Rumor Has It

Part 15

A bit of tension was settling in his stomach when Bradley brought over the bag filled with his daughter's things. He knew he shouldn't be apprehensive and maybe she would already ask to go home after having been at another house on her own for barely over half an hour. This first fear proved unnecessary when it was Ashley who opened the door all alone and he had to first find Lea outside again, distracted by trying to teach one of the dogs a trick.

"We can Facetime you later before bedtime if you want." she offered. "Then you can have a chat and she can let you know if she's not feeling okay."

"Yeah, thanks, sounds good. It doesn't have to mean anything if she doesn't want to stay." He assured her.

*

It dawned on him later that night that he hadn't thought this whole thing through. Bradley had made too much for dinner again, which sometimes happened when he wanted to make too many things at once. But tonight he had to remind himself that it was only going to be his mother and himself. His mother, who wasn't involved in any of this and who would be concerned about her granddaughter staying somewhere else.

Gloria greeted him with a warm hug and the question fell immediately when she stepped inside and shook off her jacket.

"Where's Lea?"

"She's staying over at a friend's house." he said casually and turned on his heel, heading directly back into the kitchen without opening the room for discussions. "Did you get your car fixed quickly or did you end up having more trouble with it? I heard..."

"She's staying at a friend's house? Where?"

"A friend of hers from school, Emily, I'm sure you've heard the name before."

His mother followed him quickly and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "And you're okay with that?" She looked more amused than annoyed and it was such a new attitude from her son. It had not only been Lea, but also him who was always reluctant to let her take new steps. If anything, she had assumed that Bradley's hesitancy had rubbed off on his daughter.

Now he looked relaxed about the whole thing, so much that she was beginning to be concerned. He tasted the sauce and let the spoon sink back into the pot, without Lea's usual "No double dipping!" warning interfering from her spot in the kitchen.

Bradley shrugged nonchalantly and handed his mother a spoon filled with sauce too. "Yeah. They've become pretty good friends."

"And she jumped at the chance? You know she's a bit young to be sleeping over at a friend's house."

"I know, I know. But Lea was the one who wanted to. So I thought, why not let her try? It'll be good for her if she makes it through the night...and I was hoping it might help her when she stays with you too."

"Let's hope it works out. Do you know the family?"

"Of course, Mom, I've met them. The kids have had play dates." He made a point out of turning back to the stove, feeling his face grow warm. "I've been over there and they've been here."

She gave him the spoon back and leaned in closer, trying to catch his eyes.

"I'm glad she's having a good time at school. Took you a while back then, you used to be so introverted."

His mother thankfully launched into yet another story about his own childhood he had heard plenty of times before, but at least the topic had successfully changed.

They were just finishing eating when Bradley's phone rang and he jumped up immediately to get the call, adding an apologetic "They said they'd call in the evening".