He stood up, putting some space between us. “Exactly. No reason. Friends it is.”
My head cleared immediately. I sucked in a deep breath and took the paintbrush out of his hand. “We’ll see. We can be friends, but you’re on probation. I trust you about as far as I can throw you, Levi.”
He winked at me. “No funny business,” he promised. “We’ll be friends. It’ll be fun.”
Shaking my head at him, I couldn’t help the curling heat in my belly. Instinctively, I knew fun wasn’t what it would be. It might be a lot of things, but it would never be so innocent a thing to be called fun.
Jason and Jamie walked back into the kitchen laughing about something. Jason kissed his wife goodbye and then he headed back downstairs to the man cave with Levi.
Jamie watched them go. “I didn’t know you and Levi were such good friends,” she said.
“Me neither.” She raised her eyebrow curiously. I just shrugged. “We graduated together,” I finally explained. “I was always better friends with Logan though.”
“Jason and Logan were best friends in high school,” she said, suddenly somber. “Now… Levi and Jason… I think they just like to be around each other. They each remind the other of Logan.”
Sadness descended on our Halloween fun mood so quickly, I didn’t know how to navigate through it. Explaining my personal grief would only get me into trouble but dismissing the topic would be suspicious.
Thankfully, Jamie moved on before I had to. “Ready to put together the snacks? We’re going to make pumpkins out of mandarin oranges and bats out of pretzels and—”
Oh, god, I inwardly groaned. We were only halfway finished.
12
Tipping Point
Iwatched Levi Cole walk across the street five days later and wondered what he was up to. He’d been in the diner three other mornings this week and had played nice all three times.
He’d been consistently friendly and attentive, going out of his way to talk to me or say good morning. He hadn’t stayed long any of the times he’d visited yet, but he always made time for two cups of coffee and a healthy-ish breakfast.
After serving him egg whites and veggies all week, I was starting to feel guilty for the lack of greens in my diet. Clearly the man worked out. He had the muscles and Greek-god-like body to prove it. But did he also have to eat well?
I planted my hands on my hips, ignoring the slight cushion on either side, and tried to figure out his angle.
“Ruby,” I customer called from down the line. Abandoning my lookout post, I grabbed the pot of coffee and made my way down the counter.
“What can I help you with?” I smiled at Billy, one of my regulars. He was a man in his late fifties, built like the semi-trucks he’d spent his life driving, with a handlebar mustache and a ten-gallon cowboy hat that he only removed when he was eating. His shiny bald head gleamed beneath the fluorescent lights of the diner and I had to wonder how a man of his size and stature had ever been mistaken as a Billy. Bill? Maybe. William? It was better. But Billy? I could never reconcile the long-haul driver with the sweet, childish nickname.
He also smelled like an ashtray.
“Can I get a piece of that apple pie I see in the display?” His deep, throaty voice remained gentle and polite. This was how I imagined a vegetarian grizzly bear made friends with chipmunks.
“It’s caramel apple, is that all right?”
He grinned at me. “Now why on earth wouldn’t it be, honey? Caramel apple’s even better.”
I nodded toward the kitchen. “Reggie really outdid himself with it too. It’s perfection. Would you like it for here or to go?”
“I’ll take it to go,” he said. “I gotta get on the road. But it’ll be nice to have a little piece of home later.”
“Sure thing,” I told him, spinning around to cut a piece of the pie and pack it up for him.
An aggressively clearing throat had me looking over my shoulder immediately. Billy’s eyes lifted quickly from where he’d been staring at my ass. I pretended not to notice. Levi stood a few feet down,notpretending not to notice.
His entire body had gone stiff and he stood there staring at Billy like he was seconds away from launching himself at the poor man. Billy felt his stare and flicked a glance Levi’s way before turning back to me.
“You okay, Ruby? Is this man bothering you?” Levi asked in a gruff tone.
I smiled at Billy and then at Levi. “Who, Billy? Billy’s one of my favorites,” I told him. “I can count on him to always buy a piece of pie.”
