by Liz Isaacson
Dwayne’s phone sounded, and he swiped it from the tabletop in front of him. But not before Heather saw who’d texted him.
Levi.
Her stomach cringed, and she pushed away from the table. “Thanks for lunch, Kurt.” She stopped in front of him and swept her lips across his cheek. “You’re a fabulous cook.” Then she walked out despite Dwayne’s calls for her to come back.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Darcy showed up at five-fifteen, and Heather met her at the end of the lane, right under the arch announcing her arrival at Grape Seed Ranch. A vibrant peach sat next to the huge G in the sign, and Heather wished they had peach trees on their property. But they only had wild ones, no trees that anyone actually took care of. Acres of grapes, sure. It was like the founder of Grape Seed Ranch had had an identity crisis and wasn’t sure what to call the ranch or what to grow on the land.
“How’s the arm?” Darcy asked, peering past Heather. “And who’s that?”
Heather whipped her attention out her window and saw Austin walking toward them. So maybe he was interested in Darcy, even if his brother wasn’t. “Do you want to meet a cowboy?” Heather turned back to Darcy.
The blonde started digging in her purse. “I just need lipstick.” She had her lips the color of red raspberries in a matter of moments and she and Heather got out of the car.
Austin just kept coming, not even a stutter in his step. He arrived, and Heather noticed he was wearing a different shirt than the one he’d had on at lunch. “Miss Heather, Dwayne sent me to give you this before you went into town.” He extended an envelope toward her.
Heather took it, her suspicions set on high. “Thanks.” Was this a ploy for him to meet Darcy without seeming obvious? Had Dwayne really sent him? What was in the envelope? She let it fall to her side. “Austin, this is my friend Darcy Weathers. Darce, this is Austin Royal.”
“Nice to meet you, ma’am.” He tipped his hat, and Darcy smiled at him with those red, red lips.
“She teaches third grade with me.”
Darcy stood there in her denim skirt and bright pink blouse with white flowers on it, saying nothing. She swung her hips a little, making the skirt sway, and that was all.
Austin couldn’t seem to do anything but stare. He startled and focused on the ground, and Heather’s patience for playing matchmaker fizzled.
“Well, we should go. Thanks, Austin.”
“Thank you, Heather.” He turned, and she heard him groan. Honestly, the online dating website Kurt had mentioned was starting to sound better and better.
Heather practically steamrolled Darcy back into the car. “That was super awkward,” she said. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“He’s really handsome.”
“So are a lot of men.” Heather shook her head and propped her cast on the armrest.
“Like Levi Rhodes,” Darcy said.
“We don’t even have chocolate in front of us.” Heather groaned. “Can we at least wait until we do?”
“All right,” Darcy said. “Whatever you want.” She drove to Sotheby’s, and this early on a Wednesday night, they weren’t busy. May herself seated them in a corner booth and then slid in beside Darcy.
“I heard about you and Levi,” she said.
Heather should’ve expected that news about the break up of the relationship would travel ten times as fast as the beginning of it had. “How did you hear?” she asked.
“Linda texted my mother, who texted me.”
Linda taught fifth grade at the elementary school. Honestly, what had Levi been thinking? Because he’d shown up there with lunch, every woman in town had known about the break up by the time school got out.
“So tuxedo cheesecakes all around,” she said.
“And the molten lava cake,” Heather said. “And a tiramisu.”
“And the blondie with ice cream.” Darcy batted her eyelashes.
“Why are you calorie-loading?” Heather asked.
“Best friend empathy,” she said.
“Be right back.” May left, and Heather leaned back in the booth, Darcy’s expectations almost too much to shoulder.
Heather sighed, meeting her friend’s eye. “So this has to be the shortest relationship on record.” She giggled, but it didn’t hold much happiness.
“When was your first date?”
“Monday.”
“It’s Wednesday.”
“Two days.” Heather wished she had a drink to hide behind. Even a glass of water would suffice.
