by Liz Isaacson
She gazed up at him and found that playful smile adorning his mouth. “I would.”
“Mm-hm.” He took her through the mudroom and deposited her next to the truck. “Be right back with the keys. Don’t move.”
The way her arm throbbed, even standing was a chore. She leaned against the truck while he bounded up the steps and back into the house. He returned a moment later and within a minute, he had her buckled in and himself behind the wheel.
“What hurts?”
“There’s sort of this sharp pain near my elbow,” she said, examining her arm. “Everything else throbs.”
“I should’ve grabbed your painkillers.” He looked torn, like maybe he’d turn around and go back. “You should’ve taken one at eight, and it’s almost ten.”
“So maybe this isn’t an emergency,” she said.
He paused at the end of the lane. “Should we go take the pills and give it an hour?”
The thought of spending the day waiting for a doctor to tell her she just needed a pain pill didn’t appeal to her. So she said, “Yeah, let’s do that.”
Levi swung the truck around and re-parked in the garage. “Juan Carlos will be here today to make lunch,” he said. “And we have that tasting tonight, so we should be good on food today.”
“What are the chances of you making me some scrambled eggs for breakfast?”
He took her into his arms again, kicking the passenger door closed with his foot. “Slim to none,” he said. “That was some voodoo magic you did to make those.”
She giggled, the pain cutting off the sound as he set her on the couch. “Cereal would be great.”
He hurried into the kitchen and gathered her pills and a bottle of water. He stood sentinel as she swallowed them, then he returned and poured her a bowl of honey nut Cheerios with a whole lot of cream.
He sat beside her while she ate, and she felt like a zoo animal, with someone just on the other side of the glass, watching. Always watching.
“Want to watch a movie today?” he asked.
“Do you actually sit and watch movies?”
“If I want to take a nap, sure.”
She laughed, glad when Levi joined his lower voice to her higher one. “Seems like something we need today,” he said once he’d quieted. “Don’t you think?” He lifted his arm and settled it around her shoulders, drawing her closer to his chest. She definitely liked the sound of cuddling with him on the couch in the dark.
“Where do you even watch movies in this house?” She made a show of looking around the living room, which didn’t have a television.
“Oh, there’s a whole upstairs you haven’t seen yet.”
“Fascinating.”
He stood and took her bowl back into the kitchen. Then he led her toward the front door where two more doors stood. She’d assumed them both to be closets, but he opened one to reveal a staircase leading up. “After you.”
She ascended the steps to find a homey, cozy living room, complete with the biggest TV money could currently buy. Three comfy-looking couches took up most of the space, and a fridge stood near the mouth of a hallway.
“Two more bedrooms down there,” he said. “And a bathroom. Drinks in here.” He moved over to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of blue sports drink. “You want one?”
She shook her head, noticing a chill up here. Almost like he hadn’t been up those steps all year, and the walls were telling her about it. She shivered, and he said, “I’ll grab a couple of blankets. I keep the vents closed up here most of the time.”
He might as well have admitted he never came up here. Of course he didn’t. Levi wasn’t a sitter. He was a doer. Always moving. Always working. No, if they were married and living here, Heather would be the one up here all the time.
She froze. Had she really just thought of herself and Levi as married, living in this house together?
She shook her head to rid herself of the thoughts. It was just her mother’s ideas worming their way into her brain. She’d spoken true—she and Levi were light years from getting married.
But as she settled onto the couch facing the TV and Levi tucked her in with a puffy blue blanket, she allowed herself a few minutes of contemplation. He went through his movie collection, and she barely paid attention.
Because she did like Levi a whole lot. She had for three long years before the accident that had brought them together these past few days. Could she love him the way a wife needed to love her husband?
Heather cut off the thoughts, refusing to let herself think about loving Levi. Because right below that was the awful doubt that he’d break up with her as soon as she went back to her own house. As soon as the novelty of their relationship wore off.
He sat next to her, and she did cuddle into him. But she barely saw the movie, and she existed far from him.
Chapter Eighteen
Relief washed through Levi when he realized both he and Heather had fallen asleep during the movie. He hadn’t slept well after last night’s dinner conversation.
Children.
Of course Heather would want kids. And well, Levi didn’t.
The urge to tell her had kept him awake, pacing in the master suite, long past midnight. When he’d awakened in the morning, he’d been thinking about telling her about his stillborn son. Telling her he could absolutely never go through that again.
But he didn’t, because it was barely morning and she needed to rest more than he needed to confess one more thing to her. So he’d let her sleep. And sleep.
He’d never been more grateful than when he didn’t have to take her back to the hospital. He never wanted to set foot in another hospital again, and being there the first time with her had been bad enough.
The scent of cinnamon met his nose, and he sighed back against the couch again, barely disturbing Heather, who slumbered on. Juan Carlos has assured Levi he’d make something sweet that wouldn’t be over the top, and he’d made his cinnamon swirl bread on a couple of previous occasions.
Other than that, Levi had told him he could make whatever he wanted. He’d pay for any groceries, and Juan Carlos had free reign of the kitchen. His stomach rumbled, but he didn’t move. Holding Heather close to his chest—to his heart—brought more peace than Levi knew he could have.
