by Liz Isaacson
Dwayne.
His best friend.
And that was the number one reason why Levi had imagined the spark that had jumped between he and Heather the previous evening.
“Oh, morning.” Janice Smithy stepped past him and over to Heather’s bed. “Heard you caused a ruckus last night, Mister Rhodes.” She gave him a sly look and a friendly smile.
“Not true,” Levi said. “It was Dwayne.”
The other man didn’t even move, and Levi guessed he’d probably stayed all night.
“Mm hm.” Janice checked one of the bags on Heather’s IV and made a note on her chart.
“Can she go home today?”
“Depends.” Her evasive tone wasn’t lost on Levi.
“Can you tell her she can’t take care of herself?”
Janice paused in her work and looked at him. Several years older than him, and one of the best singers in the choir, Janice was married with two sons. She was a no-nonsense kind of woman, and Levi wouldn’t want to cross her.
“Levi, what happened was an accident.”
“Yeah, I know.” But he couldn’t erase how responsible he felt. “But if you tell her she can’t take care of herself, she might let me do it.”
“You want to do it?”
“Yes,” he said, barely loud enough for her to hear.
Her eyebrows went up. “It doesn’t really matter what I think.”
“But she’ll listen to you.”
“Doctor Croster will talk to her.” She tapped Levi’s bicep with Heather’s chart as she walked out. “Good to see you, Levi. Been missin’ you at church.”
“Been busy,” he called over his shoulder. He felt a deep connection to God, but sometimes he struggled to go to meetings. So many people. A lot of eyes. The expectation of making friends, and talking, and swapping stories. Levi didn’t want any of those things. He had his cowhands, and his orchard bosses, and a handful of friends from childhood. He didn’t need anything more.
“Levi?” Dwayne leaned forward in the chair and wiped his hands down his face. “What’re you doin’ here?”
“Same as you.” Levi wouldn’t allow himself to look at Heather’s sleeping form in the bed. Dwayne would be able to read the emotions on his face. Out of everyone Levi associated with, only Dwayne knew about the money.
The secrets Levi held so close suddenly weighed so much. He longed to tell someone, but he was sure they’d look at him differently afterward. He didn’t need anyone to feel sorry for him, and he didn’t particularly want to share the misdeeds he’d done.
So he inhaled the desire to tell Dwayne everything that had happened in Kentucky and moved over to the small length of counter in the room. He leaned against it and pulled out his phone. He could catch up on emails from the orchard and make sure everything was set for the day at the stables, all from right there.
“You two again?” Heather’s voice sounded full of sleep, and pain medication, and disgust. “Why are you still here?”
“I went home,” Levi said.
“I couldn’t tell Mom I left you here alone,” Dwayne said. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I’ve been thrown from a horse, and let me tell you. I’m not seven anymore.” She groaned as she tried to sit up straighter, and Levi wanted to leap to her aid. He stayed put, hip leaning into the counter like he was waiting for a bus.
“We have to decide on some things,” Dwayne said.
“The sun’s not even up yet.” She threw him a disgruntled look. “Can it wait until after breakfast?”
“They’re going to discharge you, and you have nowhere to go.”
“I own a home right here in town.”
“Levi?” Dwayne looked at him with desperation in his expression.
Levi gazed back at him evenly, his heart anything but calm. He flicked a careless glance in Heather’s direction, glad he didn’t have to see how it affected her. “Heather can decide.”
“Wha—?”
Heather whooped, immediately followed by a loud groan. “Yeah, okay. Ribs don’t like laughing.” She shifted, obviously trying to find a more comfortable position. Settling, she volleyed her gaze between Dwayne and Levi. “Can you guys just…give me a minute?”
Levi’s phone sounded, and he focused on it. “Take all the time you need.” The text was nothing, just an acknowledgement from Sawyer. “I have to get over to my orchards.” He took the few steps to Heather’s bedside, the urge to touch her crazy and strong. He’d never felt it before, because this was Heather.
