Chapter Twenty-Three
Levi
M y players moved swiftly across the field, their movements ghostly under the glaring lights as the buzzer signaled the end of the game. The end of their season. We’d lost on our home field.
If I blinked, the apparitions turned into young men.
Blink. Blink. Blink.
There was white Trevor, dark William, and the other boys, all with slumped shoulders.
Tilting my head back, I tipped two pain reliver pills into my mouth and swallowed them dry. It wasn’t just my eyes recovering from yesterday’s brutal hits. My skull felt like there was a marching band inside of it. The actual marching band in the grandstands only added to the cacophony.
I gave the boys reassuring pats on the shoulders as they returned to the bench. I couldn’t let them detect my discomfort. “Good game, guys. You still got next year.”
They grumbled replies, but I continued my praise as they converged on the bench. Parents streamed out of the bleachers onto the field. The opposing team hooted and hollered as they congratulated one another on making it to the next game in the finals.
After a quick huddle with my team, I strode across the grass to shake the coach’s hand. We exchanged a few polite words. He stared at my bruised face, and then we parted.
The aroma of salty popcorn and sweat filled the arena as families crowded the players. A few parents shook my hand and congratulated me on a fine season. I smiled and boasted how great their boys were.
I preferred to escape to the quiet cabin. The thought of Finn’s body draped over my legs like a blanket made me ache to go home.
Until I saw her.
I’d been trying to forget her, but her memory lingered. I thought of her almost every minute since I saw her with Ezra last week.
She stood unmoving in the sea of Sutton folk, her red hair swaying around her shoulders. People passed, hiding her from my sight, but then she reappeared as they carried on.
She stared into my eyes, tilted her head, and beckoned me toward her.
My feet felt like weights as I approached. The crowd swayed around us as we stood together, unspeaking.
She peered at my face, roved over every bruise, and then lifted her fingers. She hesitated, then traced the lines. My hand found hers and tucked it against my jaw. Tears welled in her eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“You didn’t do this.”
She averted her gaze. “I don’t know how to care for you both.”
I could have focused on the fact that she cared for Ezra. But instead, I gripped the part about me . She cared about me too. It was a wonder she saw good in either of us.
Ezra was trying to love his family the same way I was. That’s why he attacked me yesterday. Momma had gotten the details about Samuel’s injuries in prison.
My feelings for Ezra hadn’t changed, but I could understand why he did what he did. His actions revealed his brokenness. I still believed he was a murderer. The truth would come out. I would find it if he didn’t kill me first.
Marigold’s left brow rose, and I read the question behind her blue-green irises.
Can I trust you?
She was considering the tale of her becoming. My acceptance did that. Not my arguments. If I begged her to stay, she’d go. If I accepted her as she was . . . I wasn’t sure.
Love demanded I make a heartbreaking choice, sacrificing the one I held dear to her destructive whims. Since that fateful Halloween night when I caught sight of her with Ezra, Donner’s advice about letting her go had been a constant echo in my mind. The decision wasn’t easy, but necessary.
Marigold needed to learn about Ezra herself.
I’d hoped that the longer she stayed with him, the more opportunities she would have to witness his evil firsthand.
The way she studied my broken face assured me she was pondering us.
“I feel stuck between you two.”
I didn’t answer. Didn’t need to. The bruises spoke for me.
“His Dad’s okay. He’s on his way home now with Courtney.”
“Glad to hear that.” I had nothing against Samuel.
She extended a wrapped hot dog toward me and said, “I got this for you.”
The spicy tang of meat wafted from the foil as I accepted the crinkled edges. “Thanks.”
“I—I miss you, Levi.”
That was something. Smiling sadly, I said, “I miss you too.” A startling thought occurred to me. “Ezra doesn’t know you’re here.”
“No.”
“He wouldn’t approve.”
“Probably not.”
She deserved better than both of us. “You should go before he gets home. I don’t want him to . . .” I pointed at my face. “Lose it on you.”
“He wouldn’t hurt me,” she said with a frown of uncertainty.
“I didn’t think he’d hurt my dad either.” I shrugged. “Now look where we are.”
“You don’t know . . . never mind.” Her gaze wavered over my face. “I need you to know that I don’t approve of what he did.”
“I know.”
She nodded once, raised her hand, and waved. “Goodbye, Levi.”
I watched her disappear into the crowd.
A chill swept along my cheek. I’d never felt the coolness in the valley, the foreboding.
Turning to the mountain looming ominously over the proceedings, I understood that something awaited me in the coming hours.
