If he was eating her lasagna, he was getting plenty of carbohydrates without sneaking sweets.
“He doesn’t seem willing to change his diet as much as the doctor says he should,” her mother complained.
More likely, Diana was cooking the way she’d always cooked. But she didn’t see the correlation.
“He needs to stick with lean proteins and vegetables,” Callie said. “That’s what you need to make for him, okay? Not pasta or potatoes or breads.”
“When you get as old as we are, you deserve
some
enjoyment out of life,” she said, slightly insulted.
But they had to take care of themselves since Callie likely wouldn’t be around to do it. “So...” She hesitated, trying to decide how to segue into her diagnosis.
“What?” Her mother gave her a strange look.
“I came by today because—” she could hear her pulse thumping in her ears, which was as annoying as it was distracting “—there’s something I need to tell you.”
An expression of alarm settled on her mother’s face, but the sound of a car pulling up outside distracted both of them.
“Oh, good. Your father’s here.”
Callie wiped sweaty palms on her denim shorts. “What’s he doing home so early?”
“He’s taking me to get my hair done.” She checked the clock. “We’ve only got fifteen minutes before we have to leave.”
Of course. Her mother had a standing appointment with Lola Leidecker at Shearwood Forest every Friday. How could Callie have forgotten? Fifteen minutes wouldn’t give Diana enough time to recover from the blow she was about to be dealt. Once she broke the news, Callie doubted her mother would feel up to leaving the house.
“Callie?” Her father came through the garage door bellowing her name.
“Hi, Pop.” Obviously, he’d seen her SUV out front. She hugged him but he was so eager to talk he barely squeezed her in return.
“What’s this I hear about you taking in some drifter?” he demanded.
Her mother’s eyebrows immediately assumed their “I’m displeased” position. “I hope that isn’t what you were about to tell me,” she said. “You haven’t taken in a stranger, have you? You know better than that!”
“He needs help,” she hedged.
“So you’re risking your life to give it to him?”
Her father’s voice nearly shook the glass in the windows. A bear of man, Boone could be intimidating. But Callie knew he had the softest heart imaginable and hardly flinched when he raised his voice.
“He was attacked by dogs, Dad. I
had
to help him. You should’ve seen the blood. You would’ve done the same.”
“
I’m
not a single woman!”
“It’s not like he was some stalker or peeping Tom. His motorcycle broke down and he got bitten. Now he’s fixing the roof on the barn to pay me back for fronting the money to repair his bike.”
The fact that she wasn’t giving ground made her father pause. But he soon rallied. “Chief Stacy doesn’t like him. Says that boy’s up to no good.”
Chief Stacy had talked with her father? At least Godfrey hadn’t ratted her out.... She appreciated her neighbor’s discretion.
“What are you thinking?”
her mother asked.
“Chief Stacy’s suspicious of any stranger,” she said. “You know how distrusting this town can be when it comes to new faces. But Levi’s lived at the farm for three days. He just wants some space to be able to get his head on straight.” She focused on Boone. “You fought in Korea, Dad. You know what war is like.”
He leaned a hip against the counter. “He’s a vet?” he asked, already showing signs of bending.
“Yes.”
“What some of those boys go through,” he said with a click of his tongue.
“It’s terrible,” Diana agreed.
Callie rested a beseeching hand on her father’s folded arms. “Levi needs a temporary safe haven, Dad.”
When he shifted his weight and harrumphed, she knew he’d accepted her explanation. And that reminded her of one of the many reasons she loved her father so much. Maybe he could appear ferocious, but he was every bit a gentle giant. She’d seen him take similar risks, stopping to assist folks stuck on the side of the road, or picking up a hitchhiker. Whether he wanted her following in his footsteps or not, he understood that helping someone in need sometimes called for a certain amount of risk.
“It scared me when Chief Stacy made it sound so foolhardy,” he said. “I don’t know what I’d do—what
we’d
do—” he gestured at her mother “—if something ever happened to you. Lord knows it was hard enough to get you here.”