“My offer stands,” he said. “Call me later? Let me know? I can have the guest bedroom ready for you in no time flat.” In fact, he’d call his housekeeper and get it ready today, no matter what.
He didn’t wait for her to confirm. He nodded at Dwayne and got the heck out of that hospital room before he did something he couldn’t take back.
With Jessica in the house, making up the guest bed and airing out the room Levi had never used, he went out to the goat enclosure. From her position against the barn, Genie heaved herself to her feet and waddled over to him, her pregnant belly swaying with every step.
“How are you?” he asked the animal.
As if they could actually have a conversation, the white goat bleated at him. Her eyes looked clear, and Levi reached over the fence to stroke the tuft of hair on top of her head. “You’re looking better.” Maybe the medicine the vet had prescribed had done the trick this time. Or maybe his care and attention, his daily baths, and his hourly conversations had cured Genie.
Sundance poked his head out of the top half of the gate keeping him secured inside the barn. He was a huge black and white goat, and Levi had to keep him separated from the nannies, who liked to sun themselves outside. Sundance got his time outside too, but he had to take it alone and usually in the cooler mornings.
The buck yelled at him, but Levi ignored him. “Is he always like that? So demanding and rude.” He grinned at Genie and glanced around. “Where’s Whipp?”
Another nanny goat, Whiplash was past her time to bear kids, and she could usually be found asleep in the sun very nearby Genie. But this side of the enclosure was where the sun shone, and he didn’t see her.
He left Genie standing at the fence and headed toward the corner, his concern spiking. But the little brown goat was right against the barn, in the shadows, snoozing. “Whipp,” he called, and the nanny startled. She lifted her head as if to say, “What do you want?” before bleating softly and letting her head fall back to the ground.
Levi jumped over the fence and approached Whiplash with caution. “You okay?” he asked. “It’s not like you to be in the shade when it’s so sunny right over here.” Whiplash was old; maybe she was about to die. Levi’s heart constricted. He’d gotten her as his first goat when he’d returned to Hill Country. Her death would not be welcome for him.
Whipp didn’t move as Levi bent over her and put his hand on her head. Then her chest, right above where her arm connected to her body. Her heart seemed as strong as ever. Maybe she was just tired. And what did Levi know about goats anyway?
Nothing. He simply knew he liked talking to them, and seeing their crazy eyes, and listening to them chatter to each other when he came out to treat them with carrots and kale. They’d eat their alfalfa just fine, but Whipp was especially a sucker for something greener and fresher.
He determined she needed more expertise than he could give and dialed the vet on his way back to the fence. Sundance screamed and screamed behind him, and Levi headed into the peach trees that bordered his farm to get some peace and quiet.
“Brighton,” he said when the vet herself answered. “Slow day?”
“Lunch time,” she said. “Kim’s out getting sandwiches.”
Levi’s own stomach roared with hunger and he wished the veterinary secretary would bring him a sandwich too. “So Whiplash is acting weird. When can you come out?”
“Define ‘weird’.” She always made him do that, because Levi didn’t kno
w how else to explain the odd behavior his goats had been exhibiting lately.
“She’s lying in the shade,” he said, realizing how lame that sounded. “And she never does that. She loves the sun. And today, she didn’t even get up, even when I came into the enclosure.”
“How old is she?”
“Ten years or so. I didn’t get her as a kid.” He looked up into the fall peach leaves, glad the harvest was months old. Now he just had to worry about soil, fertilization, and upcoming pruning to be ready for next year’s harvest.
“I can come out in the morning tomorrow, but it’s Sunday.”
“Great, I’ll be here.” Levi hung up, hoping that Heather would be here too. He kept his phone out and sent a quick text off to Dwayne.
How’s your sister?
