Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
When I opened my eyes the next morning, I felt more like myself. I knew not to go back to normal activity, for I’d done that many times before and wound up right where I’d started.
But the relief was palpable.
Levi’s arm was slung around me loosely, keeping me close. I could only stare at him for a second and take in all he’d done in the last twenty-four hours. He wasn’t going anywhere. He helped me through my migraine.
And I’d gotten him all wrong.
If he truly didn’t care, he would have let me suffer. There was no one else watching, meaning he truly did it for me .
He may have hated Calvin, but at least a part of him cared about me. I wasn’t sure which one he felt more strongly about, but I could hold on to the fact that I didn’t mean nothing to him.
My mouth was dry and I was sticky in all the wrong ways. I slowly got up and went to get water and take a shower. I even had the energy to make decaf coffee.
I sat on the couch, determined to take it easy for the day. I opened my Kindle to read for a while, and found myself lost in my book. I had to take breaks to give my eyes a rest, but I was lucky that this one had retreated so quickly.
After getting to a scene that made me smile, I flipped to Discord to tell V about it out of habit.
But then I stopped when I saw the message where we’d said goodbye. I wanted to tell him about my book, about my life , but I knew I couldn’t go against his wishes.
I sighed and closed my phone, losing all motivation to read. Instead, I slowly moved to open my blinds, wincing when I saw the bright weather.
Spring had officially sprung, and despite my lingering pain, I wanted to be out in it.
I went outside, feeling the sun on my skin. The porch was one of my favorite places to sit and I loved watching things after I’d been down-and-out for a few days. The house Calvin bought still had the note on the door and Mr. Buford was outside dumping mulch on the ground.
Wait a second.
“What are you doing?” I called over to him. “Aren’t you supposed to leave the gardening to me?”
“And what, sit inside all day? I’m old, but I’m not completely decrepit.”
“Let me help.”
“Your hair is in a towel . I’ve got this.”
I blew out a breath. “Fine.”
Levi would kill me if I did anything physical anyway.
“Thank you,” he said. “You know, I saw your husband’s fancy car speed out of here yesterday. Is everything okay?”
I cringed. At least he hadn’t seen him carrying me to it.
“Everything is fine. Nothing to worry about.”
“You don’t like to talk about yourself, huh?”
“Other people are more interesting.”
“But friendships work two ways. I talk about me. You talk about you. I’ve known you for two years, and I think it’s your turn.”
“He just had something to take care of.”
It was nowhere near the full story, but it was more than I’d usually give, and Mr. Buford knew that.
“It seemed like he was in a rush ... like it was an emergency.”
“It kinda was, but not really. My life wasn’t in danger or anything.”
“So it was you?”
“Yes, but I’m fine. Levi was there and handled it. I’m lucky to have a guy like him.”
“Good men are rare.”
I huffed out a laugh. “You’re telling me. When Gram was alive, she would tell me about the guys from her youth. She had multiple men break her heart. And then her husband was ...” I paused when I saw Mr. Buford had stopped weeding. “Sorry, I can leave you to your work.”
“No, please don’t.” He slowly turned to me. “You just don’t mention her much.”
“My gram?”
“Yes. It’s nice to hear about someone so important to you.”
“She was more than important to me,” I said, rubbing my head. “Did you know her?”
“Of course I did. I lived next to her for fifty years. I didn’t get to talk to her as much as I wanted to. She didn’t like me very much.”
“Why wouldn’t she like you? You’re so nice.”
“I was an idiot young boy. And she was smart enough to stay away. You’re seeing the much more mature side of me.”
“It might not have been you. After getting burned so many times, she hated men as a whole.”
“I’m happy to hear that you don’t have the same fate. But if any boy does what happened to your gram, tell me. I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
I imagined Mr. Buford swinging his cane at Levi’s head and laughed. “That would be a sight.”
He huffed a chuckle of his own before he turned back to his garden. His hands were still and he let out a sigh. “All right, my hip is telling me I’ve had enough.” He moved to get up and I grabbed his arm to help him. He tried to wave me away.
“How can you tell me to ask for help when you won’t?”
“Do as I say not as I do,” he said. “That’s my motto for life. Have a good day, kid. Hope you feel better.”
He ambled away, and I slowly headed back into the house, eager to refill my coffee cup and return to reading. As I walked in, Levi came around the corner, eyes wide.
“Hey,” I said. “Everything okay?”
