Chapter 9
Levi
This was beginning to feel like a pattern.
I stepped back from the window, constantly checking for traffic on the winding dirt road.
“Levi?” Claire asked in disbelief, hand to her chest as the other lowered the window.
“Who’s Levi? What’s going on?” a man’s thickly accented voice called through her dashboard.
“It’s okay, Dad. It’s just the landlord. The rentee?” She shook her head and settled on, “The guy who owns the cabin.”
“You shouldn’t be here,” I said. This part of the road had a sharp turn with very little visibility. Those who were used to driving on it often come whipping around these bends without slowing. “It’s not safe,” I said .
“Where are you?” her dad asked worriedly.
At the same time, she said, “It’s fine.”
“It’s not fine,” I said to her. Louder, I said, “I’m Levi Carmichael.”
“Ralph, Claire’s dad, former firefighter, and still have many friends on the police force down in your neck of the woods,” the man explained.
I bit back a smile. So that was where she got her gumption from. Claire dropped her face into her hands and mumbled, “For crying out loud.”
“She’s on the side of the road,” I explained to Ralph. He’s a man who would understand the risks. “It’s a one-lane mountain pass with poor visibility.”
Ralph clicked his tongue. “Claire Bear, I taught you better than that. If you heard all the stories …” Her father went on, and she glared at me.
I shrugged off her malice. “It’s not a designated pullover,” I said.
I had thought something was wrong when I spotted Claire’s small SUV on the side of the road. I assumed the worst and rushed to park without thinking. Now, we were both taking up so much space a single car would barely fit by. I shot a worried look back to Ripley. She stood on her hind legs, barking with her paws on the window and adding to the tension in my neck. I glanced up the road again. We needed to hurry this along, and though I knew I was being gruff, we didn’t have time for coddling.
Now that Claire wasn’t glaring so hard, I took a moment to really look at her, something I had been avoiding. This close to Claire, my first time really seeing her in the light of day, she was too pretty to look directly at. My gaze flicked to take her in pieces; her cheeks were splotchy, and her eyes red-rimmed and glassy, her dimples nowhere to be seen. Not as bad as she’d been in the store, but upset, nonetheless.
“What’s wrong?” I asked before I could remember that I wasn’t supposed to care.
“Why’s he asking what’s wrong?” Ralph asked.
“Nothing,” she said.
“She’s crying,” I said at the same time, leaning forward so her father could hear me over her protestations.
“Okay, can you two stop ganging up on me?” She turned toward me, causing our faces to be closer than I intended. Her warm scent, like coffee and sweetly floral shampoo, filled the tight space. Her gaze moved from my eyes to my beard and lips. A little furrow formed between her brows. She swallowed and leaned back slightly. I was too close. I clenched my jaw and pulled my upper body out of her space.
“I’m fine. Dad, I’ll call you back tomorrow. Love you,” she said.
I stepped back and examined the road, pretending I couldn’t hear the exchange.
“And you’re okay?” he asked.
“Yes. But he’s right. I better get out of here now to appease you both,” she said tightly. I flicked a glance her way to find her shoulders at her ears and fists balled against the steering wheel, staring straight ahead and avoiding my gaze too.
“Love you. Don’t worry about the calls, sweetie. Whenever you’re able will be fine,” the older man said. “Bye, Levi. Make sure my girl gets home okay.”
With hands tucked in my jeans, I studied the trees and loudly said, “Yes, sir. Nice to meet you, Ralph.”
She closed the window as I glanced nervously up and down the road, listening for any cars. “Get in your truck if it’s dangerous,” she yelled through the glass.
“I’m making sure you go,” I said, arms crossed.
“I swear—” The rest of her mumblings were cut off by the start of her engine. She maneuvered a three-point turn and headed back in the direction of the house. My palms didn’t stop sweating until she was safely out of sight. I got in my truck just as a larger one came racing past, speeding twice the limit. He swerved into the dirt where Claire had just been, kicking up a cloud of gravel and dust.
He had his middle finger out his window and yelled, “Get off the road, fuckwit!”
“Good idea,” I said with a sigh, even though he was long gone.
I caught up with Claire soon enough, following at a safe distance until she turned off into my drive. She parked in front of the guest cabin but moved quickly to stop me before I could go the rest of the way up.
She knocked on the window, foot tapping impatiently. I put the truck in park and rolled down the window, a reverse of the scene just a few minutes ago.
Ripley jumped across the cab, pointy paws jabbing into my goods. “Oof,” I said, wincing .
“Hello, darling.” Claire scratched Ripley behind the ear, causing her back leg to thump repeatedly against my junk. Some of the anger melted from Claire’s features as Ripley’s sharp tail whipped my face.
I had planned to head straight back to the house and hide for the rest of the day. My socializing quota for this week had been surpassed. Yet I wasn’t agitated by the growing silence between us. If anything, I found myself hoping that Ripley would cause more distractions, extending this unexpected interlude. Claire debated with something internally before finally letting out a sigh.
“Thank you for the food. And the water. And the various supplies and sundries. And the coffee was so good. Really, you saved us both with that one.” She chuckled but pressed on when I didn’t do anything but scratch the back of Ripley’s neck. Our fingers accidentally brushed, but I didn’t pull back. “I was a disaster yesterday and completely abandoned my hopes for provisions, so I really appreciate it. Tell me how much I owe you.”
I growled and narrowed my eyes, putting an end to that. “It’s part of the rental.” I stared at the dashboard.
She hesitated a beat. I felt her studying me, though I refused to look at her. “In that case, you have some explaining to do,” she said to me. Ripley had calmed down and settled back into the passenger seat.
I lifted my gaze to find her watching me with narrowed eyes, hiding a dimpled smile, as she tapped her foot impatiently. I preferred this to gratitude .
