"I asked Clarke if he'd seen the necklace-- you know, basic detective stuff. And you know what he said?" Millie explained to Leo who was now sitting on his bed beside her.
"What?"
"He said he had it yesterday."
"Which would be impossible," Leo interrupted, "because you had the necklace the entire time, and before that, Amelia."
"Exactly!"
"He fits the criteria for our prime suspect to a T. Great work and I don't mean that sarcastically."
"I can't believe I'm saying this," Millie paused, "but you were right about the lead."
"So I take it that you told Kaycee then. What did she say?"
"I haven't told her yet. But I will today. It's gonna be hard but it's best she hears it from me."
"I'll hold you to it. Now that that's taken care of, why don't we get out of here?" Leo clasped his hands.
Millie nodded and Leo helped her to her feet.
"Thanks."
"Don't mention it," Leo smiled.
The house was empty as they walked downstairs and through the living room. All signs of Chase were gone.
Slipping on her sneakers, Millie breathed in the evening air and headed down the porch steps.
The sun, halfway through its descent dipped behind the mountains, casting a light glow on the town. The scent of freshly cut grass grew as lawnmowers were retrieved from garages and flowering hedges were slightly trimmed.
An ice cream truck drove past, parking at the end of the cul de sac, drawing a large crowd. All around her, the neighbourhood was teeming with life.
"Hey!"
Millie turned around.
"I said 'we', didn't I?" Leo jogged to where she stood, a grin pasted on his face. "I think you need a break."
"Really?" Millie tucked her arms under one another. "Because I think I need to get home. It's almost 6."
"You have time to go home later. It's summer. We can do whatever we want. Come on," Leo insisted. "I don't know about you but I'd rather look back and know I did something fun and didn't follow all the rules so much."
"But you follow the rules all the time!" Millie laughed.
"I know. Which is why I'm the perfect person to tell you that you need to get out and do something. I have quite a lot of firsthand experience."
"That's not something I would brag about. But seriously if it means that much to you, I'll take a break."
A warm breeze brushed past them and Leo quickly ran inside, grabbing a jean jacket.
Millie ran her fingers down her pink floral dress, smoothing any traces of wrinkles before opening the camera app on her phone and doing a once-over of herself.
"Ready to go?" Leo said, startling Millie who nearly dropped her phone.
"You haven't told me where we're going."
"I know."
"So are you going to tell me?"
"No."
"Why not?" Millie said.
"I don't feel like it," Leo held out his outstretched hand, pausing for her to take it-- which she didn't.
"Can I at least get a hint?" Millie nudged him slightly as they began walking down the sidewalk.
"No can do."
"What if I'm overdressed?"
"You're not. You look...you look amazing."
"You can't say those things, you know," Millie resisted glancing into Leo's grey eyes and shyly stared at the pavement.
"This is the second time in two days you've looked down around me. What's going on?"
"Nothing. It's nothing."
Leo crossed his arms and sent a disapproving look. "I know it's something but I'm going to let it slide this time. When you're ready to tell me I'll be all ears."
Millie cleared her throat, and her eyes grew wide, when she stopped a few metres away. "Look Leo! There's the art studio where we first took painting lessons. Remember?"
Leo's eyes followed Millie's finger to a small townhouse with a decorative easel and paintbrush on the front of the building. "Yeah I remember. There was paint everywhere. And we weren't invited back."
Millie laughed. "I missed this place."
"There's the movie theatre down the street where we had our second date," Leo jutted his head in the theatre's direction.
"And where our Twizzler tradition started." Millie stopped walking. "You're not taking me to the movies, are you?"
"No. Why do you look so worried?"
"I just don't want it to be weird between us. Going to where we had our second date would be entering weird territory."
"It doesn't have to be. We're friends. I mean, we were something more but that's in the past. Whatever we are right now is whatever we are right now. Okay?"
"Okay," Millie breathed a calming sigh.
She appreciated Leo's willingness to remain platonic and not try push her into anything. At least it made things a bit easier.
"Oh! On our way to wherever we're going, can we go check out the comic book store?"
"Actually the comic book store shut down a year ago. The owner left town suddenly and there was no one left to run it," Leo said.
"Um, how about the roller rink down by Darby? We used to have so much fun there."
"Gone too. It's now a space themed diner. They have awesome onion rings by the way. Remind me to take you."
"Everything has changed around here," Millie rubbed the sides of her arms, sighing as another round of wind blew by. "You leave for five years and it's like your whole childhood is gone."
