Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
The next morning, I stumbled into the kitchen to start the coffee pot. Everything felt blurry. I wasn’t sure what was a dream and what had actually happened the night before.
Either my mom had turned into the Wicked Witch of the West and flown off into the sunset or Levi had moved in.
This early in the morning, both seemed equally possible.
There were wedding decorations strewn on the floor, and my ring was on my finger, so we were definitely married.
I just hoped I was alone in my morning misery.
As the coffee brewed, I grabbed a glass bottle from the fridge just as I heard footsteps. I turned to see Levi gazing at me from the doorway, and I knew that my denial could no longer continue.
He was here.
“I know there’s a lot going on,” he said, “but it might be too early to be drinking.”
I paused, looking at the glass bottle in my hands and then to him. “No, this isn’t alcohol.” I turned the label so he could see. “It’s maple syrup.”
“You’re putting that in your coffee?”
“As opposed to what? Maple- flavored syrup?”
His brows knitted, but then he grabbed a mug. “Can I try it?”
“You could just think I’m weird and move on.”
“I do think you’re weird. But you’re my type of weird, and I wanna join you.”
I pressed my lips together and poured him some. He added coffee to his cup and took a sip.
“This is good.”
“Right? It’s the best way to have coffee.”
“Did you sleep well?”
“Yep. Slept great. Like the dead.” My voice was flat.
“You’re in a great mood this morning,” he said sarcastically as his eyes roamed over me again.
I did not look my best. I’d tossed and turned all night and didn’t put my hair in a silk bonnet, which meant my curls were two times bigger than usual. I’d groaned when I got up and stuffed all of my mane into a bun.
At least Levi had the sense to not say anything.
“I always am before coffee,” I muttered before finally taking a long sip.
“Mind if I have another cup?”
“Sure. What’s mine is yours, or whatever people say about marriage. Though, if you finish the pot, you better make more.”
“That I can agree to.” He walked by me, eyes flicking down to my top and back up. I frowned and followed his line of sight.
That was when I realized that he could see right through the thin material to my nipples.
“Oh my God!” I yelled, covering myself with my arms.
“I didn’t see anything!”
“Don’t lie! You did!”
“Only a little, but I wasn’t gonna mention it. I have self-control. I can be respectful.”
“That doesn’t mean I’m letting you see my nipples for free, buddy!” I yelled as I darted back to my room.
I threw on a T-shirt and leggings, determined never to show Levi my breasts again. When I got back downstairs, he was sipping coffee and not looking me in the eye.
“So, are we talking about that or ...”
“Nope,” I replied. I waved my hands, wishing I was a master of hypnosis. “You never saw my boobs. You’ll never think of it again.”
“You’re going to have to try harder if you want me to forget that.”
“What happened to being respectful?”
He put up his hands. “Sorry, I’ll be respectful now.”
I glared as I grabbed my own cup of coffee.
“By the way, my mom and Isra will be here in fifteen minutes.”
I nearly choked. “What? Why?”
“They’re helping me move in. Neither of them do anything halfway.”
“Why couldn’t you have shitty parent figures like I do? Ones that don’t care.”
“Sorry to disappoint. I think they’re happy that I’m not living alone and ...” He trailed off. “That I have someone now.”
“How mad will they be when this ends?”
“I’m trying not to think about that right now. I’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”
Guilt that I wasn’t expecting hit me. Isra and Nancy seemed so happy for their son, and this was all a farce. I thought it would be between Levi and me, but this was bringing them into it too.
“I’ll go clear out a part of my closet,” I said. “It’ll look like we prepared.”
I walked away without another word, going to my room and finally pulling out the clothes I’d meant to donate a long time ago. I had a bad habit of letting things sit, but luckily, this was pushing me to make progress.
I heard them walk in only minutes later, and I took my medicine before putting on a newlywed smile.
“Hi, guys!” I said as I saw them. “Come in and—” I paused when I looked out to the driveway. “Is that a moving truck?”
“Of course, we got everything.” Isra said it like it was nothing.
“Not us ,” Nancy clarified. “I got some of the boys I work with to do the heavy lifting. Levi can do the rest.”
Isra smiled widely. “And anything ugly can be thrown away.”
“Hey!” Levi moved toward the front door, but Isra held up a hand to stop him.
“You’re not bringing your ugly bachelor pad furniture into this gorgeous house!” she said as she pointed to him.
“Not all of it is ugly. I think most of it would fit in nicely.”
Isra shook her head.
“I’m sure we can put it in storage,” I offered.
“Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for him to find someone with taste? That furniture is gone now.”
I glanced at Levi, who looked resigned. “Fine, we’ll go through it all.”
“Good. Now, is that coffee?”
“Yes, I made plenty. Go ahead.”
“Don’t worry, kiddo.” Nancy patted her disgruntled son’s cheek. “Some of it will work here.”
“You guys didn’t have to do all of this.”
“You kept your marriage from us until the last second. We have to overcompensate now.”
“I think it’s nice,” I said. “You guys really care a lot.”
“Even when he keeps stuff from us,” Isra said as she returned to the living room with a cup of coffee in hand. She took a sip and nodded. “This is good.”
“Thanks. It’s from a local shop down the road.”
“Oh, shopping from local stores too?” Isra asked. “She’s got good taste. I don’t know why you hid her from us.”
Levi let out a stilted laugh. “I just had to make her see I was worth her time. Now, can we go through my whole life that you’ve packed in the truck?”
“Come on,” Nancy said, pulling him outside. “You two come with me and we’ll decide what you all want together.”
