Benjamin lunged for Levi’s hand and dragged him to the living room, where he kept his model train set. June paused long enough to exchange a meaningful glance with Levi, justto confirm that he was truly all right with their date getting diverted this way, then ducked briefly into the kitchen to make sure that dinner wasn’t burning. By the time she made it back to the living room, Levi and Benjamin had already set up a large section of tracks and were carefully positioning trees and signs to create their own little town.
When June heard them talking as they worked, she paused in the doorway to listen.
“Did my mom tell you that I have diabetes?” Benjamin asked as he handed Levi a bridge piece.
Levi’s hands paused only briefly before he kept at their task.
“She did,” he said calmly, keeping his attention on his task.
“I didn’t have it before,” Benjamin continued. He didn’t sound particularly upset, but June listened keenly for any signs that he was putting on a brave face. It was one of the things she worried about most, that her son was hiding his true feelings for her benefit. “But I have it now. And I’m going to always have it. That’s what my doctor says.”
Levi hummed thoughtfully. “It’s weird how that can happen, isn’t it? That something can be true not before, but then stay true forever?”
Benjamin’s eyes went wide as though Levi had said something wonderfully profound.
“Yeah,” he agreed breathlessly. “It’s so weird. But I’m kind of glad that we know now, because I felt really sick a lot before my doctor figured out that it was because my body gets confused by sugar. Now, I don’t feel sick as much.” He paused. “I do miss cookies, though.”
“That makes a lot of sense,” Levi said. “Do you think it’s a good trade, though? Feeling good but not getting cookies?”
Benjamin paused, thinking this over.
“Yeah, I guess so,” he said. Then, more brightly, he added, “Also, I can havespecialcookies that they make for kids with diabetes. They’re not as good, but they’re still pretty good.”
“That’s a pretty impressive skill you’ve got there,” Levi praised.
Benjamin scrunched his nose at Levi, who was still diligently focusing on the train, even though he’d moved the same toy tree three times. “Eating cookies?”
Levi laughed, a friendly sound, not a mocking one. “Well, I’d have to see how good you are at that before I can judge,” he said. “But no, I meant looking on the bright side. That’s really impressive, especially for someone your age.”
Benjamin’s happiness at this praise was evident even without June being able to see his face, and she felt a pang at the sight of the way her son soaked up this positive attention from an older man. She did the best she could with her son, and she didn’t doubt her capabilities as a mother. But Benjamin had spent too long without a father figure in his life. It made sense that he was latching on to Levi at the first chance.
June returned to the kitchen, confident that Benjamin and Levi would be fine playing for a little while longer. She needed a moment to sort throughherfeelings too.
If her eyes prickled with tears as she worked on dinner, she blamed it on the onions she was chopping.
Deep down though, she didn’t believe that lie. She was wonderfully touched by the kind, open-hearted way that Levi had listened to Benjamin’s concerns, the way he had validated Benjamin’s worries and praised his resilience.
But…
But June had already known that there was no real future between her and Levi, not when his future was so up in the air and hers needed to be planted firmly in Magnolia Shore’s soil. And that meant that she couldn’t afford to let her son getattached to him. Tonight was one thing. Tonight was just dinner. But anything further, and Benjamin’s heart would be at risk.
Except deep down, June knewthiswas a lie too, or at least only a half-truth. She wasn’t only concerned with Benjamin’s heart. It was hers too.
She liked Levi, to borrow the simple yet oh so affecting terms he’d used on their previous date gone wrong. She liked talking to him, liked his sense of humor. She liked that he seemed as happy playing trains with her son as he did hanging out at the local bar, that he came out to the park with her even when he was freezing. She just likedhim.
And if she let herself get any more attached, it would be that much harder to say goodbye.
He wasn’t going tostayeither.Sure, he might be having fun with her for now, but he came from a life of wealth, glitz, glamour, fame. The kind of life that people worked their whole lives for and often didn’t get anyway. But Levi… he’d had the talent to make it to the top. It would be selfish of June to even want him to stay away from the rewards that he’d earned with his skills and his hard work.
She sniffled a little.
“You okay?”
Levi’s voice from behind her startled her.
“Oh, just the onions,” she said, wiping her eyes with her wrist. She tried to offer him a watery smile.
She didn’t think that her expression was very convincing, and, judging from Levi’s expression, he wasn’t reassured either. But Benjamin was close on his heels, so he didn’t press the issue.
