“Please.” She squeezed his arm. “Tell me what it is.”
“Mia...”
“Please, Levi. I’m already worried, and... just tell me.”
Levi shifted, his gaze skittered away before returning to hers. “I’ve just got so much on my plate right now. I have too many responsibilities, too many people counting on me. And I’m letting them all down.”
He was so hard on himself.
“You’re doing better than you think.”
“Reality would suggest otherwise. Mia... tonight’s made me realize that I need to make some tough decisions. I don’t have room in my life for a relationship right now, no matter how much I might...” He gave her a pained look. “I’ve really enjoyed getting to know you—more than you might realize.”
Mia’s heart twisted. She resisted the urge to clutch at her chest. “This is awfully sudden.”
“I’m sorry, but I just need to focus on my duties right now. I wish that weren’t the case. I hope you believe that.”
“You’re just tired.” Her voice was a raspy whisper she hardly recognized. “You’ll feel differently in the morning.”
His eyes went soft, and for one hopeful minute she thought he was going to take back everything he’d said.
“I wish that were true, Mia. But I have a lot of responsibilities right now. Things I put my life in Denver on hold for—important things. And I’ve let all that slide lately because I was too busy—”
“Entertaining me?” Mia removed her hand from his arm, her body going rigid.
It was becoming real now, and all her defenses were rising to the surface. So much for trusting. So much for letting her guard down. Stupid!
He opened his mouth, then closed it again. His hand enveloped hers. “I’ve enjoyed every moment we’ve spent together. I don’t regret getting to know you, Mia. It’s been... I’ll never forget you.”
She pulled her hand away, her eyes burning, her throat swelling. “It’s fine. Of course it’s fine. I’ll be out of your hair in the morning.” She turned to go.
“You don’t have to go, Mia,” Levi called.
Oh, she thought as she took the stairs one last time.But I do.
forty-one
Levi sopped up the excess water around the suite’s hearth with a towel. He hoped the efforts would help minimize damage to the original fireplace. It had been constructed with stone from the mountains surrounding Bluebell Lake. He could already see some loose grout between the lower stones, but that was repairable.
He’d encouraged his sisters to go to bed a while ago. Thanks to their bedroom’s location on the other side of the stairwell, theirs had been the only one upstairs untouched by water. Earlier he’d heard the floors creaking with their movements, but all was quiet now.
As tired as he was, he hadn’t let himself stop. There were three women in the house, and they were all mad at him for different reasons. That took a special kind of talent.
He worked on things that could’ve waited till morning. He pulled the baseboard from the walls, drying them with towels. He hoped they could be salvaged with a little TLC.
And now he worked on the fireplace. He moved around the hearth, hunching over it, blotting the lower stones. His body worked at the task while his head spun with thoughts of Mia. Of the look that had come over her face when he’d explained his situation.
Disbelief. Raw hurt and vulnerability.
That was the image he couldn’t erase from his memory. He hadn’t known how much pain it would cause him to hurt her. He’d considered recanting for just a moment. But then he thought of his sisters. His parents.His deathbedpromiseto his father.A sacred promise he’d sooner die than break.
But that look on her face. He closed his eyes for a long second, gritting his teeth, wishing it away. But when he opened them again it was still there. He was just failing all the way around, wasn’t he?
Along with everything else he’d lost, he’d had to give up the only woman he’d ever loved to take care of sisters who apparentlydidn’t even want his help.
An angry cloud of billowing steam built up inside, making his face heat. His body broke out into a sweat. He smacked a stone with his palm. His flesh stung, and he welcomed the pain.
He’d displaced the stone. Great. He frowned at it. Now he’d broken the fireplace. He pushed the piece back into place, but it was looser than he’d anticipated. Probably needed more grouting. He pulled it out and set it on the hearth, surprised by its shallow depth. He glanced back at the space left by the rock’s displacement, his eyes sharpening on the cavity.
