Chapter Two
Dallas
The gray, rainy day just seems to underscore my mood, my life, in fact. Dull, colorless, and with no hope of sunshine in sight. What the rain has left behind runs in tiny rivers down the window panes of Annie’s Café, my breath puffing circles of mist on the inside as I exhale. I remember my tea that’s probably gone cold by now. Without looking, I reach for the handle of the teacup, and my fingers brush against the small paper package on the table next to it.
Inside it is the prescription I’ve come to town to refill. Flu meds and Tylenol drops. I wonder how long we’ll have to take them. It’s been almost two weeks of runny noses and headaches, and I don’t like the idea of constant medication. For me or for Mason. I can handle being sick, but it breaks my heart to see a child suffer with illness of any kind.
I turn away from the window, my eyes unseeingly passing over the interior of the café and its few customers, bitterly wondering how my life managed to turn from Seattle career woman to small town, frumpy single mother in the space of less than two years, when my gaze comes to a freezing halt, falling on the hulky form of a man perched on one of the counter stools, staring back at me.
My God, he seems covered in either hair or flannel from head to toe. It’s a wonder the slim spindle of the stool hasn’t snapped under his imposing weight and height, both greater than I remembered. But it’s his eyes that tell me the critical information. Moody and green as the carpet of forest covering the mountains that surround this isolated, hick town. I’d never forget them. They belong to Levi Strongbow. The man who disappeared from the world, and my life, nearly eighteen months ago. My heart begins to pound, and pain slices through my ribs as sharply as if he’d driven a knife between them. I lock my chin, unable to look away, as he rises from his chair and moves toward me. My nasty, post-nasal drip triggers my raw throat, and I recoil back into my seat, covering my mouth with my hands, trying to will away the oncoming fit of coughing. I don’t want him to see me like this. I close my eyes and stifle a nervous hack.
“Dally?” he asks. I smell the fresh air, pine boughs, and smoke that emanate from his hair and clothing. Though still low and sexy, his voice is rougher than I remember, rumbling like the thunder after a faraway lightning flash. “Are you alright?”
I open my eyes to see him standing a few feet from the edge of my table. He looks so different. If I didn’t know it was Levi, I’d be frightened of this grizzly bear of a man in front of me. As it is, I am more startled than afraid. Add in wary, curious, embarrassed, resentful—and however irrationally—happy to see him, in spite of his shocking appearance.
“I’m okay,” I nod, clearing my throat and moving my hands to a protective position around my neck. “Sorry, just a bit of a cold.” I swallow and straighten my posture in an attempt to regain my dignity. “Hello, Levi…is…is it really you?”
“Yes, it’s me,” he says, a warm grin parting the mass of hair between his chin and upper lip. “I could ask you the same question. But I don’t have to; I’d know you anywhere, Dallas Wynter.”
He gestures to the open seat across from me in the booth. I wave for him to join me, though it’s awkward as shit seeing him this way after all this time, and in the unlikeliest of places. Forks, Washington. Jeez.
My heart clenches at the thought of Mason, tossing fitfully in his crib, running a fever, his grandma worrying over how to comfort him, while I sit here nursing a cold cup of tea with his medicine in my hand. I need to get home right away; I don’t have time for this blast from the past. What is he doing here?
“Even in Forks, Washington, huh? Funny, it didn’t seem that you wanted to know me, Levi Strongbow, seeing as you disappeared like a thief in the night.”
He works his beard-covered jaw while furtively casting his gaze around the room before settling it on me again. If I’ve made him uncomfortable, he deserves it. He has no idea what he left behind. Still, the emerald depths of his eyes reach into my soul, as they always did during the time we were together. It feels like centuries ago, and yesterday at the same time. I can’t deny my feelings for him; foolishly or not, I was in love with the man. I’d have gone with him anywhere if only he’d asked. But he didn’t ask. He just left. And now, here he is, transformed from the cool, confident yuppie I was certain I was going to marry someday, to this—stranger—this hairy, unkempt sasquatch sitting across from me. The change is as unfathomable as his disappearance. He had everything to live for; his family business, a fiancé, a—no. I can’t bring myself to say it. Not yet. Not until I have some answers.
“I understand,” Levi says, bowing his head a little in contrition. His lush, brown hair with golden red undertones is grown out and parted in the middle, tamed into a single ponytail that reaches nearly to the middle of his back. I long to touch it, stroke its length, but keep both my hands knotted tightly together in my lap. “You have every right to be bitter, hate me, even. I deserve it. But you have to know I did it for a reason.”
“Are you going to tell me that reason?” I ask, my raised voice triggering another coughing fit. Dammit. I cover my mouth again and stifle a series of chest-wracking barks. Other patrons are starting to stare.
“Hey, you really aren’t all right,” he says, concern in his new, gruff voice that’s familiar yet foreign. In one smooth move he’s slid himself into my side of the booth, one flannel-jacketed arm around my shoulders, his strong, strangely smelly body pressed close to mine. “You need some water.” He offers me a glass the waitress has quickly brought over, and gently tips the cool, clear liquid into my mouth. I suck it down greedily, desperate to bring my breathing and my senses back to normal.
“Thanks,” I rasp, pushing away the glass and dabbing at my lips with the back of my hand. “It’s just this damn cold.” I swallow hard and take a deep breath, hyper-aware of his bodily presence practically surrounding me. I give an uncomfortable squirm. “You can let go, I’m fine. I don’t need your help.” That’s for damn sure. Not now, not anymore.
