At four o’clock, she walked to the tasting room for happy hour. Frank sat in the sedan, hunched over, as though he thought she might not see him there. Afterward, she came back, trying to ignore the sedan. Pretending and playing along that she didn’t see him there. She’d always said that Frank was far more stubborn than any of the children. This time she was going to wait him out. Two could play this game.
But after sitting inside alone for another hour, checking in with the kids via email and updating them on Grace, confirming her flight home, Irene couldn’t take it another minute. She flung open the door of the small cottage, then marched across the courtyard to the small side lot.
Frank slid down in the driver’s seat and covered his face with the bill of his Giants baseball cap.
She rapped her knuckles on the driver’s-side door.
He rolled down the window, then straightened the bill of his hat.
“Why are you here?” Irene asked, hands on hips.
“I had to make sure you were okay.”
Irene sucked in a breath. The sad truth was it was quite possibly the most loving thing he’d said to her in months.
“Oh, Frank.”
“I’m sorry to bother you.” He leaned forward and turned the key in the ignition.
“Don’t you want to see the room you’re paying for?”
Frank blinked as if he couldn’t believe he’d heard right. “Yeah.”
She led the way to her room in the small cottage to the right of the main building. Due to its exorbitant price, it had been the only vacancy, so she’d splurged. The honeymoon suite had lots of privacy, which she didn’t need. Truth be told, she’d be helping Frank pay the bill off when they returned home, even if it meant substitute teaching again.
“This is very nice,” Frank said, nodding as he glanced around the room, his gaze lingering on the fireplace that took up half a wall. “You were right. This is much better than the Budget Inn.”
Her gaze stayed riveted to the man she’d been married to for over twenty years. He’d gotten older when she wasn’t looking. When they’d been busy with daily life, but not noticing each other. He had gray hairs, many of which she’d probably given him. Wrinkles around his eyes, laugh lines around his mouth. A deep worry groove between his eyebrows, which had surely formed when she’d been rushed to an emergency C-section with Meg.
In that moment she realized she’d never find anyone else who could take his place. She’d been so stupid to think she could walk away from him. From their shared history.
“I miss you,” she blurted out.
How long had she held that in, afraid to say it out loud? Afraid it would seem...selfish.
“I’m right here.”
She rolled her eyes. “I think you know what I mean.”
He met her eyes. “I understand. And I’m sorry. It’s just I... Things haven’t been...”
“I know.”
“Honey, you have to know—I didn’t mean—” His voice shook.
Her big and strong man who’d been knocked to his knees by life. She went into his arms. “Frank, I miss her, too. Sometimes it feels like I’ll never be the same again. I have good days and bad days, too. But you haven’t allowed yourself to have any good days. I can’t stand watching you hurt like this. Let’s just start over. Can we?”
“At our age?” He chuckled, holding her tight.
“I love you, Frank. We’ve both got a lot of living left to do, and I don’t know about you, but I want to do that together.”
“That’s all I want, too.” He stroked her back. “I’ve lost so much in my life, but the one thing I can’t stand to lose is you.”
She glanced at the California king–size bed that she’d slept in alone. “What do you say we start by breaking in that monster bed?”
Frank grinned. “Yeah?”
They held each other all night long, which turned out to be a good beginning.
* * *
AS RESIDENT NFG, Levi understood he got the grunt work. He’d occasionally be tasked with a morning coffee run to the Drip, a lunch run and all the difficult passengers. Even the nonhuman ones. But he would only be NFG until Stone hired someone new. He’d been talking about that a lot recently, in addition to buying another plane. Hell, he’d been planning to buy a whole fleet of planes, according to the latest word. Things were moving right along at Mcallister Charters in a forward trajectory, and Levi liked the way it looked for him. Because pretty soon he wouldn’t be NFG anymore.
“What are you smiling about?” Matt walked up to the Snack Shack, where Levi sat nursing a cup of coffee between flights.
Pick one. For the first time in a while, he had a list of things to smile about. Grace was sleeping through the night—mostly—and any lack of sleep on his part was for all the right reasons. Those reasons being Carly and the kind of chemistry and connection he hadn’t experienced with anyone in a while. Or ever, if he was being honest. To top it off, he had no concern that he’d lose Grace or be stuck paying legal fees for years. And he had Carly to thank for that, too.
“I’ve got my reasons.”
“Two of those reasons are named Carly and Grace, I take it.”
“We’ve been spending some time together, yeah.”
“Drove by the other night and saw you three at the Lick ’n’ Spoon.”
“Yeah?” It had been his idea to go out for ice cream even though the October nights were getting chillier. And when he’d given Grace a taste, he’d loved seeing her eyes grow wide at the cold and sweet taste. She was definitely Daddy’s girl. “Why didn’t you say hi?”
“I was on my way home with a pizza. And anyway, it looked pretty cozy there. Didn’t want to interrupt.”
It had felt cozy. Like a real family. The kind that didn’t drive you nuts. Carly didn’t try to control him or seem to have many preconceived notions about what he should or shouldn’t do for her. Ironically, this had the reverse effect of giving him a desire to take care of her. Something he didn’t want to analyze too closely. Point being, everything felt right with her. Simple.
