Now he laughed, thinking of his family and how they might disagree. But Jane, a woman who didn’t have a lot of reasons to trust anyone, trusted him. It had a warm glow filling his chest. “I never know the right thing to say.”
She turned her head, met his gaze, and gave him a small smile. “You just get lucky?”
Her smile turned his heart upside down. “Once in a blue moon.”
Chapter 17
Jane drew a deep breath at the way Levi was looking at her. Like she meant something to him, like she was important, at least enough to drive out in a storm for her. She’d texted him instinctively, not even thinking about it, which was a statement all on its own about how much she trusted him. And he’d shown up, no questions asked. “Thank you,” she said softly.
“Happy to help.”
She nodded. “Happy,” she repeated softly and then shook her head. “I think I’ve had a problem letting myself be happy.”
“Cherophobia.”
She looked at him. “What?”
“It’s the fear of being happy.”
She laughed and felt some of the tension drain from her. “Thanks for that too, for always knowing what to say to brighten my day.”
He smiled. “But it’s night.”
“You know what I mean.”
His smile faded. “I do. And you should know . . . you do the same for me.” He pulled off his ski cap and unzipped his jacket, even though the interior of her car was cold. She’d turned it off half an hour ago to save gas.
Then he put the ski cap on her head, wrapped her up in his jacket, and zipped it up to her chin, letting his fingers brush her jaw. “Better?”
Okay, so he had a question, but only one, and with that single word, uttered in his low, calm voice that said together they could handle anything, she knew that somehow it was going to be okay. “Yes.” And not just because she was now enveloped in his body heat, but also because his scent was teasing her. Something woodsy and very male. “I need to go talk to my grandpa about the ornament.”
He nodded, clearly not wanting to influence her on this, trusting her to be a grown-up. Which meant that she needed to actually be a grown-up.
They both looked up the driveway to the small old cabin at the top. A light flickered in the kitchen, her favorite kitchen in the whole wide world. Some of the best memories of her life had taken place there. The place had always seemed warm, and there’d been copious amounts of hot chocolate made with love, complete with marshmallows. “I’ve been avoiding this a long time,” she murmured.
“I know. Just a reminder, you didn’t do anything wrong.”
“But—”
Very gently, he set a finger to her lips. “You didn’t, Jane. No one in their right mind would blame an eight-year-old who was at the mercy of her relatives after her parents walked away from her.”
She closed her eyes, then felt Levi’s hand slip into hers. Even without his jacket and hat, he was warm and solid. Her only anchor at the moment.
“Will he be alone?” he asked.
“I don’t know. Near as I can tell, my aunt Viv sold her house here in Sunrise Cove a bunch of years back. Word is her husband got a job on the East Coast and they all moved there.”
Levi raised his right, scarred brow.
“Yeah,” she said on a laugh. “I’ve got some excellent stalking skills.”
“Good riddance. Come here, Jane.”
She leaned in closer, but apparently that wasn’t close enough because he hauled her up and over the console, effortlessly dropping her into his lap.