Stefan, can you do me a huge favor?” Leighton rushed into the studio’s kitchen before realizing Casey was also there. She didn’t have time to acknowledge her. “I forgot this is the night I’m supposed to sit on that art history panel at Columbia. Shit! Can Kalyssa stay with you for a few hours?”
He took a pint of ice cream from the freezer. “Sorry, I can’t. I’m teaching a live figure drawing class at the Art Students League.”
Leighton let out an exasperated sigh.
Casey tore off a sheet of aluminum foil, the metallic rattle reverberating through the kitchen.
Leighton hated Casey bearing witness to her frazzled state, but she didn’t have time to concern herself with that now. She’d have to take Kalyssa with her, and she worried about a four-year-old’s ability to entertain herself for an entire hour. However, life limited Leighton’s babysitting options, and she wasn’t hiring a stranger on an app.
“I’d take her with me, but she’d be bored.” Stefan took a bite of ice cream. “Plus, tonight’s model is well-endowed and doesn’t hold still, if you know what I mean.” He wiggled his eyebrows.
Casey bit her lip, likely holding back a smile.
Leighton didn’t find any of this funny. “No, that’s no place for a child. I can’t believe I forgot about this fucking panel. I’d try to worm my way out of it, but I promised Maxine I’d do it. She’s the moderator.”
“She could stay at my place.” Casey shrugged like she didn’t care either way and rolled her brushes in the foil. “I can watch her.”
Leighton hesitated. She was supposed to be keeping her distance from Casey, not having her babysit. Still, what choice did she have?
“Are you sure it’s not an imposition?” Her heart rate had already slowed at the possibility of finding a solution.
“Nope.” Casey pointed at her chest with her foil-wrapped brushes. “It’s just me, Andy, and a pizza tonight.”
“You’re a lifesaver.” Leighton failed to maintain her frosty exterior. Casey’s offer saved her, and Kalyssa, who adored younger children, would love meeting Andy.
Stefan leaned against the counter and licked ice cream from his spoon.
Leighton wished he’d go to his office or anywhere other than here. She hadn’t told him anything that had happened since the day he’d chastised her for snapping at Mikala and learned about the kiss she’d witnessed. He was bound to have more to say about that, and now there was this decision to comment on.
Leighton glanced at the clock. “Does six thirty work for you?”
“Anytime. I’m headed home now.” Casey stepped around Stefan to return the foil to the drawer. “I can take her on the train with me, if that helps you.” She dropped her brushes in the chest freezer.
Leighton waved off the idea. “I’ll drop her on my way. I have time.” No one besides her took Kalyssa on the subway. It was too dangerous, too exposed.
“Okay. I’ll text you my address. I can get your number from the phone list.”
“Great.” Leighton hurried to the alcove and pushed open the door to the stairwell. “Thank you. It means a lot.” She headed upstairs, wondering how much this would cost her in emotional strain. But for now, what’s done was done.
* * *
After Leighton finished the panel she wished she hadn’t agreed to, she knocked on Casey’s apartment door and waited. When Casey opened it, giggles floated out, making Leighton smile. The sight of Casey greeting her might’ve had something to do with it, too.
Kalyssa and Andy sat on the carpet playing some kind of memory game. Neither looked up at her arrival, but the sparkle in Casey’s eyes made up for it.
“She’s going easy on him.” Casey glanced over her shoulder. “He gets not-so-subtle hints during his turn. He’s making a killing and loving it.” She stepped aside to allow Leighton to enter.
The simple but clean space was small even by Manhattan standards and the décor and furnishings dated. Leighton had lived in a similar-sized apartment when she’d been in college, and again in Florence, though she’d never had to make do with used furniture. Her mother would never have allowed it. It gave Leighton a sense of missing out on something as she took in the fun, mismatched chairs and colorful throw covering the couch. It pleased Leighton that despite Casey’s limited income, she’d made a lovely home for her and Andy.
“So, she behaved?”
“She’s been a sweetheart and so good to him.”
Leighton scooted around Mark’s bicycle to stand beside Casey. Erica had mentioned Mark and Casey roomed together when they’d applied to the atelier, and Casey said Mark helped her with Andy when he could, though Leighton had forgotten about their arrangement in the interim.
Andy took a turn. Kalyssa’s focus on the game meant she had yet to register Leighton’s presence.
“Hi, baby. Did you have a good time?” Leighton smoothed her hand over Kalyssa’s hair.
Kalyssa looked up with a start. “Hi, Momma. This is our fourth game. We had to eat pizza first, then we had ice cream.”
“It sounds like Casey was good to you. You’ll want to come over all the time.” Why had she said that? This was a one-time deal.
Casey touched her elbow. “Have you eaten? Why don’t you take off your jacket, and I’ll warm some pizza for you.”
If she sat, she worried she might not get up again. In the end, her empty stomach made the call. “I haven’t, and that sounds wonderful. Are you sure we’re not keeping you from something?” Leighton shed her jacket and laid it over the back of a chair.
“Not at all. Can you watch them for a minute?”
“Sure.” She sat on the sofa near Kalyssa.
“I have wine and beer. Or milk or water, if you don’t want alcohol.” Casey held open the refrigerator.
“Beer, please.” She didn’t want her to have to open a bottle of wine, and after that panel, she could use a drink.
Casey returned with a Corona.
“Thank you.” Leighton took a long swig. “You don’t know how good that tastes.”
Andy won the game to no one’s surprise except his. Leighton found the delight on his face contagious. He resembled Casey quite a bit, especially when his dimples appeared.
“Do you want to play something different?” Casey returned the game to its box. “Andy, where are your tracks? Why don’t you show Kalyssa your train?”
