The Art of Falling in Love with Your Fake Fiancé: A small town closed door romantic comedy (Sweetkis

4. Levi

FOUR

Opening the door to my bedroom, I follow the smell of coffee downstairs to the kitchen. Am I an adult male who lives at home on the farm with my family when I’m not traveling with my team? Why, yes, I am a proud card-carrying member of this exclusive club.

There’s no other sound in the giant old farmhouse than the padding of my feet as I shuffle down the hallway. I like being here as much as I can and spending time with my mom. The Porter Family Farm is a working truffle farm; savory truffles, obviously, because who has a chocolate truffle farm besides Willy Wonka? It’s one of the first to open its doors in North Carolina. My mother had started it years ago after my father had taken off and left her, literally, holding two babies in her arms. Me and my brother.

As I slowly push open the large wooden swinging door that leads into the kitchen, I pause when I hear low voices talking on the other side of it.

The sound of my mother’s questioning tone hits my ears first. “So, do you want to help out in the field today, Duncan?”

I’ve got the door opened just a crack, my foot propping it at the bottom of its base, and there’s a sliver of an opening where I can peek through and survey the room. Mom stands on one side, sipping her coffee and leaning against the sink while Duncan sits at the table, a bowl of cereal in front of him.

He shrugs his shoulders in response to her question. At least it’s a two-shoulder shrug kind of day. When we brought him back here a few days ago, he’d barely lift anything or respond to us at all.

“Okay,” Mom continues, never defeated. After what she’s had to deal with in her life, I’m sure this small brick wall can’t hold a candle to it. “There’s always more shopping. I’m not sure if you have summer clothes or not, so I’ll ask Levi if we can take inventory of your things and see if you want to go into town.”

Duncan lifts his head but doesn’t say anything still. I let my eyes bounce between him and my mother, wondering if she’s thinking the same thing I am.

“We could also make ice cream if you’d like?” She offers this like a pacifier to a screaming child. Ever since she treated herself to this high-end ice cream maker, she thinks she’s Ben or maybe it’s Jerry. Not sure, but she’s having a good time with it, even if Duncan is busy shaking his head from side to side, uninterested.

Not even the prospect of creating his own ice cream flavor gets this guy interested. How do we get through to this little man? Sighing, I drop my head. He’s been through so much. At his age, he’s already seen things that I could never comprehend, and here he is in our home. And we are strangers to him.

Steeling myself, I lift my head and push the door open.

“Good morning, everyone,” I sing out, crossing the room to kiss Mom on her cheek. I pour my coffee and turn around, mimicking her stance against the counter. “So, what’s going on in here?”

“We’re trying to decide where the day will take us, right, Duncan?” Mom says, her gaze staying transfixed on the little man at her kitchen table. “There’s a lot of possibilities.”

“Well, Duncan already has plans for the day.” Our eyes meet as he lifts a spoonful of something sugary and colorful to his lips. If he only knew how lucky he was to get my mom in grandmother mode, he wouldn’t eat that cereal so slowly. When I was growing up, it was oatmeal or shredded wheat or eggs and toast. Only what Mom deemed to be healthy for us.

“Really?” Mom turns to face me, sipping her coffee.

“He’s helping Georgie out at her shop today.” Duncan’s eyes slam into mine, a flash of worry behind them. I could rat him out to my mom, but I won’t. He made his mistake. I can tell her about it later, but right now, I want to get him settled in here, and making him feel like a petty thief may not be the way to do it. “She needed a hand unloading some boxes, and Duncan really likes books, don’t you, buddy?”

Duncan’s big brown eyes darken slightly, little storm clouds swirling behind them. He turns his attention back to his cereal, lifting the spoon to his mouth and chewing.

“Speaking of books, Lorna dropped off a bag of them for Duncan last night while you were at dinner.”

“Where is the bag?”

“I put it in the living room. There’s a reading list for him, from school, and she’s got information there on local camps he may be interested in going to while he settles into Sweetkiss Creek a little more.”

“That’s awesome,” I say, keeping my voice light. Personally, I don’t see where any good can come of sticking him into a summer camp after all he’s been through, but what do I know? “Duncan, it’s going to be a good summer. We’ll get a routine down for you in no time, my friend.”

Duncan doesn’t acknowledge me one way or the other. He simply lifts his spoonful of cereal to his mouth and chews, big brown eyes taking everything in.

Defeated, I look at my mother. She grabs the coffee pot and fills her mug, indicating for me to follow her as she heads to the back door.

“Levi, can I show you something in the yard real quick?”

