Even doing chores for the woman who ran the boarding house, Mary Alice, didn’t get on his nerves. He’d scrubbed her floors since arriving, mowed her lawn a few times, and had even helped her shuck corn. Corn! It was so rustic that he almost didn’t believe it was real.
There was only one thing he’d said no to when she asked. The night before she asked if he wouldn’t mind helping with bingo over at the retirement home on Main Street, but he’d declined. He was too lost in his own head to be good company for the elderly, and it wasn’t until after the old woman had left that he remembered that Kassidy was her assistant for the game.
He had thought about getting up and going over to Main Street on his own, but his own doubts had stopped him. Only a couple nights before, he’d been out until three in the morning with Kassidy, and he still hurt from not being able to say the words he knew she wanted to hear.
Levi’s real regrets came from not being able to say those three little words to her. The way she’d looked at him with those pale green eyes, her cheeks flushed pink – not from embarrassment, but with love. It should have been so easy for him to tell her that he loved her, but he couldn’t.
Not yet.
There was no denying that he was falling for her. When he wasn’t with her, all he thought about was seeing her again. He’d started writing half a dozen songs that all centered on a beautiful country girl with strawberry-blonde hair and a heart of gold.
He’d written about her legs, her eyes, her fingertips, and most of all, about her smile. That smile that told him that everything would be okay, that she had his back and truly cared for him. She wasn’t after his fame or money, not like every other girl he’d dated since he’d turned twenty-one. She only wanted his heart, and yet he hadn’t been able to give her that.
It was for the best that he hadn’t said it, or at least that was what he kept telling himself. He was too scared to let himself love her. Too scared of breaking her heart, too afraid of her realising that he isn’t the man she thinks he is.
You don’t deserve her, an ugly voice inside his head told him. It was the same voice that had told him to have flings with models, to try drugs, and to throw his life away because he didn’t deserve any better. It was a voice he’d been struggling to defeat for years, and a voice he’d heard less of when he was around Kassidy.
Do something to deserve her, he told himself, pushing that dark voice deeper inside himself, so deep that he could at least ignore it. He needed to do something that would show her how much he really did care about her, how much he wanted to be with her, even if he couldn’t say the words, “I love you.”
“Actions speak louder than words,” he told himself as he pushed himself off the bed. He didn’t have much time. Mary Alice would be leaving in ten minutes, but this time he was going to join her.
“Oh, Levi,” the blue-gray haired woman greeted him as he came down the stairs. “You startled me.”
“Sorry,” he told her. She was already in her Sunday best, a light cream suit with shoulder pads straight out of the eighties. She was even wearing a heavy strand of pearls and a pillbox hat.
“Is there something you needed, hon?” Mary Alice asked, and Levi realised he was actually nervous to ask her.
“You, well, you don’t mind if I join you for church, do you?” he asked.
He could have sworn a tear came to her eye when he asked her that, and a smile bloomed across her face.
“Of course you can, darling,” she assured him. “Though not in those clothes.”
She had a point. Everyone in Pinewood Grove took church very seriously, or at least dressed like they did. There was no way he could just show up in his jeans and a dirty t-shirt.
“You don’t happen to have anything I could borrow, do you?” he asked, and a part of him hoped she said no so he had an excuse not to go.
“You know, I think I do,” she told him. “Come on upstairs.”
He followed the woman into her bedroom and for a flash he felt decidedly inappropriate about being in there alone with her. He’d had no problem going into women’s bedrooms before, but now it was different.
It’s this town, he told himself. It’s just so wholesome.
All those thoughts and concerns vanished when Mary Alice brought out a musty smelling suit. “I wish you would have said something earlier,” she sighed. “I would have had some time to air it out.”
“That’s fine,” he said. He doubted anyone would notice the smell over the light brown jacket and its huge shoulders and lapels.
She must have noticed how he was looking at the suit, and thankfully she laughed. “It was my husband’s,” she told him. “He’s been gone, oh, thirty years now, but I just haven’t had it in me to get rid of his stuff. At least it’s getting some use now.”
“Well, I appreciate it,” Levi said before he took the suit upstairs to change.
It had looked silly on the clothes hanger, but actually on him, it didn’t look too bad. With a splash of cologne and his hair fixed, he looked like he might fit in at the local church after all.
He left Mary Alice’s house with the old woman on his arm, feeling confident about his idea, but by time the church came into view, he was starting to regret his choice all over again.
It had been at least fifteen years since he’d stepped into a church and suddenly he was very afraid that he just might not be welcomed there. He hadn’t exactly been welcomed into town – save by some of the younger women – and he had a feeling church would go the same way.
But the moment he saw Kassidy, all his fears melted away. She was wearing a pale green dress that looked like it could have belonged on a Fifties housewife, her own strand of pearls, and her long hair done in loose curls. She was divine, beautiful, and heavenly and before he knew what he was doing, he was walking toward her.
She didn’t see him until he was nearly right in front of her, and when she did notice him, she looked like she’d seen a ghost.
“Levi,” she gasped. “What are you...?”
“I thought I’d see about joining you and your family for church,” he said and then he had to do something really terrifying.
