“You have to know,” he said, reaching out to hold her free hand in his. They’d shed their gloves to eat, so now she could feel the warmth of his fingers, and the calluses he’d earned from years of playing guitar. This actually made her feel evenmorelike a blushing maid from a historical romance.
“You have to know,” he repeated, seemingly choosing his words carefully, “that that’s not how I see you. Like, at all. I mean, yes, you’re a mom, and yes, you live in a small town. But singing with you made me feel the way music issupposedto make me feel. Your voice makes me feel the way music is supposed to make me feel. And that’s a rare gift, June. It’s special.”
She couldn’t quite find words around the lump in her throat.
“But it’s more than that,” he went on, his eyes burning with sincerity. “Being around you… it makes me feel at home. And Iknewthat I wasn’t feeling the right way about my career any longer. But I don’t think I knew that I didn’t feel… at home. In Nashville. In my life. And you gave me that back. And it issucha gift.”
“Levi,” she murmured, blinking back tears at his kindness.
But he wasn’t finished.
“And you have the greatest kid, June,” he said, shaking his head as though he couldn’t even believe it. “And you make melaugh. And I can’t get you out of my head, and I don’t want to.”
“Don’t make me cry in the park,” she said wetly.
He smiled gently. “Yeah, your eyes will freeze shut,” he teased, providing some much-needed levity.
She laughed. “We’ll harden you up to the forces of winter eventually,” she promised.
“I look forward to it.” Then his expression grew more playful. “Want to try the swings? Benjamin made them look really fun.”
Now that he mentioned it… thatdidsound fun.
She tried to ask Benjamin if he wanted to join them, but he grumbled at her, rolled over, and went back to sleep. The swings were within clear distance of the picnic blanket, so she just tucked the edges around her son and she and Levi skipped over to the swing set.
Well, June skipped. Levi did what he seemed tothinkwas skipping but definitely was not.
By the time they made it to the swings, June could barely stand she was laughing so hard.
“How are you so bad at that?” she asked as she sank down onto the cold plastic seat.Oof, these were narrower than she’d remembered, and she had to shift a few times to get comfortable.
“Don’t kick a man when he’s down, June,” he chided. “I have other talents.”
“He can’t skip, heclaimshe can cook…” Her words trailed off in a laugh as he pushed her swing and she grabbed for the chains. Her legs started to pump, muscle memory kicking in, as he gave her a few more pushes.
For just those few moments, she felt like a kid again. It felt… free. Simple. Wonderful.
And then Levi crossed to the front of her swing and caught the chains, bringing her to a halt.
“Hi,” she said.
“Hi,” he said.
“You stopped my swing,” she observed.
“I did,” he agreed. “Mostly because you can’t swing and dothisat the same time.”
And then he bent down and kissed her.
June didn’t feel like a little kid any longer. She felt like a woman in her prime, with a whole lot of life left to live.
But that felt pretty darn wonderful too.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Eleanor’s nerves were shot. She didn’t care that saying so made her sound like the crotchety old lady character in a novel. She wasfrazzled.
Logically, Eleanor realized that she was putting too much pressure on this day out with Garrett and Jeremy. But her logical brain was not running the show this week.
