“I’ve got a friend who’s struggling with PT. Wonder if you’d give him a call.”
“PT, my old nemesis. No problem, dude. I owe you. You took me out of some dark times by just treating me like a human being and not a freaking celebrity.”
One of the worst things about the injury for Eric had been the medal he’d received. Like too many soldiers, he had survivor’s guilt and the medal hadn’t helped.
Eric had once told Levi in a quiet moment that he’d always have Levi’s back. And ironically, he’d called in his marker for Carly’s dad. He’d ask Cassie for contact information, and given that she was the oracle of Fortune’s senior citizens, she would have Mr. Gilmore’s current phone number at his son’s home in Maine.
Because, of course, he’d gone behind Carly’s back on this one. He didn’t want her feeling like she owed him anything. No, when and if his fake fiancée ever wound up in his bed again, it would be because she wanted to, not because she felt grateful.
“Thanks, man. We’ll talk again soon.” Levi hung up, satisfied, and glanced at his watch.
He’d missed the lunch wagon because he’d been returning from a flight, so he popped his head in the office. “Hey, I’m going out to the deli to get a sandwich.”
“I’ll take a turkey and avocado,” Cassie said from behind her desk.
“Bring me one, too,” Matt said as he walked into the room. “Ham on rye. Sarah wants a turkey on wheat.”
“I like the meatball sandwich,” Stone said, coming out of his office. “Might as well get Emily something, too. She’ll be back soon. How about a salad?”
“Wait. Am I picking up lunch for all of you?”
Matt handed him a twenty. “This ought to cover us.”
Stone handed him another twenty. “See if Jedd wants anything.”
“What the hell? Didn’t the roach coach come by today?” Levi said.
Stone and Matt exchanged glances.
“I’m hungry again,” Matt said with a shrug.
Stone smirked. “Yeah. Same here.”
Levi got it. It was typical NFG treatment, and he was NFG. It had been a long time since he’d been one, but like any good airman, he wouldn’t complain. After taking Jedd’s order, he hopped in the truck and made his way to the deli. As it happened, he didn’t mind picking up a second lunch for his buddies, although they’d be damned lucky if he didn’t spit in it.
No worries. He had a good job. Had a little girl and no more pressure from the grandparents. Had a fake fiancée, which, at some point, could work out to be a little bit of a problem, but so far so good. He still, however, had a stack of résumés sitting on his kitchen table to go through. Last night, he’d flipped through a few of them and lost interest after a couple minutes. On paper, everyone looked great. But no one jumped off the page. No one had interesting hobbies or had studied at a fashion institute. How was he supposed to find an adequate nanny now when Carly had spoiled them both the way she had? No one was ever going to be good enough from now on. He doubted anyone else would puree fresh baby food, put up with Grace’s crying and take her for long walks simply because she loved trees.
In the grocery part of the market, he ran into Emily’s grandmother Jean, and she held him up several minutes talking about Texas. Her son, Emily’s father, owned a large cattle ranch in Texas and spent half his time there. Strangely, because Levi was from Texas, she seemed to think he might know some of their ranch hands in Lubbock. He did not.
After what felt like twenty minutes, he’d finally received the last of his large take-out order from the deli. He turned and nearly ran right into Lily.
“Hi, Levi.” Her words were friendly, but her tone said: hello, jackass.
He’d forgotten he was supposed to follow up after their one and only date. “Hey.”
“Don’t worry about not calling,” she said, tone heavy on the sarcasm. “You must be busy, what with your engagement and all.”
He coughed. “That’s—Well, yeah. Sorry.”
“Yes, you are.” With that she pushed her shopping cart past him, nearly shoulder checking him when she did.
He had no idea why she would be this upset, since it had been one date. There had been zero chemistry between them, and he was pretty sure she’d sensed that, too. But he’d meant to call. He’d just been a little busy with life and his...engagement.
The thought pissed him off more than the huge sandwich order. He’d been bamboozled into an engagement with a woman who drove him crazy in all the good ways but happened to have a little problem with lying. Secret engagement, his ass. There were no secrets in a town like Fortune, and he knew that better than most.
Levi threw the bag of sandwiches and one chicken salad onto the passenger-side seat.
“Well. That was awkward.”
Jill stood just behind him, holding a bag from the market.
“Heard that, huh?”
“I did. I will say that I’m impressed you’ve been loyal to your fake fiancée, by the looks of that encounter.”
“Secret fake fiancée.”
“Yeah. Sure.” She shifted the bag’s weight in her arms.
“Can I help you with that?” Sue him, it was the way he’d been raised.
“No.”
“Then I’ll be on my way. I’m the lunch delivery guy.”
“Wait.”
Seconds away from a clean getaway. No such luck. “Yeah?”
“You and Carly.”
“Me and Carly.” There was more, much more, so why wouldn’t she just come out and say it?
She eyed him, suspicion and distrust heavy in her eyes. “I’m not sure I should say anything.”
“That makes two of us.”
“Okay, look.” She sighed and shifted the bag again.
