Leah gave her a smug ‘as if’ face. “Or try weaseling things out of people who actually volunteer.” Or, people like her, who’d suggested photos of Marigold.
“You gotta love how that logic works. You’re the only one who’s right and everybody else in the compound is completely wrong.” Her smile indicated a laugh that she was holding back.
Vienna explained about her spare camera and Leah made a face. “Damn. I really can’t win at all today, can I?” She found it easy enough to go along with the joke. “I’ll just have to be sneakier about my comments on the prom dresses or whatever else you decide you need models for in the future.”
The blonde couldn’t help but laugh at the new tone in her friend’s voice. “I really can’t doubt it now that I’ve been exposed to it.” Stubbornness was one of those traits that was hard to ignore. “And I’m starting to think you’re one of those photographers who showers all her subjects with flattery just so she can get good results.” She said it teasingly, but it wasn’t really a bad thing. “I know you are. I wouldn’t have agreed to do this if I thought you’d completely embarrass me,” she admitted.
Leah raised a finger to make a point. “And we’ll have to make sure to plan some non-kid activities, too, because as much as we love our little ones, we deserve a break from the mom thing once in a while.” As it was, she was already consumed by it, and it had changed her a great deal from the woman she’d been a year ago.
For the first time in quite a while, O’Brien popped into Leah’s mind. Evan hadn’t technically been the first man she’d opened up to since Ben, but he was the first she’d trusted and given her heart to. The thing with O’Brien had been fleeting and confusing, and was probably only a result of her awakening emotions. It was still sort of embarrassing to think about that disaster of a relationship, if one could even call it that.
“I think it’s inevitable that you form an attachment to someone at some point. Sometimes it’s when you’re feeling most vulnerable, other times it’s for different reasons.” She shrugged, not presuming to know for certain that vulnerability had been what led Vienna to Noah’s bed.
Leah huffed a breath of laughter. “The cautious road’s kind of a recent thing, I think. I used to be pretty reckless with my life.” Between the time she lost Marigold to the time she got her back. She gave her friend a weak smile at her response. “Maybe, probably,” she repeated, a little teasingly, but still sincere.