26
A
ll the changes Callie had been expecting—and dreading—came to pass in the next few days. Once she told her parents about her illness, her time at the farm was over. Diana and Boone insisted she move home.
It was only Wednesday, three days after Levi had left, when her father drove out to help her pack and close up the house. They no longer trusted that she was capable of taking care of herself, which was annoying and restrictive even though she knew it stemmed from their desire to keep her with them as long as possible.
Her parents weren’t the only ones making life more difficult. Her friends were also struggling to accept what was coming—and that included her assistant, Tina. Visitors came by often once she was back in town, but seeing them wasn’t the same kind of fun it had once been. And to make it all that much worse, Levi’s departure had left as big a hole in her life as she’d known it would.
The only positive things about having told everyone she was dying was that her parents finally met her doctor, she didn’t have to hide when she took her medication or feel guilty about deceiving anyone and if she was tired she didn’t need an excuse to nap. She was also rid of Chief Stacy, it seemed. When he found out she wasn’t long for this world, she stopped being a viable alternative for his future wife and he lost interest. She could tell when she spoke to him, briefly, about Levi. Oddly enough, he still seemed relieved that Levi was gone, even though her friends hadn’t revealed Levi’s true identity. Callie wasn’t sure why Chief Stacy had felt so threatened by him.
“You’re looking good,” Baxter told her when he came by on Thursday night after work.
They were sitting on the back patio not far from her father’s large garden, watching Rifle chase bees.
“Thanks,” she said. But she knew he was lying. He had to be. She was doing worse than ever. Since word got out and Levi had gone, she felt as if something inside her had caved in—like a dam washed downstream—and given her illness free rein. It was almost as if, by telling, she’d accepted her fate and could no longer avoid it.
The silence grew awkward. “How’s work?” she asked in an attempt to fill the void.
Baxter yanked at the tie he’d already loosened. “Fine. I should have a good month.”
They’d discussed this type of thing before. A good month meant he’d make fifteen to twenty thousand dollars. She smiled at his success. “I should’ve become a stockbroker.”
“Why? You’re an amazing photographer.”
“After all the work I put into my business, I never netted twenty thousand dollars in one month.”
“But you love what you do.”
She hadn’t even picked up her camera since she’d moved home. “Tina will do a great job with Reflections.”
Before he could object to what her statement implied, her mother called from the back door. “Callie?”
She twisted around. “Yes?”
“You’ve been up for quite some time. Don’t you think you should come in and rest, dear?”
Callie wanted to say she could rest when she was dead, but she knew that would only upset her mother. “In a minute.”
Baxter managed to unfasten another button on his expensive shirt. “Tell me something.”
“What?” she said.
He waited to make sure her mother was gone before continuing. “Has Dylan ever mentioned seeing me with...”
“With...”
“A guy?”
At this, she sat up straighter. “What do you mean?”
“I mean what you think I mean. I was on a date once. We went to Jackson to avoid running into anyone around here. But Dylan came into the bar with some fighter friend. I’m pretty sure he saw me. I’m equally sure he recognized me. And I’m convinced he knew exactly what was going on.”
Callie took a sip of the ice water she’d brought out with her. “When was this?”
“Before he got together with Cheyenne—a couple of years ago.”
“He’s never said a word. At least, not to me. Maybe he mentioned it to Cheyenne, though.”
His thumb moved thoughtfully over his cleft chin. “Dylan’s a cool dude.”
“He’s perfect for Chey. Really good to her. But what makes you ask about that now? After so much time? Wouldn’t you know if he’d outed you?”
He stared across her father’s carefully manicured lawn toward the cinder-block fence. Their yard wasn’t large, but her father’s landscaping was meticulous.
“Noah’s been acting strange lately. I’m afraid he’s guessed.”
Alarmed about what this might mean for Baxter, for their group, Callie shifted in her seat. “Strange in what way?”
“Going from one woman to the next. Sleeping around and telling me every sordid detail. I think he’s trying to let me know he’ll never be interested in me.” He laughed bitterly. “As if I didn’t know that already.”
“That could be a subconscious reaction,” she pointed out.
