“Voice mail.” Joe held the phone out so Levi could take it and leave a message if he chose to, but Levi waved him off. He didn’t see any point in telling Callie he was worried and wanted to know where she was, not when she’d have no way of calling him back.
“What about Kyle?” Levi asked.
“You think she might be with him?”
“Could be, right? They’re friends. Do you have his number?”
“No, but I could get it from my sister—”
“Maybe you could just tell me where he lives and I’ll go by there.”
“This time of day he’s probably still at the plant,” Joe said, and gave Levi directions.
It turned out that Kyle was gone for the day, but the house on the corner of the property hardly looked as though it belonged to an employee, even a manager. The place was too nice. Levi guessed Kyle owned it, so he took a chance and stopped there.
Sure enough, Kyle answered the door—and was visibly shocked to see him. “What’s going on?”
“Do you know where Callie is?”
Kyle hesitated as if all the doubts he’d had about Levi were flooding back, but he seemed to put some effort into reserving judgment. “No, why?”
“She left early this morning and hasn’t come home. You haven’t heard from her?”
“Not a single word.”
Kyle didn’t add, “Since you came to town everything has been different,” but Levi got the impression that was implied.
“You’re worried that Denny might’ve...hurt her?” Kyle guessed.
“I am. Something feels off.” Considering Kyle’s previous relationship with Callie, Levi couldn’t explain some of the nuances that figured into his concern. Like the fact that they’d made love last night and he thought if she had to get up early and leave, she would’ve mentioned it. Or that he was impatient to see her again because they had unfinished business. He hadn’t meant to sleep for hours, hadn’t meant to leave her unsatisfied as if he didn’t care about her fulfillment. That was a small thing compared to her overall safety, but the way their time together had ended contributed to his sense of unease. Maybe she was so disappointed she wasn’t in any hurry to come home....
“Do you think it’s too soon to go to the police?” He hated the idea of contacting Chief Stacy. Their last conversation hadn’t gone well. But he knew he’d do whatever he had to.
“Have you tried her parents?”
“I don’t know where they live.”
Kyle opened the screen door and held it wide. “Come on in. We’ll give Diana and Boone a call.”
* * *
Callie couldn’t get the doctor to release her. She was feeling better, wanted to go back to the farm. As confident as she was that she wouldn’t have any more problems, the doctor said he preferred to keep her overnight so the hospital staff could monitor her progress. If she experienced any more internal bleeding, there was a chance she’d need a transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt. Then it would be a few days before she could go home, and only if she remained free of infection.
“So what are you going to tell everyone again?” she asked Baxter.
Despite her protests, he’d insisted on staying the whole day, had sat by her bedside even while she slept. Occasionally when she woke up, she’d find him frowning at all the equipment, the tubes running into her body, instead of thumbing through his magazine, as he did when he knew she was watching. Reading was all he could do. He’d left home in such a hurry he didn’t even have his computer. But now it was after dinnertime. He needed to go eat, shower and get some rest.
“You know what I’m going to say—exactly what you had me tell your parents earlier.”
“Great.”
He rolled his eyes. “But I’m not sure anyone will buy it.”
“Why not? It’s summer. Your work schedule isn’t as rigorous as usual. They don’t know what we had planned.”
“One of them might see my car at the house tonight or early tomorrow.”
“The chances of them noticing are slim. It’ll be after eight before you reach Whiskey Creek. And you generally leave early for work.”
“True. Still...”
She didn’t want to think about the off chance that someone would realize he hadn’t stayed in San Francisco with her as he’d claimed. “So are you sure you’re okay to drive me home tomorrow? It’ll take you away from work again.”
“I don’t care about that. I have the freedom. Whatever you need. Call me and I’ll come.”
She smiled at the reassurance his support gave her. As soon as she got word from her doctor, she’d have Baxter pick her up and bring her to the farm—and she’d get through the long hours in between by thinking of that moment.
Her cell phone rang. Although she’d either ignored or slept through several earlier calls, this one she had to take. She raised a finger to let Baxter know not to open the door.
“Hi, Mom. How are you?”
