Chapter Seventeen
B y the time Dana got back over to Levi’s it was well past dinnertime. She’d wound up calling him and telling him to eat without her and she’d grab something fast. She was also tired, cranky, and she had to admit, depressed.
Yes, she’d told Levi it was okay that he wasn’t ready to live together. And she’d meant it. Yet understanding his reasons didn’t mean she wasn’t hurt. She believed Levi loved her. He showed her and told her in many different ways. Since the fall festival he’d told her he loved her many times. When they made love it felt like love, not just lust. Oh, lust was definitely present, but so was love.
But the bottom line was, Levi didn’t trust her. He didn’t trust the two of them. And she couldn’t blame him. She had really screwed up all those years ago when she’d accepted the job in Miami without even talking to him about it. Subconsciously or not, Levi still held it against her. He would deny it if she told him that. But it was still a fact.
As Dana saw it, she could either break it off now, which she was not willing to do, or she could accept reality and hope that someday he’d feel differently. Since she still loved him, more and more every day, she didn’t see much of a choice.
Levi had given her a bay of her own in the large—huge—attached garage. She parked and came in through the kitchen. Though it was only a little after nine p.m., the house was silent as a tomb. Someone had left a light burning. And in the muted light she saw a trail of rose petals. Red rose petals. Smiling, she followed the petals out the door. Pausing at the door she said, “Minerva, turn out the light.”
“Yes, Dana. Levi asks that you follow the rose petals,” she said in her sultry voice.
“Thanks, Minerva.” Minerva’s sexy voice cracked her up. But she still didn’t believe, as Levi had said, that it was her voice. Or God forbid, her voice right before sex.
Since she didn’t see a sign of Asher, she assumed he and his dogs had turned in for the night. Dana followed the flower petals from the kitchen, through the hallway to the front foyer and from there up the stairs and on to Levi’s bedroom. Levi lounged in the open bedroom door, barefoot, wearing a pair of jeans and one of his nicer T-shirts. And holding a glass of red wine, which he handed to her before kissing her.
“Hi,” he said.
“Hi. Thanks,” she said, taking a sip of wine. “What’s all this? The wine is fabulous, by the way.”
He stepped back to let her into the room, closing the door behind her. There were candles everywhere, fragrant and romantic. Soft music filled the air and an open bottle of wine sat on the dresser. A tray of chocolates of several varieties sat beside it. More rose petals led to the bed and lay sprinkled over the navy coverlet.
“What does it look like?”
“A seduction,” she said frankly.
“No. Well, not initially,” he amended.
“Not initially? What does that mean?”
“Come sit down and I’ll tell you.” He motioned to the window where his recliner sat. A brand-new matching recliner sat across from it with the table in between.
“When did you get another chair?”
“Today.”
“That was quick. Why did you get another chair?”
“I wanted you to have one.”
“Oh-kay,” she said, a bit mystified.
Levi made sure she had wine and chocolates and then sat in his own chair and pulled out a book.
“You’re going to read?”
“I’m going to read to you .” He opened the book and said, “‘The Passionate Shepherd to his Love’ by Christopher Marlowe.”
Poetry? He was reading poetry to her? Dana started to speak but Levi gave her a threatening look so she subsided.
He began:
Come live with me and be my love,
And we will all the pleasures prove
That hills and valleys, dale and field ,
And all the craggy mountains yield.
There will we sit upon the rocks,
And see the shepherds feed their flocks,
By shallow rivers to whose falls
Melodious birds sing madrigals.
There I will make thee beds of roses
And a thousand fragrant posies,
A cap of flowers, and a kirtle
Embroider’d all with leaves of myrtle;
A gown made of the finest wool
Which from our pretty lambs we pull;
Fair linèd slippers for the cold,
With buckles of the purest gold;
A belt of straw and ivy buds,
With coral clasps and amber studs;
And if these pleasures may thee move,
Come live with me, and be my love.
Thy silver dishes for thy meat
As precious as the gods do eat,
Shall on an ivory table be
Prepared each day for thee and me.
The shepherd swains shall dance and sing
For thy delight each May-morning:
If these delights thy mind may move,
Then live with me and be my love .
Levi closed the book and looked at her, a half smile on his face. “Dana, will you live with me and be my love?”
“This—” she gestured to the food, the wine, the book “—all this is the most romantic thing anyone has ever done for me.”
He stood, reached for her hands and pulled her up, slipping his arms around her as he did. “Better than ‘maybe you should move in with me’?”
She laughed. “Much better.” Turning serious, she said, “Are you really sure you want me to move in?”