His eyes landed on me and he made a beeline, stopping right in front of me. “I woke up and you were gone, so I ...” He gently grabbed my shoulders. “How are you feeling?”
“Mostly back to normal,” I said. “I got up and made coffee and read a bit.”
He let out a sigh of relief and his shoulders slumped. “Thank God. But you didn’t drink too much caffeine, right?”
“It’s decaf. I have a bag of it in the back of the pantry. In fact, I’d barely consider this coffee, but it helps the cravings.”
“Good. The last thing we need is for you to overdo it before you see your specialist. I called them right when I woke up.”
“Did they tell you they were booked?”
“They tried to. But I got you an appointment anyway. It’s at eleven.”
“Okay, thank you.” I picked up my phone. “I guess I need to download the Uber app.”
He turned to me, face twisted in confusion. “Why would you need to do that?”
“I don’t have a car.”
“I’m driving you.”
“You can’t skip work for this.”
“I’m the boss. I can do what I want. Work can wait while I make you breakfast and take you to the doctor.”
“B-but?—”
“Besides, Sally would kill me if I came in. Expect a delivery of flowers anytime now. She said she used the company card to get you something, and I have a feeling she went overboard.”
I was still on the upswing even after the doctor’s appointment where I got the lecture of my life, which was made better by the massive flower delivery from Sally. Levi made sure I took all of my medicine before we even got back home, and I planned on pulling out my Kindle and ignoring the world for a few hours.
But there was another car in the driveway when we pulled in.
“Shit,” Levi muttered. “I’ll get rid of them.”
“Who are you getting rid of?” I asked.
“That’s Isra and Nancy. When they didn’t hear from you all day and I canceled last night, I told them you weren’t feeling well, and now they’re probably here to make sure we’re eating.”
“Really? They weren’t mad about what happened?”
“Absolutely not. They’re more worried about you. They’ve been texting me all day.”
“R-really?”
“Yes. Just give me five minutes.”
I grabbed his wrist before he could move. “We can’t kick them out if they’re checking on me.”
“We can if you don’t feel up to seeing them.”
“I’ve done a lot more feeling a lot worse.” His eyes narrowed in a silent warning. “And I want to see them,” I quickly added. “I feel terrible that I couldn’t go plant shopping.”
That proved to be a better answer. “Fine. But if you get stressed out at all, I’m sending them away. I love Isra, but she can be a lot.”
“I come from nothing,” I said with a sad shrug. “So a lot is kinda nice.”
Levi looked back over at me, a frown etched onto his face. After a second of staring into my soul, he got out of the car. I tried to open the door, but he locked it with the key fob.
“What the?—”
I stopped my complaining when he walked around to open the door for me.
“Did you really just do that?”
“You wouldn’t have let me any other way,” he replied.
My cheeks heated as he offered his hand. What was I going to do with this man?
“There you are!” Isra called. “I was about to look up how to break into a locked house!”
“Not so loud,” Levi said gently. “She’s still recovering.”
“Sorry.”
“We brought you food,” Nancy offered. “We can either drop it off or stay.”
“If you let us stay,” Isra added, “I’ll clean for you.”
“Don’t sound so desperate,” Nancy hissed.
“What? I only have you for company. Can I not hope for more?”
Nancy’s eyes narrowed marginally. “You like spending time with me.”
“You guys can stay,” I said as I unlocked the door with a smile. “No cleaning needed.”
“I think we’ll still clean,” Isra said. “Whatever happened terrified poor Levi. It must have been bad.”
I winced. “It was more like I had a lapse in my communication. My life was never in danger or anything.”
“It doesn’t have to be in danger for it to be serious,” Nancy reminded.
My gaze fell to my feet. “Maybe.” I pointed to the food in her hands. “I’ll take that and heat it up.”
She turned from me with a raised eyebrow. “I know how to use an oven.”
“If you think we’re letting you do a thing, you’re wrong,” Isra warned. “Come on, Nancy. Let’s start the food before she tries to show us around.”
“You might as well sit on the couch,” Levi told me. “They’re not letting you do a thing.”
“But they’re guests.”
“And you were sick.” His hands landed on my shoulders and he gently coaxed me to sit. “They said you were a part of the family, so you’ll have to get used to them running around your house like they own the place.”
I let out a long sigh and leaned back, arms crossed tightly over my chest. “This feels weird.”
“We’re done,” Nancy said, walking back in. “Now, how about you tell us what you need and we do it for you?”
