Chapter 32
Levi pulled into Hayley’s driveway for the second night that week.
Unlike the other day when he’d been determined they have an open and honest discussion, now he parked his truck with an equal determination not to say anything about what he’d learned from Dr. Smith.
Not until after all the test results came back, positive or negative.
If he ended up not being a compatible match, there was still the good possibility someone she was related to would be.
Her future no longer had to be shadowed by ominous dark clouds.
He felt a twinge of guilt that he was letting her continue to believe it was, but assuaged such feelings by arguing that she’d have to wait for the test results to come back regardless.
He wanted more than anything to do this for her.
To give her a physical piece of himself.
She’d already given him so much. More than he ever thought possible.
A portion of his liver really did seem small in comparison.
He hadn’t been exaggerating when he’d told Dr. Smith that Hayley was already staking claim to his heart.
In truth, he suspected she might already possess all of him.
And who knew, maybe his size would work to his advantage for once. Maybe his liver was in proportion to the rest of him and would make giving her part of it easier for him than for her parents or brother. A question he could ask the doctor.
Levi reached for the bouquet on the passenger seat.
He would’ve had a pounding headache by the time he’d made it to Hayley’s house if he’d gone with Jack’s advice and brought her real flowers.
But this was a date, and he hadn’t wanted to show up empty-handed either.
It had been Anna Leigh who’d saved him in the end.
She’d pounded on his front door and declared she was there to check on the kittens and make sure he was doing a good job taking care of them.
She’d taken one look at the mess he’d been making at his dining room table, shook her head, and declared him a hopeless case and did she have to teach him everything?
Apparently, yes. But thanks to her, he had a bouquet of paper roses made from the pages of a slightly damaged book that was headed to the recycling bin, now given a new and hopefully romantic second life. A librarian should appreciate flowers such as these. He hoped.
He walked up the concrete path to her front door, pulling on the cuff of his flannel shirt—the same one she’d mistaken as a dress and worn their first day together. It had since become his favorite shirt, although he would love to see Hayley wear it again.
The door swung open, and Hayley stood on the threshold, smiling widely at him.
“These are for you.” He thrust the book-page flowers at her.
Her fingers encircled the twigs he’d hot-glued the paper petals to, her eyes growing round. “Levi Redding, did you make me a bouquet of roses out of the pages of a romance novel?”
Heat climbed up his neck, but he didn’t waste words confirming when the evidence was already in her hands.
She held the paper roses to her nose even though the only smell she’d find there would be eau de paperback. “These are the most thoughtful flowers I’ve ever been given. Thank you.”
She lifted up on her tiptoes while tugging down on his collar.
She planted a soft kiss on his lips, then lowered the soles of her feet back down to the ground.
Threading her fingers through his, she tugged him into the house.
The smells of ginger, garlic, chili, and miso wafted warmly and welcomingly from the kitchen.
“Something smells good.”
“It’s a spicy miso ramen recipe I found last winter that I can’t get enough of. There’s extra garlic chili sauce or sriracha you can add to your bowl if it’s not quite spicy enough for your taste. I know you like your food hot enough to set fire to your mouth.”
Trinity said that was one of his sensory-seeking traits. To him, it just made food taste good.
“Before we eat, I wanted to show you the cutest thing I saw online earlier today.” She pulled out her phone and tapped the screen a few times before turning it to show him. She bit her bottom lip, but even that didn’t contain the magnitude of her joyous smile.
He smiled back at her before shifting his focus to the picture on her phone.
He barked out a laugh before he could swallow the reaction down.
On the screen, a cat sat with a cloak around its shoulders, the Hufflepuff crest prominent on the side, a black tie and white collar around its neck.
He’d had no idea cat costumes were even a thing.
“Isn’t it adorable? We have to get them for the triplets. Although, do we try to decipher their houses based off their personality or based off their names? Meowfoy to Slytherin and Harry Pawter and Dumpurrdore to Gryffindor?”
“They’re cats.” He highly doubted their issue of offense would be being put in the wrong house.
“Your point?”
He shook his head, chuckling. “Absolutely no point at all. We should get them a Hogwarts cat tree while we’re at it,” he joked.
Her eyes went wide. “Do they make those?” She bent her head and typed on her phone. “Oh my gosh, they do.”