“I’m really sure. What do you say?”
“After all this romance what else can I say but yes?”
“And now that’s settled,” he said, walking her backward toward the bed, “it’s time for that other thing I had planned.”
“What other thing?” she asked innocently.
“It starts like this.” He slipped his hands beneath her sweater and pushed it up until she raised her arms so he could pull it off over her head. His eyes darkened to the deep blue of the sky at dusk. “Then this,” he said, unbuttoning and unzipping her slacks. He pushed them down over her hips and she stepped out of her shoes and the pants, leaving her wearing a jade-green push-up bra and panty set.
“Wow,” Levi said, tracing his index finger along the upper edge of the bra. “Very pretty. These match your eyes.”
He cupped her breasts, then pulled down the bra and lifted out her breasts. He sucked and licked her nipples, teasing them to hard, aching nubs. Dana moved back and took off the bra and while she did, Levi quickly got rid of his clothes.
They fell together on the bed, rolling over in their haste. Dana put her palms on Levi’s chest and followed with her mouth, sliding her hands down to stroke and caress him. He grabbed for a condom, rolled it down to cover himself and flipped her on her back. For a moment he paused above her, smiled and kissed her mouth, sliding inside her in one sure stroke.
Dana wrapped her arms and legs around him, lifting her hips to meet his thrusts. Each thrust pushed her higher and higher until she peaked and cried out at the same time she heard Levi give a guttural groan.
After a bit, he rolled off of her and disappeared into the bathroom. When he came back he slid into bed and pulled her back into his arms.
Dana heaved a satisfied sigh. Tracing a finger over his chest, she said, “I don’t want you to regret this.”
“Having sex? Are you kidding?”
She pinched him lightly. “No, silly, me moving in with you.”
“I won’t regret it. When is your lease up?”
“Not for another couple of weeks.”
“But you can move anytime, right?”
“I guess so.”
“Good. How’s tomorrow?”
*
Levi stood with Harlan, drinking a beer, as they watched Savannah and Dana cooing over the baby. That was the only word for it. Both women wore that dreamy earth mother expression. Savannah transferred the baby into Dana’s arms. Dana rocked him like she’d been doing it forever. She put him up on her shoulder and patted his back until he burped. Cuddling him in her arms she looked at Levi with her eyes shining and said, “Isn’t he precious, Levi?”
“He’s a cute baby,” Levi said, though he wouldn’t have known if the baby wasn’t cute. To Levi he just looked like a baby. Pretty much any baby.
“Do you want to hold him, Levi?” Savannah asked.
“Me? God no. I mean, I’m afraid I’d drop him or something.”
Harlan rescued him by asking him about further remodeling of his house. “Are you certain about not changing your kitchen?”
“Asher says not to. He’s progressing well with his prosthetic leg and he doesn’t feel that he needs it. For one thing, it’s not like he cooks, and the refrigerator is accessible when he’s using the wheelchair. And he keeps talking about getting a place of his own.” Levi had mixed emotions about that. On one hand he was glad Asher wanted his independence, but he worried about him and didn’t want him to rush it.
“Where’s he going to go? Doesn’t he need adaptive housing? ”
“To a certain extent, yes. But I’ve been told in no uncertain terms to back off and let him handle that. He really hates admitting he might need help.” Even from his brother. Asher knew Levi had plenty of money, but his brother had told him that he wasn’t going to “mooch” off of him. He had money and could pay his own way. Levi understood that his independence was important to him, especially now that he’d lost his leg.
Dana handed the baby back to Savannah who took him to Harlan and said, “Your turn.”
Harlan said something to her and they both left the room, saying they’d be back.
“Aren’t they sweet?” Dana asked with a sigh.
“Who?”
“Harlan and Savannah and Liam, of course. Who else would I be talking about?”
“Oh. Sure.” They made a nice family. Whenever he thought about that he remembered his own not-so-nice family. Now it was just Asher and him, though. If his mother had been alive he had no doubts she’d have come to him long ago and hit him up for money. It wouldn’t matter to her that she’d deserted them when they were still little children, and left them with a drunk, abusive bastard.
“Do you ever think about having kids?” Dana asked him. “Someday,” she added hastily. “Not now, obviously.”
“No. Do you? ”
“Of course. Most people do. Don’t you want kids, Levi?”
“It’s not a matter of wanting. Some people shouldn’t have kids.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because it’s true. A lot of people who have kids have no business being parents.” Like his own miserable parents.
“Do you think you’re one of those people who shouldn’t have kids?”