He desperately wanted her to put it down, because it made him look like a chump to let her stand there and struggle with it. “You sure I can’t help you with that bag?”
By the grace of God, she set it down and put both hands on her hips. “I realize you don’t know me. And I don’t know you. But I know my friend. And I trust Carly.”
And not him. He understood. “I’m not going to hurt her, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
Her squinty-eyed look gave him pause. She didn’t appear at all convinced. “Carly is sweet. And kind. And she’s...had a rough time.”
“I know.” It wasn’t as though he’d exactly had the smoothest few weeks of his life, but he recognized something fragile and a little lost in Carly. He also saw a steely strength in her that maybe her friends were discounting. She was stronger than even she realized. “I see that.”
“She’s weak now and maybe a little vulnerable. So go easy on her.”
“You realize we’re not actually engaged.”
“Don’t even try that with me, mister. I saw the way you kissed her. The way you look at her. I saw you drag her into that office on pet wash day.”
“Guilty.” He liked Carly. Liked her a lot. There was nothing wrong or illegal about it.
“I’m just saying, be careful.”
“You wouldn’t be a best friend if you didn’t say something.”
“Exactly.” She picked up her bag. “Remember that.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
He drove off, sulking all the way. While he’d been surrounded by friends since he’d arrived in Fortune, all of that came with its detriments, as well. He never seemed to get any real privacy. Everyone was in his business. Damned if sometimes he wanted everyone to get out of his life and let him live it in peace. Let him fly planes. Raise Grace. Let him and Carly...what?
Hell, he didn’t know what, but something told him he better figure it out.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
“WHAT DO WE do with th
is?” Carly lifted the item out of the box and set it on the floor.
The UPS guy had just delivered a package from a local company holding a prototype of a baby chair. Basically, it was a pink, molded plastic chair with a tray attached. The opposite of a high chair, it essentially looked like a low chair.
“What the heck is this used for?” Carly said, puzzled.
“Baba!” Grace said. She was rocking on all fours on the play mat nearby.
Carly didn’t think Levi had one of these. Was there any use for it? There was a sheet with instructions and a short request.
Please consider using our new and improved baby chair and reviewing it on your site. We’re a new company in Southern California. All of our products are made in the USA. We’d love your feedback.
It was good to know someone still cared about her opinion.
“Let’s try this out, Grace.”
Companies were still sending their products, even if the direction of RockYourBaby had shifted from product recommendations to fashionable baby clothes. She’d been contacted by the local newspaper for an interview and expected to answer questions about the changing direction of RockYourBaby. But maybe it couldn’t hurt to have a new product recommendation squeezed in among all the #fashionistababy photos. For some of Mom’s loyal fans who’d stuck around through the transition.
Carly had never seen a molded baby chair before. She wasn’t even sure why a baby would need one, but there had to be a use for it or they wouldn’t have made it. She picked Grace up and put her in the chair, then cinched the belt. Once she attached the tray, Grace seemed to think she should have something on the tray. It seemed too much like a high chair not to have food there. She banged her little fists on the tray.
“Baba ta dada!”
She needed some grain cereal like what Cassie had been feeding Grace on Sunday. She’d loved it, and Carly had picked up a box at the store specifically for Grace. Hurrying into the kitchen, she grabbed the box from her cupboard. She froze with her hand on the box when she heard a piercing scream, dropped everything and ran.
Grace had climbed out of the chair and lay facedown on the ground, one of her little legs still caught in the belt.
Oh, God. Carly raced to unbuckle her and release her little leg, then pulled her off the floor. Grace screamed as if her leg had been cut off, which made Carly check both of them. Three times. They seemed to be intact with no bruising, thanks to the coveralls she’d been wearing. But her little face was another story. Her lip and nose were red and bruised.
Should she call nine-one-one? Drive her to the hospital herself? Call Levi? With no time to waste, she grabbed her purse and keys and was out the door without another thought.
* * *
THE TRIAGE NURSE at St. Louise Hospital did not seem to understand the seriousness of the situation. Granted, in her car seat on the way here, Grace had calmed down. That did not help Carly get across the importance of her being seen immediately.
“But she fell! See her lip?”
The nurse stared over her glasses. “Did she fall from a height?”
“Of course not! Well, a small height. It was a kind of Bubba chair.”
The nurse squinted her eyes. “What’s a Bubba chair?”
“Can I talk to the doctor?” Carly demanded. “This is an emergency!”
The nurse scowled, left and came back in a few minutes with a pouch of ice. “Here, ice it while you wait.”
Carly found an available chair near a man who seemed to be bleeding. Grace gummed the bag of ice happily. She’d apparently forgotten she’d just had a near-death experience.
“She’s a cutie,” the man said.
“Thank you.” Carly shifted in her seat. “They’re not seeing you? You’re...bleeding.”
“Ah, it’s nothin’.” He held up the hand he had wrapped in a cloth and called over to the nurse. “Let the baby go ahead of me.”
The nurse ignored him.
“They’re not very friendly around here,” Carly muttered.
“What happened to the baby?”
