Love & Fear

Chapter 2

"Odessa." Dad called out, loudly.
I quickly hop out of my chair and rush down the hallway into the kitchen. "Yes?" He's leaned over the open oven, checking what I had made.
"Where's your brother?"
"Work. He won't be home until after 8."
He huffs a little, goes into his bedroom and shuts the door. His door is always shut... Leo's door is always open. Dad loves us, but it's hard to see it. He's always been gruff and brisk and even more so after Mom died. Leo has never been like that. He knows me better than anyone.
When Dad sent Leo off to college, I seriously thought about moving with him. But Mom was still alive then. I'm grateful he didn't send me away to college when I graduated. I know the only reason Dad didn't was because Mom had just died and he felt sorry for me. If Leo were still gone I know I would have moved.
Other than that, I love Fort Lauderdale. Sunken into the bottom of Florida on the Atlantic, it's a beautiful place. And I love our house. It's a pretty typical Florida stucco house with palm trees in the front and pool in the back and very open floor plan. The front of the house has the sun room which is the library. I head back there and back to my book.
Awhile later I hear Dad getting into dinner, Leo isn't home so he'll take it back into his bedroom.
A little after 8, Leo comes in and heads to his bedroom. His door is open but I get us out plates for dinner; pork loin, salad, and sweet potatoes, the best. And Leo loves it.
"Hey." He comes out stretching, smiling just for being in sweatpants and not a suit.
"How was the law today?"
"Butchered as usual."
"Still enjoying being a lawyer?" I look up at him while setting down a pot lid. Which lands on the edge of a dish of barbecue sauce, it rolls over and spills across the island. Of course.
"Not quite as much watching you cook."
"You don't have to use a sophisticated word like 'quite' whenever I spill."
He laughs and rips off some paper towels to start wiping it up.
"Let's eat outside." I carry the plates and he slides open the glass door for me. "I've been thinking about something recently." As I turn, I see I'm alone. He's back inside grabbing a beer. I smile to myself and sit down. So glad no one knows when you do that. The back porch, next to the pool, is under a corner of the roof so we have a nice couch out here. It's one of my favorite spots.
"Too bad there's no barbecue sauce!" Leo says as he sits next to me.
"You'll live. I've been thinking about something recently."