Now that she’d been honest with him, he understood what she’d been dealing with and why she sometimes had that troubled look in her eyes. Sure, she might still have some stuff to work out in her life, but the important thing was she wasn’t going anywhere.
He’d help her through it if she’d let him—the PT issues with her father, her mother’s baby business. What Carly would do next with her life. He would do his part and be the supportive boyfriend. Not rush a damn thing or overthink the situation. “Aw,” Sarah said as she came by and refilled Levi’s cup with more coffee. “Look at you. Your woman problem is all fixed.”
Levi didn’t say a word but merely took another gulp of his coffee and set the cup down.
“Babe, have I told you I don’t like it when you read other men?” Matt said.
Levi almost snorted coffee through his nose. “Dude.”
Sarah had been a forensic artist in Colorado before she’d moved to Fortune, and Levi wasn’t crazy about the way she read him, either. “That’s so sweet and annoyingly possessive.” Sarah leaned across the counter and made out with Matt for several minutes.
These two were oblivious to anyone else. He cleared his throat to remind them he was still here. “Anyway.”
Sarah managed to pull herself away, not that Matt made it easy, hanging on to her the way he did. She finally laughed and slapped his hands away. “So. Today it’s all in your shoulders, Ice Man.”
“My shoulders. What the hell?” Levi swiveled his head.
“They’re unkinked. For the first time in weeks.” She gave him a cocky grin and threw a dish towel over her shoulder, then sashayed over to tend to another customer.
Matt leaned back on his stool and gave Levi a good appraisal. “H
ey. Yeah, she’s right. I’m not crazy about the fact that she noticed it, but yeah. Unkinked.”
Levi lifted one of those unkinked shoulders. He was not surprised, since nearly every part of him was relaxed. For the first time in his life, he couldn’t chalk it up to good sex, though that certainly hadn’t hurt anything. He was relaxed because...he cared deeply about someone. And that someone happened to be a woman he could trust with the single most important gift he’d ever been given. Carly had his back. He trusted her, and he hadn’t trusted easily in years.
“So what? I’m unkinked. That’s a good thing.”
“I’m glad you think so,” Matt said with a smirk. “About time you settled down.”
“Who said I’m settling down?”
“Apparently, your shoulders.” Matt got up, glanced at his watch, then walked toward the tarmac.
Levi finished his coffee and considered the fact that he had officially settled in Fortune. While he’d had wanderlust for most of his life, this felt right. He would have expected being grounded to make him feel trapped. Had been ready to feel it, and to have to talk himself out of the itchy feeling. But thanks to Stone and Matt he was still a flyboy. Always would be. That was in his DNA.
Later that afternoon, Levi left the airport and caught himself anticipating seeing Carly. Pulling her into the circle of his arms and feeling her warm breath as she buried her face in his neck. She’d drawn him in at some point along the way. He didn’t know when or how, but Cute Stuck-Up Girl had morphed into this woman he craved every day. It was in her smile, and in the way she gazed at him with such hope that it kicked him in the gut every time.
He was so wrapped in his thoughts that he almost didn’t notice the man standing beside the rental sedan in the airport parking lot.
“Levi,” the man called out.
Well, Mr. Lane had finally stepped up and decided to have it out. And Levi was more than ready for this meeting. He continued walking toward his truck, opened the driver’s-side door and threw his laptop inside.
Mr. Lane strode up to him, hands stuffed in his pants pockets. “We need to talk.”
Up close and under the lights illuminating the now-dark lot, he appeared much older than he had a few weeks ago when Levi had taken custody of Grace. His close-cropped hair was whiter, and the furrow between his eyebrows deeper. Levi could admit that he hadn’t spent much time worrying about Mr. Lane’s state of mind. He’d had an entire new life to adjust to and his own problems. But now, knowing what Carly had been through with her father, he had a different perspective. The relationship between fathers and daughters could be a minefield of complications. A lot of expectations thrown in with all the love. He’d never had a sibling, but he now had a daughter and a new attitude.
“Thought you were leaving,” Levi said, shutting the door.
“Not yet.” Mr. Lane studied the asphalt and tipped back on his heels. “My wife threw a wrench in my plans.”
“I heard.”
“Of course, she was right. She usually is.” He shook his head and looked up to meet Levi’s eyes. “I’ve been an idiot. I need to apologize.”
At this point, he didn’t care if Mr. Lane was apologizing under duress and in order to reconcile with his wife. He’d take it. “Apology accepted.”
“I can explain, not that it’s any excuse.”
“You don’t have to. I realize how hard this has been for you. I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“No, I’m sure you didn’t. Grace is your daughter, and you have a right to raise her. Wherever you’d like.”
“A good job brought me out here, or I wouldn’t have taken her so far away.”
“It was meant to be, I’d say. Carly has a heart of gold. So did Sandy, despite what anyone else thought of her. I need to tell you something about her. I’m not trying to excuse what she did in any way. As fathers, we have it tough. We don’t always have a say in what happens. But even though you two weren’t together, she should have told you about Grace. You shouldn’t have found out the way you did.”
