Haddie:I will be. Once I get to see my best friend. But it’s late. You don’t need to wait up.
Emma:I’m waiting up.
Haddie smiled and sniffed back the threat of tears.
She never should have stopped at this hotel. She never should have put off the one thing that could help.Emma.
Haddie:See you soon.
Emma:Not if I see you first.
Haddie laughed and amended her previous thought. She never should have put off the one thing that could help: Emma and her dad jokes.
Chapter 2
“Tell me this is a joke.” Levi Rourke ran a hand through his alreadydisheveled hair.
His father held his arms up as if to say, “Ta-da!” and spun slowly, noting the drop cloths covering the furniture and the thin, see-through tarps not at all concealing a couple walls stripped down to the studs.
“Son…” Denny Rourke paused and crossed his arms. “I am a pest-control specialist by trade. Termites are nothing to joke about. I’m sure you can rent a room at the inn. That’s where your brother and Emma are staying.”
Levi sighed. He was happy Matteo and Emma were back together after all these years, but the last place Levi wanted to live indefinitely was an inn.
“Come on,” his father said, clapping him on the shoulder. “You don’t want to live with your old man and his girl anyway, do ya?”
Levi swallowed. He was happy for his father too. Somewhere deep down he knew he was. But despite having lost his mom almost a decade ago, it still hurt to see his dad move on, even if logically heknew it was ridiculous to feel that way.
Levi cleared his throat. “No,” he admitted. “I suppose I don’t. It was only going to be a week or two, anyway. Until I find something permanent. I can’t do the inn, Dad. I’ve got everything I own in my truck out there…” Levi pointed absently toward the front of the house. “I need to sort it all out.” He needed to sort his life out. He glanced around his childhood home that was quite literally in ruins and tried to reason with himself that he could live like this for a few days. The fumes weren’t that bad.
To prove it to himself, Levi lowered his dust mask, inhaled a deep breath, and immediately began to cough.
“Shit,” he muttered, sliding the mask back over his mouth and nose. “I don’t suppose you have a laptop available for me to check on current Summertown real estate? Pretty sure mine is buried somewhere in my car.”
Despite the mask on his father’s face, Levi could tell the older man was sighing by the droop of his shoulders. “Come on over to Tilly’s. I’ve got the whole Sunday paper spread out on the kitchen table. We’ll flip right to the real estate section and find you what you need.” Denny Rourke squeezed his son’s shoulder again. “I know you weren’t planning to come back home, but I’m still glad you’re here, Son.”
If his father was smiling along with his comment, he wasn’t doing it with his eyes. Sure, the guy might be happy Levi was home, but everyone knew—meaning every resident in Summertown along with anyone else who followed the world of college sports—that Levi wasn’t simply back for a prolonged visit. He’d been suspendedfrom his position as head football coach for at least a year, and thanks to legal fees and zero income, he needed a job and a place to crash. Thanks to his buddy who was now enjoying his honeymoon, Levi had the job taken care of. But he’d stupidly thought he could just crash at home until something better came along.
He followed his father out of the currently fumigating and partially gutted house and across the lawn to the home next door, pulling his mask off as soon as he hit the fresh summer air. Mrs. Higginson’s home. His father’s girlfriend’s home. Tilly, the name Matteo had warned he’d better use to greet her since they were no longer children who referred to people of their parents’ generation as if they were all classroom teachers at Summertown Elementary.
Before he had a chance to try out the name under his breath, the screen door flew open, and out flew the petite and spritely woman, arms spread wide.
“Levi! You’re home! This is a wonderful surprise!”
He let out a nervous laugh because they all knew him showing up was no surprise.
The top of her head barely reached his shoulder, but that didn’t keep her from throwing her arms around him and enveloping him in a surprisingly strong bear hug.
“Mrs. Higginson!” They were the only words he could produce in the moment.
She pushed herself back and playfully swatted him across the arm.
“Oh, come on now. Your father and I have been together for alittle over a year now. You can call me Tilly.”
Levi’s eyes widened.
Over a year now? He’d been gone long enough for his father to not only start dating their neighbor but to have already celebrated an anniversary?
“Wow,” was all he could muster. “Guess I’ve missed a lot. I’m, uh, sorry I wasn’t able to come home after last summer’s tornado to help clean up.” He cleared his throat. “Or for your back surgery, Dad.”
