Katie's Glimpse (The Glimpse Series) (19 page)

“Okay,” he said and
thankfully left it at that.

I moved on to how
things went downhill after that and what Seth did to me after the party. Levi
became incensed and broke down a little when I told him about all the bruises
on my body. He held me close for a long time, and I decided that he’d heard
enough. I left out the parts about how my parents found me, the pictures my dad
took, the mental breakdown I had, and of course, Asher.

 Levi took me to his
house for the rest of the day. He cooked for me and even tried to teach me to
play the guitar. After thirty minutes of me not getting one single chord right,
he put it away and said maybe I should try the piano. We just enjoyed our time
together and neither one of us mentioned JT or Seth again. He took me home
later that night but stayed and slept on the couch again. He didn’t want me to
be alone in case I had another panic attack. I didn’t and woke up the next
morning feeling happier than I could ever remember being.

Levi’s mom, Kathy,
wanted to meet me so she invited us over for Sunday dinner after we got out of
church. I’d been to church four weeks in a row with him, and I loved it there.
I asked if his mom went to church and he said yes, but that she’d changed to a
different one when she divorced his dad. She no longer felt comfortable there
with the same people that had been their mutual friends. I thought that was sad
but didn’t say it. He also told me she wrote inspirational articles for several
Christian magazines for a living. I thought that was a pretty awesome job to
have.

When we arrived, a
beautiful, dark haired woman greeted us at the door. She smiled and I instantly
knew where Levi had gotten his dimples from. I’d barely made it past the front
door before she drew me in for a big hug. “Hey, sweetie, I’m so glad to finally
meet the pretty girl that stole my baby’s heart.”

 I hugged her back
and looked over at Levi. He rolled his eyes. “Mom, you can let go of her now,”
he said when she continued to hug me.

She finally released
me and swung her gaze to Levi. “Why don’t you go in the kitchen and find
something to do while Katie and I get to know each other.” She smiled, but the
tone of her voice indicated her request wasn’t optional.

My eyes darted to
his and he chuckled. “Be gentle, Mom,” he said and left for the kitchen.

She led me into the airy
living room. My eyes landed on several framed photographs grouped together on
an end table. She sat down on the couch, leaving room for me, and picked one
up. I sat down bedside her and studied the picture. Levi looked to be about
eight years old and was all lanky arms and legs in his little league baseball
uniform. I smiled at the image of his sweet face, noticing that even back then
he had a mischievous look in his eyes. “I bet he kept you on your toes,” I said
as she placed the picture back in its spot.

“That he did. I
spent many nights trying to corral him inside the house for bedtime. He loved
being outside. He would run around with the other neighborhood boys and
disappear for hours into the woods behind the house. I could always count on
him showing up at mealtime though, that boy always had a big appetite.” She
gave me a warm smile, and I felt some of my nervousness melt away. “Levi tells
me you’re studying business management at Union. How’s that going?”

“It’s good. I like
my classes and they end early enough that I can work at the nursery.”

She lit up at
hearing this. “Yes, he told me you worked there. I bet he took one look at you
and didn’t interview another person.”

I felt my cheeks get
warm. “Oh, I don’t know about that.”

She laughed and
patted my hand. “I do. Honey, I’m going tell you a little secret. He called me
one day back in February and told me he’d met the girl he was going to marry.”

I gasped. “What? He
told you that? But we’d only talked for like twenty minutes that day.”

She smiled and
shrugged. “I know, but he said he knew you were the one for him. I’ve never
seen him like this, not even when he was engaged to Denise.”

I was speechless.
He
wants to marry me?
I knew he loved me, but I didn’t know he felt this
serious about me so soon.

Kathy reached over
and patted my knee. “Since he was a little boy, I’ve prayed for him to find the
girl that God made for him. He didn’t choose you on his own. God has plans for
y’all.”

I blinked back the
tears her sweet words evoked, but then the reality of the situation hit me.
He would never marry me. If he knew the truth, he’d be gone forever.
Pain
tore through my heart like a bullet, and I fought back a sob. I cleared my
throat, determined not to break down in front of her. “Excuse me, where’s the
restroom?”

