36. Levi
Chapter 36
Levi
Six months later
T he air smells different now.
Like hope, if hope could smell like salty air, motor oil, and the first breath of summer.
I walk down Main Street beside Brody, Milo trotting faithfully at his side, and Josie skipping ahead of us with a lollipop in hand.
The town’s finally awake after a long winter, and there’s a buzz on the streets that wasn't there before.
"You met someone," I say, not bothering to phrase it like a question.
Brody huffs out a short, almost reluctant laugh. "Didn’t mean to."
"Nobody ever does."
He shoots me a sideways glance, his mouth twitching like he wants to deny it—but he doesn't.
"The heart wants what the heart wants," he says finally. "And souls... they’ve got a language all their own. Doesn't always matter what your brain’s screaming at you."
I nod, understanding him more than he probably realizes.
We walk a few steps in comfortable silence before he speaks again, voice rougher now.
"I owe you," Brody says. "For giving me the time to figure things out with Sienna."
"You don't owe me shit."
"Yeah, I do," he insists. "You were right. I was trying to control it. Trying to make up for lost time by keeping her from making choices I thought would hurt her."
He pauses, running a hand down his face.
"But Sienna’s smarter than I’ll ever be," he continues, voice low. "She knows what she needs better than any of us."
I don't say anything.
Because some days, it still feels like what she needed... wasn’t me.
Josie squeals up ahead and slams her hand against the window of a small shop. I glance over and freeze.
Jolly Roger’s. Theo’s place.
Brody catches the look on my face and grins. "You ever been inside?"
I shake my head.
"Well, time to change that, brother."
He pushes the door open, and the little bell above it jingles softly.
The place smells like clean leather and ink. Theo’s hunched over a client, working on an intricate sleeve of waves crashing into a lighthouse. His brow furrowed, his hands steady as a surgeon's.
He doesn't notice us at first, he's too locked in.
Pride wells up in my chest so fierce it almost chokes me.
Josie toddles forward, her tiny hand reaching up to grab Theo’s wrist gently.
He glances down, startled—then breaks into the biggest damn grin I've seen on him in years.
"Hey, Josie girl," he says, setting his tattoo gun down carefully and scooping her up into his arms without a second thought.
He looks up and sees me.
"Old man," he teases. "What’re you doing here?"
I chuckle. "Came to steal you for lunch. If you're free."
He hesitates, glancing at the client still packing up his things.
"Please," Josie pipes up, looking at him with those big pleading eyes.
Theo laughs and slings an arm around her, kissing the side of her head. "You’re lethal, you know that?"
Fifteen minutes later, we’re sitting at a little diner down the street.
Theo and Josie coloring on the kids’ menus while we wait for food.
"You’re doing good," I say after a while, nudging him lightly with my elbow.
Theo shrugs, looking a little shy under the praise. "Trying."
"Not trying. Doing."
He smiles, shy but proud.
Then he looks up at me, eyes more serious.
"And you?" he asks. "You good?"
I sip my coffee. Let the moment stretch.
"Josie's thriving," I say finally. "Got her into a specialty program upstate. She’s talking more every day. She’s not just surviving anymore. Girl’s living her best life."
“And I’m five,” Josie adds.
“And you’re five?” Theo acts surprised. “Wow! I wish I was five. Any word from Evie?”
After her arrest, Theo stopped calling her mom. He saw the way she abandoned Josie, and just couldn’t call her that anymore.
I shake my head slowly. "Still struggling. But that's her fight now, not mine."
He nods again, like he gets it.
And he does. Probably, more than most people would.
There's a beat of quiet, just long enough for the waitress to drop off our burgers.
Then Theo glances up at me, mischief in his eyes.
"You seen her?" he asks, voice low.
My chest tightens instantly.
I don't have to ask who he means.
I clear my throat and set down my coffee.
"You seen her?" I throw back at him.
Theo just smiles.
Not a smug smile. Not a cruel one. Just a soft, knowing one.
"She’s good," he says. "Tough. Heart like a damn lion."
I lean back in the booth, rubbing a hand over my face.
"Yeah," I say, voice scraping low. "She always was."
‘“You should swing by the old shop sometime. Might be surprised by what you see.”
Part of me is extremely curious. But if it’s something crazy like she and Joey got married… or worse, she and Gramps since he’s closer to her type… then shit.
I don’t know if I’d ever recover from that.
“Maybe soon.”
“You should go tonight,” he insists.
I furrow my brows. “Okay… maybe I will. “
“Okay,” he says, taking a sip of his drink.
And it’s not doing a damn thing to cover his grin.