Levi nodded, but he wasn’t blameless, either, he could now admit. He hadn’t given Sandy his phone number or the slightest indication that he’d ever want to see her again. And the temporary nature of their relationship had come back to bite him in the ass in a most significant way. Would it have been different if he’d treated Sandy with more respect and consideration? Maybe she would have at least tried to contact him. Now he’d never know.
“Sandy was a handful for most of her life. Her mother died, too, when Sandy was ten. Irene did her best, but Sandy remembered her mother too well and Irene was no substitute in her book.” He dragged a hand through his short hair. “We were too strict with her during the teenage years. When she went away to college, she went wild. And because she probably knew we wouldn’t approve, she didn’t keep in touch after she graduated. I thought maybe I could right my wrongs with her through Grace, which was a dickhead move. You don’t get to do this over again. Remember that if you don’t remember anything else.”
Levi didn’t speak, but he’d always remember those words. You don’t get to do this over again.
“My wife and I are going back home in a couple days.”
“Both of you?”
“Yeah.” Mr. Lane gave a half smile. “I’m finally listening to her. Truth is, I know I need help. It’s not going to be easy, but I’m going to talk to someone about all this...crap that’s swirling around in my head making it hard to think straight.”
Grief. Levi understood a little bit about that, too. “Smart.”
He pointed. “Women are smart. Remember that, too.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Irene assured me that Grace is a wonderful baby girl, smart and well cared for, and that you have everything to do with that.”
Not just him. “And Carly.”
Interesting that after three failed attempts he’d wound up with a nanny who didn’t know babies but had managed to school them all. And it wasn’t because of her baby business; it was because of her heart.
“Right. She’s something. She called me, too. After getting off the phone with her, I won’t lie—I wanted to talk to my daughter. But I won’t get that chance.” His voice cracked. “Don’t you be an ass, son. Make sure you tell the people you love how you feel every day.”
Levi drove home. Carly now usually met him at his place at the end of the day. One other thing she’d done for him without being asked was become Digger’s official dog walker. When he opened the door, Digger greeted him, wagging not just his tail but essentially his entire backside. Levi squatted, always feeling like a giant next to his dog. “Hey, Digger. What’s up?”
Digger ran to the sliding glass door and scratched on it to be let outside. He guessed that he was now officially stuck with his adopted mutt. According to Emily, he’d joined the club of flyers who’d wound up with a dog of their own through the program. Levi followed the sounds of splashing water and Grace’s squeals to the bathroom. Carly was probably giving Grace a bath in that new contraption someone had sent her to review. He heard her voice before he opened the bathroom door.
“Should we wash your hair now? This little plastic hat will keep the water out of your eyes. Why didn’t I think of this invention? I know the water is a shock to the eyes, but it’s not going to hurt you.” More splashing and squeals from Grace. “For dinner, you can have mashed carrots. I have no idea what I’m having for dinner. Or what your daddy is having. Do you think he wants to have dinner with me again tonight?”
“I know he does.”
Carly startled and turned. “Levi! You scared me.”
He stared for a moment, because damn, she was so beautiful. Her always wild, wavy blond hair fell partially over her right eye. She knelt beside the tub, slightly disheveled and wet from all of Grace’s splashing. Cheeks flushed. A breat
htaking mess. His mess. So here he was, taking ownership. Staking his claim.
Make sure you tell the people you love how you feel every day.
She had his heart. The words, which were right on the tip of his tongue, caught in his throat. No wonder, since his own parents had never been too keen on the words. Love was all in the actions, and the way Levi had been taught.
While he’d once thought Carly held back from him, the tough-to-face truth was that he was the one with issues here. He’d been the one to hold himself in check for years, his heart locked up tight, an ice man to the core. As long as he didn’t feel anything too deeply, he couldn’t be hurt. But first Grace, then Carly, had changed everything for him. Try as he might—and he had tried, at least with Carly—they’d both single-handedly wormed into his heart. With an ice pick.
Smart.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
AFTER CARLY FINISHED bathing Grace and dressed her in pajamas, she went home to change. Levi offered to heat up cans of soup and wanted her to have dinner with him, but she’d be damned if she would stay with her hair looking as though it had been through a category-three hurricane. She took her first shower of the day—if one didn’t count the spit bath with Grace—blow-dried her hair into submission, then dressed in jeans, a black sweater and black ankle boots. Levi might look good in only a towel, but she had to work at it.
At least, she wanted to work at it—not that he’d given her any indication he wouldn’t just as soon strip her down where she stood and have her on any available surface. She was a girl, damn it, and she cared about these little things. She didn’t want to look like a hot mess to her... Jeez, what was Levi to her? Her boyfriend? Employer? Neighbor? Fake fiancé? All of the above? It had always been her nature to push for a commitment, for a clear definition of who, what and where a relationship was headed. Where do I stand? Where is this thing going? But now, she didn’t have many doubts left. Whatever they had going on here, it was rare and special. She didn’t need to hear his words to confirm it because this time her heart knew.
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