When his friend didn’t respond immediately, Levi’s anxiety stepped up a notch. He walked under the peace of the peach trees for a while before returning to the house, trying to convince himself that Dwayne would let Heather come stay with him. Dwayne couldn’t take care of her—he had a whole ranch to oversee. Levi had dozens of people to take his place, and he could certainly afford to take some time off and help the woman who’d been knocked unconscious and injured on his property.
Inside the house, Jessica had left a note that read Thanks! in place of where he’d set her money on the kitchen counter. He glanced into the living room, which she kept dust-free and vacuumed in straight lines.
The master bedroom sat down a hallway that forked left from the front living room. He had his own bathroom, an office, and a balcony off his bedroom. Heather’s room was on the opposite side of the house, where two other bedrooms waited for the guests Levi never had. Or a family he’d given up hope of ever building.
Two more bathrooms, with an open living area, completed that wing of the house. If Heather came, she’d never have to see him. The kitchen sat in the middle of it all, with a deck off the back and a mudroom to the side that connected to the three-car garage. It was currently full of vehicles Levi had purchased in an attempt to fill his life with something.
But cars didn’t cut it, and he’d sold all but his three favorites. Since then, he’d been buying and training horses and tending to his precious goats and maintaining the orchards that had been in the Rhodes family for six generations.
A blip of discomfort infiltrated his thoughts as he wandered into the guest wing that would be Heather’s if she chose to let him help her. It smelled like powder and flowery things, a clear testament that calling Jessica to get it habitable was the right decision.
What would become of the orchards after he couldn’t manage them anymore? His older sister, Serenity, had already left Grape Seed Falls, and his younger sister likely wouldn’t want to carry on the family legacy. She was fifteen years younger than Levi, and he tried to get over to the main house to see Ellory, now a senior in high school, as often as possible. She’d already expressed interest in art and sculpture, and there were no opportunities in town for that.
Levi flipped on the light in the largest bedroom, the one he’d asked Jessica to prepare. A lavender quilt had been laid on the bed, with six fluffy white pillows in a pyramid formation on top of that. The blinds were open, letting in the sunlight and washing the room in golden rays. Through the glass, he saw the backyard, which was in full autumn mode, with leaves in a variety of colors and stages of falling. The peach orchard lay beyond that, and there was no view of the farm from here.
He returned to the kitchen just as his phone beeped. From Dwayne: She’s getting some instructions now. If I let her come stay with you, you have to promise not to hurt her.
Levi stared at the words. They were written in English, but he had no idea what they meant.
Chapter Five
Heather felt her attention wandering while Dr. Croster spoke. He was near her father’s age and possessed a soothing, low voice that didn’t help her fight the drowsiness her painkillers caused.
Felicity had brought lunch and stayed for an hour or so before heading back to the ranch. Dwayne hadn’t left at all, and he was starting to get on Heather’s nerves. But he’d kept everyone up-to-date, which was mentally freeing. She didn’t have to explain to her principal or her co-workers what had happened.
He’d contacted Pastor Gifford and reported that she could have a hot meal that evening, once she knew where she’d be.
Everyone seemed against her idea that she could stay in her own house and take care of herself, even Dr. Croster. He’d even said he wouldn’t release her from the hospital if she didn’t have someone to stay with who could look after her twenty-four-seven for the next three days.
Three days.
That was two days of missed school, and she couldn’t stay in the hospital that long. No one could watch grainy TV on a set the size of a microwave for longer than an hour, and there was absolutely nothing else to do in this microscopic room.
Her mother was still extra-cautious about her father’s health, as he’d had some heart troubles several months ago. She didn’t need Heather in their small, two-bedroom house, asking for a mug for her coffee or help buttoning her shirt.
Dwayne and Felicity were getting married in five weeks, only three days before the Fall Festival—which had two items Heather herself was in charge of. The photo booth, which was one of the most popular attractions. As an amateur photographer, she’d been taking the pictures at the Fall Festival for five years now. She couldn’t give it up. She loved seeing the townspeople so happy, loved interacting with her students and their families, and loved that she didn’t have to walk around the festival by herself.