“That’s gonna be an uphill battle,” Levi said. “She’s very stubborn about accepting help.”
Isra crossed her arms, and I wondered if I was about to get another lecture.
“Nothing needs to be done. I’ve been handling my brain lighting itself on fire for over ten years. I can keep my life running while it does.”
Isra looked bewildered. “Brain lighting itself on fire,” she repeated. “Is that an English phrase I haven’t heard yet?”
“It’s her trying to make light of what happened,” Levi grumbled.
“They’re migraines,” I said. “Just migraines.”
“ Just? ” Nancy asked. “Good Lord, honey. Those things are terrible.”
“And this one was a nine,” Levi added.
“Okay, okay. I was out of my medicine and I should have handled being out of my medicine differently. No one needs to gang up on Amy anymore.”
“You remind me of who I was before I realized people were there for me,” Isra said pointedly. “There’s no pride in doing it alone. Only loneliness.”
“That’s the thing. No one wanted to before.”
“What’s your parents’ address again? I ... need to know ... for science .”
“They’re hopeless,” Levi said. “Trust me, I’ve met them.”
“You’re probably the best thing to come out of that, then,” Nancy said.
“My sister is pretty cool too.”
“We’ll have to meet her.”
“I don’t know,” Levi said. “Isra and Emma might burn down the world.”
“Then I definitely should meet her,” Isra said.
I glanced over at Levi, unable to help the intrusive thought that popped into my head. Would he be around for long enough for all of that to happen? Or would he get bored?
Levi wound his hand through mine. It wasn’t an answer, but it made me feel better.
“So what are we going to do the next time you get sick?” Isra asked.
“Take my medicine.”
“Yes. And call your family.”
“They mean them,” Levi explained.
“But you guys don’t have to do that.”
“You’re part of the family now,” Nancy said it like it was obvious.
“And our family takes care of each other,” Isra added. “Even when we drive each other crazy.”
“Don’t I know it.” Nancy rolled her eyes and Isra elbowed her.
I didn’t know what else to say other than a heartfelt thank you.
“You’re welcome. Now, can I have permission to sort your books? They’re just thrown on the shelves!”
“Oh, sorry. I haven’t had time to organize them.”
Isra rubbed her hands together. “Don’t apologize. Just let me at them.”
I gestured for her to go ahead and she hurried into the den where I kept my books. But as she disappeared, her head peeked back out.
“Levi, I need you to come and help me.”
“With what? Smut levels?”
“Sure, yeah. Whatever that is. Just come over here.”
Levi glanced at me before following his stepmom with a sigh.
“Are they gonna be okay?” I asked. “I get the vibe that Isra can sometimes press Levi’s buttons. And I’ve already done that enough for a lifetime.”
“Isra and Levi get along when it matters. And you shouldn’t be worrying about anything. You’re resting.”
“I’m a pro at worrying, just like the rest of my generation.”
“You don’t need to. Levi is a fixer. Let him help you.”
And I had, but now that I was back to myself, I already was back to where I started. Yes, I wanted his help. But I wanted to help him too.
“I’m gonna check on them anyway.” I stood. “And at the very least, I can tell Isra which shelf is which.”
I made it to the den before Nancy could stop me, and I wasn’t prepared for what I saw. Isra stood close to Levi, her arms crossed. I thought they were fighting, but then I heard her speak softer than I thought possible.
“You’re allowed to be upset, kid. At least in front of me. And don’t try to tell me you’re fine again. I know you’re not.”
“I thought the days of me coming home to someone in pain were over,” he said lowly. “I guess they’re not.”
“Why she didn’t tell you is between you two, but I hope you’ll tell her what it meant to you.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Come on?—”
“She needs me. That’s what I care about.”
“Levi, no . When your dad died, you jumped in to help Nancy and me. More than any child should.”
“I was an adult.”
“You were our child. We should have been there for you.”
“You were grieving.”
“And so were you. When did you take time to do that?”
“I did it privately. With ...” His eyes moved toward the door, as if he were about to look out into the distance. They landed on me instead. “Amy.” He stepped away from Isra. “Is everything okay?”
“I ... I was just checking in on everyone.”
“You don’t need to do that. You should be resting.”
Isra’s previous words rang out: You jumped in.
And he was jumping in now.
“I’m good. I feel better than ever, actually.”
“Do you?”
Do you? I wanted to ask back, but I had a feeling I knew what he would say. Instead of starting a fight in front of his family, I smiled. “I think the food is ready. Should we all eat?”