by Lee, Dana
And then, the biggest question: Why had he left so abruptly?
# # # # #
from Levi McCrory’s song notebook
“Princess Shoes”—verse 1
When I saw your shoes tappin’ they were sparklin’ like crazy
and I couldn’t resist and so I grabbed you—oh, baby!
And we started to dance. We were takin’ a chance.
With my arms around you, I just felt we were flyin’.
We were lighter than air, we were up in the sky ’n’
we were bound for the stars. Or maybe Venus or Mars.
And I knew that all the magic I was feeling for you
was a special kind of magic—you were feeling it, too.
I was falling for a girl I never wanted to lose.
I was falling for a girl wearing princess shoes.
# # # # #
I finished printing out the sales report and heaved a sigh of relief. Well, I wouldn’t have to do that again until after New Year’s. That is, assuming that the store was still in existence by then. Assuming that there wasn’t a Pottery Barn or something in its place.
I went back to my office and checked my phone for messages. Shoot, there was one from Levi from a couple of hours ago. I shouldn’t have let myself get so absorbed in accounting! Still, it was from Levi so life was good! Thank heaven he’d thought to trade phone numbers last night. I read: STK @ RHRSL WYWH LM.
I wished I were there at rehearsal with him, too. But wishing never made things happen—more “words to live by” courtesy of Dad. Well, the store wasn’t open, so I could take things into my own hands. I’d see him as soon as I could drive out to the casino.
I called Norm at the garage and asked how he was doing with my car. He told me the problem had been a fairly minor one and that he’d be all done in a few more minutes, probably by the time I walked down there. I gave myself the rest of the afternoon off and headed out the door.
Maybe I had been overthinking last night’s date. I guess females have a tendency to want everything spelled out for us. Meanwhile, guys aren’t always the best spellers… I just needed to relax and take things easy. Slow and steady, slow and steady.
Sure. The only problem was that Levi’s run at the casino would be over in a few more days. What was that old saying? I had to “make haste slowly.” Nice trick if I could figure out how to do it! Well, I was going to start by making haste out to the casino.
I decided to get a sandwich from the coffee shop on my way to the garage. I’m a girl who needs her three squares a day. If I miss a meal, I usually end up overeating as soon as I can get my hands on some food. So I grabbed one of the ready-made egg-salad sandwiches and a bottle of water from the deli case. I could eat in the car on the way. I was trying to focus on small things like buying lunch to keep myself from getting way too excited about going to see Levi. Slow and steady, I reminded myself.
I was standing in line at the cash register waiting for my turn to pay, thinking how wonderful it would be to see Levi and watch him rehearse. It would be fascinating to see him putting his performance together, directing, taking direction, working hard. I’d get to see more of the man behind the star.
I’ll text him when I get to the casino, I thought, and maybe he’ll have someone come escort me back to the rehearsal space. Maybe he’d come himself! I couldn’t wait!
As I was about to get my change, I happened to glance out the coffee shop window. Something across the street caught my attention. It was a cowboy hat.
It was Levi. With a sinking heart, I saw that his blonde friend from the concert reception was clinging to his arm. Again. I couldn’t stop staring. They were headed for a table at an outdoor restaurant. He pulled out a chair and seated her, then gave her a kiss on the cheek before sitting down across from her. Ever the gentleman, that Levi.
I was fuming. He had waited—what? Maybe a couple of hours? And then he had probably texted some other girl on his list. And she had doubtless dropped everything and come running to keep him company.
I was so mad I didn’t even wait for my change. I walked to the back of the shop, breathing deeply so I wouldn’t start crying, and asked Jenny, the owner, to let me out the rear door. I needed to get back to The Finish Line without being seen by Levi. Or That Blonde Woman.
Thank heaven I had the store to myself. As I shut the door behind me, I felt tears stinging my eyes. Doggone it, I was absolutely not going to cry. I mean, it wasn’t like I owned him or something. But I still felt like the girl whose prom date ran off with another girl.
