” she continued. “But he said he’d be willing to drive down here to meet me.”

Angel chewed slowly, mentally going over his tight schedule. Sarah would choose the busiest time of the year for him to want to do this. But he’d be damned if he was going to let her go without him. He needed to meet this guy himself.

“So talk to him tonight and get a plan going, but give me some time so I can work something out.”

“Oh, yeah, I know,” she said, setting her fork down on her plate. “My schedule is pretty crammed as well. And now I’m training for that marathon to boot.”

“Check my game schedule when you decide. My work schedule is pretty flexible, but games and practices aren’t, and I really wanna be there with you, babe.”

Sarah reached over and touched his hand. “Have I told you lately how much I love you?”

Pleasantly surprised by the sudden change of topic, Angel smiled. “I’ll never get tired of hearing it, but, yeah, I think you have.”

“Well, let me say it again because I don’t think you realize how much I appreciate having someone so incredibly special in my life.” She squeezed his hand and she smiled, but her eyes pinched and her lip began to quiver as her eyes welled up.

“What’s wrong, baby?” Angel asked, sitting up and feeling the ease he’d begun to feel sucked out of him.

She shook her head rapidly even though he could see it was a struggle for her not to cry. “It’s just been so overwhelming.” She wiped a tear away and reached for a napkin. “Everything that’s happened lately has been so surreal. Every conversation I’ve had with Leonardo and my dad. I know it hasn’t been easy for you. It’s hard for you to trust, and I totally understand why you’re skeptical, yet you’ve been so supportive and patient. I know you, my love.” She shrugged, taking a deep breath with a teary but very genuine smile. “I’ve seen it in your eyes and felt it in your mood changes. You’re not thrilled about this, but you’re trying so hard to stay open-minded for me. Even today I was worried you might think it’s too soon, that we might argue, but, instead, you’re being just as wonderful as always.” She startled him by getting up suddenly then coming around the table and wrapping her arms around his neck. “I just don’t know how I got so lucky to find you.”