Andy pushed himself up and went to a shelf where primary-colored baskets held toys and books. He noticed Leighton, and shyness seemed to strike him. He sucked his thumb as he stared at her.
“Andy, this is Leighton. She’s Kalyssa’s mom.” Casey took his thumb from his mouth, but he put it back.
Kalyssa lifted a basket down with a loud groan. “That’s heavy.” Tracks soon littered the floor. She snapped two of them together. “C’mon, Andy.”
Andy squatted beside her, but his eyes remained on Leighton.
Kalyssa elbowed him. “Help me. Let’s make a big circle.”
Although still wary of Leighton, he used his free hand to pull train cars and a red engine from the basket.
Leighton winked at him as he joined Kalyssa.
Casey brought her a plate with two slices of pizza. “Do you mind eating in here? You’re also welcome to use the table. And I brought you a knife and fork in case you need them.”
“Thank you.” Leighton took the plate. “Here is fine. I’m enjoying watching them.” She forwent the utensils and took a large bite.
Casey sat beside her, and when Leighton moaned, Casey laughed. “Isn’t it the best? We always order from them. I ate three slices.”
Leighton wiped her mouth and looked her up and down. “You didn’t.”
Casey nodded and blushed.
“Yet you only brought me two.”
Her statement made Casey grin.
Leighton’s self-imposed mandate to remain frosty around her had failed, at least for now. She needed a moment to relax after the panel, the worn softness of Casey’s couch eased the tension in her tired body, and she was hungry. Besides, curt exchanges and avoidance would be inappropriate in front of the children, not to mention rude and ungrateful given the huge favor Casey had done for her this evening. Her mandate could take a night off.
Andy and Kalyssa had almost completed a closed ring of the track when Kalyssa noticed additional lengths. She snapped two sections apart. “Look, we can make it bigger.”
Leighton and Casey didn’t talk while she ate her second piece. When finished, she sipped her beer. “That was fantastic. Thank you. And what do I owe you for tonight?”
“We’re not doing that. You’d never accept payment if the tables were turned, and you know it.”
No, she wouldn’t. Casey already knew her so well it unnerved her. And she’d injure Casey’s pride if she pressed the issue.
“Would you like another slice?” Casey moved to get up.
“No.” Leighton stopped her with the press of her fingers to Casey’s leg. “We should be going. It’s past bedtime.” She withdrew her hand. They should leave, but she enjoyed the pleasure of a moment’s relaxation. The blush that colored Casey’s cheeks whenever Leighton touched her pleased her more.
Andy padded over to her with a book held against his chest.
“Hi.” Leighton smiled. Maybe he’d warmed to her.
“He heard you say bedtime.” Casey brushed his hair from his forehead.
He pushed the book between them. With a knee on the sofa’s edge and a kick for momentum, he heaved his little body onto the couch and flopped on Leighton’s lap.
“Oh!” She hadn’t expected that.
Andy handed her the book and settled into the crook of her arm. His thumb went into his mouth.
Casey’s forehead wrinkled. “Do you want me to take him?”
Leighton shook her head and smiled. “No.” His warm body felt good against hers. She missed Kalyssa being this small.
Kalyssa abandoned the train tracks and stood between her legs. “Isn’t he so cute, Momma?” She took Andy’s face in her hands. “His cheeks are so chubby.”
Leighton laughed. “Yes, he’s adorable. Your cheeks used to look like that, too, darling.”
Andy didn’t seem to mind the attention. His features were smooth and delicate. Leighton couldn’t see any resemblance to Devin, but sometimes that happened. After all, Kalyssa looked more like her than she did Jeffrey.
“You don’t need to read to him. I don’t want to hold you hostage.” Casey looked worried, but her expression changed to obvious fondness as she watched Andy nestle against Leighton’s chest.
“We have to read a bedtime book at some point. It’s here or at home, so it might as well be now.” It gave Leighton an excuse to stay longer. With always being so busy, be it with Kalyssa or the atelier, she rarely had time to relax, to simply exist. God, how she needed it. She looked at Kalyssa and patted the couch beside her. “Do you want to read with us?”
“Yes.” Kalyssa scrambled to sit beside her. She turned to Casey. “We don’t have this book at our house.”
“You should stay then.” Casey smiled at her.
Andy pulled his thumb from his mouth and pointed to it. “Grandma.”
“Yes, Grandma gave you that for your birthday.” Casey smiled, as though remembering.
“His grandparents must adore him.”
Casey shifted on her cushion, breaking eye contact. “He just has a grandma.”
A few seconds of silence stretched between them. Only one grandparent? There could be many explanations why, but now wasn’t the ideal time to get into it.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” Leighton pulled Kalyssa against her to make room. “You won’t be able to see from there,” she said to Casey.
Casey didn’t move, and alarms went off inside Leighton. Was she remembering their almost-kiss? The way Leighton had jumped away and told her no? Leighton couldn’t blame Casey for being confused. The entire situation confounded her. They needed to figure out a way to exist around one another because the school year had a long way to go.
“Come on, Casey.” Kalyssa patted the cushion like Leighton had done.
With a glance at Leighton, Casey moved closer.
Leighton was in trouble if the fluttering in her stomach had any say. Picking up her daughter from a sitter’s place shouldn’t make her feel like this, like standing at the edge of a tall building and looking down, her knees weak, and fear and exhilaration making every cell tingle.
While she’d soak up the feeling tonight, tomorrow would be different. She’d be back at work, where she was in control.
Leighton angled the book so everyone could see and read the first line.
In the morning, her self-imposed mandate would resume.