To say that my house looked lived-in by the time we were done was an understatement. Levi had nice stuff, things that I could have never afforded in my life, and instead of the bleak modern style I expected, a lot of it was used pieces that had either been meticulously cared for or colorful, restored things.
I thought it would take years for my home to feel like it did when Gram was alive. All I had to do was marry Levi, apparently.
Isra was a powerhouse. She had seemingly endless energy, even when Nancy and I had to take breaks. Between her and Levi, everything was unloaded and put up by the end of the night.
As we all worked together, it felt like we were a family. I hadn’t experienced any adult figure in my life giving me this much attention, and it was hard to remember that, eventually, they would no longer be here. I was just borrowing their kindness, and it would be hard to give it back.
Levi ordered us food, and we sat around the dining room table to eat. He had an easy demeanor with both his mom and stepmom, in a similar way to what Calvin had with Mom and Dad. When we’d been moving things in, I’d been more talkative and helpful in finding places for it all, but now as everyone talked about their lives, I did the familiar thing and sank into the background as I ate.
I learned that Nancy worked as a paralegal downtown and Isra spent her days running groups at the Nashville library. Their lives seemed to be full and interesting. There wasn’t much that I could contribute.
“Hang on a second,” Isra said after discussing a teen group gone awry. “Amy got quiet.”
I sat up straight and blinked. They’d noticed? “S-sorry, I was just listening to you all.”
“We still want to hear from you,” Nancy added. “Levi hasn’t told us much about you.”
“I’m afraid there isn’t much to say.”
Levi’s eyes cut to me. His flat expression made me reconsider my words.
“Isn’t much to say?” Isra scoffed. “How about how you got this beautiful house? What do you do in your free time? What conditioner do you use?”
“You really wanna know those things?”
“How else would we get to know you?” Nancy said it as if it were obvious, as if it were a no-brainer. To anyone else, it would be. But I wasn’t used to anyone asking anything about me.
“O-okay,” I started hesitantly. “I inherited this house from my grandmother. Kinda. It’s a long story.”
“I love long stories.”
I bit my lip, glancing at Levi. He nodded for me to continue.
“So, I stole it from my brother, actually.”
“I knew this woman was hiding a secret dark side!” Isra said. “I love it. But I have to ask how ?”
“Don’t give too many details,” Nancy added. “She might actually try to steal a house.”
“It was mostly luck. I found a handwritten will, changed the date to screw my brother out of the house, and here I am. But to be fair, he was gonna sell it for the money to build a pool at his own place, and I would’ve been homeless.”
“Hang on a second,” Isra added. “Is this the brother that came unannounced?”
“Yes.”
“That your parents defended?”
“They ... like him more than me. More than my sister too, though with her, they always said she was an accident and they didn’t have time to raise another kid.”
An uncomfortable silence settled over the table, as it always did when I mentioned my shit parents. I hated ruining good conversations like this. Other people were sad for me, but I’d lived with this so long that I’d been through the stages of grief a hundred times over. It was nothing to me anymore.
“Needless to say,” Levi said, “I’ll be making sure I treat her far better.”
“No, I will,” Isra snapped. “I cannot stand parents who treat their kids less than. If I can love my stepson as my own, what’s their excuse?”
“Welcome to the family,” Nancy said. “You’ll never get rid of her now.”
“It’s okay,” I replied. “I’m good at being alone.”
“Not anymore!” Isra nearly exploded. “Oh, if I see them again ...” She reverted to Thai, and I didn’t know if even Google could translate it for me.
“I’m sorry your childhood wasn’t the best,” Nancy said. “Luckily, you’ve married into a good family now. Or at least I hope we are.”
Levi watched his stepmom with a wince. “Once you get used to Isra, that is.”
Eventually, Isra calmed down, but was still red in the face as she took her seat.
“When you get back from your honeymoon, we should get together again. Isra can cook for you.”
“We can do it whenever,” I replied. “I don’t think we’re going on a honeymoon.”
“Nope,” Levi cut in. “We’re going.”
“What?” I asked, nearly breaking my neck to turn to him. “But that’s expensive, and this is ... so last minute.”
“But you’re married ,” Isra reminded.
“She’ll figure out the whole ‘what’s mine is hers’ soon.”
“You should convince her with the honeymoon,” Isra said.
“I will. As soon as she tells me where she wants to go.” His eyes met mine.
We hadn’t talked about this, just like we hadn’t talked about moving in together. But since Isra’s and Nancy’s eyes were on us, we would have to find a way to fake it. We would go silent for a bit and pretend we were traveling. That was a good plan.
But even fake honeymoons could have a nugget of truth to it, and I had one place I wanted to go.
“The mountains. The Appalachians.”
“Really?” Isra asked. “Nowhere else?”
“I have good memories there. It’s the last place Gram took me before she got sick, and sometimes it’s nice to go back to those places. It makes me feel connected to her.”
“Then that’s where we’re going,” Levi said. “Any city?”
“Outside of Gatlinburg.”
“Gatlinburg? Really?” Nancy’s eyebrows raised.
“Yes,” I answered immediately. “I know it’s boring but?—”
“One of these days you’re gonna understand that nothing is boring,” Levi said, his eyes still on me. “Not where you’re involved.”
“Oh, I know a cabin there!” Isra said with a bright smile. “I can reserve it for you.”
“You all have done so much.” I shook my head. “And you want to do more.”
“ More is one of my favorite words. And you’ll love this cabin. Trust me.”