by Keeland, Vi
I let out a deep breath. “Thank you so much.”
“Is it safe to go back inside and take a look?” Levi asked.
“You can for a minute or two once we’re done. But I’d find somewhere else to stay tonight. Soot’s gonna rain down like light snow for a while. Small particles get into the air and settle over the next few hours. You’ll find it in most rooms in the house by tomorrow morning. Sometimes it even gets inside closed cabinets.”
Levi extended his hand. “Thanks, Captain. I really appreciate it.”
Captain Morales smiled, and the men shook. “No problem. But do me a favor?”
“Anything.”
The captain rested his hand on Levi’s shoulder. “Go easy on my Panthers next year. You’re killing the confidence of our defense.”
Levi chuckled. “Anything but that.”
It took another hour or so before the fire department departed and the crowd that had formed thinned out so Levi and I could take a peek inside at the damage. The electricity was off in that part of the house, so we grabbed a flashlight and went down to see how bad things were. My heart sank when the light illuminated the wall we’d just put up earlier today. Half of the nice, new sheetrock was torn down, and the parts that remained were charred black. Not to mention, the entire ceiling was dripping water, and the beautiful oak floors were covered in a sludgy mix of water and ash.
I sighed. “God. Is this a sign, Levi? It feels like the universe might be trying to tell us something.”
He turned to face me. “It’s just a slight setback. That’s all.”
I shook my head. “I don’t know.”
“You probably don’t remember this because you’re a few years younger than me, but when I was seven, I fell off my skateboard and broke my ankle. It was about a month into my second year of playing peewee football.”
“I didn’t know that.”
He nodded. “They gave the starting quarterback position to Eddie Andrews. I was in a cast for eight weeks and couldn’t play, and then I had to work my way back to putting weight on it. By the beginning of the next season, I was back to myself. But the coach kept Eddie as the starting quarterback. He told me Eddie had earned it, and I’d need to earn it back. I did by midseason, but after starting only two games, I fell off my bike and dislocated my elbow—on my throwing arm. Eddie went back to being number one. After I’d healed again, Coach kept Eddie as the first-string quarterback for the season, no matter how hard I worked. So when the next year rolled around, I started getting up early and making my mom drive me to school at 5AM so I could run sprints around the track. I also stopped riding bicycles and skateboards, and had my dad throw the ball around with me every night until it got too dark to see.”
I sighed again. “I get what you’re trying to say. But this isn’t football, and I’m not you, Levi.”
He shrugged. “Maybe not. But the same principles apply. If you want something bad enough, you don’t let anything stand in your way.”
I nodded. “Okay. It’s been a really long day. Hopefully things will seem brighter in the morning.”
“I think they will.”
“Come on, let’s get out of here.”
I’d already called my mom and told her what happened, and she’d invited me to stay the night at her house. But Levi had said he was going to stay at a hotel.
“It’s late. Why don’t I drop you at your mom’s?” he said. “I can pick you up in the morning, and we can stop at the insurance broker’s office first thing. They’ll probably need a statement from you and stuff.”
“Oh...okay, yeah. I hadn’t even thought about insurance. But that sounds like a good idea. To be honest, I don’t feel like driving right now. A ride would be great.”
When we pulled up at my mom’s house, she was waiting at the window. She bolted out the door and ran to the car before Levi could even park. “I’m so glad you’re okay.” She hugged me.
Levi got out and walked around to greet my mom. “Hey, Mrs. Sullivan. How are you?”
She engulfed him in a big hug. “Better now that you two are safe and sound.”
We talked for a few minutes before my mom swatted a mosquito. “Why are we standing out here? It’s so buggy.”
Levi smiled. “You two go ahead in. I’m going to get going anyway.”
“Are you staying at Shelby’s?” Mom asked.
“Nah.” Levi shook his head. “I was over there for dinner earlier, and she had a headache. When I left, she was going to lie down. She still gets those migraines. I didn’t want to wake her. I’ll fill her in tomorrow on what happened.”
“Where are you staying, then?”
He thumbed behind him. “I’m just going to grab a room at the Best Western.”
My mother frowned. “Nonsense. You’ll stay with us.”
If Levi thought he could politely decline and walk away unscathed, he obviously didn’t remember my mother very well. “It’s okay. I already got the room. But I appreciate the offer.”
Mom wagged her finger at him. “It wasn’t an offer, young man. If you’re not going to stay with us, then you have to at least let me feed you dessert. I insist.”
“It’s okay. Really, I—”
Mom grabbed Levi’s hand. “Come on now. I need to feed these pies to someone. When I’m nervous, I bake. I whipped up three different pies after Presley called to tell me she was in the house when a fire broke out. You know it’s an unwritten rule that a good Southern man does not let pie go to waste.”
Levi chuckled. He looked to me for help, but I shrugged and shook my head.
Mom started to drag the poor man toward the door. “Now what’s your favorite pie? I made pecan, apple, and a peach cobbler.”
Levi’s eyes flashed to me. “Did you say peach cobbler? I love peach cobbler—almost as much as your daughter does.” He grinned. “You know Presley likes it so much, sometimes she even dreams about eating peach cobbler.”