“Mr. Olsen,” he said as he shook Kassidy’s father’s hand. “Mrs. Olsen.”
“Mr. Thayne,” Kassidy’s dad replied, the hard look in his eyes was the exact opposite of the joy in his daughter’s.
“I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind if I sat with you this morning,” Levi asked. He couldn’t believe how nervous he was by the whole ordeal. He’d sung live in front of stadiums full of people, and on TV at the Grammy awards, and yet this topped them all when it came to his nerves.
“I don’t...” her father started to say, but then Mrs. Olsen cut in.
“That would be lovely,” she said, speaking over her husband. “Just come with us.”
Levi did as he was told, walking side by side with Kassidy as they followed her parents into the quaint church. He wanted to hold her hand, not just to touch her, but for the support, but he thought better of it. He was treading a thin line that he didn’t want to fray any more than it already was.
The family’s usual spot was near the front, only three rows back, and he sat on the right of Kassidy, relieved to have her there for whatever support she could offer. The whole thing felt so familiar yet foreign to him and he didn’t know whether to laugh or take off.
But he did neither and sat quietly as everyone shuffled into their seats. Beside him, a young girl of no more than thirteen took her seat and then slapped her hand over her mouth when she saw who was sitting beside her.
“Hi,” Levi whispered, and the girl giggled so hard that her mother had to shush her, but not before shooting Levi a dirty look.
“You okay?” Kassidy asked as the pastor stepped out into the pulpit.
“Yeah,” he lied. “It’s just been a while.”
“You’ll be fine,” she promised him, and she let her hand rest on his. He knew her parents wouldn’t like it, but in that momen
t it was the support he needed. He was so scared of not belonging that he’d almost let himself forget why he’d come in the first place.
But as the sermon commenced, a strange nostalgia washed over Levi. Psalms, stories, life lessons, it was everything he’d grown up with, and everything he’d left behind in an effort to make it big in music.
The longer he sat there, his fingers joined with Kassidy’s, the more at home he felt. He started to realise that he should have known better. He wouldn’t have been kicked out or not welcomed, that’s not what church was about. It was about being welcoming and forgiveness, two things he sorely needed.
“If we could all stand,” the pastor requested. “I think it’s time to sing one of my old favorites.”
Kassidy stood, but Levi didn’t follow her. He’d made his living singing, but now he was paralysed at the thought of it.
“Come on,” she whispered to him, a confident smile on her lips. “It’s fun.”
He agreed to stand, but didn’t think he would sing. It had been too long since he’d sung a hymn, but when the organist began the first few notes of How Great Thou Art something new came over him. Something great.
He didn’t need the sheet music that had been provided. He’d sung the song hundreds of times before for his grandmother when he was a little boy. With the rest of the worshippers around him, Levi opened his mouth and let the song flow forth, losing himself in the music.
It overtook him and he closed his eyes to savor just how good it felt to sing like that again. No pressure, no expectations, just the beauty of the song as it filled his heart and left his lips.
This is wonderful, he told himself as he sang. He’d thought he’d lost his joy for singing, but in that moment he had found it once more. He couldn’t deny that to himself and he was actually disappointed when the song came to a close.
“That was lovely,” Kassidy’s mother said as she leaned over her daughter. “Really beautiful.”
“Thank you,” Levi said with a slight nod of his head. It was nice of her to say so, but there was only one opinion he was really interested in.
Kassidy didn’t need to tell him what she thought, not with words. There was a smile on her lips and love in her eyes and she squeezed his hand even tighter.
Yes, he told himself as he squeezed her hand in return. This is what I want.
But you don’t deserve it, that ugly, mean voice whispered from the darkest recesses of his mind. A girl like that deserves better than you.
He didn’t want to listen to that voice, but he couldn’t stop himself. It was right, he knew it was. Kassidy was too good for him and his greatest fear was that eventually she would figure that out for herself.
Chapter Seventeen
The bell on the front door was chiming so often that her father threatened to snap it off, but he made the threat with a smile on his face. Kassidy barely had time to laugh at his joke. She was too busy blending more strawberries for the sweetheart cupcakes.
While she baked the cupcakes, her father made buttercream icing between breaking more moulds to be able to bake more than a couple of their new signature desserts at a time. They had only been selling them for a few days, but they could barely keep up with the demand from their customers.
“I just got five more requests for chocolate,” her mother said when Kassidy brought the next batch to the front. There was a line up to the door and through the plate glass window she could see all the spots on Main Street taken up by cars.
“Dad told me someone asked for orange yesterday,” Kassidy said. “And I got a couple for peanut butter.”
“Make them mint!” a person in line called and Kassidy gave him a thumbs up. She was too tired to tell him that they were working on it, not that she was complaining about it though.
The last few days at her family’s bakery had been a blur. Saturday was steady, and she’d taken the advice of the girls who had first gotten to try her new concoction. She’d gone over to the craft store not far from the bakery and gotten a chalk sign to announce the arrival of the new dessert and her mother had used her artistic skills to dress it up.