His words caught Callie like a bullet to the chest. She stood there, instantly disarmed. All the things she’d planned to say, the admission she’d put off for so long, swirled through her mind, but she couldn’t bring it to her lips, couldn’t break her parents’ hearts. It’d taken them ten years to have a baby. Only after months and months of fertility treatments had they conceived. Callie knew, had always known, that she meant a great deal to them. Her father was already facing the decline of the woman he’d married forty years ago, the only woman he’d ever loved. That was bad enough.
“I’m glad I let him stay, Dad,” she managed to say. “It...it’s helped me.”
He might’ve asked what she meant by such a strange comment but her mother interrupted.
“We’ve got to go, Boone. I can’t miss my hair appointment. You know how busy Lola is.” Diana moved her wheelchair closer to Callie so they could touch. “You be careful with that man around. Keep your eyes open,” she warned, gripping Callie’s hands. “And call us nightly.”
Callie stifled a sigh. “I will.”
“You don’t think...you don’t think he’d ever—” her mother lowered her voice as if she couldn’t bear to say the word “—
rape
you, do you?”
Considering the bustier episode, which could’ve been taken as an invitation to have consensual sex, Callie might’ve laughed. But nothing about this situation was funny. “Definitely not.”
“Okay.” Seemingly satisfied, her mother nodded. “Don’t forget to check in.”
“Maybe he should stay here,” her dad mused, still reluctant to trust her safety to an unknown person.
Callie shook her head. “No. You and Mom have enough going on. And I need his help on the farm. I feel safer with him there. I promise.”
“Okay.” When he pulled her into his arms, he almost swept her off her feet. “Love you, Callie girl.”
Callie choked on the lump rising in her throat. She couldn’t tell them she was going to die. Something had to change.
“I love you, too,” she murmured against his shirt. Then, after they left, she sat in her car crying as she watched their taillights disappear down the street.
12
C
allie bought Levi another shirt. She’d needed to distract herself so she could calm down and get her emotions under control before returning to the farm. And she liked shopping for him, liked picturing him in the clothes she found. Telling herself that she was fulfilling a need—he had practically nothing—and that he’d be wearing that shirt long after they parted company, somehow brought her peace. Maybe he’d think of her occasionally when he wore it....
She knew he’d find it odd that she was so keen on devoting her resources to him, since he was leaving in a few days and they’d probably never see each other again. But so what? She was going to do whatever she had to in order to cope with life as she currently knew it. If shopping for Levi buoyed her spirits, she’d shop for Levi. It might cost her a few bucks, but it wasn’t as if she was buying him a sports car.
Of course, the fact that she’d also bought condoms—and gone to the next town to do it so she wouldn’t have to look someone she knew in the eye while paying—was a little revealing. But no one had to know about that. She’d already hidden them in her purse.
As soon as she cut the engine, he strode toward her, Rifle at his heels.
“Well, would you look at that!” she said as she opened the door.
He glanced behind him. “Look at what?”
More pleased to see him than she probably should’ve been, she grinned. “Rifle is dogging your every footstep—so to speak. The two of you have become friends in spite of your ugly encounter with Spike and Sauron.”
“Who’re Spike and Sauron? The pit bulls?”
“That would be them.”
Bending slightly, he scratched behind her dog’s ears. “This is a good animal. Smart. Loyal. Eager to please.”
“I just hope he doesn’t try to go with you when you leave,” she said with a laugh. Rifle had never shown much interest in another human. She’d always come first. But he seemed to be quite taken with Levi. Although she understood the attraction, Callie couldn’t avoid feeling a twinge of jealousy. Levi possessed some indefinable quality that made him even more appealing than his handsome face and well-toned body would warrant on their own.
Levi straightened. “Doubt he’d fit on the back of my bike.”
“It looks like he’d follow you anywhere.”
Rifle seemed able to tell that he was the subject of their conversation. The tags on his collar jingled as he trotted over to lick her hand. But then he returned to Levi’s side.
“Traitor,” she grumbled.
Levi didn’t comment further on the dog’s behavior. His mind was clearly on something else. “So...you’re okay?”
She’d tried to wait long enough that the evidence of her tears would be gone, and she’d thought she’d done that, so this surprised her. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“You left hours ago. I was beginning to worry.”