Ezra
The crimson digits of the dashboard clock glowed 11:01 as I steered onto Ghost Mountain Farm Road. Mom dozed in the passenger seat next to me. I gave her a light tap on the shoulder. Startled, she jerked, her eyes opening in surprise.
“We’re home,” I whispered.
She rubbed her eyes and then hugged me across the center console. “Thank you for bringing me. I’m not sure I could have driven myself.”
“Father will pull through. The doctors gave a good prognosis.”
“I wish he could heal here.”
My body tightened as I recalled Father restrained to the hospital bed. “I wish so too.”
She clutched my arm, likely feeling the taunt anger in me. “Don’t make any rash decisions.”
I forced my muscles to loosen. “Goodnight, Mother.”
She leaned in to kiss my cheek. “Goodnight.”
After she vanished behind her front door, I drove down the road toward my house.
A figure loomed on the top step, hazy in the night. My shoulders relaxed as I recognized Mari sitting on the top step. She cared enough to wait for me in the dark. Admiration replaced the tension I’d been carrying since the phone call with Father.
She patted the spot beside her as I approached. The night was on the cusp of cold, a beautiful evening in early November. I settled beside her.
“How's your dad?”
Letting out a deep sigh, I said, “He’ll be all right. A guard shot and killed the man who stabbed him. Father won’t say why it happened. I think it involves money laundering.”
I rubbed her arm when she didn’t move closer. She stared over the valley, her form rigid. “I’m glad he’s okay,” she said, her tone detached.
“What’s going on with you?” I moved closer and wrapped my arm around her shoulders. Maybe she was cold.
She kept her gaze on the surrounding land. “Have you ever done anything illegal?”
My arm fell away as my answer came instinctively. “No.”
Finally, she turned to face me. “Are you as involved in this farm as your dad was?”
“Where is this coming from?” She was leading me like a horse with a bit between its teeth, and I didn’t understand why. “Say what you want to.”
“You lied to me.”
Fear crept into my bones at her words. She knew. She must. But how?
Rising from my seat, I made my way to the porch edge. “What are you talking about?”
She followed suit closely behind me. “I found what you hid in the old barn.”
Relief and anger warred within me. She knew. I didn’t have to hide from her anymore. My future was dependent on what I said next. She could turn me in. But I had to be sure we were talking about the same thing. “What?”
“The marijuana plants, Ezra. I’m guessing that’s why your face was busted in and why you’ve been keeping secrets.”
Pulling the door open, I ushered her inside where no one could hear us. “Did you tell anyone?”
She flipped on a light, casting us both in a yellow glow. “No. I needed to talk to you first. I feel like I don’t even know you anymore. I saw Levi’s face at the football game tonight. He looks awful. And yesterday I found the pot. How could you?”
I wanted to keep my composure. I really did. But she was treating me like a murderer when I was nothing of the sort. I was only trying to keep my family intact.
My rising anger caused me to revert back to my old accusations. “My father wouldn’t be in prison if not for Duncan Shaw.”
She crossed her arms. “That has nothing to do with Levi.”
“It has everything to do with Levi,” I shouted.
“You didn’t tell me about the pot.”
Headlights through the windows drew our attention toward the driveway. I hurried outside and saw twin beams approaching from the direction of the barn. Mari rushed outside and caught the end of my curse.
What was Jake doing? Anyone might see where he came from. We had been careful to water and tend to our plants discreetly. Why was he here at this hour?
I knew something was wrong when the truck swerved in our direction. Jake jumped out of the cab and ran toward us. He doubled over with his hands on his thighs. “It’s all gone.”
I met him at the bottom of the steps. “What?” I’d heard him, but I still couldn’t believe it.
“The pot, man. It’s gone.”
Impossible. Mari just saw it.
“Fred must have taken it.” He swore. “He was gone when I got home from the football game, and I had a weird feeling. I knew we shouldn’t have involved him, but I didn’t know how else we’d sell it.”
“All of it?”
“Yeah. Go look for yourself. The padlock has been cut and the doors are wide open.”
Pushing past Jake, I hurried toward the barn, refusing to accept what he claimed. He had to be wrong. I couldn’t lose the marijuana. I wrapped my future in those stupid leaves.
A ringing sounded in my ears as I neared the barn. I’d tried to stay calm for the sake of Mari, but I couldn’t contain myself any longer.
My chest heaved with the effort of pumping my legs as fast as they would go. I pulled up inside the yawning doors.
Jake was right.
It was all gone.
This was Fred’s revenge.
