“No. I can’t. Sorry.”
“Aw, did she break your little heart?” She licked her lips. “Because I can fix that for you.”
“That’s a nice offer, but I’m going to pass.”
“Let me know if you change your mind,” she called out as he left the shop.
He couldn’t talk. Couldn’t be civil. Because, truthfully, he felt dangerous right now. Like a caged animal let loose on an unsuspecting public. Carly had lied to him. Again. He didn’t know why he’d been surprised. She’d lied about being a baby expert. Lied about their engagement. Lied about leaving. She’d also lied about loving him. This time the lie went deeper and had caused far more damage. He wished he could say what he felt for her was a lie as well, but most unfortunately for him, it was real and alive. Consuming him.
The person he was most pissed with? The honor goes to me, myself and I. But Carly followed a close second. She’d made him care, damn it. Drawn him in, hooked him, and for what?
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
FIRST, SHE CRIED. A lot.
Then, realizing that Grace was deeply affected by her emotional state, fussing and weepy, too, Carly got her act together and stopped sniveling. Smiled and laughed and put on a show. Played peekaboo with Grace until she giggled in a beautiful belly laugh. Carly faked it well. Even after Levi still hadn’t answered her one text from hours ago. She was beginning to fear that maybe Levi didn’t have any use for her if she couldn’t be his nanny friend with benefits. Simply put, he didn’t love her. And oh, yeah, he hadn’t told her that he did, so he got points for honesty. That smile on his face when she’d told him she loved him was to be expected, because who didn’t like to be told someone loved them? No one.
In the end, she’d called Jill and Zoey and told them she needed an intervention. Because what she wanted to do was drive to the airport and force Levi to listen to her. Force him to listen to her explanation. If he was going to walk away, it would be for the right reasons. Not because he had some mistaken impression of how difficult it had been for her to come to this decision. How hard it would be to leave him and Grace, even for a couple of months.
“You just told him you loved him? Just like that?” Zoey snapped her fingers. “First the engagement and now this. Girl, you’ve got a serious set of cojones.”
“Where were you and exactly what were you doing when you told him?” Jill said.
“I’d rather not say.” Carly’s face heated.
Now she had to admit it wasn’t the world’s greatest timing. She could see why Levi might think she’d been...er, unduly influenced. Caught up in the moment. Not true, but she saw his point. Given that she’d followed her confession of love by getting caught in a lie, he might not fully appreciate the honesty of her words. Nope. Instead, he might think she’d lied to him. Again.
“Uh-huh,” Jill said. “I thought so.”
“So what do you want to do?” Zoey asked, holding Digger.
Carly had brought him next door with her, too, and he seemed out of sorts, since her laundry room just wasn’t the same as Levi’s.
“I want to go over to the airport and make him listen to me!”
“Won’t he be busy in an airplane?” Zoey said.
“The point is—” Jill thrust her index finger toward Carly “—you called us here for a reason. This meeting is to stop you from doing anything stupid.”
“It is?” Zoey wrinkled her nose.
“Of course! We’re here to prevent any more of this foolery. I don’t know who ever told you to let a man know what you’re thinking, but you should take away their friend card.”
“No one told me that,” Carly said miserably. “It was all me. I thought I’d be honest for a change.”
“Bad move.” Jill shook her head. “Bad.”
“No. Maybe it isn’t what I told him but what I didn’t tell him. It looked like I was lying, but all I wanted was to find the right time to tell him. And I waited too long.”
“You should be honest,” Zoey said. “Always. Because men are like dogs.”
“This is what I’m saying,” Jill said.
“They’re loyal and loving. Fiercely protective of the ones they love. And like Digger here—” Zoey patted his smooth head “—they want to know they’re not going to be abandoned.”
Jill narrowed her eyes. “Seriously?”
“Yes,” Zoey said, chin up. “I know you all think I’m just an animal nut, but I pay attention to other things, too.”
“Of course you do,” Carly said.
“I noticed a kindred spirit when Levi first came into the shop with Digger. He didn’t just buy what he needed, but also some of the stuff he thought Digger would like, too. I think I knew before he did that this was no temporary adoption. Digger’s always going to be with him. Huh, Digger? See, I think Levi’s a rescuer. Maybe not an animal rescuer, like I am, but a people rescuer. And who knows? Maybe he’s hurt because he thinks you’re abandoning him, Carly.”
“But...but I told him I wanted him to come see me in New York.”
“Those are just words. Don’t you think Digger heard them once, too? ‘Oh, you’re so cute. You’re coming home with me. It’ll be fun. Oh, wait, I changed my mind.’ Do you know how many times that happens?”
“You’re getting sidetracked, Z.” Jill nudged Zoey. “I don’t think she’s going to leave him at the pound.”
“Well, you know what I mean,” Zoey said. “You need to put your words into action.”
“I know exactly what you mean,” Carly said, near tears again. “Levi’s my dog.”
“Exactly!”
“What are you two fools talking about?” Jill said.
“He needs to understand that I didn’t lie to him. There’s such a thing as changing your mind. And I’m not going to abandon him when I go to New York. He needs to know that. More than words. I need more than words.”