How humiliating to confess to this stranger that she’d turned her back on Grace for one second. One second too long, and now she had a bruised lip and nose. God knew what kind of permanent damage she’d done.
Carly bit her lower lip and studied the pattern of the floor. “She fell.”
“Oh. Well, she looks okay.”
“Looks can be deceiving. What if she has a concussion? Do you think they’ll do a CAT scan?”
How would they do it on a baby? She’d scream bloody murder. The man gave her a weird look, like he couldn’t believe she’d been so careless. Had he never made a mistake in his entire life? And where was Levi? She’d called—hands-free, of course—from her car, but Levi had been up in a plane. Cassie had said she’d give him the message. She’d also told Carly to calm down and breathe. Not that she’d done any of those things, nor would she, until someone in authority told her there was nothing wrong with this baby.
The man smiled. “Tell the truth. This is your first baby, isn’t it?”
“Yes, but she isn’t—”
“My wife was the same way. First kid she boiled everything. Bottles, pacifiers. Believe me, by the third kid you pick up the pacifier and just blow on it to make sure there’s no hair on it. Germs are good for kids.”
Finally, after what felt like hours, she and Grace were seen by a doctor.
“Well, hewo wittle baby. How are woo?” The doctor, a grown man with white hair for the love of Pete, said this with a straight face.
Carly already wanted someone who would take all this a little more seriously. “We don’t talk to her like that.”
“Woo don’t?” He was dressed in a typical white lab coat, with a stethoscope around his neck, which was supposed to inspire trust and confidence, she assumed. Still, he would talk to Grace like a human being if Carly had anything to say about this. He bent to inspect Grace’s lip and nose and squinted.
“Woo have a wittle boo-boo?”
Carly sighed. Where was a grown-up when she needed one? “She fell. From a kind of Bubba chair.”
At this, the doctor straightened and met Carly’s eyes. “Those things are hazards. They should be outlawed. We’ll need a full battery of tests immediately.”
Now, this was more like it. “Could she have a concussion?”
“Possibly.” He rummaged in a drawer and came out with a plastic toy elephant that fit on his index finger. “Would you please undress her down to her diaper and put her on the exam table?”
Carly did all that quickly and stood by, holding Grace in place, as the doctor had her follow the elephant. “Checking for signs of concussion.”
“Good.”
“She looks fine. You were lucky. Did you know that last year two children had cracked skulls from those things?”
“Oh my God!”
“Didn’t you read the instructions? You’re never supposed to put it on a high surface. Where was it? A table? A counter? The couch? How high up?”
The doctor had gone from Mr. Rogers to a police detective shining a bright line on her in a closed interrogation room.
Carly’s voice shook. “It wasn’t high. It was on the floor, of course.”
The doctor froze. “It was on the floor. I don’t get it. How did she fall?”
“It was just one second. I went into the kitchen and...”
He nodded. “That’s how it happens.”
“She must have tried to climb out of it. I don’t know. She hurt her lip and nose, see?” She pointed.
“And...that’s it?”
“What do you mean, that’s it?”
“Woo just have a wittle boo-boo.” The doctor bent low and tweaked Grace’s nose. “No pwoblem.”
�
�Are you sure she’s all right? What about a possible concussion?”
“Where? On her lip? Nose? No, I don’t think so. She just needs a little ice, which I see you already have. This will resolve itself all on its own. Make sure you get rid of that chair when you get home, just to be safe. What is wong with Mommy, wittle one? Tell her woo okay. Woo okay, wight?”
Grace squealed with laughter.
“Something tells me this is your first,” the doctor said. “Poow Mommy. She wuv her baby giwl.”
“Pfft!” Grace said.
The nurse slid the curtain open. “Your husband is here.”
“He’s not my—”
But it was too late for explanations. Levi had obviously come straight from the airport, and wore his white Mcallister Charters button-up and black cargo pants, his aviator shades propped on his head.
The doctor shook Levi’s hand. “Don’t worry, Daddy. First-time parents are always rushing to the ER for every little thing. Seems she bumped her nose. She’ll be just fine. Won’t we, sweetheawt? Woo a cutie!”
Carly almost screamed at the man to stop making a fool out of himself, but Levi smiled, actually smiled at the strange doctor. Grace reached for Levi, of course, so he strode over to her.
Soon after, they were alone.
“I’m so sorry.”
She expected a lot of things. Possibly to be yelled at because she’d screwed up this gig, too. Certainly a few stern words from Mr. Pilot, the guy who managed to throw Grace up in the air and catch her without missing once. But instead of harsh words, Levi’s eyes were soft as he pulled Carly into his arms.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
LEVI HAD LEFT for the hospital the minute Cassie had given him the message. But as he’d driven to St. Louise Hospital in the next town over from Fortune, he hadn’t allowed his imagination or emotions to take over. Kept his cool. Not too hard to do, since it was his MO. He’d learned it from his parents at an early age and lived his life by it. He’d learned not to cry as a young child when his parents left him with his grandfather all summer so they could work for the World Health Organization. It wouldn’t change the outcome.
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