“I’m not sure. It’s almost as if...as if he flinches when I come anywhere near him. It was never like that before.”
“Callie?” her mother called again. “Honey, you really
need to rest.”
“Mom—” she started, but Baxter shook his head.
“I have to go, anyway,” he said, standing.
Callie didn’t want him to leave. But she knew he was probably eager to get out of his suit, and maybe he had plans. She’d never realized he was dating, but, of course, that made sense. She couldn’t expect him to remain celibate his whole life just because he wasn’t ever going to be with Noah.
“Thanks for coming.”
He gave her a hug. “Are you missing Levi?”
Her hand went automatically to the bird pendent at her neck. She was glad Levi had given her a keepsake to remember him by. “I’m happy he escaped this part.”
“I wonder if
he
is,” he murmured, but Callie pretended not to hear it.
Levi had to be happier wherever he was—or he would’ve come back.
* * *
His trophies were still on display. Levi hadn’t really thought his father would put them away. They meant too much to Leo, were more
his
badges of honor than they were Levi’s. But it was a shock to see that so little had changed in eight years. When he’d returned home after being discharged from the army, Levi had spoken to his father—or, rather, berated him—before taking off again. He hadn’t been here since he was nineteen and training every day.
The front desk sat empty, but there was a class going on. Levi stood just inside the doorway, watching children six to eight years old follow the motions of their instructor. Although Levi didn’t recognize the man in charge, he guessed the guy was a student from one of his father’s advanced classes. Leo often hired his black belts to teach the beginners.
When the teen caught sight of Levi in the mirror that ran along one wall, his eyes widened and he stopped teaching. “We have a special treat today,” he announced to the class. “Look behind you. This is Sensei Pendleton’s son, Levi, who was one of the greatest fighters in the world. Do you recognize him from his picture right there?” He pointed to a plaque on the far wall. “He has a black belt in tae kwon do
and
jujitsu, and he won practically
all
of those trophies in that case over there.”
Levi heard a ripple of “That’s
him?
” and “He’s back!” and “Sensei told me about him.” As the children turned to stare, he almost walked out. This wasn’t what he’d come for, to bask in the admiration of all those who’d like to achieve what he’d achieved. After what he’d done to those police officers in Nevada, he didn’t deserve their admiration.
He wasn’t sure exactly
why
he’d come. It’d taken him well over a week to make his way slowly up to the city where he’d been raised. Some days he didn’t want to arrive here at all, so he’d headed back or traveled inland; others, he couldn’t resist the tug of homesickness that eventually won out.
“I’ll get your father,” the instructor said, and hurried into the back.
Leo walked out a second later, chewing, as if Levi had interrupted his lunch. No doubt it was food he’d brought from home. Chances were slim that Leo would be eating restaurant fare. He was too careful about what he put in his body.
Although Leo had started shaving his head, possibly to hide the gray, he was fit and toned and younger-looking than other men his age. But he was favoring his right leg. That old injury had always given him trouble.
“I’ll be damned,” he muttered. Then he focused on Levi’s arms and the pinkish bite marks that weren’t quite healed. “What happened to you?”
Levi didn’t answer. He was asking himself what he’d hoped to gain by confronting his father again. He was crazy to expect any kind of peace with Leo, wasn’t he?
It would just be more of the same. He shouldn’t have made the effort.
He took a step toward the door, but his father hurried after him.
“Wait! At least sit down and talk to me for a minute.”
And say what? What could they say that would change anything?
Yet Levi hesitated.
“Come on. There’s a good—” Leo seemed to be scrambling to come up with something appealing “—a good restaurant down the street. I’ll take you there.”
“Looks like you were already having lunch,” Levi said.
“I just started. We’ll go there instead.”
Why not? He’d come this far. Besides, he was curious to see what restaurant his father would deem good enough for a champion’s body.
Levi waited as Leo gave the young man teaching the class some instructions. Then he followed Leo out into the sunshine and down the street to a dimly lit pub that served burgers and fries and draft beer.
“You’re willing to eat here?” Levi raised his eyebrows in surprise.