He let his eyes drift close, but he wasn’t going to fall asleep again. He thought about his life here at the farm, at the boarding stable, and how empty everything had been. All it had taken was the introduction of Heather into his private life, and everything had been blown wide open. He’d revealed more to her than anyone else, and he’d been feeling more for another person than he’d felt in years.
The protectiveness and the soft feelings he had for Heather brought knots to his stomach. But he’d rather have knots than nothing at all.
“Heather,” he whispered, reaching over to tuck the soft strands of hair that had fallen across her face. “Sweetheart, we should go eat something.” Every tender thing he’d once felt for Johanna surfaced, and everything he cared about didn’t seem to matter when compared to Heather.
He’d grown up with her, and he’d always liked her. She didn’t worry about getting dirty, and she’d always been kind to him. She worked hard, and Levi’s admiration for her grew as he thought about the service she’d been giving to the Fall Festival for years, for working with other people’s kids for a decade.
“Heather?” She still hadn’t stirred, and Levi’s concern spiked. “Sweetheart?” He pulled his arm out from behind her shoulders, and that got her eyelids to flutter.
A groan seeped from her mouth, and Levi cradled her face in his hands. “Hey, beautiful. You okay?”
Her eyes opened, and it took a moment for recognition to come into them. “Hey.” She smiled, a soft, gooey movement that made her twice as gorgeous.
“Hey.” He kissed her lips, the taste of her sweet and the shape of her mouth something that fit his exactly. “Juan Carlos has lunch ready, and I’m starving. Should we go down?”
“Levi?”
He turned back to her, his foot on the edge of the top step. “Hm?”
“Do you want children?”
His lungs seized, and he forgot how to breathe.
“It’s just…last night, you seemed a little freaked out about it, and I didn’t say anything, but my mom can be a little intense. I love her and all, but yeah. She had all three of us before she was twenty-five, and therefore Dwayne and I are way behind.” She lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug. “At least Thatch is already married.”
Levi grabbed onto one thing she’d said. “Your mom is fine, Heather.” He started down the steps. “It’s not the first time I’ve met her. And my mom’s been bugging me about getting married for years.”
“Oh.” Heather followed him to the main level. “She has? And you still didn’t ask out any of the women who kept showing up at the open riding lessons?”
“I….” He sighed and rolled his whole neck, working out the kinks from sleeping on the couch. “Remember all that stuff I told you? The marriage? The money? Dating someone required me to tell them those things, and there wasn’t anyone I wanted to share those parts of myself with.”
And more. He still had more to share.
She pressed in closer to him. “So you kinda like me.”
Levi grinned down at her. “Yeah, I kinda like you.” He trusted her. He hadn’t regretted the things he’d told her. If only everything hadn’t happened at the speed of light. He tried to swallow back the words about how he really felt, and how much more he had to tell.
“Levi.” Juan Carlos wiped his hands on his apron and came rushing forward, smiling. “One of your favorites today. Come see. Come see.”
Levi nodded toward the kitchen. “Let’s go see.”
“What’s one of your favorites?”
“Guess.” Levi moved slowly down the two steps into the living room, already knowing by the scent of Swiss cheese what it would be.
“Well, it’s not barbeque,” she said.
“I do love Texas barbeque.”
“Chicken cordon bleu,” Juan Carlos said, presenting a large baking dish with a dozen chicken rolls in it.
Heather looked at him, surprise in her eyes. “Chicken cordon bleu. Fancy.”
“There’s green salad in the fridge.” Juan Carlos started to untie his apron. “And I made potato salad and macaroni salad, and there’s more cream for you, Heather.” He beamed at her, and Levi loved that she beamed right back.
She released his hand and stepped over to Juan Carlos. She hugged him, almost dwarfing the Hispanic man, and said, “Bless you, Juan Carlos.”
“Grocery list for next time.” He plucked the paper from the fridge where Levi had secured it. “See you on Friday.” With that, he bustled out through the mudroom, leaving Heather to look at Levi.
“So are we eating?” she asked.
“If you can find the plates.”
“Levi!” Heather’s voice drifted to him on the breeze, and Levi tossed one more handful of feed to the chickens. He’d been outside since they’d eaten lunch, and the things he hadn’t told Heather didn’t haunt him so much with such a big sky above him.
He walked past the goat shed and waved. “Feeding chickens.”
“We’re going to be late for the tasting.” She came down the steps wearing a black pencil skirt, a pale blue blouse, and heels. Levi was struck motionless. Sure, he’d seen her at church before, but for some reason the way her hips swayed as she came toward him had never had such an impact on him.
His heart pounded and his throat felt like sandpaper as he tried to swallow.
“Levi?” She paused before stepping off the white gravel path. “The tasting? I can’t drive myself there, and I can’t be late.”
He startled, grabbing hold of his wits and gripping them. “I didn’t realize I needed to dress up.”
“You don’t.”
“Why the skirt and heels?”