Actions, more so than words, could never lie.
“Uh-oh,” Jill said, turning to Zoey. “What have you done?”
Zoey just smiled.
“Would you two watch Grace for me?” Carly said. “I’ve got to go to the airport.”
* * *
TODAY HAD BEEN the day from hell.
His day had gone as if all the forces in the universe had gotten together and decided this was the day Levi Lambert would be tortured to within an inch of his sanity. This was the day he’d have difficult, entitled passengers. This was the day he’d have mechanical failures and have to change planes. This was the day every damn delay possible would present itself. This was the day a woman would make her way onto the tarmac and wave her arms around like ground control.
Wait. What?
Okay, that was not possible. Yet right before him, his twenty-twenty vision did not lie. He saw Carly arguing with Jedd, who was trying to pull her into the hangar. Levi removed his aviator glasses. She was still there, the crazy woman.
Good thing this wasn’t yet a regional airport or she’d probably be under arrest by now.
“Dude, who the hell is that?” entitled passenger number ten of the day asked.
He was taking a skateboarding pro and his entourage to some kind of exhibition in Reno. “Another delay.”
“Dude, she’s hot. Maybe we can take her with us. As long as she’s not nuts.”
Levi ignored that and stopped his preflight safety check. Now he’d have to start all over again. Man, this day. Somebody shoot him. He climbed out of the plane and walked toward Carly, unable to hear anything but the blood coursing through his veins. There had better be nothing wrong with Grace. But he’d checked his phone right before boarding and there’d been no new messages. And if there was something wrong with Grace, Carly wouldn’t waste time coming here when she could be on her way to the hospital to have a skinned
knee checked by an orthopedist.
“Sorry, Levi,” Jedd said.
“It’s fine.” Levi waved him off. He turned to Carly. “Is Grace okay?”
“Yes! She’s fine. Zoey and Jill are watching her. That’s not what this is about.”
“Then...what?”
She squinted at him in the bright sun. “Why didn’t you answer my text?”
He nodded toward the plane. “I’m a little busy here.”
“That was hours ago.” She wrung her hands together.
He stared at her, his heart shifting painfully at her obvious discomfort. She knew the answer. He was too pissed to talk. Or text. He was being a child, in other words. Not wanting to deal with the fact that she’d hurt him because he’d opened himself up to the opportunity. Not wanting to face the fact that he was a grown-ass man with a few abandonment issues. Not wanting to deal, period. Give him his bird and the safety of the open skies and he’d be all right. Eventually.
“I have to explain.” She looked past him, and Levi followed her gaze to his passengers plastered up against the windows, watching them.
“Ignore them.”
“Okay.” She took a breath and closed her eyes. And kept them closed. “I know we promised not to keep anything from each other. I was going to tell you about New York as soon as I decided, but I didn’t have a chance before you saw the text. And I do love you, Levi. That’s the truth. I wanted to tell you in a place where you had to know that I meant it. There’s no other reason I’d say this right here and now. This is terrifying. I might be arrested at any moment and, even if I’m not, I’m pretty sure Stone is going to be royally pissed at me. There’s no other really good feeling that could be influencing me right now. If you know what I mean.” She opened one eye to peek at him. “These aren’t just words to me.”
His heart pinched, because she looked so small and vulnerable out here under the bright sky. He loved her so much it physically hurt. She’d taken a risk coming out here now, knowing he was angry. Also taken a risk being the first to say I love you. And so far, she was still all alone in that. Her courage slayed him.
Just like clockwork, Stone marched toward them looking like a pissed-off warden. This might not be a regional airport yet or have TSA, but Stone did not suffer fools. Even fools in love.
“I’ve got to go now,” Carly said and walked toward Stone.
Levi watched them both walk to the hangar, Carly leading the way, Stone following her like he wanted to make sure she wouldn’t turn back. The door opened and shut.
Never miss a chance to tell the people you love how you feel.
He had a flight and passengers waiting. But you know what? To hell with it. He turned, gave them a hold-on sign, then jogged to the hangar. Opened the door and there stood Carly, clearly being lectured by Stone while surrounded by Cassie, Jedd, Sarah, Matt and Emily. They all turned to him expectantly when he strode in.
Yeah, he didn’t know what he was doing because, for the first time in years, his emotions were calling the shots for him. This was strange, the feverish pounding of his pulse in his eardrums. His sweaty palms. So odd, it almost didn’t feel like his body as he moved toward Carly and everyone stepped out of his way. But then he picked her up in his arms and it felt very much like him. Like a part of him he’d forgotten. The best part.
She smiled, and everyone smiled now. Even Stone, though it was a reluctant pull of his lips.
“I love you, Carly.” And the words weren’t hard to say at all.
“I’m sorry?” Matt cupped a hand to his ear. “I don’t think I heard that.”
“Say it louder, flyboy,” Stone said. “So those in the back can hear.”
“He said he loves her,” Cassie said. Loudly. “Are you all hard of hearing? I’m sixty-seven and I heard him clear as a bell.”