 Concern evident in
her voice, she replied, “Down the hall. It’s the first door on the left.”

I made my way to the
bathroom before the tears began to flow. I wiped them hastily and took a few
deep breaths. I stared at my reflection for a moment and whispered, “It’s
time.”

I made the decision
to tell him the truth, the whole truth, as soon as we got back to my apartment.
I turned on the faucet and dabbed a little cold water under my eyes to combat
the redness. I took a few more deep breaths to steady myself before opening the
door.

I was about to step
out when I heard Levi’s voice and stilled. “What did you say to her?” he
whispered.

 “I told her that
God brought you two together and that you were going to marry her.”

 “Mom, you can’t say
things like that to her. You’ll scare her. She’s been hurt a lot, and I’ve been
careful not to push anything on her too fast. I love her so much, but she keeps
me at a distance.” Even whispering, I still heard the pain in his voice.

“Oh, honey. I’m
sorry. I know she loves you. I can see it in her eyes, but something is eating
her up and she’s trying to hide it. You should have seen her face. She looked
so happy when I said y’all would get married, but then it’s like she thought of
something and suddenly didn’t believe me anymore.”

I felt bad for
eavesdropping, so I closed the bathroom door quietly, opened it up again, and
closed it behind me loud enough for them to hear. I walked back into the living
room; Kathy was still in the same spot on the couch. Levi was nowhere to be
found. I smiled to myself. S
neaky little things.

“I’m sorry about
that. I had something in my eye.”
Lamest excuse ever.
She smiled, but it
didn’t reach her eyes.

Levi strolled in,
took my hand, and led me to the kitchen away from his mom. “She made meatloaf.
Let me apologize now,” he said with a grimace.

I tried to cover my
laughter with a cough. “Stop it. I like meatloaf,” I whispered.

Kathy came through
the kitchen and called out, “I made meatloaf. I hope you like it,” as she walked
by. I glanced up at Levi, he had his hand over his mouth and was pretending to
gag. I glared at him but cleared my throat to keep from laughing.

“Meatloaf sounds
great. My mom liked to make it too.” I managed to reply, sounding normal.

 “Do you get back
home much?” she asked.

I actually hadn’t
been home at all since school started. Levi glanced over at me. I guess he
hadn’t noticed I never went home or if he did, he didn’t ask me about it. “No.
I haven’t had the chance to make it back yet.”

She glared at Levi
and in a huff said, “You’ve got her working every Saturday, and now she can’t
go see her family.”

“Mom, she can take
off work anytime she wants. It’s not a big deal,” he replied, closing his eyes.
I knew his patience was wearing thin.

“Well good, there
you go, Katie. You heard the boss. You can take off anytime you want.”

 I smiled at the way
she got on to Levi like he was still a kid. He shook his head. “Let’s eat. I’m
starving.”

I appreciated the
way he changed the subject for me. I didn’t really want to get into why I
didn’t go home. Levi caught my eye and winked.
Yep, he knows me oh so well.

We sat at the
kitchen table and ate our lunch. It was really good and I complimented Kathy on
her cooking. She smiled and looked pleased that I said so.

“Tell me about your
family,” she said sweetly.

“Well, my dad’s name
is Paul and he and my mom, Lisa, have been married for over twenty years. I
also have a younger brother named Asher. We’re just a regular family- kind of
boring actually.”
Good grief, who am I kidding?
I wondered if that
sounded as rehearsed to them as it did to me.

Kathy smiled. “Oh, I
bet you are a great big sister. How old is he?”

I froze. The few
people I told that I had a younger brother never asked how old he was, not even
Levi. I was about to drop a bomb on him and hoped he didn’t put it all
together. I swallowed and tried to calm my nerves. “He’s seven months old,” I
answered softly.

Levi had been taking
a drink when I said it and got strangled. He coughed a few times and his mom
looked over at him. “You okay, son?” He nodded his head as he wiped his watery
eyes. “Wow, seven months old. How old are your parents? If you don’t mind me
asking.”

 “Mom,” Levi cut in.

 Crap! It’s too
late to turn back now.
“I
don’t mind, Levi. They’re both forty,” I said and tried to muster up a smile,
but failed.