I throw Duncan a smile and do as my mother tells me. As soon as I close the door behind me and walk onto the back porch, she grabs my hand and pulls me around to the side, where Duncan can’t see us.

“That poor boy is still in a state of shock. We need to go really easy with him.”

Now it’s time to rat him out. “That poor boy is working at Georgie’s today because she caught him trying to steal a book.”

“What?” she snaps.

“You heard me right. He also spoke more last night than he has in the short amount of time he’s been with us.”

My mother’s eyebrows arch in surprise. “He did?”

“Only when he was trying to explain himself.” I put a hand on my hip. “Georgie said he could come and work it off today. Which is better than the fact she could have pressed charges.”

Mom turns and leans on the porch railing, looking over the backyard as she grips onto her mug so tight her knuckles turn white. She’s raised two boys, she knows how they can be, but I’m sure this kind of thing is a bit of a surprise. No one expects to have a small human around who likes to lift things.

“We’re lucky it’s Georgie and she’s a kind soul. What was he thinking?”

“I’d love to know,” I say with a heavy sigh, leaning against the railing and once again, mimicking my mother’s stance. I follow her line of sight to where Austin, my younger brother, stands out in one of the fields. Four dogs bounce around him, playing. “But it”s not like he’s opening up to me, is it?”

“With time, sweetie. He had to get used to all of this change. He’s had a lot handed to him.”

She’s right. I know I’m still coming to grips with what’s happened and the loss. Tom was my high school best friend and we’d stayed the kind of friends over the years who, no matter what, could pick things up where we left them. It was always like no time had passed when we got together. No matter where our lives took us, we had our growing up in common.

There’d been a fire at their house, and luckily Duncan made it out. His parents, sadly, weren’t so lucky. Katie passed away immediately from inhalation, and we had all hoped and prayed that Tom would make it through. I’d flown to New York and stayed with Duncan, while Tom was kept in a coma.

When Tom passed away, I brought Duncan back to Sweetkiss Creek with me, but I was about to start my season, with a contract that wouldn’t allow any time away to help get Duncan settled. Quick to raise her hand to help, Lorna all but insisted she take Duncan for the time being.

However, at the end of my season, Duncan was still settling into his new life. When Lorna brought up the fact it could be better for his mental health, and for consistency, that he stay with her at least until the school year was over, I was hesitant. But, I said yes. Cause it’s about Duncan and his needs, not what I want. He was barely speaking and wasn’t communicating with anyone, not even with Lorna. I’d encouraged her to seek help from a therapist, but she didn’t think it was needed. Her words to me were that he’d come around, she was his grandmother after all, so she’d get him talking.

But she didn’t—and he isn’t.

“You’re right. I think it’s time I made an appointment for him to see a therapist,” I say, turning to the side, angling myself to face her. “We can’t begin to understand what he’s been through, and I don’t know anyone he can talk to that could be a sounding board who would ‘get it.’ It’s time for the professionals to help us out.”

“I can do some research today and see who I can find locally,” she says, knowingly, nodding her head in agreement. “He’ll come out of his shell eventually. We just have to be patient.”

I nod in understanding. As I do, Mom nudges me in the ribs with her elbow. “So, if he was at Pages and Prose ‘shopping,’” she says using air quotes, “does that mean you saw Georgie last night?”

“Aren’t you subtle?” I laugh. “Yes, I saw her last night.”

“Can’t stay away, can you?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Exactly what I said. You and your good friend, your ‘girlfriend,’” she says, making use of those air quotes once again, “make a cute couple, you know.”

I can feel the heat of embarrassment in my cheeks. “She is my friend. Not my girlfriend.”

“She is a girl who is your friend.” She holds her mug in the air, punctuating her words. “Therefore a girlfriend.”

“I’m not going to argue with you about this.”

A voice pipes up behind us. “Who’s arguing and what’s it about?”

Spinning on my heel, I turn around and find Austin standing on the porch with his hands over his eyes, shielding them from the sun.

“How did you get up here so fast?” I ask, pointing back to the fields. “You were just out there.”

“I can move quickly when I want to, big brother. Better than you some days. Probs why my contract has already been extended for next year,” he says, a teasing lilt to his voice. My brother also plays in the NFL, he’s a tight end, but for one of my opposing teams, the Tampa Bay Thunderbolts. “How’s Duncan today?”

I shrug. “The same.”

Austin walks over and pats my shoulder before throwing himself into one of the Adirondack chairs on the porch. “Once he gets used to us, to this place, he’ll come around.”