She toed the ground in the most adorable way. “I like to dress up for stuff like this.”
“So you want me to dress up too.” He brushed his palms against each other. “I need five minutes to change.”
“You really don’t—”
He silenced her with a glare as he passed her. “Five minutes.” He ran through possible clothing choices as he practically ran into the house. He wore his cowboy boots to church, so they would have to do for a food truck tasting too. He could change his work jeans for a pair of black slacks, and his blue T-shirt for a clean polo. He flung the colors to the side. Blue, no. Black, no. White, no. He finally landed on a yellow one with white and black stripes and pulled it off the hanger.
He changed and washed his hands and hurried down the hall. “Ready.”
Heather stood from where she sat at the bar and slid her eyes from the top of his head to his boottips. “You changed your hat.”
“I have dress hats,” he said, not wanting to get into how many cowboy hats his closet held.
“Dress hats?” She scoffed. “Is that even a thing?”
He glanced at her as he selected the convertible car keys from the hook just inside the mudroom. “Yes.” He grinned at her. “Come on, we don’t want to be late.” He jangled the keys at her, and she squinted.
“Are those the truck keys?”
“Come on. We’re going out. We’re dressed up. Let’s take the convertible.”
“I spent fifteen minutes curling my hair.”
“I’ve got cowgirl hats,” he said.
She giggled and slipped her arm through his. “Why do you have cowgirl hats?”
“They’re just cowboy hats worn by a woman.” He opened the door to the garage as she laughed. He lowered himself into the car, which practically sat on the ground, and waited until he’d backed of the garage before he lowered the top.
“See? It’s nice.” The breeze played with the brim of his hat, and he pushed it further down on his head. “I gotta be honest. I’m not that hungry. How much do we eat at a tasting?”
Heather tossed her head, letting her hair stream behind her. “Well, there are thirty-one food truck applications. We’ll sample all of them.”
Levi groaned, but it was good-natured. The freedom pouring through him felt surreal, almost. “I love driving this car. We should take it out to the lake this weekend.”
She pushed her hair out of her face and laughed. “Only if Juan Carlos packs our picnic basket for the event.”
He drove slowly down Main Street, his love for his hometown strong as he passed the candy store he used to ride his bike to, the German restaurant where all the tourists ate, and the red-and-white canopy over the diner. The city buildings sat around the corner from Main Street, with tall, stone columns that held up the grand rooftop. At least two dozen food trucks filled the parking lot across the street from the city buildings.
“Is this an outdoor event?” he asked.
“Yeah, under the big white tent.” Heather pointed to it on the right, on the north end of the parking lot. “We can park on the street.”
“And you’re walkin’ in those heels?”
“I’ll be hangin’ on your big, strong arm.”
They laughed together as Levi parked. He left the top down and hurried around to the passenger side to help Heather. He liked the idea of walking in public with her on his arm, and he glanced around to see if anyone was watching them.
Activity buzzed around the tent, and Levi tightened his arm against his side. Maybe this tasting was a bad idea. Levi didn’t do public appearances very well, and his blood seemed to slow in his veins, making it harder for his heart to keep pumping.
A redheaded woman spotted Heather and made a beeline for them. Her face was flushed and her eyes held more excitement than a food truck tasting warranted.
“Heat
her, there you are.”
“Hey, Cheryl.” Heather removed her hand and gave Cheryl a hug. They laughed and Cheryl held onto Heather’s elbows as she stepped back.
“I have the best news.” She giggled and bounced on the balls of her feet. “Kevin and I are pregnant!” A squeal erupted from her mouth, and she gripped Heather in another embrace.
Levi’s already full stomach soured, and he wanted to turn and walk away. Only the sound of Heather’s laughter kept him in place. But he couldn’t smile, not even when Heather looked back at him, positively radiant.
He wondered if she got tired of celebrating babies her friends were having. Babies that weren’t hers. She didn’t seem to be, and while he’d never heard her mention a Cheryl, they hadn’t spent any time talking about her friends.
No matter what, he saw the joy on her face. And it was abundantly clear that Heather very much wanted to share news like this of her own. Wanted to be a mother.
And Levi could never give her that.
He did turn away then, sure breaking up with her now would be kinder than waiting even another hour. Could he do it now? Then he’d have to drive her back to the house, help her pack her things….
He heard his name, and he knew he should turn and meet her friend. He just wasn’t sure he could. Thankfully, someone started banging on a triangle, and yelling with all the Texas twang someone could have. “Food truck tasting starts now!”
Heather stepped back to him and laced her arm through his again. “Come on, Levi. Let’s go taste.”
And he had no choice but to go with her, though every step took a little piece of his soul.
Chapter Nineteen
Heather tried to get Levi to loosen up, but he seemed determined to remain board-like. Thankfully, one of his cowboys came over and started talking to him.
“Heather, you know Sawyer, right?” Levi indicated the other cowboy. “He’s been running the stables while I’ve been gone.”
“Of course. Sawyer Sanders.” Heather accepted his quick cheek-kiss. “What are you doin’ here?” She sized him up, having never seen him at this event before.