She was also on the planning committee for the food vendors. The tasting was on Tuesday night, and she certainly didn’t want to miss that. Surely she could lift a fork to her mouth with her left hand.
“So.” Dr. Croster exhaled, his pen held at the ready. “I just need to know who’s taking you. I’ll need them to sign saying that they’ll be with you for the first three days, not allow you to drive at all, and help you with your pain medications.”
“I am,” Dwayne said. “I really think—”
“I think she should come with me.”
Heather almost got a kink in her neck she swung it around so fast. She didn’t need to drink in the glorious sight of Levi—she’d recognized his voice—but she did. He wore dark wash jeans, his beautiful cowboy boots and hat, and a shirt the color of her favorite cherry soda. Not every man could pull off such a feminine shade, but Levi made it look manly. Dangerous almost.
“Levi.” Dwayne squared off with him, and Dr. Croster watched like this was the most interesting tennis match he’d ever seen.
“You have a wedding in a month,” Levi said. “I do nothing all day long.”
Dwayne scoffed and glanced at Heather, who wanted to tell him she’d go with Levi. But she didn’t trust herself not to give away everything she felt for him. “You own and operate a large peach orchard and a boarding stable.”
“Our harvest is done for the year,” he said. “And I have two orchard bosses. I sign checks. That’s it. They’ll bring them to my house.”
“She’ll need—”
“I know what she needs.”
“I’ll go with Levi,” Heather finally managed to say. Quite evenly, too, in her opinion, and a flash of pride bolted through her. Just the thought of going inside his house—where she’d never been—had her heart skipping beats like she was a third-grader jumping rope at recess.
“You’ll go with Levi?” Dwayne gaped at her like she’d lost her mind. Maybe she had. She realized now that he was trying to protect her from Levi. Give her somewhere else to go so she didn’t have to go with him.
“He’s right. You have a wedding in a month.”
“You’ll sign for her?” Dr. Croster asked, his eyes on Levi.
“I’ll sign whatever you want me to.” Levi took the pen and had his signature on the paper in under two seconds. He moved in closer to Dwayne as the doctor left. “I’
m not going to hurt her.”
Humiliation heated her face, and she glared at Dwayne, stuck between surprise and horror. He squirmed, and she wanted to rage at him. What had he told Levi? Why couldn’t he keep his big mouth shut?
Now she didn’t want to go with Levi at all. But the paperwork had been signed, and her brother did have a wedding in a month to prepare for, and Levi stepped behind her wheelchair and started to push her out of the room.
She’d never felt so helpless in all her life, and it was not a feeling she wanted to experience again.
“All right,” Levi drawled in his charming Texan accent. “So my sister said she’d stop by your place and pack a few things for you.” He held his phone at the ready, having hardly looked at her since he’d maneuvered her from her hospital room to the parking garage. He’d lifted her inside his truck, and the imprints of where he’d touched her still tingled. The wheelchair had been folded and placed in the bed of his truck, and country music warbled softly from the speakers.
“What should I tell her to get?”
“Oh, I’m fine. I can—”
“Heather.” He didn’t speak louder than the music, but her name in his voice made her pause. “You can’t wear a pair of pajama pants for three days.” He tilted his head and scanned her from head to toe. “I mean, I don’t mind, but I just signed that paper that I’d take care of you. So.”
“I’m sure it didn’t mention anything about what I wear.”
“You never know.” His thumbs flew over the screen as he typed a message. “I’ll tell her some jeans and—” Another glance at her. “T-shirts. Blouses? Nah, not for the farm. Too formal. Socks, underwear, hair stuff, makeup….” He rattled off a surprising number of things she would’ve listed and hit the phone with a final thwack! of his thumb.
“Did I get it all?”
“And my laptop,” she muttered, focusing out the window at the cement pillar beside the truck. “It’s on the desk in my kitchen. I’ll need it for sub plans and work stuff. You have WiFi, right?”