“What else do the kittens need?” he asked in jest. He wouldn’t put it past her to see if there was a cat bed in the shape of a hippogriff.
She glanced up from her phone. “A vet appointment. They need some vaccinations and dewormer.”
“Already on it. Scheduled for the day after tomorrow with Dr. West.”
“I’ve worked with her at the shelter. She’s really good.”
“Her office is also here in Little Creek. A place I’m planning on spending a lot of my time.”
Hayley flushed, her freckles becoming more prominent. Levi bent down and kissed one on the tip of her nose. She swayed into him, then seemed to force herself to sway back.
“We should eat before the noodles get overcooked and mushy.”
He’d rather keep kissing her but followed her into the kitchen instead.
She handed him a bowl and ladled broth and noodles into the dish.
Baby bok choy, sautéed mushrooms, boiled eggs, and seasoned crunchy tofu were set out as toppings as well as the container of garlic chili oil and bottle of sriracha.
He took a little of each topping and added a healthy portion of both hot sauces before following Hayley into the dining room.
She took a seat at one end of the table, and he set his bowl down at the other.
“Really?” She gave him a bemused shake of her head.
“I’m falling in love you.” He pulled the seat out and sat down. “But that doesn’t mean I want to listen to your chewing sounds while you eat.” An involuntary shiver ran down his spine. If someone wanted to torture him, making him listen to people chew would do it.
He eyed the spot beside Hayley, now uncertain. Maybe he should sit there. Force himself to endure and try to ignore the discomfort and irritation. There shouldn’t be an I might love you, but . . . right?
“Stay where you are, big guy.” Hayley cut through his second-guessing. “I was only teasing. Plus, this way I can appreciate your manly good looks all through dinner. A little eye candy with the entrée.” She winked at him.
“I, uh . . .” Levi’s face felt on fire. He wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that.
Hayley let out a peal of giggles. “I’d take pride in rendering you speechless, but it’s not an uncommon occurrence.”
“For this reason, it is,” he mumbled, pulling the collar of his flannel away from his neck.
Hayley laughed some more, then asked Levi to say a blessing over the food. He kept the prayer short and to the point, picking up his spoon as soon as he said amen.
“So, how was your day?” Hayley asked as she pinched a stalk of bok choy between her chopsticks.
He swallowed his spoonful of broth, loving both the temperature and spicy heat on his tongue. “Good.”
“What did you do?”
Discuss a surgical procedure that would make it possible for her to entertain thoughts of living beyond a world of seizing the day but seizing a long lifetime. Where she didn’t have to fear losing her contentment in order to dream of tomorrow. Hopefully with him.
“Work.”
She wiped her mouth with a napkin, her smile dancing in her eyes. “Ever with the eloquence. Now ask me, and I’ll show you how this type of conversation is supposed to go.”
“The type of conversation between two people who care for each other and have been apart for the long hours of the day and can’t wait to hear about all the things that transpired while they were separated?
Is there a reason why I need to get better at that particular type of conversation?
Like, say, there are a lot of them with you in my future? ”
She rolled her eyes playfully, but that becoming blush overtook her cheeks once again. “Oh, now you say more than one word.”
They held each other’s gazes, a wholly different conversation going on. One where Hayley reminded him of her uncertainty and Levi reassured her of his.
Letting her off the hook, he asked, “How was your day, Hayley?”
She visibly relaxed, happy to go back to their playful banter and leave more weightier discussion for another time.
“Cletus and I went to Talikwa and spent the morning at the senior center.”
His shoulders tensed. “Any mechanical issues?”
“Not a one. Almost like someone had recently spent a great deal of time under the hood making sure things ran smoothly.” She flashed him a grin.
“Good.”
“You know, I cursed Mayor Breckenridge for foisting that hunk of junk on the library, but I think I need to revoke my ill will.”
“Oh yeah?”
“I had a lot of fun today meeting everyone and bringing books and connection to communities that sometimes feel cut-off. I didn’t think I’d like the circulation part of being a circulation librarian, but I actually love driving the bookmobile around.”
“I’m glad.”
“Although maybe you fixed Cletus up a little too well.”
“How’s that?”
“Well, now when I want to be stranded in Turkey Grove with you, I’m going to have to pull a play out of the nun’s handbook from The Sound of Music and steal the distributor cap.”
“And here I thought I was the only one to come up with that plan.”