“You’re not fine,” he says, setting the glass down. “Don’t lie to me. That’s more than a garden variety cold. How long have you been sick?”
I turn to stare at him. “None of your damn business. As I recall, you were just a moneyed brat when you skipped out, not a doctor. Spare me your amateur diagnosis.” I struggle against his embrace, but he doesn’t budge. His arms feel as thick and strong as tree trunks. If only I’d had his strength to lean on when I’d needed it most. Damn him.
Levi relents and loosens his grip, apparently aware that nothing goes unnoticed in a small town like this. He lowers his voice. “Alright, I’m just worried. And I am sorry…you deserve an explanation. But not here, not now. I’m more concerned about you. What are you doing in Forks? Why aren’t you in Seattle, climbing the corporate ladder at Chase?”
“Can I get you folks something else?” the waitress interrupts, suddenly reappearing at the table with a second glass of water. “We have lozenges, antacids, and mints at the till. Or do you need something stronger?” She flashes a knowing, motherly look between us as she leans in a bit. “I can fix you some of the boss’s hot rum toddy…guaranteed to clear the sinuses and calm sore throats,” she says with a wink and a nod.
“Thank you, no,” Levi says, not bothering to ask my opinion on the matter.
“Ma’am?” she prods. Thank you for noticing I need something strong. Like willpower. My eyes fall on the drugstore package in front of me, and I quickly gather it toward me.
“I’m on medication,” I say. “Best not to mix with anything. Thank you, anyway.” The waitress acquiesces and retreats back to the kitchen.
Levi reaches over and snatches the package before I can react. “Meds? What kind of meds?” he says, inspecting the label.
Shit, the last thing I need is my domineering ex-fiancé poking into my private life that he no longer deserves to be part of. He had his chance, and he blew it. “Excuse me,” I croak angrily, reaching to take it back. “That’s mine.”
“Amoxicillin drops and infant Tylenol? These aren’t yours. Who is Mason Wynter?” He draws the package out of my reach and throws me a look, his green eyes smoldering with curiosity and accusation.
“He’s my son,” I snap, holding out my hand for the meds. “He’s sick. He’s only ten months old…please. Give me that package.” I draw in a ragged breath, willing myself not to cough again, and exhale in a pathetic sob. I hadn’t meant to reveal anything to him about my life, but I have no choice now. “Please, Levi.”
His whole demeanour softens at my words, and he falls silent for a moment. “You have a kid?” he finally says, his voice barely a whisper as he returns the packet.
“His name is Mason,” I say, taking hold of the meds and tucking them in my bag where I should have put them in the first place. “Life goes on, Levi.”
Levi shifts his weight on the bench, angling away from me now, as if he thinks he might catch whatever I’ve got. “I know, but…” He folds his large hands on the tabletop and lets out a breath. “Dally, I know we’ve been apart for a while, but that’s some pretty fast action, having a kid and all. It’s not my place to ask but, what happened after I left? Did you…meet someone? Get married?”
If he’d taken the trouble to look at my nude ring finger, he’d know the answer to that part of his question. As for the rest, he doesn’t deserve to know any of it. But I’m a far cry from the confident, assertive young woman I once was. I’m tired and scared. I have no one else to lean on besides my parents, and at age thirty that’s pretty pathetic. Married? Hell. Who wanted to marry an unemployed, mentally unstable chick with a baby on the way? Suddenly I change my mind. Levi does deserve to know, if only to make him feel the same pain I’ve suffered all these months.
I shake my head. “You remember the last time we saw each other?”
“Of course. At the bank, to access the trust fund my parents set up for me.”
I nod. “I waved goodbye to you. You were going on a road trip, you said. To the mountains, to clear your head.”
“I needed to get away,” he says, looking askance, not offering further details. The familiar mix of sorrow and agony churns in my gut again. Is that all he’s got to say for himself? The death of his parents was sudden and tragic, yes. It should have been a chance for us to grow closer, support each other. Instead, he took off, never to be heard from again.
“Get away,” I murmur. “Funny you should put it that way. You weren’t the only one who made a getaway that day. Right after you left, our branch was robbed. There were four of them. They had guns, demanded the cash, forced us down on the floor, the whole movie thing. It was horrible, and surreal. We were all pretty shaken up.”
Levi’s gaze returns to me, wide and intent. “Go on.”
“They left, and we heard a gunshot from outside. The police came, the branch closed, we were all sent home. I thought it was a leave of absence, you know, stress leave. Standard policy after an incident like that. I tried calling you, but you never answered or returned my call. A week later I got a letter stating I’d been terminated. No counseling or return-to-work rehab. Just a small severance for the few years of service I had. It didn’t go far; especially after I found out…that Mason was on his way.” I look into his eyes, searching for a glimmer of understanding. He’s a smart man; he’ll put the pieces together. “I had to move here, move in with my parents. I couldn’t look for another job until after he was born; and he’s been sick so much…” I break off, my eyeballs beginning to sting and my scratchy throat threatening to erupt in another barking jag.
Levi’s expression hardens. “I see. And Mason’s father?”
“He was no help,” I say, blinking back the flood of tears. Fuck it. Let them come. I’ve held them back too long anyway. “Because he disappeared the day of the robbery, before I even knew I was pregnant, and because I never saw him again. Until today.” I swipe at my eyes with my fingers. “You’re Mason’s father, Levi.”