Before he could answer, Harlan, Savannah and Liam returned and the moment was lost. But Dana sent him a lot of questioning looks until they left. He expected her to bring up the subject on the way home but she didn’t. Maybe she didn’t really want to know his answer.
*
A few days later Asher went looking for Levi and found him out in his workshop. His last appointment with the physical therapist he’d graduated to walking with only his prosthetic leg and no crutches, but he still used a cane, especially on uneven ground. He still wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to not having a left leg below the knee, but he was at least learning to cope with it.
He knocked on the door to the workshop and heard an absent-minded “Come in.”
“Hey, can I talk to you for a minute or should I come back later? ”
Levi looked up from some sort of motherboard and smiled at Asher. “I can take a break. What’s up?”
Asher came further into the room and sat on one of the workbenches. “What do you know about setting up a nonprofit organization?” He’d googled nonprofits and found some information but he knew he’d need to learn a lot more if he intended to actually start one.
“Not a lot. I’ve donated to a number of them but I haven’t ever started one. I can find out, though.” He paused and added, “What kind of nonprofit are we talking about?”
“One for veterans and shelter dogs. There are other organizations that do the same thing but not in this area. Primarily dogs, but I’m thinking we should include cats too. Some people bond better with cats and God knows there are a lot of cats in need of good homes too.”
“Would the dogs be companions or do you see them also being service animals?”
“I’m not sure yet. At least at first, companions. And the cats would be companions. But I’d like to look into training shelter dogs as some sort of service animals.”
“Like you’re doing with Maggie.”
“Yeah. She’s really smart. I’m sure she’s not the only bright stray around. And some people just need a companion. Somebody who needs them, you know?”
“That’s a great idea, Asher. I can look into finding you some people who do know about nonprofits. Starting and running one, getting a 501(c) approved with the attendant difficulties. How do you plan to fund it?”
“Thanks to you giving me a stake in your original inventions, and the fact that I never spent much of my pay, I’ve got enough to get started. After that we’ll rely on donations predominately.” Levi was grinning widely, so Asher added, “Go ahead. Say it.”
“If I were the type to say I told you so…”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m glad I have the money now. But I still don’t feel right taking your money.”
“It’s your money and you haven’t tapped into it at all, have you?”
“No, but that’s beside the point.” Levi had insisted on giving Asher a stake in his two most lucrative inventions. His brother thought he “owed it” to Asher since he hadn’t been able to take care of him when they were younger and Asher had gone into the system. Asher argued against it, but Levi put the money aside for him and it had grown to a very sizable sum over the years. Levi contended that one day Asher might need it and damned if he hadn’t been right. “You know why I didn’t use it, don’t you? It’s not that I didn’t appreciate it—”
Levi held up a hand. “I know that. You’ve told me. And I understand that you’re entirely capable of taking care of yourself. But I wanted you to have it in case you needed it. Or hell, wanted it. You know I wouldn’t have cared if you’d blown it.”
Asher laughed at that. “Yes you would have. If I’d blown it on something stupid you’d have shit a brick.”
“Fortunately I didn’t have to. Now I have two questions. How soon do you plan on being operational?”
“I have no idea. As soon as possible but I’m sure it takes a lot of time to set up something like this. In the meantime I can talk to shelters around here and other parts of the state and get an idea what we’ll want to put in place.”
“Sounds reasonable.”
“What’s your other question?”
“How much are you going to let me donate? And don’t even think of saying no. I need the tax write-off.”
Asher knew damn good and well that Levi helped fund a number of nonprofits. But he also knew it was important to his brother to be able to invest in something that would not only help Asher, but could potentially help a lot of veterans as well. “How can I answer that when I have no idea how much we’ll need? But yes, you can be a part of it if you want.”
“Good. Have you been thinking about this for a while? Or just since you adopted Maggie and the pups?”
“Maggie helped crystallize that I needed a purpose.” He wouldn’t go so far as to say Maggie “saved” him, but she’d made a huge difference in his life. And if she’d done that for him then wasn’t it worth it to try to give everyone a chance? “I haven’t been in a good place since I lost my leg. For one thing I had no idea what I was going to do. This seems like something worthwhile. ”
“No argument here.” Levi got up. “Why do I get the feeling you have something else you want to talk about?”
“You’re not going to like it,” Asher warned him. “I really appreciate what you’ve done for me. You know, changing your house and all. Letting me live here. Everything you’ve done since I was injured. But it’s time I find a place of my own.”
Levi waved away his thanks. “Why now?”
“You and Dana, for one thing.”
“What about Dana and me?”
“Come on, Bro, when are you going to get married and start popping out little Danas and Levis?”