I sat down at my desk and ate my sandwich. I wasn’t going to starve myself on his account. Then I decided to gather all the cleaning supplies I could find and have a therapeutic clean-fest.
And I did. I gave The Finish Line the cleaning of its lifetime. Even though I have a cleaning service that takes care of the store, there are always places they miss or ignore. Now I dusted and scrubbed from windows to floors, from bathroom to stockroom to dressing room. I tried my best to keep from thinking.
But I just couldn’t get the mystery woman out of my mind. I took a break after an hour or so and flipped through photos on Levi’s website and Facebook page. She didn’t appear in any of them. But there was something about her body language with Levi that suggested a relationship—an intimate relationship.
By the time I quit scrubbing a couple of hours later, The Finish Line looked fantastic, but I was sweaty and exhausted and only slightly less angry. My rush of adrenalin had slowed a little but I still had plenty to spare. I was seriously contemplating buying a can of paint from a nearby hardware store and repainting my office area.
Instead, I forced myself to put the cleaning supplies away, take a deep breath, and sit down on the couch. I refused to think about the fact that Levi had sat right there yesterday. I refused to think about him at all. I needed a little self-indulgence.
I picked up the phone and called Ally. For once, she answered on the first ring.
“Hey, Sis, how about getting a pedicure with me? My treat. We can talk about fixing up your new place.”
“Sounds like a lot more fun than studying for my logic exam. Half an hour?”
“You got it. Love you.” We both hung up.
I’d pick up Old Ray and have some bonding time with my little sis. Who needs men, anyway?
# # # # #
Nothing like a pedicure to relax you and make you feel girlie. We picked out nail polish colors and then leaned back in our massage chairs. Ally looked great. She talked about her coursework, a couple of new guys she had met, and a charity fundraiser she was involved with, so I was feeling really encouraged that she had turned a corner and left alcohol behind. Maybe I had done the right thing by signing that lease. Maybe I could give myself a small pat on the back in the parenting department.
Ally was due to move out of her dorm room next month. Her new apartment was furnished with the basics, but she had lots of ideas for giving the place her personal touch. As her guardian, I controlled the purse strings, and I gave her a budget that she seemed thrilled with.
“Thanks, Kit! I’m so excited! Can you take me shopping sometime next week?”
“I’ll check the store schedule when I get in tomorrow and I’ll give you a call,” I promised. I decided to leave the topic of alcohol alone for now. She was looking so happy, I didn’t want to start an argument.
And I wanted to talk about Levi. I told her about him coming in to buy running shoes and about the concert. I was gloating a bit inside. Her eyes were wide with astonishment and maybe a little envy. I was having a really good time surprising her. Then I told her about our date and about dancing, being in his arms, being kissed by him. I’m sure she could see in my eyes that I was well on my way to falling for him.
“Kit,” she said, “I know I’m the little sister and I’m not the one in charge of giving advice, but you need to be careful here.”
“Honey, I’m a big girl. I’ve been on dates before. I’ve even kissed a
few guys before. I’ve even—”
She stopped me, putting her fingers in her ears. “Too much information about my own sister!” she said. Then she gave me a very serious look. “I wasn’t going to tell you to practice safe sex or something. But unless you’ve changed really a lot in the past few days, I know you don’t usually read the entertainment gossip pages.”
“So?” I asked cautiously. “Jess already told me he’s been romantically linked with a bunch of actresses and rock stars and country singers—”
“Yeah, but I’ve read that he may have some other problems.”
“Like?”
“Well, I read that he was married for a while, but his wife divorced him.”
“That’s not exactly a rarity these days!” I said.
“I know, but I seem to remember reading that his wife’s reasons for leaving him had been hushed up. It was part of the agreement that her grounds for divorce would remain private.”
“So? Are you suggesting he’s a wife beater or that he has some terrible secret? Anyway, who knows if I’m ever going to see him again,” I said.
