I continued to the store. Beside it, there was a set of stairs that appeared to lead to the living quarters above. I ascended the steps, took a steadying breath, and knocked.
After a few minutes, the door opened and an old man opened the door. His face was skimmed by a short white beard, and when he saw me, his eyes glinted, and he smiled.
“Wow,” he said, and even with his age, he sounded more like a little boy than an old man. “The Demon Wolf himself.”
I was gettingverytired of being called that.
“Good evening, Mr. Hollis. I was wondering if June was in,” I said.
“She sure is,” the man said, and turned into the house. “June, girl? You got a suitor at the door.”
I’d have been mortified by that had I not seen the mischievous gleam in the man’s eyes as he’d said that, so I chuckled to myself and waited for June. She appeared a fewseconds later, looking confused, but when she saw me, her face went blank.
“Levi? Why are you here?” she said.
“Uh…” I glanced at her grandfather. “Can we maybe talk outside?”
“Sure,” she said, but sounded weary and like she didn’tactuallywant to do that. Her grandfather winked at her as she grabbed her coat and stepped out.
“Grandpa,stop,” she groaned as she closed the door behind her. Looking at me, she said, “What is it?”
“I’m sorry,” I said, deciding it was best to get it all out of the way as soon as possible. “For coming here without telling you. I should have sent word before I came to stay in Idlewild. That was a dick move, and I’m a piece of shit for doing it. I’m sorry. I made your life more difficult, more stressful, and more exhausting than it needed to be, and I want to apologize for that.”
As I spoke, her eyes grew steadily wider, until I was done. For a few seconds she simply stared at me, as if unsure what to say. Finally, she gave me a single nod, and a faint smile appeared on her lips.
“Thanks for that,” she said. “It actually means a lot that you acknowledged it.”
“I should have said that days ago.” I shrugged and leaned back against the railing. “I guess I’m either too dumb or hard-headed to do things when I’m supposed to.”
“You aren’t dumb,” she said, grinning at me. “Hard-headed? Yeah, you may have a point there.”
I burst out laughing. “Fair enough. At least you know me well.”
“Listen,” she said, jamming her hands into the pockets of her jacket. “I’ve got a thing tonight, but I’ve got some time before that. Do you want to go get a coffee or something?”
The offer, innocent as it was, felt like an olive branch. It made my heart leap and my soul soar, but I had to remember what was really going on here. As badly as I wanted to go with her, to chat over a steaming cup, to take her into my arms and drag her back home, I couldn’t. She’d made her choice; I’d been the main reason she’dhadto make that choice. If Anders or one of his friends spotted us, things wouldn’t go well for June.
“How about we take a raincheck?” I said, trying to inject some levity into my tone and praying she didn’t hear how badly it hurt me to turn her down.
She held my gaze for a few heartbeats before giving me a nod of assent. “I’ll hold you to that.”
Holding the rail, I walked backward down the steps to continue looking at her.
“I’ll call that a deal,” I said, and stepped down onto the sidewalk at the base of the steps.
“What are you doing tonight?” she asked as I began to walk away.
Grinning, I pointed down the street. “I think I’m gonna try sushi. Never had it before, but everyone raves about it.” I shrugged. “I’ve had raw trout up in the mountains before, but this is supposed to be better.”
June laughed, which was music to my ears and filled me with hope and longing.
“Spicy crunch tuna roll,” she said as she opened the door. “My personal fav.”
“Duly noted. Thanks.”
She held my gaze for a moment, then waved. “Good night, Levi.”
“Good night, June.”