May returned , and she set down the three plates of cheesecakes while Juan Carlos himself presented Heather with the tiramisu and the molten lava cake.
“Juan Carlos?” Heather stood up, unsure as to why.
“Miss Heather.” He glanced at May and back to her, confusion evident in his eyes. It was nice to know the gossip circles didn’t extend to all Grape Seed Falls citizens. “Enjoy your dessert.”
Another man approached with the blondie sundae, and Darcy squealed.
Heather picked up her fork and had one bite ready before May said, “To the single life.”
Heather watched her swallow the cheesecake, realizing May’s level of unhappiness at least matched her own.
“May, what’s wrong?” Heather put her bite of cheesecake in her mouth, the rich chocolate flavor coating her tongue.
“Just that there are no men worth dating in this town.”
“Levi Rhodes is free,” Heather said, her throat narrowing, making it difficult to swallow her dessert.
“Oh, no. Not for me.” May shook her head and took another bite of her treat. “No more cowboys for me.” She shook her head, her dark curls bobbing with the motion.
“I thought you were dating Sawyer,” Darcy said.
“Were.” May took an extra-large bite of dessert and put her fork down, clearly finished. “I’m…I don’t know if I’ll ever find someone.”
“Oh, don’t say that,” Darcy said.
Heather wanted to reassure May as well, but she felt the same actually and she couldn’t quite get her voice to work.
“I’m getting older,” May said. “My opportunities are shrinking.” Her voice cracked on the last word, and she jumped to her feet. “I have to go. Enjoy your desserts, ladies.” May hurried away, practically punching her way into the kitchen.
“I didn’t know she broke up with Sawyer,” Heather said. “Though things were awkward at the tasting last night.”
“I didn’t either.”
“And that’s saying something for this town.” Heather pushed the ultra-rich cheesecake away and pulled the molten lava cake toward her. She knew exactly what opportunities May was worried about, and they involved diapers and strollers and cribs.
So she and Levi wouldn’t be a good match anyway. Heather scoffed and cracked the top of her lava cake, watching the beautiful chocolate ooze over the plate.
“So why did you and Levi break up?” Darcy asked. “I mean, you’ve been in love with him forever, and—”
“Not forever,” Heather said, knowing now that there was a massive difference between her crush on the cowboy and falling in love with him.
“He seems like a nice guy. Hardworking. Handsome. Rich.”
Heather nodded. “Yeah, he’s all of those things.” And so much more. He had quirks, like his extreme love for his goats, his dislike for eggs, and his love of driving a sporty car with the top down. He loved horses, and his orchards, and his family. His parents and his sister loved him. His goats loved him. His horses and his men loved him.
Heather loved him.
“So why are you sitting here with me instead of cuddled up with him and a bowl of delicious popcorn?”
Heather gazed across the table at Darcy. She didn’t want to break Levi’s confidence. “Irreconcilable differences.” She flagged down a waiter and asked for a glass of milk and one of water.
“Really?” Darcy took a scoop of tiramisu. “What could be so bad that you couldn’t get past it?”
Heather thought about the first marriage. That might have done it for Darcy. Or the gambling. That probably would’ve driven away a lot of women. Or Levi’s unwillingness to let go of his past so he could see a future standing right in front of him, begging him not to go.
Foolishness raced through her and she took another bite of the rich, chocolaty lava cake. She shook her head, trying to rid it of the memories, of the high-pitched nature of her voice as she pleaded with him to stay in his own house.
“Heather. What was so bad?” Darcy watched her now, her eyes concerned.
“I don’t know, Darce. The house was too big.”
Her friend frowned. “What does that mean?”
“Nothing.” But it meant she and Levi still had a lot of talking to do. Too bad neither one of them wanted to do it.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Levi dreamt of crying infants, and his night was restless. A long stretch of time where he couldn’t be outside with his animals, punctuated with fitful periods of sleep. When the first inklings of light painted the backs of his eyelids, he got up.
