Chapter 8: Leo’s Question
Leo waited until he was alone with Julian in the garden to ask the question he had been carrying.
“Is Clara going to stay forever?”
Julian set the ball down. Forever was not a word his contracts used.
“I don’t know forever,” he said honestly. “I know I want her here. I know you and Toby matter to her. I know I’m not going to make the house quiet again on purpose.”
Leo considered this. “If she stays, can we still do music even when you’re not home?”
“Yes.”
“If you are home, will you sing? You’re bad at it.”
May you like
Julian laughed, short and real. “I’ll try. You can tell me when I’m wrong.”
“I will,” Leo said, with the confidence of a six-year-old who had been given permission to tell the truth. He picked up the ball and ran. Julian watched him and felt the exhaustion of the merger week rearrange itself into something that did not sit quite so heavily on the bone.