“I’m fine. How are
you?
”
“Great, why?” She wondered why her mother would be calling. They’d talked just a few hours ago. Diana was the one person Callie had contacted herself. She’d been checking in religiously since she went to visit last week.
“I heard from Kyle a minute ago,” her mother said.
Callie sent Baxter an uneasy glance. “What’d he have to say?”
“I guess that Levi fellow who’s been staying at the farm is at his place.”
Bracing her weight on one hand, Callie propped herself up.
“What for?”
“He’s worried about you, said you’ve been gone all day.”
“I
have
been gone all day. I told you earlier. I’m in San Francisco with Baxter, remember?”
“I explained that, but he didn’t seem convinced. He said he had no idea you were going to leave town.”
Callie eased herself back. Her stomach was still tender. She didn’t want to do anything to make her condition worse. “I forgot to mention it to him. Then I didn’t want to wake him. But I left a note.”
“From what I can tell, it didn’t say much.”
“I was in a hurry. Would you like to talk to Bax? He’s right here with me.”
Baxter’s eyes went wide. He didn’t like the idea of lying to her mother, especially about this. But Diana stopped her before she could hand him the phone, anyway.
“There’s no need for that. Your dad and I, we just wanted to double-check that everything’s okay.”
“Of course it’s okay.” She winced at a sudden avalanche of guilt. But she was only asking for a few more days, she reminded herself—just until Levi was gone. “It’s fine, good.”
“Okay. Tell Bax we said hello.”
“He says hi, too.”
“’Night, honey.”
Baxter was shaking his head when she hung up, but his phone went off before he could voice his thoughts. “Here we go.”
“What?”
“It’s Kyle.”
“Answer it.”
His dark eyebrows drew together in a frown. “I don’t want to answer it.”
“You have to!”
“Shit!”
“Hurry!” she prodded.
He punched the talk button and immediately put his cell on speakerphone so she could hear. “Hello?”
“Why didn’t you tell anyone you and Callie were taking a trip together?” Kyle asked without preamble.
Baxter cleared his throat. “Didn’t think of it. She was...she was supposed to come out here over a week ago, for lunch, but we decided that...you know, to make a day of it instead. It’s summer, after all, and neither of us really has a vacation planned.”
“Hi, Kyle!” Callie chipped in to let him know she was in on the conversation.
“Why haven’t you two been answering your phones?” he asked.
Baxter fielded this one. “We were out sailing, so we left them in the car.”
“Sailing.”
“That’s right.”
Callie wondered if Levi was still at Kyle’s. “So what’s going on with you?”
“The rest of us have been
working.
”
If he only knew what she’d really been doing....
“Hang on,” he said. “Someone wants to talk to you.”
Levi came on next. “Callie?”
She pressed her fingertips to her temple. “Hi.”
“You couldn’t have told me you were leaving town?”
Hearing the pique in Levi’s voice, she relied on what she’d told her mother. “I’m sorry. I planned to be home tonight, but...we just got off the water, so...”
“The water?”
He hadn’t heard the sailing part. “Baxter has a friend here who owns a sailboat. We spent a...a beautiful afternoon on the bay. It was so...peaceful.” She couldn’t even guess what the weather might really be like. The Bay Area wasn’t far, but San Francisco weather seemed independent of every other place. It could be cold and rainy there right now, but he wasn’t any more likely to know than she was. And she could imagine a day like she’d described; in fact, she planned to have one exactly like it if she lived long enough.
“I see.” His words were stilted, as if he wasn’t pleased.
“I should’ve been clearer. I’m sorry. I really didn’t think it would matter to you one way or the other.”
“Wouldn’t matter if something happened to you?”
“I didn’t think you’d assume the worst,” she hurried to say. “Anyway, since it’s so late, we’re going to grab dinner and stay until tomorrow, if that’s okay. Do you—do you think you could look after Rifle for me?”
“Of course.”
“And the glass company. They’re coming out to fix the window in the morning.”
“I’ll be there.” But he didn’t sound happy about it.
Fortunately Baxter jumped in. “You’ll have to come sailing with us next time, Levi. I think you’d enjoy it.”
