Luring Levi (Tarnished Saints Series Book 2) (11 page)

Angel was taking a drink of the lemonade and almost choked. She laughed and wiped her chin. “That sounds like a Taylor man, not wasting any time wanting to get a girl into his bed.”

“Well, not bed exactly.”

Angel looked at her with a raised brow.

“And where exactly would you be talking about?”

“In the shower and up against the bathroom wall of the cabin.”

She laughed again. “Believe me, I know how small that is
, too.”

There was a moment of silence, and then Angel spoke.

“You didn’t tell Levi, did you?”

Candace dragged a
finger through the condensation on the glass. “I wanted to, but it just didn’t work out.”

“You
didn’t want to ruin the moment, did you?”

“Something like that.”

“Honey, you need to tell Levi that Valentine and Vance are his children.”

“I will. I’m trying – believe me.”

They heard a noise in the bushes and Angel got up and looked in the direction and squinted, trying to see from where it came. Then she sat back down. “Eli, did you want some lemonade?” she asked.

Slowly, the little boy crept out of the bushes and came up to the porch. She poured some lemonade into her glass. He eagerly accepted it, drinking it all down. Then Angel took the glass back and gave him a kiss atop his head. “Ok, go play with the other kids upstairs now, sweetie.”

“Ok,” he said and ran into the house.

“And put on your shoes,” she yelled after him.

Once he was out of earshot, Candace asked Angel, “do you think he heard what we were talking about?”

“I’m not sure,” said Angel, “but don’t worry about Eli. He’s very quiet and I’m sure even if he heard he wouldn’t say anything.”

“I hope you’re right,” said Candace, knowing that she needed to talk to Levi very soon.

* * *

Levi waved to Margery who had just dropped him off at the gas station, and headed up the stairs to the room above the garage. It was late and dark, and he didn’t see any lights on in Gus’s apartment so figured he and his family had already gone to sleep. Gus had a daughter named Maryanne who was Daniel’s age who lived with them. They also had a son, Ronald, who was in his mid-twenties and married with two children and lived up north.

Levi
hadn’t meant to be out all day, but once he started cooking at Margery’s Diner, he just couldn’t stop. It brought back memories of his restaurant,
The Big Apple
, and though he thought his passion for food died along with his pride in prison, he was wrong. He’d felt that spark of life and desire the moment he donned the extra chef’s coat Margery gave him from her storage.

It felt damned good to cook again, and he had been going over the menu with Margery and changing things for the better.
He’d made up some samples of a portabella mushroom melt with prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, basil and tomato grilled as a Panini. He then had the dishwasher, Bernito, go out on the street and pass them out to people to try. It stirred interest and they actually had customers wandering in by the end of the day.

The diner was only opened from six a.m. til three, but they’d stay
ed open later today to help create some traffic flow. And he’d spent extra time with Enrique, the prep cook, trying to teach him a few tricks so he could take over the position of head cook soon. The boy was young and eager to learn, but his lack of English slowed things down a bit. And Levi’s lack of Spanish, from sleeping though class all those years in high school only made things more difficult.

But he was able to prep a lot of the food for tomorrow and the boy should be able to handle the breakfast customers until Levi got there to cook lunch. After all, how hard was it to cook eggs and waffles?

He opened the door to the room, so tired he didn’t bother to turn on the light. He walked across the room, pulling off his shirt and plopped down on where the mattress was supposed to be but obviously wasn’t. He crashed to the ground, landing on his back, his head bouncing off the wood floor in the process.

“What the hell . . .” If he hadn’t been so damned tired, he may have actually cared and got up to turn on the light. Instead, he just rolled over, smashing his shirt under his head for a pillow and fell asleep immediately.

* * *

Candace
pulled into Kramer’s Gas Station about nine o’clock the next morning, stopping with a jerk. She’d been getting better at driving stick shift, but still didn’t feel comfortable with it. But then again, neither did she feel comfortable with the reckless way Levi drove, so this was the lesser of two evils.

Her kids were in the back seat and she figured sh
e’d take them to South Haven to one of the larger beaches on Lake Michigan today, as they loved to play in the sand and waves. Thunder Lake was nice too, but Valentine didn’t like all the seaweed between her toes. Candace knew that the beaches on Lake Michigan were much smoother and larger with more sand for making sand castles.

Angel was going to join her there with
Eli and Gabby later. But first she wanted to drop off the rest of the kids at the gas station at noon when Dan got off of work, so they could paint the walls like they’d promised Levi.

“Howdy,” said Gus, coming up t
o her, shoving the last bite of a sandwich into his mouth quickly and brushing the crumbs from his shirt. He obviously thought she was a customer at first until he recognized the car. “Oh, you must be the woman renting the cabin out at the Taylors.”

“Yes, I’m Candace Kane -
guest judge for the fair.”

“That’s right, I heard about ya,” he said with a smile. Then he noticed her kids
in the car. “Those yer youngins?” he asked.

“They are,” she said. “This is Valentine and Vance.”

“Mother, can I get out of the car? Vance is picking his nose,” Valentine said, leaning far away from her brother.

“Kids, stop that. And stay put, I’ll be right back.”
She looked over to Gus. “I thought Levi might need a ride to town since I had his car. Is he up yet?”

“Well, I don’t rightly know,” said Gus. “I heard him making lots of noise up there late last night, b
ut he’s been quiet as a mouse this mornin’. Not that I have mice or anything, mind ya.”

“
Of course not,” she said. “Well, maybe I’ll just run up and see. Is it the room at the top of the steps?”