“You were the one trying to get rear-ended. Or worse,” I said.
The clouds broke long enough to shine on Claire, highlighting the bits of darker brown flecks in her eyes, reminiscent of Leopardwood. Her wide, full lips weren’t grinning as they had been last night, flashing those deep dimples. Which was exactly what I had promised myself I didn’t want to see.
“Not about that.” She cut a hand through the air. “That was me being too lazy to go all the way to town. It might have been a little bit reckless. I won’t do it again.”
I couldn’t hide the surprise on my face at her culpability. “Then what do I need to explain? How the flue works in the stove?”
“I—no.”
“Are you sure? Because temps are supposed to drop tonight, and there’s no fire going.” I looked pointedly to where no smoke came out of the chimney pipe.
“Okay, I’ll start a fire when I go to work. Good grief, you’re worse than my father. Why did you lie and say you didn’t have internet?” she blurted before I could say anything else.
I ran my hand over the dash, dusting it. “I said the guesthouse doesn’t.”
Her mouth dropped open. “You have Wi-Fi.” She tilted her head when I didn’t say anything. “You really aren’t going to share the Wi-Fi password?”
“It won’t do you any good down here.” I shrugged.
She sucked in her lips and scrunched her nose in a way I would not find charming.
“Why were you calling your dad on the side of the road? What were you doing?” I asked.
“Wordle,” she said, or at least something that sounded like it. “Oh, don’t make that face,” she said. “You’ve really never heard of the word game that took the world by storm a few years back? We still play against each other every day. Or at least we did. I’m going to lose my streak, but it’s whatever—” She cut herself off abruptly.
“You pulled over to play a game?” I asked skeptically, wondering if she was lying.
“It’s more about the tradition. I know we’re weirdly close. But we’re all we’ve got. Or at least he’s all I’ve got. Now. Besides my career. I’m going to stop talking. I promised I wouldn’t do all that again.”
Shit.
The exact thing that I didn’t want happening was happening. Feelings. Understanding. I felt the guesthouse glaring at me. Tangible judgment poured out of it.
Keeping a young woman from her father. Really, Levi?
“I know most people don’t understand my father and I being so close. Oh, good, I’m still talking. It’s because you’re being stoically nonverbal. It’s very triggering to me.”
I felt the words bubbling up in my throat. A voice in my head screamed at me to shove my fist in my mouth to keep from speaking. The other voice, suspiciously sounding like Pace, cheered me on. I made the mistake of looking at her again, noting her big, sad brown eyes hiding a self-deprecating grimace. She looked so … alone. Or maybe I was projecting. I gripped the st eering wheel until it creaked.
“You can use my phone,” I blurted so quickly she startled. My heart was racing like I was chopping wood, palms sweating like racing around the curve of an overpass.
“What?” She wrapped her arms around her middle cautiously, stepping back.
“I have a landline. I never use it. You can use it for your daily weirdle calls.”
One of her dimples popped. I glared just to the left of her head. “Wordle. But no.” She shook her head as my offer settled in. “You have all the rules. And listen, I wasn’t kidding when I said I appreciate a good list of rules. I’m not great at subtext. I like knowing exactly where I stand.”
“Especially when it’s on the side of the road?”
“Look at you with all the jokes,” she deadpanned.
Ripley lifted her head and sniffed. Probably realizing we were close to home, she started doing the potty prance next to me. I had to hurry this along. Especially as because every second that passed, I regretted this offer even more.
“It’s not a big deal.” I turned the truck back on. “I’m gone most of the day anyway. You can use the phone when I leave.”
“I can’t go into your house. I don’t have a key. It feels intrusive or something.” She didn’t meet my gaze as she spoke.
“I don’t lock it.”
A look passed over her features I couldn’t identify. “Hmm. Trusting.”
I shrugged. “There’s nobody out here. ”
“But that Wi-Fi, now that’s too precious.” Her voice was thick with sarcasm.
“You’re really bothered by that.” It was my turn to watch her until she looked away, flustered. “They set it up that way,” I explained. “The password is a long string of numbers and letters I don’t have memorized. If you absolutely insist, you can have that too. It’s not going to do anything for you down here, but it’s not some state secret.” Heat burned the back of my neck.
“You really don’t care if I go into your house and use your phone? What if I rob you?” She looked as confused as I felt.
This wasn’t the plan. This wasn’t what I even meant to say. Something about her had me speaking without thinking. I wished this was a new quality in me, but it wasn’t. The only difference was that with everyone else, it was much easier to stay away and avoid the whole situation to begin with.
Yet here I was, still talking, still sharing the same air. Still instinctually wanting to make her life a little easier.
“I know where you live,” I said. Ripley whined next to me. I put the truck back in drive.
“What if I snoop?” she asked.
“Haven’t you already?” I asked, remembering how the cameras had caught her near the shed.
Her cheeks flushed, and it was too much to look at. “I—Your door was open. I was closing it.”
“It’s fine. Nothing exciting to see.” I turned to check the side mirror, but really, it was to hide the half smile caused by her embarrassed blush. “It’s up to you. If the truck is gone, feel free to go on in.”
“Okay. Wow. That’s really helpful, actually. Thank you. Ralph and I appreciate you.”
“Yep. No biggie.” I took my foot off the brake and began to drift slowly away.
“You’re not—” Thinking better of whatever she’d been about to say, she said, “Thank you.” She called out, “And sorry about the snooping.”
“No, you’re not. Password is taped to the router in my office,” I shouted over my shoulder.
In the rearview mirror, I caught her biting that bottom lip, both dimples on full display with a smile.
So far, my plan to stay away from Claire was going exceptionally well.
“You’re an idiot,” I mumbled as I pulled under the carport.