Specks of red dotted my vision as I returned to the house. The farm was as good as bankrupt. My future was gone. “Get out of here, Jake,” I yelled.
He jumped into his truck and sped off.
Mari stood in the shadows of the porch, hugging herself.
“Did you have any part in this?” My voice was hard, tinged with accusation.
She straightened against my yell. “No.”
I stormed inside the house. “I was trying to save the farm.”
Kicking the couch, I stumbled upon an empty wine bottle resting on the coffee table. With a surge of frustration, I hurled it against the wall. The red glass shattered across the room. The little control I had fragmented just like the bottle. Yesterday, I had a healthy father, a chance to save the farm, and a woman who loved me. Now what did I have?
Calm down, Ez, I told myself, but my blood raced, and my thoughts spiraled.
Father was healing from an attack on his life.
The farm would have to be sold.
And Mari . . .
“You went to Levi.” Resentment swept blood through my veins as I remembered her saying how she had seen him. “I left to visit my father—who was stabbed, by the way—and you traipsed off to get cozy with him ?”
She moved to put the couch between us.
My jaw clenched as she inched away. “Are you afraid of me?”
“No.” She took another step back.
I moved closer. Each step I took forward she matched in a backward motion. Finally, her back hit the wall and I closed the distance between us. She had to see things the way I did. I had to prove to her that I wasn’t a bad guy. “You don’t understand,” I spluttered.
“Tell me,” she whispered, palms on her thighs.
She wouldn’t meet my gaze as I growled at her. “If I didn’t grow the pot, we’d lose the farm. I did it for my mother, Lilly, and Father. For Levi, too, because Beth would have lost her house. I’ve been risking my freedom—and what is he doing? Living up on a mountain and teaching kids how to throw a ball.”
She stayed with her back pressed against the wall, unblinking, but her face betrayed her fear. Why fear? Perhaps my words came out more forcefully than I’d intended. It was hard to talk in an even manner when I could hardly think straight because of fear. Jackson might be on his way right now. The extent of Fred’s revenge was unlimited. Yet, the thought of her going to see Levi still bothered me.
“Are you back together with him?” I asked. If she said yes, I might kill him.
“No. I had to see what you did to him.”
She wasn’t telling me the whole truth. I’d already lost the farm, as well as my dream of a vineyard. I couldn’t lose her too.
Levi’s face flashed across my vision, and I acted without reason. “You wanted to see this?” I slammed my fist into the wall beside her ear. Jealous rage propelled my fist into the wall again and again until a hole swallowed my hand. Drywall and paint chips stuck in her hair. Her perfect, siren hair. To her credit, she only flinched.
Reason halted my fist. This was Mari. I loved her. She wasn’t responsible for what had happened to my father or the plants. “I’m sorry.” I placed my hands against the wall on either side of her head and buried my face against the crook of her neck. I could make this better. She didn’t have to fear me.
She jerked away, tearstains on her cheeks.
No. I needed her. “Mari, please.” I brushed my fingers along her upper arm, but she shrugged me off.
Defeated, I collapsed at her feet. “I’m sorry.”
She remained still a few moments before padding up the stairs. My stomach clenched, skin tingling with pent-up anger and helplessness.
She returned a moment later, dragging two garbage bags behind her.
“Mari, I didn’t mean . . .”
“We’ll talk later. I’m going to Beth’s house.” The door shut behind her like the back cover of a book. My lungs heaved. The blood in my veins flowed too fast. My muscles ached for release as my brain darkened with uncontrollable anger.
I’d lost her.
I’d lost everything.
I jumped up and lunged forward. The TV crashed to the floor. Empty wine glasses broke against walls. I toppled the furniture.
My house was almost destroyed when I heard a voice shout, “Ezra!”
I spun.
Mother paused in the doorway, a covered dish in her hands. Tears wet her lashes as she surveyed the room. “What’s happened?”
“Nothing.”
She accepted the lie. “Beth and I are driving to the Marks. We just got word that Jeb died. I whipped up a little something. Beth’s bringing a cake. I’ll stop by when we return.”
I nodded and then fell in a heap of broken dreams.
She looked outside and then back at my pathetic form. After maneuvering around the mess, she knelt beside me and placed her hand on my cheek. “Ezra, I love you. We’ll get through. You’re better than this.” She kissed my sweaty forehead. “I love you, son,” she whispered. “I love you. Be back soon.”
I didn’t move or speak. Her presence had calmed the raging in my blood. I lay my head on the hardwood floor and stilled.
At least I still had her.