“I love you.” Levi set Carly down. He turned to his audience. “I said I love her. But the rest of this is private.”
Emily folded her arms. “There is no such thing as private at Mcallister Charters and Magnum Aviation. We’re family here.”
A loud, obnoxious, intrusive family. The kind he’d grown up without. He loved them, too, and what’s more, he needed them. They were all going to help him and Carly raise Grace. He didn’t need to do this alone. Didn’t want to.
“I still need a minute alone with my girl.” With that, he took her by the hand and pulled her into Stone’s inner office.
Of course, they all followed and stopped just outside the door. “You’re all extremely annoying.” He shut the door.
“We know,” Matt said from behind the now-closed door.
“Am I your girl?” Carly said.
He tipped her quivering chin up. “You don’t think you can back out now, do you?”
“Never.”
“Let’s get one thing clear. I don’t want anyone else. While you’re gone, I’m going to be some kind of monk. There’s no one else for me. I said I wouldn’t share you, and it goes both ways.”
She met his gaze, her hazel eyes piercing into his. “I don’t have to go if you want me to stay. Maybe I can find some other way to finish. An online pro—”
“No. You need to go back. I’m not going to be the one who keeps you from finishing what you started.”
“But I don’t want to abandon you. Or Grace.”
“You won’t. I’ll make sure of that.”
“Do you mean it?”
“But if that human piece of excrement is still there, you tell me, because I’ll need to pay him a visit.”
“You always have my back.”
“I always will.”
“I’m going to miss you like crazy. Will you promise to come see me?”
“As often as my hard-ass boss lets me.” He directed this comment, loudly, in the direction of the door.
“Well, excuse me for living,” Stone said from the other side.
“Speaking of living.” Levi grinned and traced the curve of her lips. “I have to go make one.”
She gave him a watery smile full of her heart. “I love you. Did I say that already?”
He pressed his forehead to hers. “You did. And I’m never going to get tired of hearing it.”
He kissed her, long, warm and deep. A kiss full of the love he’d kept wrapped up in his cold heart until he’d met the one woman in the world perfectly right for him.
EPILOGUE
December 31
IT WAS NEARLY midnight and beautifully quiet on the evening of Emily and Stone’s wedding. The red barn on Emily’s ranch was lit by soft candlelight, the rows of seats decorated with white ribbon and baby’s breath.
Levi winked at her from the altar, where he stood next to Matt and Stone. In a black tux, Levi looked drop-dead gorgeous. And he also looked a little like her heart walking around outside her chest. She’d become a little more used to that feeling in the past two months, the sensation where she forgot to breathe when he walked in the room. She was so gobsmacked, so head over heels in love with her fiancé that it was a little humbling.
She twisted her engagement ring around her finger, not quite used to its presence there. Her new lucky ring. She’d have to get her mother’s ring resized now. She hadn’t expected for it all to happen so fast, but the past two months in New York City meant she and Levi had spent more time alone together than they had since they’d first met. And it was still easy. Perfect. He’d sometimes bring Grace along, because Carly missed her desperately, but usually he would leave Grace with Cassie, Emily and Stone, or Matt and Sarah for the weekend. Rather than hang out with her roommates, he’d rent a hotel room in the city, where they’d spend long, lazy mornings in bed. They’d walk in Central Park and eat hot dogs from the street vendors.
It was in Central Park where, last month, Levi had dropped to one k
nee.
“I’ve never been this sure about anything in my life. We fit together. Will you marry me?”
Carly had stood, wrapped in her wool winter jacket and scarf, the cold winter air swirling all around them, utterly speechless. Her heart had hammered out of her chest and she’d smiled until it felt like her face would freeze that way permanently.
“Yes or no?” Levi had said with his easy smile. “Don’t leave me hanging.”
It was only then that she realized she hadn’t said her answer out loud. She’d said the words in her heart, where they always seemed to go first.
“Yes!” she’d shouted. “Oh my God, yes!”
“So I can get up now?” He’d winked. “Because it’s freaking cold out here. Remember, I’m from Texas.”
She’d tugged him up and into her arms. “I love you.”
“I’m glad to hear it, because I love you, too.”
Then he’d slipped on the ring, and there hadn’t been a day since that she’d wanted to take it off.
The wedding party tonight was small and intimate. Too late for the children, so Levi and Carly had left Grace with the new babysitter—a wonderful woman who lived down the street and watched only Grace and her own grandchildren.
The wedding march began, and Rachel, the matron of honor, then Molly and Sarah, Emily’s bridesmaids, started down the aisle. When it was Emily’s turn to walk down with her father, there was a stillness in the night air that felt almost sacred. The vows were exchanged exactly as the midnight hour began the first day of a new year. Beginnings. Emily had said she would always make Stone observe two wedding anniversaries. The thirty-first and the first. Then he’d never forget.
Carly caught Levi’s gaze, and as the vows were spoken, neither broke away from the other’s gaze. To love, honor and cherish. As long as we both shall live. For better or for worse.
Later, when it was time to dance until the wee hours of the morning, Levi grabbed Carly and pulled her onto the floor. “Are you ready to say those words to me?”
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