But there was nothing to do outside either, as he’d gone to his cabin in Wimberly. He could bring horses here. And he rarely came out to the secluded spot in the woods without his dog, but he’d wanted to avoid as many people as possible. So he hadn’t stopped by his parents’ house to get Drake.
He exhaled and rubbed his eyes before going out onto the back deck. He had a property manager that rented the cabin during the busiest tourist seasons, so the hot tub was up and running. The river gurgled just a few feet away. Nothing moved out here. No one wanted to talk to him. Make him stay somewhere he felt suffocated and caged.
He’d only been here one night, but his soul already felt freer. Tuesday night, after he’d proclaimed his love for Heather and then left her standing in his kitchen, he’d driven in the opposite direction, toward another small patch of land he owned on the Guadalupe River. He didn’t rent that cabin, and he didn’t want to wake his property manager.
He’d worked with the window open though the air held a definite chill, the sound of the river his companion as he made arrangements to provide the help Heather needed. As he called in the catering order for the faculty at her school. Anything to keep himself from getting online and playing poker, or driving as fast as he could back to Kentucky, first to apologize to his infant son and then to place a bet on the next horse race happening.
His urge to numb his mind with gambling had passed relatively quickly, but only because Levi had removed himself from any Wi-Fi and kept his jaw locked while he sent texts and made arrangements.
He honestly had no idea why he’d ordered lunch for the faculty at the elementary school. The idea had popped into his head, and he’d run with it. Almost like God was directing him somehow. But Heather wasn’t even at work and wouldn’t benefit from the free lunch. The teachers had seemed happy though, and Barry, the principal, had beamed at Levi like he was their personal savior.
Levi sighed and sat down in the chair on the deck. He wasn’t anything special. He had money and a phone. Anyone could do what he did—and he knew it.
Heather deserved someone with real talent. Someone who could provide the life she wanted, and while he had the big house and the flashy cars, he knew she didn’t care about those things. She wanted horses, and someone to talk to at night, and children.
He didn’t enjoy talking all that much, though he hadn’t minded with her. And children were off the table completely. His heart ached, and he rested his head against the back of the chair and closed his eyes. “How do I heal from this?” he whispered. Maybe if he could figure out a way through that past pain, he’d be able to talk to Heather and they could try again.
Maybe then they could have a relationship that lasted longer than forty-eight hours. “It was longer than that, and you know it,” Levi lectured himself. So maybe he hadn’t noticed her at the riding lessons. Sure, he knew she came. She lived in town, and he assumed she wanted her ranch fix without the drive. She’d taken to Starscape, and perhaps the horse was the reason she came.
He’d never lumped her into the same category as the other single women who showed up. But when the Lord had finally opened his eyes, and he’d seen Heather standing right there in front of him….
His throat tightened and his eyes burned with unshed tears. He’d fallen in love with her so fast, so fast. And it had felt good. He’d been happy, truly happy, for the first time in years. For the first time since Montgomery had died and Johanna had left.
He sighed, unsure of how to fix the mess he’d created. Maybe he should’ve stayed on Tuesday night to talk. Maybe he shouldn’t have told her about Montgomery so soon. Maybe the gambling addiction meant more to Heather than she’d let on.
Maybe, maybe, maybe.
He seemed to live his whole life with maybe’s, and his eyes shot open and he sat up straight. That was a problem for Heather too. She liked to be in control of things, and an uncertain future with him would never fly.
“Which is why ending things with her was the kind thing to do,” he told the woods in front of him. “It was.”
But he didn’t feel good about it. His phone brightened and buzzed against his leg. He snatched it up when he saw Dwayne’s name blip down from the top of the screen. He’d been texting his best friend since Heather left.
Things like, Thanks for coming to get her.
I’m real sorry about what happened.
I really do love her.
