“Yeah. Annie. I know.”
He cocked his head. “How do you know about Annie?”
“You wrote about her. And I bet she’s the little girl in that family photo.” I pointed to the picture above his mantel.
Levi looked surprised as hell that I knew so much about his life.
So I told him, “I’m not a stalker, I swear. I just got intrigued by the letter. You sounded so sad. I wanted to make you feel better. I know that doesn’t make sense. We don’t even know each other. But it’s how I felt. After I read the letter, I looked you up online. There’s an old Facebook page that you probably haven’t used in a long time, but it’s still got some of your life on it. I wasn’t sure that was you, of course. And you’ve changed alot.But I can see that you’re the same man, just a few years wiser.”
He studied me as he finished his breakfast.
When he got up to take our plates away, he winced as if it hurt to stand up. Then I noticed a slight limp that hadn’t been there earlier.
I got my butt up and took the plates from him. “You cooked, so I’ll wash.”
He growled out, “I can do it.”
“Ofcourseyou can. But I’m the guest. And I want to feel useful.” That’s when I realized that Levi didn’t want to show any signs of weakness. But it wasn’t weakness to survive whatever he’d gone through. It was strength.
He looked away from me as I dipped the plates in soapy water and scrubbed.
His voice was low and deep, as though he were telling me a secret. “I have to take some pain pills… normally after breakfast I lay down for a while until they kick in.”
It made me feel sad to know he was still living with the aftermath of whatever had caused all the damage to his body.
“Yeah, sure,” I said cheerily. “While you do that, maybe I’ll go sightseeing in town. Is there anything you recommend?” I wanted to give the man some privacy.
He winced as he reached for a prescription bottle from one of the kitchen cabinets. I couldn’t help but notice it looked like an entire pharmacy in that cabinet. Or maybe a health food store. He had alotof bottles of pills.
He popped the pill and swallowed it dry. Then let out a deep breath. “Depends on what you like to do, Robin. There’s some shopping on the main strip. You mentioned reading. There’s a bookstore next to the knitting shop called Bookish. A lot of people get lunch at the Silver Pines Lodge if you want something fancy. Or the Hungry Rooster if you just want good old Southern home-cooking. There’s a waterfall that tourists like to look at, although it’s frozen this time of year. Outdoor skating on a pond. And about a thousand hiking trails.”
“Maybe I’ll hit up that bookstore.”
His gaze skated across my face. “Yup. I’m not trying to chase you out. You come back as quick as you want. I’ll leave the front door unlocked so you can come right in.”
It was at that moment that I knew without a doubt that Leviwantedme to come back.
I beamed up at him. “I’ll be back. It’s not often that Santa offers to be my tour guide.”
“Santa?” he furrowed his brows.
“When I showed up, you were wearing a Santa hat. What a sight you were, Levi. In your underwear and your Santa hat. For a girl that loves Christmas, it was perfect to drive up on that.”
A warmth flooded his expression, and if I hadn’t known any better, I’d say the man was blushing. “I just grabbed it this morning because I couldn’t find my normal winter hat.”
“Do you have the whole costume to go with it?”
His expression clouded. “Yeah. But I haven’t worn it in a long time.”
Somehow I sensed that was a tricky subject. So, I pivoted fast.
“Well, who needs the rest of it? Just a Santa hat isperfect.”
His lips curved up into a gorgeous smile.
Chapter 9
Levi