“If it’d give me a minute alone with you, I’d eat dirt.”
Levi had no idea how to respond to that. His father wasn’t typically forthcoming with such comments.
“How have you been?” Leo asked.
Lost, Levi realized. He’d been lost for so long he didn’t know if he’d ever find himself. And it was difficult not to blame his father, who’d been so damn overbearing. “Fine.”
He indicated the scars on his arms. “Those marks are...”
“I was attacked by dogs a few weeks ago.”
“Why?”
“Shit like that happens when you’re out on the road,” he said with a shrug.
The waitress came by and Leo asked for a veggie burger. The curvy blonde almost laughed. “Sorry, no veggie burgers here.”
“What do you have?”
“As far as vegetables go, we have iceberg lettuce, pickles and tomatoes. Unless you count ketchup and fries.”
“Give me whatever you think is good. Levi?”
Levi ordered a half-pound burger, onion rings and a shake. He actually preferred to eat healthy, too. His father had trained him well. But he didn’t want Leo to know that his training had been so effective.
Surprisingly, Leo didn’t complain about his selections. “I—I’ve been worried about you,” his father said.
Slinging one arm over the back of his chair, Levi struck an indifferent pose. “Why would you worry about me?”
Leo lowered his voice. “Come on, that incident in Reno was all over the news. What happened, Levi? Why’d you do it?”
He’d just left his father’s house a few days before. The residual emotion from that was part of the reason. He’d also been drinking, which didn’t help. “The one cop, the older one, was a seasoned officer. He was showing off for the rookie.”
“And?”
“I barely touched the rookie.”
Leo slid the beer menu to one side. “What made you go after the other guy?”
“I was sitting on the ground, resting outside an office building. Hungry, tired. He came up and told me to move on. It could’ve ended there. But he kicked me when I didn’t get up fast enough.”
“He didn’t realize you could defend yourself.”
“No. I think that was kind of a shock.”
His father cursed. “When I didn’t hear anything from you after that, I thought maybe they’d caught you, put you in jail somewhere.”
“Not yet.”
“I wish that incident hadn’t happened,” he said, rubbing his face.
“So do I,” Levi admitted.
His father straightened the ketchup and mustard and the napkin holder in the center of their small table. “You might be interested to learn that...I found Ellen a few months ago.”
Levi blinked at him. “My
sister?
How?”
“I hired a P.I.”
“Don’t,” Levi growled. “Don’t do that. Leave her alone. Her and Mom.”
The waitress returned with two ice waters and Levi’s shake. When she was gone, Leo said, “I just...I wanted to see her, to assure myself that she was okay. That’s all.”
Levi had no interest in his food. How would he get it down now that he’d ordered it? “And? Is she? Okay, I mean?”
A distant smile curved Leo’s lips as he nodded. “She’s beautiful. Looks exactly like you. Just graduated from Oregon State in advertising and marketing.”
The urge to deck his father came out of nowhere, proving that the anger was still there, lurking beneath everything else.
Purposely shifting his gaze to the dark wood paneling and lighted beer signs surrounding them, Levi told himself to calm down. His father had cost him a lot—a normal childhood, a relationship with his mother and sister, a sense of home and belonging. But there was nothing to be done about that now. Life was what it was. “Where’s Mom? Did you hire a P.I. to find her, too?”
“No. And Ellen wouldn’t tell me much. Shelly still wants nothing to do with me.”
“Does that surprise you?” Levi asked with a bitter laugh.
He winced. “No.”
Levi scratched his arms. Due to the healing process, they were always itching. “She remarried?”
“Your mother? Yes.”
“Does she have other kids?”
“Two, according to Ellen.”
Levi supposed Shelly deserved another family. It wasn’t her fault she’d married the wrong guy the first time around. But as defensive of her as he felt, Levi couldn’t help resenting the fact that she’d abandoned him. “Good for her.”
“You’ve had no contact with her?”
“None.” He drank some of his shake. “And I don’t want any. What about Ellen? She married?”
“No. Got a boyfriend, though.”
“And you?”
“I was married to one of my students, for a brief time.”