Did she tell you anything?
And How can I get her back?
At first, Dwayne’s texts had been long lectures, but Levi had read them. Absorbed them. Realized what he’d done really was painful for Heather. Dwayne had told him to let Heather have some time. She hadn’t told him anything, and Levi’s seething worries had faded a little. Not completely, as Dwayne wasn’t one of Heather’s girlfriends, but he had to trust her. He’d asked her not to tell anyone about the marriage, the money, and the baby. And he hoped and prayed she wouldn’t. He liked having secrets with her, and a warm feeling started in his chest. It was fleeting, though, and didn’t rise to fill him the way it had when he’d kissed her.
Oh, kissing her. He had to make things right between them, because he never wanted to kiss another woman again.
Dwayne’s text this morning said, Heather went out with her friends last night. Still nothing to report. Darcy said she won’t say anything about what happened at your house.
Levi smiled at the screen and started typing when another message came in.
What DID happen, Levi?
Dwayne’s curiosity was warranted. Levi practically begged him to have Heather come stay with him. She was there for three and a half days and then called her brother in the dead of night to come get her. It sounded like the foundation for a horror movie, and Levi sighed.
Should he tell Dwayne? He trusted him, the same way he trusted Heather.
He thumbed off the text he’d started, and typed instead: Number one, I fell in love with her. Number two, I told her all my secrets, Dwayne. All of them, not just about the money. And there was one that we can’t come to terms with.
He read over the words once, then twice. Then he sent them zipping to Dwayne. He hated that he was talking to her brother and not her, but he couldn’t face her. Couldn’t have another hard conversation right now. He just wanted to figure some personal things out, and he needed peace and quiet, solitude and sequestering, to do that.
My sister is reasonable, Dwayne texted. Surely you guys can work it out.
Levi turned his phone off after that last text. He didn’t want to debate with Dwayne about what he and Heather could and couldn’t work out. He needed to work out how he felt, why he felt that way, and make a plan moving forward. He’d felt the cleansing power of God’s love previously, and that had healed a lot of wounds. He knew he’d been forgiven for the gambling, for the way he’d treated Johanna, for almost everything he’d done in Kentucky that he cou
ldn’t change and couldn’t fix and couldn’t take back.
But Montgomery still weighed on his mind like a ton of bricks.
Go to Kentucky.
The thought entered his mind and wouldn’t leave. He literally had nothing on his schedule for the day, and though he’d slept about four hours in the past two nights, he powered up his phone again and bought himself an airplane ticket to the one place he’d vowed he’d never visit again.
Levi felt like he was going to throw up for the entire flight from Austin to Louisville. He sat ramrod straight in his seat, his headphones in and the music loud. Anything to drown out his thoughts and make conversation with the person next to him impossible.
He deplaned with only his backpack. He didn’t have a hotel room, or a flight home. He thought about Heather, and what she would’ve done to plan this trip. She’d have an itinerary, probably, and their hotel all lined up, and a rental car.
Levi had his wallet, his driver’s license, and more fear than he knew he’d been harboring. He managed to get a rental car and get himself on the road. He’d lived in Louisville for three years, and though he hadn’t been back to the city in seven, he found that he still knew his way around.
So he just drove.
He couldn’t make himself turn toward the cemetery, and he stayed away from the turns that would take him out to Lexington. Johanna hadn’t made contact with him once, and he didn’t want to see her. But the horse farms in Lexington would soothe him, but he didn’t want to be soothed. Not right now.
As darkness started to creep through the sky, Levi decided he’d face Montgomery’s grave in pure daylight. So he found a hotel and checked in. With so many walls and ceilings surrounding him, he finally felt like he was in a small enough place to sleep.
When morning came, Levi stretched and groaned. His first instinct was to find the first flight out of town, no matter where it was going. But he forced himself to breathe, to get dressed, to grab the rental car keys and aim the car toward the cemetery.