“I hope so,” I say, parking in a chair beside him. “But in the meantime, where do we go from here?”

“What do you mean?” Mom asks, tilting her to one side.

“I think in order to quell any issues Lorna may have, I need to put some plans into motion that show I’m serious about taking care of him. Show her, visibly somehow, that I’m prepared to be a more present figure in his life.”

“Dude, you were taken by surprise last year and you guys really did need to go slow to make sure you didn’t rock his foundation more than it was already. What else can you do?” Austin queries, his eyes narrowing with understanding. “Wait. You’re not thinking of moving are you?”

I nod my head slowly. “I am. I think getting a place that is just his and mine would be a good start.”

“What about playing football?” Austin asks as I shrug.

“Don’t know right now. I’ve not signed anything because…” I throw my hands in the air. “I need to make a decision based on what’s best for Duncan. That may mean it’s time to step down from the team.”

“But have you—”

I hold up a hand to cut him off. “I’m not prepared to talk about it right now, but I will. When I have time to think about what I want to do and see what’s best for Duncan, then I’ll know.”

I knew Austin would have an opinion about this, and I half-expected my brother’s reaction to be bigger, like he’d want to talk me out of stepping away from football, but instead he nods his head in silent understanding. “I get it, but does it really mean you need to leave the farm?”

“What your brother said. I understand why you’re rethinking your career, but we’re your family.” My mother doesn’t even try to hide her disappointment. “If you’re here, we can chip in and help.”

“I know, but there has to be some independence in it.” I look around the farmland surrounding the house. “We’re not that close to Sweetkiss Creek, and I think it may be good for him to have more stimulation as he gets used to being here. He wasn’t communicative while at Lorna’s, but he did seem to like living in town.”

“He’s a city boy, grew up in New York, right?” Austin asks as I nod.

“Well, I don’t see why the farm would be a bad palace for him to be,” Mom huffs my way, disgruntled.

“I want him to come out here to the farm. I think living out here is the best thing ever, but maybe we live in town for a year or two first so he can make friends and have easy access to things, like he did in New York.”

“He could also get in trouble.” Mom glances at Austin. “Georgie caught him shoplifting in her store last night.”

As Austin’s eyes widen, I groan. “Mom. I don’t want everyone knowing about this. It’ll embarrass him.”

“Maybe he needs to be.” Austin chuckles. “What kind of book did he take anyway? I bet it was the Victoria’s Secret anniversary edition of their top runway looks over the years…”

I roll my eyes. My brother, all class. “A cookbook.”

“That’s not even interesting.” Austin snickers. “How did your girlfriend handle it?”

“She’s not my girlfriend,” I whine. These two won’t let up. The fact that I really like Georgie aside, I don’t need nor want to be teased right now. “And she’s got him coming in to do physical labor today to teach him a lesson. Speaking of which…” I glance at my watch. “I should get a shower and get ready to take him in.”

Austin rises from his seat, patting my shoulder as he walks by. “Give me a few minutes and I’ll be ready to go.”

We watch as he goes back inside, leaving me alone with our mother again.

“That’s a lot you just shared. Moving away from here and considering not going back to play?” She puts her mug on the railing of the deck and crosses her arms. “Have you really thought about all of this and what it means?”

I nod. “I’ve done nothing but think about it, over and over. Not having Dad around when I was little meant you had to sign us up for Big Brothers Big Sisters. You did as much as you could, putting us first. I want to be the same. I want to show up for him.”

“But that doesn”t mean you have to quit doing something you love,” she says, cocking her head to one side as she takes me in. “You still love playing football, right?”

I look down at my hand, where my Super Bowl ring sits on the days I choose to get it out and wear it. “That’s a question I’ve asked myself a lot lately. What do I love and what do I have passion for?” I scratch the top of my head. “I guess I’ve not had a chance to really check in with myself over it and still need to.”

“Fair enough,” she says as she nods toward the house. “I’m going to get the kid motivated to get out, and you need to get some breakfast in your body before you guys leave. You may be an adult, but I can still tell you what to do.”

I laugh as she walks back inside, leaving me on the deck thinking about football and my future.

I can see a future where I’m not at practice and not having to put my body through so much work. I want a future where I’m present for this kid, doing what Tom and Katie would have wanted me to do. Be a parent.

I’d love a future where that kid gets the best of both worlds and can be with me and have a relationship with his grandmother, and where I’m not in fear Lorna will try to get him and take him from me.

But mostly, I want a future with one particular bookstore-owning woman by my side.