Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 108124 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108124 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
Well, it wouldn’t be over. Not in my heart anyway. Because you can’t just flip a switch and turn love off. But at least the risk of Tanner finding out would be minimal once Levi was gone.
I sat in my room and counted down the minutes with my heart ricocheting in my chest. Then my bedroom door suddenly burst open.
I jumped up from where I sat on the bed, and my hand covered my heart. “Alex, you scared the wits out of me! Remember our rule? We knock on any closed door, especially here at the inn.”
“Sorry, Mom. I just wanted to ask if it was okay if I went with Dad to drop Uncle Levi at the airport. Dad said I had to check with you to make sure you didn’t have anything else going on.”
I sighed. “That’s fine. Go ahead.”
Just like Tanner had done earlier, my son searched my face before his little one wrinkled. “Are you okay, Mommy?”
I smiled sadly. I hated lying to my son, even when it was for his own good. “I’m fine, honey. My allergies are just bothering me.”
He walked over and took my hand. “I’m sad Uncle Levi is leaving, too.”
I blinked a few times. “What?”
“When your allergies are bothering you, you sneeze all the time. I think you’re just sad like me that Uncle Levi is leaving. He’s fun to have around.”
I stroked my son’s cheek. He was such a perceptive little boy. “How about you and I take a ride to the beach tomorrow? Maybe we can get a hotel room for the night and spend two days surfing the waves in Myrtle Beach?”
My son fist pumped. “Can I get a new boogie board before we go?”
I smiled. “Of course.”
“Okay!” Alex squeezed my hand. He then started for the door, but stopped when he realized I wasn’t following. “Come on. Uncle Levi is packing the car. You need to say goodbye.”
“Ummm...” I couldn’t think of a way to avoid doing it, so I reluctantly nodded. “Okay.”
Out in the kitchen, Levi was putting his laptop into a backpack when we walked in. He looked up and, if I didn’t know better, I would’ve thought he was in as much pain as I was.
He smiled sadly. “Hey.”
“Hey.”
Tanner strolled into the room, swinging around a set of keys dangling from a lanyard. He smiled. “You ready to go, superstar?”
Levi’s eyes jumped to meet mine again before he looked down to zip his backpack. “Yep.”
“Let’s hit the road then.”
Again, Levi’s eyes met mine. Of course, my plan had been to avoid saying goodbye, but now it would seem weird if we didn’t at least hug or something. So I took a deep breath and walked over. “Goodbye, Levi. Good luck this season.” The hug was awkward, but when I went to pull away, Levi’s grip on me tightened.
He whispered in my ear, “Good luck with this place. My grandfather was a wise man.”
When he released me and I took a step back, there were tears in his eyes. Levi coughed and turned away. “Let’s go. I don’t want to miss my flight.”
I followed them to the door, completely numb. Levi never looked back as he got into Tanner’s SUV and buckled. Alex climbed into the back and the engine started, but at the last second, Tanner opened the driver’s side door and jogged up to the porch where I stood. He kissed my cheek and pulled me in for a hug.
“I forgot to say goodbye.”
Tanner and I had put a lot of the hard feelings behind us, and we were friendly these days, but we weren’t in a place where we hugged and kissed goodbye, so I thought it was odd. Until I looked up and saw Levi watching from the car. That had been Tanner’s point. Apparently my son wasn’t the only perceptive one in the house, and Tanner wanted to leave his brother with a lasting memory.
***
I allowed myself a solid hour of crying, and then I took a second shower. I’d considered calling Harper to talk through everything, but that would have inevitably led to more tears, and I didn’t want to be red faced and swollen when my son arrived back home. So instead, I put the kettle on and made a cup of chamomile tea. As I steeped the bag and stared into space, someone knocked at the front door. More and more people had been stopping by to inquire about renting a room lately. While that was a good thing, I was glad there was still another week until the grand opening, because I couldn’t imagine having to smile and welcome strangers right now.
But when I opened the door, it wasn’t a stranger on the other side at all.
Tanner’s mother took one look at my face and frowned. “Can I come in?”