Word of mouth travelled fast, and by Monday there was a lineup of people looking to try the new treat. A day later, there were people waiting outside for a fresh batch of the new sweetheart cupcakes.
And it wasn’t just the romantic cupcakes that were selling. People who didn’t feel like waiting for a fresh batch were grabbing other items on the bakery’s menu. From cupcakes to pies to Panini sandwiches, everything was selling, and everyone was raving about them. Items that had been on the menu since her parents had opened the shop were now being seen as brand new and they’d made more money in three days than they had all month.
Kassidy had more than sales to be happy about. Just as she had thought the bakery might very well be a lost cause, she’d also held out no hope for Levi wanting to go to church with her, but two days ago he’d been there. He’d held her hand through the service and she got to hear him sing the hymns, his voice better than any dessert their bakery had ever sold.
“How are these?” her father asked as he held up the new mould that he’d smashed together from two old ones.
“Perfect,” she told him. It was the first time she’d seen her dad so happy in what felt like months, maybe longer, and with every spare breath he was thanking God for giving him such a smart, creative daughter.
Maybe it was the fact that her invention might have just saved the family business, or maybe it was because Levi had joined them for church, but when she mentioned going out for dinner with him that night after they closed up, both her parents only smiled and told her to have a good time.
As much as she was enjoying the rush, and would never wish for it to end, she couldn’t deny how excited she was for the day to be finished. When Levi asked her about going for dinner, it wasn’t Black Sheep she had in mind. There was something she’d always imagined doing with the man she loved, ever since she was a girl, and now her fantasy was going to come true.
She’d barely had the downtime to do it. The place was so busy that she hadn’t found time to eat all day, but she’d managed to whip up two Paninis, both packed with grilled red peppers, goat cheese, artichokes, and left over ham that her mother had made. With it she’d included a couple rolls, a small bottle of cider, and the very first chocolate sweetheart cupcake.
Kassidy hadn’t gotten to try her strawberry creation herself until she’d already sold a dozen of them, and she wasn’t going to make the same mistake on their second flavor. A single chocolate sweetheart cupcake, with a Kiss on top of its chocolate mousse icing. It would be for her and Levi to share, and it would be perfect.
Maybe even perfect enough to get him to say those three words she’d been aching to hear.
The bakery was so busy that they didn’t even lock the doors until fifteen minutes past closing and Kassidy caught tears in her mother’s eyes as she counted the register. Kassidy had been counting that same register since she was twelve years old and she had never once seen it so full.
“I don’t know how you did it, Kass,” her mom said as she pulled her in for a hug. “But you whipped up a miracle.”
“Mom,” Kassidy groaned, but she was only being modest. She knew how much her family needed this.
“You’ve got the tourists heading to the park and the locals coming in,” her dad said “I don’t know how you did it, but word is spreading. We just got an email from The Moody Foodie asking to feature our little creation on her blog. I have no idea how so many people heard of it so quickly.”
“Internet?” Kassidy said with a shrug. She’d already seen people hashtagging the cupcakes on Instagram, and Addison had posted them on Tumblr and Pinterest for her.
“Whatever it is, keep it up,” her mom said. “But for right now, I think someone is waiting for you.”
With that, her mother pointed through the front door to where Levi was standing beside his bike.
“You’re good if I take o
ff?” she asked as she pulled off her apron and grabbed the picnic basket and her blue helmet.
“Completely,” her dad said. “Have a good time.”
“But not too good!” her mother warned her as she opened the door and stepped out into the sunny evening.
“Hey,” she greeted Levi.
“Hey yourself,” he said as he kissed her cheek.
“Do you mind holding this stuff for a second?” she asked. “I’ll just run upstairs and get changed.”
“You’re find the way you are,” he told her. “Come on, whatever you packed smells good.”
Kassidy blushed at that, but she didn’t argue and she waited for Levi to put their dinner in his saddlebag and then she climbed onto the bike behind him. She made sure her parents saw her putting on her helmet so they knew she was being safe and then she let out a cry of glee as Levi kicked the bike to life and they took off.
They weren’t going far, it was only a twenty minute drive to the campgrounds at the state park, but Kassidy didn’t know what she wanted more – to hold on to Levi’s waist forever while the bike sped down the highway, or to sit under the trees and enjoy dinner together.
But she knew the ride couldn’t last forever, and she pointed over his shoulder when she saw the turn off for the park. The place was huge, but it took them some time to find an open area to park.
“Mary Alice gave me a blanket to use,” Levi said as he pulled off his helmet. “It’s in the left saddlebag.”
While he got the bike situated, Kassidy grabbed the blanket and then dinner. Though it was a casual picnic, she carefully laid out the plaid blanket and set up the paper plates and plastic cups and began to serve what she’d brought.
It was everything she’d dreamed of, and she happily relaxed on the ground. It was only then that she realised just how sore her feet were from being on them all day.
“How was work?” he asked her as he poured the cider into two plastic cups.
“Amazing,” she told him and leaned back on her forearms to soak up the sun. “Beyond busy.”
Melodies of the Heart: A Pinewood Grove Sweet Romance Page 11