He’d contributed at the perfect time, made what she’d said convincing enough that Levi seemed to fall for it. Or else he didn’t want to reveal any more of his displeasure with Baxter listening in. Either way, Baxter had just gotten her out of a tight spot. She flashed him a grateful smile.
“Thanks,” Levi said. “Maybe someday I will.”
As she expected, his response was noncommittal, but it ended the conversation on a polite note. They all said goodbye, then Callie closed her eyes. “I hate this,” she grumbled.
Apparently no longer frustrated with her, Baxter took her hand. “You’re going to get through it.”
Not without a new liver she wouldn’t.
22
C
allie was home by noon the next day. She was looking forward to seeing Levi. He was all she’d thought about. But she didn’t have a travel bag, which she would’ve packed had she really taken a trip to San Francisco. With her hair barely combed and no makeup on, it was also pretty obvious that she hadn’t showered as she would’ve done had she been on vacation in the city. She had had none of her stuff—just a toothbrush and a few other necessities that Baxter had gone out and purchased before leaving the hospital last night. It wasn’t as if she’d had time to prepare before rushing to the emergency room. There were a number of details that could’ve given her away.
But her concern over whether or not Levi would notice turned out to be unwarranted. Although Rifle greeted her when she let herself into the house and she could see that the window had been fixed, Levi wasn’t around. He’d put a note on the fridge where she’d left hers.
“Working at the Gas-N-Go. See you tonight.” As soon as she spotted it, she recalled Joe’s messages. He must’ve figured out how to get through to Levi on his own. She hadn’t remembered to tell Levi when they talked so briefly while he was at Kyle’s, and she’d had no way to contact him after.
“Everything okay?” Baxter came into the kitchen behind her.
“Great, actually. Levi’s in town.”
“That gives you some breathing room, huh?” They’d been discussing how to handle the various questions he might ask.
“Now I can settle in, rest a bit more and shower before I see him.” She’d also have time to call her parents, assure them she was home safe and chat as long as they wanted. She’d had to keep their conversations brief when she was in the hospital in case they overheard a doctor being paged on the intercom or something.
Rifle whined to get her attention, so she crouched to pet him. “I’m home, buddy. Everything’s okay. For the moment, anyway.”
“I’ve got to go,” Baxter said.
Callie stood to give him a hug. “Thanks, Bax. For everything.”
He held her a second longer than usual. “I’m glad you told me what you’re going through. I’m grateful I get to spend this time with you.”
She knew what he was saying about the other people in her life. He was telling her they’d feel the same way. But then he added something she didn’t expect.
“Still, I have to admit...if I had the chance to be with Noah the way you’ve got this chance to be with Levi, I’d take it,” he said. “You have every right to do what makes you happy. So enjoy it and don’t feel guilty.”
“What made you change your mind?” she asked as he let her go.
“I couldn’t understand how he could mean so much to you in such a short time, but—” he kissed her cheek “—you’ve made a believer out of me.”
* * *
Levi was anxious to return to the farm. He hadn’t seen Callie since he’d carried her to bed from the shower. He’d thought of her, though—almost constantly—but not for the reasons he’d expected to. Surprisingly, he felt no remorse for getting involved with her. The opposite was actually true. It was as if he’d finally broken free from everything that had held him captive for the past two years, as if the soldier he’d been in Afghanistan had died.
He wanted to bury that much younger man and never look back. He knew Behrukh would want him to go on without her and be happy. But he’d known that all along. So what had changed? Was he merely giving himself an excuse to do what he wanted?
Maybe. Believing that Behrukh would approve certainly seemed convenient. But he’d already slept with Callie once. He didn’t see how stopping would change anything. He doubted he’d be able to keep his hands off her, anyway. That one encounter had been far too brief....
He saw her in the kitchen window as he turned down the drive. At the sound of his motorcycle, she looked up and smiled—and he was hit with a deluge of testosterone.
Heart pounding in anticipation, he got off his bike and strode to the house.
She met him at the door. “How was work?”
“Fine. I made another two hundred dollars.”