Kathy obviously had
trouble processing this news. “Bless your parents’ hearts. A baby is a lot of
work at twenty, let alone forty. I’ll be sure and pray for them.”

I managed a smile
this time. “I’m sure they would appreciate that.”

I finally worked up the
courage to glance over at Levi; he was staring out the kitchen window.
That’s
not a good sign.

We finished our
lunch, and I helped Kathy clean up while she had Levi repair some things around
the house. When everyone was done, we said our goodbyes with another round of
big hugs from Kathy.

 She kissed me on
the cheek. “I’ll be praying for you too, sweetie.”

 “Thanks, I
appreciate that.”
I’m sure I’ll need it shortly.

I was so ready to
get home and ball my eyes out. Lunch had been a total disaster, and I knew the
day was about to get worse.

“Your mom is really
nice,” I said on the drive to my apartment.

 “Yeah, she’s great,”
he said but kept his eyes straight ahead.

We were back to the
awkward silence and it was a long ride home. I kept my emotions in check and
knew not to ask if he was upset with me, because that would just bring unwanted
questions.

He pulled into the
parking lot of my apartment building and turned off the truck. Still staring
straight ahead he asked, “Can I come in?”  

 “Of course,” I
replied but didn’t bother with a smile, he wouldn’t see it anyway.

 As we went inside, I
told him I wanted to change out of my dress. He didn’t say anything, just went
and sat down on the couch. I slipped into the bathroom and brushed my teeth
before going to my room and throwing on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. I moved
slowly, dreading what I knew was coming. I sat down next to him on the couch
and turned to face him.

He finally looked at
me. “Why didn’t you tell me your brother was just a baby?”

I shrugged my
shoulders. “You didn’t ask.”

 He crossed his arms
over his chest and chewed on his bottom lip. I’d never seen him do that before,
and it scared me. “You know what I think is weird? Most women I know that are
around babies, talk about them all the time, but not you. You have a tiny baby
brother, yet you never mention him.”

I swallowed and
found a scrap of courage to reply. “I’m not most women.”

He grunted. “Yeah,
I’ve noticed.” His voice sounded hard, and I knew this was going to be an
uphill battle.

Get it all out,
my love. You already know.

 I took a deep
breath, preparing myself for heartbreak. “Levi, just say whatever it is you
have to say,” I whispered.

“All right, I will.
I finally put a few things together. Like you don’t ever go home, you don’t
ever talk about your family, and I remember your reaction when you first started
working with Sydney. At the time, I couldn’t figure out what it was about her
that bothered you, but now I know. It was because she was pregnant. It hurt you
to see her belly. Asher isn’t your brother, is he?” he asked in a deceptively
calm voice.

I looked into his
eyes and with a steady voice answered, “No. He’s my son.”

He stared at me in
disbelief. Anger and hurt washed over his face. “Why didn’t you tell me? You
said you loved me. How could you lie to me about something like this? You have
a child!” he yelled.

“Why do you think I
kept pushing you away? I didn’t want to fall in love with you. I wanted you to
find someone else, but you wouldn’t and then it was too late- I was already in
love with you. I thought maybe I could finally be happy, move on and make a real
life with you,” I said as tears streamed down my face.

He didn’t cry. His
face looked hard, like stone. “So you were just going to let me marry you and
hope I didn’t figure it out. You’ve lied to everyone about him, haven’t you?”

“I had to, but I was
going to tell you, I promise. I was just waiting for the right time. I was so
afraid I’d lose-”

He stood up, cutting
me off. “I gave you the chance to tell me. What part of tell me everything about
you and Seth, did you not understand?” he shouted as he towered over me.

I jumped up on the
couch, my face almost even with his. “I had to lie to everyone. Seth couldn’t
find out about Asher. Please, believe me.”

His jaw clenched,
and I prayed my words were getting through. “Even me? You could have gone to
the police and gotten a restraining order against him. I think the real reason
is you didn’t want a child, so you left him with your parents and moved on.
Seth was just an excuse. I loved you, Katie, how could you do this?” he said as
his tears started to fall.