“When she was little she used to dream about riding horses.”
Levi chuckled. “You don’t say…” He opened the door to Mom’s house and held out his hand for her to walk in first. As I passed, he leaned to whisper in my ear. “Riding and eating pie. Can you guess what I’ll be picturing while you eat that cobbler?”
I squinted at him, though my face was flushed. “I’ll be having the apple.”
“Pity. But hey, you were looking for a sign earlier to tell you what to do.” He winked. “Maybe this is it.”
CHAPTER 12
* * *
Levi
The next morning I was on my way to pick up Presley at her mother’s when my cell phone rang. Tanner flashed on the screen. It had been a long time since my brother had called, so I was curious about what he wanted. Maybe I had some latent guilt for rubbing one out to thoughts of Presley eating that damn pie last night, but I got a little nervous that maybe my mother had said something about Presley and me growing too close.
I took a deep breath before swiping to answer on speakerphone. “Hey. What’s up?”
“The superstar decides to answer his phone…”
Tanner and I didn’t speak much, but this was exactly the shit he did every time we did. To my knowledge, I’d never blown off a single one of his calls. Yet he had this passive-aggressive way of making it seem like my ego kept me from talking to him. “Have you tried to reach me recently and I missed your call?”
“Nah. I just know how busy you are. So I try not to bother you.”
I gritted my teeth. “Always have time for family, brother.”
“Yeah, well, speaking of family. What the hell happened at The Palm Inn last night? I just heard about the fire on the news.”
“We had some work done, and the fire department thinks it disturbed some frayed wires and started a small fire in one of the bedrooms.”
“I told Presley that place was falling down. Maybe now she’ll come to her senses and move back to New York.”
I felt defensive. “It’s actually not f
alling down. She’s done a lot of work, and it’s looking pretty good already.”
“Yeah, whatever.”
I realized he hadn’t asked how Presley or Alex were, even though he’d said he heard about the fire on the news. “Have you spoken to Presley today?”
“Nah. I left a voicemail, but she hasn’t called me back yet. That’s why I’m calling you to find out what went down.”
“Did you talk to Mom?”
“No, why?”
“So how do you know Presley and Alex are okay?”
“The news said no one was hurt.”
I shook my head. Unbelievable. Even if it were okay to accept what they said on the news, he should’ve at least asked about their emotional states. Being in a fire could be traumatic, especially for a kid. This fucker probably didn’t even know Alex hadn’t been home.
“Nice legs, by the way,” Tanner said. “Are you sure whatever the two of you were doing didn’t start the fire?”
My face wrinkled. “What are you talking about?”
“The news had a picture of you and some woman getting cozy on the lawn. Was your shirt off before the fire, or did you take it off when the reporters showed up?” He snickered.
Shit. I had no idea what picture he was talking about, but I didn’t have a good feeling about it. I pulled over to the side of the road and took my phone out of the hands-free cradle. “Listen. I need to run into the insurance broker’s office, so I have to hang up.”
“Alright, yeah. I’ll talk to—”
I swiped off before he’d even finished his sentence and typed into the Google search bar: Beaufort fire.
Sure enough, the picture he’d been referring to popped up.
Jesus Christ. I raked my hand through my hair. That did not look good. Thankfully, my bonehead brother didn’t even recognize his ex-fiancée’s legs. The photo showed Presley from the back, but her entire body was wrapped in my Broncos blanket, including the back of her head. So the only thing you could see was the rear of her bare legs. It was easy to assume she was naked under the fleece, and I stood close, with one hand on her arm, looking down at her. And of course, I’d given her my shirt, so I was shirtless. The shot captured what looked like a pretty intimate moment. I scanned the headline underneath the photo: Levi Miller and mystery woman get cozy as family’s historic B&B goes up in flames.
I shut my eyes. Great. Just freaking great.
***
After I picked Presley up, I showed her the news article and gave her a heads up on what Tanner had said while we drove to the insurance broker to open a fire-damage claim. Then I drove her home. Her friend was going to drop off Alex soon, and she wanted to break the news about the fire before he heard about it from someone else. I’d told her I had a couple of errands to run, and I’d be back in a little while to help deal with the cleanup.
Early this morning, I’d called Ned to tell him what had happened. Obviously there was no need for him to come to apply a second coat of Spackle anymore. I’d asked if he could come take a look at the damage and see what he could do to get us back on track, but he’d said he had a few jobs lined up, and it would be a while before he could get back over to The Palm Inn for any extended period of time. I’d initially thought that was fine, until I watched Presley walk into the house. The look on her face was so defeated.
So I’d decided to stop by and speak to Ned again, this time in person. I knew he had to start a big job at the hardware store in town this afternoon, so that’s where I headed.
“Hey, Mr. Connor,” I called as I entered. “Is Ned here? I saw his truck parked outside.”
“Hey, Levi. Heard about the inn. Sorry, son. I know how much your grandpa loved that place. Hope the damage isn’t too bad.”
“It’s not. We got lucky.”