“You never know. Maybe he’ll ask you out again. And from that look in your eyes, I know you’ll say yes if he does.” She looked down at her hands. “Please just promise me you’ll be careful.”
“Let’s make that mutual,” I said. “Pinkie-swear that we’ll both take care of ourselves?” And I reached over to her chair and crooked my little finger so I could link it with hers. It was something we used to do as kids when we were striking a solemn deal.
She smiled and shook her head at her crazy big sister. “Sure, pinkie swear,” she said.
My brain was full. I couldn’t think any more. I leaned back and surrendered to the pulsing of the water on my feet and the warmth of the chair massaging my back. My only thoughts after that involved whether to have my toes painted with Pink-alicious or Frantic Fuchsia. I went with Pink-alicious. I was all done being frantic about anything today.
# # # # #
Ally and I got some takeout Chinese after we left the salon and spent the evening watching a chick flick back at my place. I was congratulating myself again. Things really seemed to be getting back on track between us. I just needed to keep being a friend and a presence in her life.
Then I went and ruined it. “It really makes me happy that you’re not drinking anymore,” I said after the movie was over.
“Well, I’m not drinking any less, either,” she replied. But she immediately followed that with, “Joke, Kit, JOKE!” when she saw the look on my face.
“Really, though,” she said, “you need to get off my back about it. My coursework is making my life hard enough without the added stress of a bossy big sister.” She reached for her purse and stood up to leave. I’d managed to end a pleasant evening on a not-so-pleasant note.
I tried to lighten things up again, “Being bossy is what we big sisters do best,” I said. But the feelings of camaraderie were gone. We were both quiet on the drive back to her dorm.
“Thanks, Kit,” she said, as she got out of the car. There was still a certain coolness to her tone.
“My pleasure,” I said. “Good luck with that logic exam. I’ll call you about our shopping trip.”
“Great,” she said, but without a lot of enthusiasm.
Shoot. Tricky stuff, this parenting, I thought for about the four hundredth time. How had Dad managed it on his own?
Chapter 10
I woke up trying to think of ways that I could reply to the text Levi had sent yesterday without feeling like a total fool. Even though I was jealous. And hurt. And angry.
I had to admit, though, that the person I was most angry with was myself. I’m a grown-up, for gosh sakes, not some thirteen-year-old shrinking violet. I’m a store owner. I should have walked right across the street and introduced myself to his blonde friend instead of creeping out the back of the coffee shop and slinking through the rear door of The Finish Line.
I reached for my iPhone and thought, thumbs on the virtual keyboard. I considered LV 2 C U 2DAY, but that sounded too much like I was hinting that he should ask me out again. I thought of inviting him to do something—go for another run, maybe—but that felt too pushy. I finally typed in SIMYT JK. Sorry I Missed Your Text. That was ambiguous enough. I’d missed it. I was sorry. I wasn’t suggesting another date; I wasn’t suggesting anything. It was a statement of fact. Period. Let him figure out the next step.
Because the one thing I was sure of was that I very much wanted him to take the next step. His kisses had awakened a hunger in me—not just a hunger for passion, though his kisses held plenty of that, but a hunger for masculine kindness and gentleness, a hunger for romance. Patrick and I had shared some passionate moments, but with Pat I’d never felt that tingle of romance that Levy McCrory’s every look, every touch, roused in me.
It seemed like only seconds later that I heard my phone buzz.
RIDE 2DAY 1-ISH? PK U UP @ TFL? HAK LM
HAK! Hug and Kiss! I didn’t waste any time. I keyed in GR8 CUL and sent it off with a huge smile on my face. The words “Great See You Later” continued dancing around inside my head. I was going to see Levi again! And I couldn’t wait for the hug and kiss his message promised.
I raced through my upper body workout, doing my reps with ease. Usually the time dragged when I performed free weight routines, though I made myself do them anyway. But today my mind was fast-forwarding to this afternoon while my body went through the motions of exercising.
Yikes! This afternoon! I needed to make sure Jess could cover for me. Usually Tuesday was her day off. I grabbed my phone and told it to “call Jess.”
