Levi smiled, happy for the shift in topic even though he needed to get going. “Yes, actually. I’m going to do a bunch of samples of the summer menu I’m working on.”
“Looking forward to it.”
Levi nodded. He knew things were coming together for the surprise for Pete and his wife but he hadn’t checked in for a bit,and now, he didn’t know where to be, because he didn’t want to crowd Jillian when she clearly wanted space.
“I’ll see you later,” Levi said, taking off down the alley to do something he’d meant to do sooner.
Walking through Smile felt both familiar and new. The same buildings and structures existed as when he was a teen but there were subtle changes among the more dramatic ones. New businesses, new homes, a park that hadn’t existed before. He knew, no matter how much Smile changed or stayed the same, he was happy to be home. It’d only been two days but he missed Jillian like he’d carved out a piece of himself and left it somewhere. Now, he felt like he was wandering around aimlessly, trying to find it.
It was a longer walk than he remembered to get to Tourist Lane. He probably should have grabbed a ride, but the walk did him good. In the last couple of days, he’d worked remotely from his apartment, chatting via text with Grayson and Shane about menus, options, and the Founder’s Day Festival. He couldn’t avoid the lodge for good, though. Grayson wouldn’t say anything about Jillian other than to give her some space, so he had no idea if she was there on the days he wasn’t.
He had a stop to make but then he and his dad were heading over with one of his part-time summer guys to work on the dock. Things had been reasonably okay with his dad. Turned out, getting his heart kicked into his teeth really made his dad feel for Levi. Enough to not give him a hard time about stuff, anyway.
He opened the door to Bracelet Babe and saw Lainey behind the counter. She gave him a warm smile that assured him, even if she knew, which she likely did, Jillian hadn’t said anything awful about him. He hadn’t been kind about some of the things he said, and even though he felt slighted, he knew he could have done a lot better in his response.
“Hey. How are you doing?” She came around the funky wooden counter with cool little displays of bracelets. It was almost like an apothecary table but all of the spaces were open and angled to reveal unique designs.
He shrugged, unsure of what to say. It occurred to him he ought to connect with some other people—maybe Zane or Leo or Liam. At the moment, everyone he knew was tied tightly to Jillian.
“I’m okay.”
She stopped in front of him. He had a couple of inches on her without heels, but right now, she was eye level with him.
“Liar.”
“You know.” He looked around the tiny space, surprised by the homey, eclectically charming feel of the place.
“Not much. She’s pretty wiped out from thinking she has to carry the weight of the world on her own shoulders.”
Levi met Lainey’s gaze. “You know her well.”
“So do you. You know she loves you.” Lainey reached out and squeezed his shoulder before going back around the counter.
Levi’s throat felt thick. He tried to swallow past the lump lodged in it. “That might not be enough. Not if she can’t get past the fear.”
Lainey put a small silver cloth bag on the top of the counter, keeping it beneath her fingers as Levi came to stand across from her.
“When someone you love and trust, someone who is supposed to be your person, fails you, on purpose no less, you tend to become wary of trusting in the words of others. Even the people who have never let you down. The people youknowlove you and have your back. You think that if the person who supposedly loved you the most could let you down, then anyone could. It changes you. You start to question your own judgment and believe that youcan’t count on anyone other than yourself. Having that happen to her by the age of twenty-one left some pretty large scars. Ones she’s avoided thinking about until you came home. She’s scared. It doesn’t mean she doesn’t love you.”
Levi leaned on the counter, clasped his hands together as he stared into Lainey’s emotional eyes. “It sounds like you came by that knowledge through firsthand experience.”
Her gaze dropped as she smoothed her fingers over the small bag. “You didn’t know my mom. She left enough scars to give me a pretty thorough knowledge base.”
Levi hated the hurt in Lainey’s tone. He covered her hands with one of his. “I’m sorry, Lainey. Jillian is incredibly lucky to have you as a friend.”
Lainey lifted her gaze and smiled, all traces of vulnerability gone. “I tell her that frequently. I hope you like this, and more than that, I hope she does.” She handed him the bag.
He untied the little bow at the top and removed a delicate and beautiful bracelet made of tiny yellow and pink beads separated by thin rose-gold spacers, all strung onto a soft, adjustable and sturdy black string.
Lainey pointed at the yellow beads. “The yellow are dots, the pink are dashes.”
Levi smiled. When he’d tapped on Jillian’s window the other night, he’d started thinking about them feeling like teenagers and how she’d told him she used to write notes with Lainey. He thought about what it would have been like to send her a note, and then had a brief image of one of her brothers trying to kick his ass. And the idea came to him. Even after she’d broken up with him a couple of days ago, he knew he still needed to give it to her.
“I hope I get to give it to her,” he said, hating that it wasn’t a guarantee.
“You will.”
Lainey sounded sure enough for both of them, and since she knew Jillian so well, he took it as a positive sign. Lainey pulled a second bag from the drawer and showed him the second bracelet he’d asked her to make. They were both perfect. If things worked out, he promised himself, he’d get one of his own. So they’d match.Not if. When.He hoped. He couldn’t spend any more time thinking about it right now, though. He needed to head to work and stop pretending he could do that and give her space at the same time.
