“Nah, you’re just getting old, pops,” Levi replied with a smirk, his own hands resting on top of his head as his breathing began to return to normal.
Levi had moved to Highland back in the spring. His twin brother, Logan, was already here, had been for several years. Their parents were recent residents as well. Levi worked remotely doing digital editing, so his flexible schedule made him an ideal running partner as my shifts were sometimes irregular with my occasional overnights, depending on the schedule. He ran with Logan quite a bit too, and I sometimes joined them, but we got out at least two times a week to run through town instead of the trails at the park.
I dropped next to him on the wall, looking at the white lights around the square. They were lit up even at lunchtime, but the gray day benefited from them. The warm glow gave the entire space a feeling like I’d walked into one of the Hallmark holiday movies Mom loved to have on the television this time of year.
“This is some Christmas-card shit,” Levi said, gesturing around us.
“That it is.”
I felt Levi look my way. “You want to tell me why you started today’s run like you were being chased? There’s a reason you were dragging ass at the end, you know.”
I hung my head. He was right, and the churning in my gut hadn’t lessened during the last five miles.
“You not loving being dad on duty?”
My head spun to Levi. “Hell, no. Hanging out with Mia is the best.” We sat in silence for a beat before I continued. “I just feel like I’m failing Grace.”
Levi gave a murmur of understanding before he stood and kicked my leg. “Let’s do our cool-down jog to your place for this conversation. It’s a bit chilly for sitting on the stone wall here—my ass is numb.”
I chuckled, hauling myself up, and we started our slow jog toward home.
He gave me a block before calling me out. “So how are you failing your girl? Thought you two were solid.”
“Thought so too. I mean, we are for the most part. It’s just… we’ve been together for years, since we were kids in college. But now? Since Mia was born, there’s been this distance.”
We turned down Main Street, careful of our steps. This part of town had the original brick-lined street that ran a few blocks. Cool, sure, but a bitch to run on.
“What are you going to do about it?” Levi asked as we quickly took another right back to a normal road as we finished the last few blocks of our run.
“Well, I called in reinforcements.” I gestured to the car in my driveway up ahead. “My mom.”
Levi hooted. “You called your mom?”
“Tell me you wouldn’t pull Linnie in if you were desperate to help some girl you loved.” I gave him a skeptical look. Liam and Logan’s mom, Linnie, lived for helping out her boys.
“I’m not going to have to worry about that for some time. I’m off relationships.” Levi shook his head.
“Really? Even with curvy blondes that love nothing more than to argue with you?”
Levi’s sister-in-law was Allyson. Allyson’s sister, Maeve, was in and out of Highland Falls as she flitted about the Midwest—hell, the country. Anytime I saw her with Levi, the sparks flew. The question was whether there was romantic attraction or just a desire to piss each other off. Jury was still out on that one.
“Not going there for a variety of reasons, man.”
“But no denial that you’d like to? Hmm, interesting.”
“Back to the tag in of your mom.” Levi pointed at my mom’s Subaru Outback in the drive.
I shrugged. “Called her this morning and unloaded. She pointed out that Grace and I are sleep-deprived. Offered to come down and take nighttime duty for a few. Grace readily agreed. Mom got here an hour or so ago, and Grace is working at the library this morning—” The vibration from my phone stopped my conversation as I pulled it out to see if Grace needed anything.
“All good?” Levi asked.
I choked out a laugh after reading the message. “It’s from Emma. She says Grace wants me to come to the Homestead, but she’s had two beers, so she’s not sure how long she’ll be awake.”
“One, thought she was at work.”
I shrugged, shooting a text back to Emma. “I’m guessing they got done and headed that way.”
“And two”—Levi glanced at the time on his Garmin—“two beers by one p.m. on a Saturday. Your girl is starting early.”
