My feet pulled me down the hall, where I found a few personal photos of people I obviously didn’t recognize. Again, surprising. There were several with him, including an older woman who must have been his mom or a woman who gave him the same intense hazel eyes. In every picture, they both shared identical bright smiles. I hadn’t seen Levi smile so openly like that since I’d met him, and I felt a pang of loss at not getting to meet that side of him. Before whatever happened that changed him so permanently.
There didn’t seem to be a partner in any of the photos. Not that I was looking.
The first door led to his bedroom, which was just as clean as the rest of the home. There was a large bed and dresser, but ultimately, it was simple, with another massive window. I didn’t let myself linger and closed the door quickly because I did have some integrity.
The small office was easily spotted (as well as the intricate Wi-Fi password taped to the router as promised). My phone buzzed to life as soon as I connected. I quickly caught up on important messages and checked in with a few friends who were mildly panicked at my sudden absence. I explained the situation vaguely, mentioning a story that had me out of reach—and replied to a few work emails—including a check-in with Melanie, who was eager for the rest of the story.
“This is really going to be something, Wells,” she said. “If youcan pull this off, this might change the whole broken system.”
I was more determined than ever as I worked through more emails. I worried less about the future or my breakup and was determined to finish that story. I even added a few more details to the post about Ruth and her B&B. A few people had found my online journal and asked for more information about Cozy Creek.
Surprisingly, after being back on my phone for a good twenty minutes, I was ready to turn it off again. It had been nice to be unreachable.
Wrapping up the call with my dad didn’t fill me with such dread this time, knowing that we would be chatting again the next day.
In fact, we did chat the next day, and the one after that. The new system was working.
After five days, I had almost finished the first draft of my story while managing to keep my Wordle game streak alive. Each morning, I’d make a cup of coffee and walk over to spin in Levi’s office chair while I solved the puzzle with Dad.
On today’s call, Dad beat me with the Wordle “squat,” and I was fine losing to such an unattractive word.
“When these two months end, I’ll fly out and meet you at your storage unit,” he explained this morning. “We’ll load it up, and I’ll drive with you back here. Truck reservation is already taken care of.”
“Thank you for doing that, Dad. I haven’t even been able to think.”
“I know how it is right now. Not much longer, and you’ll be home.”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
I sighed and focused on the relief of having a plan instead of the fear deep in the back of my mind that I was going backward in life.
My eyes drifted to the lone piece of art on the wall. It was a chunk of twisted and angled driftwood but with more intent and feeling. It had been sanded and covered in a shine that gave it emotion somehow. Every time I looked at it, I found a new secret detail I hadn’t seen before.
Dad and I talked a little longer before I ended it under the ruse of working. Truthfully, I was restless and curious again.
I still had no idea where Levi wandered off during the days. He was gone anywhere from three to eight hours, and when he came home, he often went into the garage behind his house, where the hums and buzzing of power tools would drift out for hours. A couple of nights, we were both up until almost midnight working. Notes of sad indie rock would drift down the driveway, and I’d open the window despite the chill and for the comfort of the noise. I liked hearing him nearby.
But what did hedo? He always brought Ripley, so it couldn’t have been any standard corporate job. But I could have guessed within minutes of meeting him that he wasn’t cut from that cloth. Maybe he was a hunter? But wouldn’t he bringthemhome?Bleck, I hoped not. Maybe he had a shop in town? But I had a hard time picturing him in any customer-facing role. Heclearly wasn’t hurting financially. The cabin itself was beautiful and well-maintained. He even mentioned a cleaner who came every other Thursday.
The man was a mystery, and with every passing day, that itch in my brain to get some answers grew more insistent on being scratched.
I was stepping out of his house to the front porch when I heard his truck coming up the drive. I waved hello brightly with a burst of adrenaline at having company. He lifted his chin in a sort of acknowledgment before awkwardly looking away.
We were basically besties.
He pulled forward to park in his spot near the garage/shed thing I had yet to explore. On the passenger side, Ripley was losing her mind to get to me, so I met her and reached in to lift her out. She convulsed with happy, shuddering dramatics.
“I’ve missed you too.” I laughed, pulling my head back to avoid some of the wet kisses slathering up my neck and chin. I felt Levi’s gaze on me but couldn’t meet his eyes. When I set her down, she ran straight toward the mystery building through a small doggy door I hadn’t noticed before. I probably could have fit my head through there …
I was wiping my chin on my shoulder when Levi’s boots came into view.
“How are you—whoa,” I said.
When I finally met Levi’s gaze, he was almost unrecognizable. His hair was still long enough to go past the nape of his neck but had been neatly trimmed and freshly washed. Head tilting, hetucked some loose strands behind his ear. He’d shaved back his beard so that it was a little more than a five o’clock shadow, emphasizing averysquare jawline that’d been hiding and a mouth that was forming words. Words that my brain wasn’t absorbing because it was too busy noticing two perfectly shaped lips moving as he pursed his mouth slightly, eyes squinting as confusion pinched his fine brows.
I stepped forward, hand raised. Levi stilled, his nostrils flared. His eyes narrowed on my movement, and his hands clenched at his sides. Only then did I realize I’d been about to reach up and touch his face, so enthralled by him that I was.
That wouldn’t have been weird or crossing any boundaries at all.