“That you might have to cook your own dinner?” she teased.
His hands rested on his hips, above the tool belt he’d put on. “That you might’ve run into trouble.”
“What kind of trouble?” She hoped he wasn’t going to mention her pale face or her noticeable fatigue. Now that she was home, she wanted to forget about her condition, at least for a few hours. Why ruin whatever time she had left by constantly fretting? Facing reality as she’d faced it this morning had been emotionally exhausting. She couldn’t continue to carry such a heavy load. She had to rely on hope, which was what she’d been doing so far. Surely her doctor would call with good news at some point—some point
soon.
“Denny and Powell came by.”
She’d just turned to get the chambray shirt she’d purchased at the Western clothing store in town. She was eager to show it to him. But at this, she froze. “They spoke to you?”
“Briefly. I think they were startled to find me here. It was obvious they expected me to be gone.”
A trickle of unease ran through her. “What’d they want?”
“They were looking for you, had something for you to sign.”
“Did they try to start anything?”
“No. They kept their distance.”
Apparently, they weren’t as dumb as they looked. But she feared they might be as mean. “What was it they had for me to sign?”
“I didn’t see it and I didn’t ask. I think it’s safe to assume it’s something that’ll save their dogs.”
“Why didn’t they have
you
sign it?”
“They probably knew better than to ask.”
“I can’t sign it, either.”
His biceps bulged as he folded his arms. “Maybe you should.”
Grabbing the sack she’d been reaching for earlier, she climbed out. “Why?”
“I don’t want them bothering you after I’m gone.”
“But those dogs are dangerous.” She pointed at his right arm, which had more stitches than his left. “I’m not likely to forget that, not after spending all night helping Godfrey stitch you up.”
“Maybe it was a freak incident. Maybe a noise or a smell evoked an old memory that set them off and it’ll never happen again. Dogs don’t usually attack like that unless they come from some irresponsible backyard breeder or they’ve got owners who train them to be vicious.”
“Both of those things are probably true in this case. And even if they’re not, it doesn’t change the fact that they
did
attack you. Did it happen on the street, without provocation, like you said?”
“Yes.”
She hugged her bags to her chest, dropping her keys in her purse as she did. “Then how can we take the risk?”
With a sigh, he squinted into the distance before returning his attention to her face. “I’m uncomfortable where Denny and Powell are concerned. They have no respect for women. They won’t let you be the only obstacle standing between them and what they want. They feel they should be able to overcome something as...inconsequential as a small-town girl who’s stuck her nose in their business.”
Outraged, she stared at him. “That’s what they said?”
“Basically they said that the night I hit Powell. If you don’t give them what they want, I’m afraid they might...retaliate. And if I’m not here to—”
She waved his words away before he could finish. “They wouldn’t be so stupid as to make a bad situation worse.”
“Prisons are full of people who are just that stupid,” he pointed out.
Her day had been bad enough. She didn’t want to think about this. “You’re worried for nothing. If they were that concerned about their dogs, they should’ve been more careful with them.”
“They don’t see that they have any responsibility in this.”
“Doesn’t change the fact that they do.” She jerked her head toward the house, indicating that he should follow her. “Come on in and get showered.”
“I can shower in the barn.”
“It’s okay. You can use my bathroom.” She smiled, somehow happy in spite of everything. “I bought you another shirt, by the way.”
“You...
what?
”
Because she’d expected this kind of reaction, she kept walking. “It was on sale. You won’t be able to wear it much until later in the year, since it has long sleeves, but it’s going to look
great
on you.”
“Callie, I’m not some stray animal you’ve found that you need to take care of....”
She raised a hand. “You’re reading too much into it. I had fun picking it out, that’s all.”
The shirt really didn’t hold any significance, she told herself. Buying it for him was a pleasant diversion, her way of helping him.
But what about the condoms?
* * *
Dinner wasn’t difficult to throw together. Callie already had her mother’s lasagna, which she couldn’t eat, so that meant there’d be plenty for Levi. She couldn’t have the garlic bread she served, either, but planned to fill up on the salad she’d made to go with everything else.