“It is,” he said.

Valentine got out of the car and started after her.

“No, sweetie, you stay here,” she said, hoping to have a minute alone with Levi, as she wasn’t sure what to expect out of him after yesterday.

“I don’t want to sit next to Vance,” she said.

Vance jumped out of the car next and rushed up. “I don’t want to sit next to her either.”

“Is Dan here somewhere?” asked Candace, hoping the boy could watch them for a moment.

“No
pe, he’s out on an errand for me right now. Why?”

“Well then, Gus, would you do me a favor and watch th
e kids for a moment?”

“Well, I reckon I can do that,” he drawled.

“I don’t want to stay with the man,” said Valentine.

“Here,” she said, pulling a few dollars out of her purse. “Go on inside with Gus and get yourself some candy or a soda.”

Vance jumped up and grabbed all the money and took off for the door of the station. Valentine ran after him in pursuit. Candace thanked Gus again and headed up the stairs. She noticed the dumpster across the lot loaded down with everything from old furniture to ornate area rugs for the floor. She realized the boys must have finished cleaning out the room for Levi and she wondered how it looked.

She reached out and knocked on the door softly at first, but when she got no response, she knocked louder.

“Leave me alone, Gus, I’m sleeping,” came Levi’s growl from within.

She had the feeling he wouldn’t open the door if he knew it was her, so she
reached out and turned the knob. As she’d hoped, Levi hadn’t bothered to lock it. She pushed open the door and started laughing when she saw Levi lying on the floor with the mattress leaning against the wall just two feet away from him. A bag of clothes was the only other thing in the room, as it was totally empty.

“Levi?” she asked, smiling and shaking her head. “Do you always sleep on the bare floo
r and let your mattress rest against the wall?”

“Huh?” He raised his head partially, his eyes still half-closed. “Candy? Is that you?”

Her heart skipped a beat when he called her Candy. Maybe he wasn’t still mad at her after all.

“Yes, it’s me,” she said. “I brought the car. I thought you might need a ride to town.”

“The car?” He rubbed a hand over the stubble on his jaw and pushed up to a sitting position. “What time is it anyway?”

“Nine o’clock,” she said.

“In the morning?”

“Of course, silly.” She entered the room and closed the door. “Actually, I was taking the kids to the beach and I was wondering if you wanted to come along and spend some time with them?”

“Why would I want to do that?” he asked, sitting up and yawning, stretching his arms above his head, giving her a beautiful view of his chest.

“Well,” she said walking closer, thinking this was a perfect lead in to the conversation she’d been meaning to have with him. “I just know how much you like kids and all and . . .”

“Not to be rude, sweetheart, but if I want to spend time with kids - I’ve got a shitload of nephews and a niece for that. Your kids are cute and all, but I’d rather spend the time with my own family.”

He got up and started digging through the bag, finding a very wrinkled shirt and putting it on.

Well, this was her perfect opportunity to tell him, she thought. He just said he wanted to spend his time with family and all she had to do was tell him right now how much of a family to him her kids really were. She dug into her purse and pulled out the key to the town. Holding it out to him, she said, “the kids really enjoyed this. You are so good with Vance and Valentine. You know they really like you.”

“No, not Val,” he said. The
n he took the key from her and tossed it onto the top of the bag of clothes.

“Levi,” she said, her mouth feeling so dry she could barely swallow. “Levi, there is something I’ve been meaning to tell you. My kids . . .”

“Oh crap!” He hit his head with his hand. “Did you say it was nine o’clock?” he asked.

“I . . . yes,” she answered, wanting to get back to the conversation. “As I was saying, . . . my kids are . . .”

“I was supposed to meet with the fair committee at the fair grounds at nine. They are starting to put up the rides and all and I need to be there to sign some paperwork and something about permits. Shit,” he said, buttoning his shirt, “I’m late again. Candy, I need the car.”

“But -
I planned on taking the kids to the beach today.”

“Then I’ll get Dan to take me.”

“Gus said Dan was out on an errand.”

“Then you’ll just have to drop me off on the way to the beach. I’ll get a lift home with someone, so don’t worry about it.” He opened the door and motioned with his hand. “Come on, I’m late.
And I’ll drive since I want to get there sometime today.”

“But . . . Levi, I’ve been trying to tell you something.”

“We’ll talk in the car,” he said, grabbing her arm and pulling her out the door, “now let’s go.”

Candace followed Levi down the rickety old staircase, barely able to keep up with him he walked so fast. She had come so close to telling him about the kids, but once again he was late for an appointment and it ruined her whole plan.

“Give me the keys,” said Levi, g
etting into the driver’s seat of the car. “I can drive faster.”

She handed him the keys and he started up the engine. She spotted her kids coming out of the station with Gus right behind them. They looked happy and Valentine was skipping. They both had long strings of licorice in their hands and were chomping on gum.

“Come on kids,” she called out. “Levi is going to be late.”

The kids climbed into the back seat and Candace reached over and helped them with their seat belts.

“Close your door,” he said, “I’ve really got to get there already.”

She turned around and closed the door and was barely sitting when Levi sped away.

“Thank you, Gus,” she called out and waved to the man. Then she proceeded to put on her seatbelt as Levi sped down the road so fast it made her nervous, especially since the kids were in the car.

“Slow down,” she told him.

“Can’t. I’m late.”

“The kids are in the car and it’s dangerous. Now slow down.”

“All right,” he said, and she saw his eyes go to the rear view mirror, obviously checking the kids. “So what did you want to tell me back there?”