“You better have an excellent excuse for waking me up out of a sound sleep,” she said. I hadn’t even looked at the clock before calling her. Oops. It was 6:30 a.m. But I didn’t feel even the least bit sorry.
“Jess, I know it’s your day off, but could you come in after lunch anyway? Levi just asked me out this afternoon.”
“And you’re sure you want drop everything for some guy at a moment’s notice? What kind of guy expects a response at this ungodly hour anyway?”
“Jess, he isn’t just some guy. He’s Levi McCrory.”
“Oh, so for famous guys you’re happy to drop everything?”
Was she being crabby because I’d woken her up? I realized I hadn’t talked to Jess since my date with Levi Sunday night.
“Do you have a sec, Jess?” I asked. I felt like I had to explain why it was so important to spend this time with Levi. I told her how romantic, how perfect Sunday evening had been. I told her I was feeling something I couldn’t really identify, something I hadn’t experienced before. Something—
“Something like a complete lack of common sense?” she interrupted, yawning. “You do know that what he does for a living is to make women feel exactly the way you’re feeling, right? It’s not just second nature, it’s his job.”
I could always count on Jess for a reality check.
“But honestly, Jess, if you were in my place, what would you do?” I asked.
She didn’t hesitate for a second. “I’d grab for the brass ring and hold on like crazy, honey,” she said. “Now let me get some sleep so I can spend my day off selling running shoes.”
She hung up before I could even say thanks.
I finished my workout in a kind of daze, poured some orange juice on my cereal, dumped that out and tried again with skim milk, and then daydreamed in the shower until I ran out of hot water. I’d catch that brass ring and enjoy the ride… however short it might turn out to be.
# # # # #
It usually takes me about five minutes to get dressed. I just grab a fresh logo tee-shirt from the top of the pile in my closet, pull on a clean pair of jeans, pick out some running shoes from the zillion or so pairs I own, and that’s pretty much it. Today I wanted to make sure I looked special, but without making it obvious that I had made any special effort. I wanted to wow Levi, but I didn’t want him to
know that the wow was deliberate, if that makes sense.
I’d start at the bottom and work my way up. We all have that one pair of jeans that makes us feel a little better about ourselves (okay, about our buns, really) than any other pair and those were the ones I put on that morning. I paired them with a fitted pink oxford cloth shirt and turned the collar up for a little attitude. I added a cropped Ralph Lauren jean jacket and stood back to take a look. Not bad, I thought. My outfit was casual enough to look appropriate in the store, but several cuts above my usual standard. In a perfect world I probably would have completed the look with some designer ballet flats, but there was no way I could avoid wearing running shoes to the store.
There isn’t a woman alive who doesn’t look better with a little mascara on, so I took the time to apply some, along with a little lip gloss. I even added a small amount of blush. It wasn’t my usual workaday look by a long shot, but I didn’t think anyone would notice.
I was wrong. The first thing Dan said when I walked through the door was, “Hey, you’re looking gorgeous! What’s the special occasion?”
I snorted at that. “I’m not sure whether that’s a compliment or not.”
And then of course he blushed like crazy and stammered, “I mean, not that you don’t always look great. But you do look great. I mean, uh—” He broke off abruptly and I could see him trying to figure out how to get out of this one. “How about having dinner with me tonight?” he finally asked.
“Thanks, Dan, but not tonight. I’m leaving early today.” I deliberately avoided saying that I had a date, but I guess it was pretty obvious.
“Anyone I know?” he asked. He was trying to sound casual, but I heard a hint of jealousy in his voice.
“A new acquaintance,” I said. I didn’t want to tell him the “acquaintance” was Levi McCrory. Just telling him that I was attending Levi’s concert had worried Dan. If I told him I was going out on a date with Levi today, he’d probably give me a full-blown lecture. I didn’t want to listen to one more person telling me to be careful. For this once in my life, I didn’t really want to be careful.