His mom’s expression was pure guilt, but she lifted her chin. “Maybe she’s going to think you’re so well loved that we just wanted to make sure she was good enough for you. Because it’s true, honey. I’ve waited a long time for you to find someone after Amy. And once you did, I had to know that she was going to be good for you.”
His dad just nodded. In fact, they all nodded in unison like a pack of bobbleheads of the Three Stooges.
Levi just shook his head. “I’m going to shower. You all might want to work on what you’re going to say to her when she arrives. I have my own groveling to do.” Because he’d made his own mistakes with Jane, and at some point he was going to pay the price for those mistakes. A price that would undoubtedly be high.
As in losing her.
An hour later he was in the back booth at the Stovetop Diner, at what he’d come to think of as his temporary “office”—much to his mom’s dismay, as she’d hoped he’d make a place for himself in the store’s office. And he went there too, but the diner suited his purposes better.
He liked the organized chaos going on all around him, and yet not involving him. He liked the owner of the diner, who happened to be one of Mateo’s cousins. He liked the way everyone left him alone to his own devices. Mostly, that is. Because just then Mateo slid onto the seat across from him.
At least he was bearing gifts in the way of two plates loaded with bacon, eggs, and pancakes. He slid one to Levi and then waited for him to take his first bite before saying, “Heard you put a bid in for that property up in Hidden Falls.”
Levi choked on that bite.
Mateo smiled. “You’re finally doing what I’ve been trying to get you to do for years. You’re coming back.”
Levi managed to suck air into his taxed lungs and eyed his oldest, very smug-looking friend. “Want to tell me how you know about the bid I put on those fifteen acres less than an hour ago?”
“Ah, man, you know how it is. Everyone knows everyone. Hell, it’s Sunrise Cove. You can leave your car unlocked, but there’s no such thing as privacy.”
Levi just looked at him. “Leave your car unlocked and you’ll get a bear.”
Mateo smiled. “God, that was fun. What were we? Seventeen? And you left a bag of chips in your dad’s new car, not a week after he’d bought it, and a bear climbed in and ate the chips and his steering wheel.”
And his console. “He nearly killed me.” Levi scrubbed a hand down his face. “Good times. And how do you know about the land? And don’t tell me a bear told you.”
“Okay, fine. The real estate agent you’re using for the purchase is my cousin’s sister-in-law’s mom. And yeah, yeah, I know, I’ve got a lot of cousins.”
Jesus. Why did he want to move back here again? Because even though they drive you crazy, you miss your family. “Just tell me my mom and dad don’t already know.”
“They don’t know. Yet.”
Levi groaned.
“You’re surprised? Come on, you know them better than anyone. Your mom’s name should be Sherlock Holmes. Face it, they’re going to hear about this.”
“If my mom finds out before I tell her, she’ll tell everyone I’m going to build a house with a white picket fence and fill it with a wife named Jane and two point five kids.”
Mateo laughed, but when he caught sight of Levi’s face, his smile faded. “Come on, no one will believe that.”
Right. Because other than his half-assed commitment to Amy, he’d never really made any commitment to anyone. He looked away, out the window. It was snowing again. It’d be a great powder day tomorrow. He hadn’t skied since the gondola accident. Maybe it was time to get back on the horse. Maybe he’d see if Jane wanted to go with him . . .