"Do you want my jacket?" Leo offered the garment to her. "You look cold. Are you?"
"It's fine. You don't have to."
"Take the jacket," Leo smiled, shaking his head. "I brought it for you. Back at the house, you shivered a bit, so I grabbed it just in case."
"Thank you," Millie slid the jacket on and pulled her coils out of the collar.
"You're welcome. Your childhood isn't gone. Maybe the places might be but you'll always have the memories."
"I know. It's just sad to think about I guess."
"Nostalgia will do that to you. But there's time for all of that later. Tonight is to take your mind off of everything."
"The suspense is getting to me. Can you please tell me what we're doing?"
"Why tell when I can show you?" Leo gestured to the store a step away from where they stood.
"Antonio's? Leo..."
Antonio's remained in a class outside of the surrounding small town charm, perched on the top of affluence.
The restaurant itself was built on its own private lot (separate from the rest of the town). Its parking housed the most expensive cars, and an even more expensive clientele.
Not even a speck of garbage littered the outer perimeter. Nor did a single fingerprint stain the glass doors that opened with large gold handles.
"I know, I know. This isn't a date," he held up his hands, palms facing outwards. "It's just I remembered how much you used to dream about eating here when we were kids. Back then we didn't have much money obviously."
"This is really sweet," Millie touched her forehead, "but it's too expensive. This is the type of place where you propose to someone or host a really fancy party."
To be clear, Millie was in no mood for either. Although she'd dreamed of eating at Antonio's for years and also with the person currently standing in front of her, it was supposed to be just that, a dream. Now that it was reality, she wanted to be anywhere but here.
"Relax Millie. It's fine by me. I wouldn't bring you here if I didn't think you were worth it. Everything's on me tonight."
"That's exactly what you would say if we were dating."
"That's exactly what I'd say regardless. Look, nothing's going to happen. I promise. We will enter as friends and leave as friends."
Millie couldn't spot any signs of deceit. Leo's tone was protective, with a hint of softness, reminding her of their time at Clifts Peak.
Now that she thought about it, she couldn't remember a time when she'd felt unsafe with him. He'd always kept his word. If this was truly the same guy she'd grown up with, what did she really have to lose?
___
Nearly tripping over his own feet, Leo pulled out the chair for his "almost-date."
"Thank you."
"So, what do you think?" Leo rolled and unrolled his sleeves, trying to decide which would make him look his best.
He'd always been told that blue was his colour, and now wearing a button down shirt in front of one of the only girls who had the ability to make him sweat bullets, Leo hoped it was true.
"It's beautiful," Millie said. "Enough with the sleeves though. They're fine the way they are."
"Right."
"Are you nervous about something? You started messing with your sleeves the minute we sat down."
"Me, nervous? No. It's not a date, remember? Why would I be nervous?"
"You're rambling. I do that when I'm nervous too. But you knew that, didn't you?"
"Caught me red-handed. Can't pull one over on you if I tried."
"We know each other too well which is one of the reasons why we wouldn't work," Millie opened the menu, wishing she'd bit her tongue instead of opening a can of worms.
"Reasons? So there's more than one."
"Mm hmm." Millie held the book to her face, hiding behind the lobster linguine on page 2 and Leo's curious stare.
"That's all you're gonna say? No follow up?"
"Ready to place your order?" A waiter with red curls and tiny freckles clutched a pen and notebook, eager to feel useful.
"Yes," Millie wiped sweat from her brow.
"No," Leo countered.
"Uh...I'll come back. Seems like there's unfinished business in the kitchen." The waiter ducked under a waitress carrying six bowls of food and headed for the kitchen.
"If I'd given you all the reasons why we wouldn't be a great match we'd be here all day."
Mostly because Millie would have to resort to making up answers, once her two reasons were found out.
"Am I that bad? Did I do something wrong? Because if I did--"
"You didn't do anything wrong," Millie shook her head and reached out to clasp her hand on top of his, aware of how this could be perceived. "I'm just not ready for a relationship right now and I need you to respect that."
That was partially true. If there currently wasn't a murderer on the loose or a family business on the verge of collapse, she'd want nothing more than to pick up where they left off. Plus, she was hoping the more times she said it out loud, the more she'd believe it.
"That's really what you want?"
Millie nodded.
"Okay," Leo breathed in, then out. "I respect your decision. I'm sorry for not doing it sooner."
"Apology accepted," Millie said.
"A toast," Leo lifted his glass towards her, "to friends and nothing more," he smiled.
Though she did the same, Millie couldn't help wonder if she was making a mistake.