“Sorry, I didn’t know you had company,” Fletch says, looking at Levi with curiosity. “Wait. I know you, don’t I?”
“You might remember me. I’m Levi, Liv’s brother,” he says.
“Oh, you’re the guy—” Fletch stops himself, looks at me, and then at Levi. “Nice to see you again. Are you back for good?”
“Yeah…I guess.”
George comes back running with Ava on his heels.
“Dad, can Ava help me feed Rosie?”
Fletch crouches to Ava’s level but looks up at Levi. “She yours?”
Levi nods. “Um, yeah, she’s mine. Who’s Rosie?”
“George’s California kingsnake. She eats once a week, so he usually feeds her at the weekend. She’s harmless. I promise Ava is safe,” Fletcher says.
“Um…okay.”
As the kids run inside, I take the box I prepared earlier and give it to Fletcher. “I saved some for you.”
“Man, this is why I love you,” Fletcher says, taking the box and diving in straight away. He moans and closes his eyes as he stuffs a whole cookie in his mouth. “Mm, I’ll never not think of Trinity Beach in Goa whenever I have these cookies.”
“I wonder if Mrs. Fonseca is still there, walking up and down the beach selling her cookies,” I say.
“Hmm, yeah, I think she’ll only stop when she’s dead. Thanks for these. I’ll keep an eye on the kids and give you some space.” I want to throw something at the back of his head when he turns around.
It’s ridiculous to imply something’s going on with Levi. We’ve only just met, and he’s only here so I can make him some ladybug wings.
“Maybe I should go and leave you and Fletcher to enjoy the rest of your afternoon,” Levi says.
“Me…and Fletch…oh, wait. You think we’re together?”
I laugh at his assumption because it couldn’t be further from the truth. Okay, so we messed around a bit when we met, but we never took it further because we became friends.
“You’re not? He said he loves you.”
I snorted. “Fletcher will fall in love with anyone that gives him food. He proposed to me once after trying my lamb curry.”
Levi smiles and rubs the back of his neck, making his hair stand up. His eyes regain some of the light that seemed to be lost after Fletch arrived.
“Shall we get started on your wings?” I ask.
“Sure. What can I do to help?”
I pull up the stool under my workbench and indicate for him to sit. Then I measure his back to make sure I have the right length for the strap.
“Now, you get to pick your fabric while I build the frame.” I put a selection in front of him and he picks a red one with black polka dots that’s closest to Ava’s design.
“Good choice. That was actually my first attempt at doing Bandhani to color Ava’s wings, but the dots came out too big.”
“You did this yourself?”
“Yeah, it’s one of my favorite techniques to dye fabric.”
Levi runs his hands over the fabric, and somehow I know he understands the skill and tradition behind it. He’s looking at it like an artist would. I don’t know how I know, but I just do.
It doesn’t take me long to build the frame for the wings and then attach the fabric. While I do it, Levi takes a cookie and walks around the workshop.