“Good. Good.” He pointed to the back of the store. “Ned’s in the back storage room. He’s building an extension. Help yourself in.”
I nodded. “Thanks a lot.”
I found Ned with his nose buried in a set of blueprints. “Hey, Ned.”
He offered me his hand. “Levi. How’s it going over at the inn?”
I shook my head. “That’s what I came to talk to you about. Is there any way you could juggle your schedule around to rip out that bedroom again and re-sheetrock it? The entire room, including the ceiling, needs to be done this time, not just the one wall.”
Ned rubbed the back of his neck. “I wish I could, but I’m booked solid for the next month.”
“Could your guys do some overtime, maybe? I’ll pay for it, and I’ll make it worth your while.”
“That’d be pretty expensive, Levi. My guys are paid pretty well, and overtime is double for them.”
“I can afford it.”
He smiled. “I know you can. But I don’t want to take advantage.”
“You wouldn’t be. I’m asking to pay the extra. Maybe your guys can come in the evening, when they’re all done here for the day.”
Ned still looked on the fence. So I thought I should sweeten the pot.
“And I’ll get you and your entire crew box seats on the fifty-yard line when the Broncos play the Panthers next year.”
Ned’s brows jumped. “Wow. Box seats. I’d have to run it by my guys, but my guess is they won’t pass up double time and seats on the fifty. Hell, they might’ve done it just for seats on the fifty and a few autographed balls.”
“Now you tell me.” I laughed. “I’m joking. I’m happy to pay the overtime and get them seats. Do we have a deal?”
“I have to talk to my guys. They’re over at another job right now. But I’m sure they’ll say yes with that offer.”
“Great. Will you let me know for sure?”
“Give me an hour. I’ll call you.”
“I appreciate that.”
Ned smiled. “I’m glad to see you decided to keep the inn. I’d heard through the grapevine that you were thinking about putting it up for sale.”
Had I decided to keep the place? Fuck if I knew. But I didn’t want Presley to give up. I extended my hand to Ned and avoided confirming my intentions. “Thanks again, Ned.”
On my way back to the inn, I made some phone calls and managed to book one of those fire-damage-restoration places that could start this afternoon. When I walked into The Palm, I found Presley sitting at the kitchen table. Her shoulders were slumped, and she looked lost in thought.
“Alex take the news about the fire okay?”
She nodded. “He wanted to see the room because he’d never seen a house that caught fire before. I debated showing him, because the charred walls look ominous, and I wasn’t sure if it would scare him. But he thought it was cool and asked if he could bring some friends over to check it out.”
I smiled. “That sounds about right for his age. You gotta show your buddies anything gross, scary, or wrecked. It’s sort of an unwritten rule.”
Presley smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. So I pulled out the chair across from her, flipped it around, and straddled it. “Alex is okay, but it seems his mother isn’t. Talk to me. What’s going on in that head of yours?”
She sighed and shook her head. “I don’t know. I guess I’m just second-guessing, well, everything.”
“You mean about the inn?”
She nodded. “And the move, in general. I think I might’ve bitten off more than I can chew here, Levi.”
It would’ve been so easy to get her to agree to sell the place today. Hell, the fire damage probably wouldn’t even matter to the developer who had made an offer, since he was going to tear it down. But I couldn’t let Presley feel like she’d failed. She needed this, for more reasons than just a better life for her son.
“You didn’t bite off more than you could chew. It was just a little setback, that’s all. I stopped off and spoke to Ned, and his guys are going to come start gutting that room tonight. We’ll be back on track in a few days.”
“But he said he had job after job lined up?”
; “He does. But his crew is going to work nights here. Which reminds me, it’s probably best if everyone finds somewhere to stay for at least a few more days. They’ll be banging away here. Oh, and I also hired a fire-restoration company to clean up all the soot and stuff. They should be here early this afternoon.”
She searched my face. “Why are you helping me when you’d rather sell the inn?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I like a good fight. It’s not really a true win unless both teams are firing on all cylinders. If you bow out now, I won’t get the chance to beat you fair and square.”
Presley smiled. “I don’t believe you.”
“What do you mean, you don’t believe me?”
“I’ve watched you trample teams that have their third-string quarterbacks in because of injuries. You don’t go easy just because you like a fair fight. You know what I think?”
“What?”
Presley got up and walked over to where I sat. Leaning down, she kissed my cheek. “I think you’re helping me because you’re a good guy.” She stood and took a deep breath. “I’ll be right back. I’m going to go get my to-do list.”
I watched her walk away—her beautiful ass swinging from side to side. Once it was out of sight, I looked up at the ceiling. Not so sure you’d think I’m a good guy if you knew what I was thinking right now.
CHAPTER 13
* * *
Presley
“Mom? Can we have a tent sleepover for my birthday tomorrow?”
I paused with my fork full of pancake halfway to my mouth. “You mean like sleep outdoors?”
“Yeah. In the backyard.”
“Oh…I’m not sure about that, Alex. We don’t have any tents, and I don’t really know anything about camping. Besides, I don’t know how your friends’ moms would feel about the boys sleeping outside.”