“So you’re risking your life to give it to him?” Her father’s voice nearly shook the glass in the windows. A bear of man, Boone could be intimidating. But Callie knew he had the softest heart imaginable and hardly flinched when he raised his voice.
“He was attacked by dogs, Dad. I had to help him. You should’ve seen the blood. You would’ve done the same.”
“I’m not a single woman!”
“It’s not like he was some stalker or peeping Tom. His motorcycle broke down and he got bitten. Now he’s fixing the roof on the barn to pay me back for fronting the money to repair his bike.”
The fact that she wasn’t giving ground made her father pause. But he soon rallied. “Chief Stacy doesn’t like him. Says that boy’s up to no good.”
Chief Stacy had talked with her father? At least Godfrey hadn’t ratted her out.... She appreciated her neighbor’s discretion.
“What are you thinking?” her mother asked.
“Chief Stacy’s suspicious of any stranger,” she said. “You know how distrusting this town can be when it comes to new faces. But Levi’s lived at the farm for three days. He just wants some space to be able to get his head on straight.” She focused on Boone. “You fought in Korea, Dad. You know what war is like.”
He leaned a hip against the counter. “He’s a vet?” he asked, already showing signs of bending.
“Yes.”
“What some of those boys go through,” he said with a click of his tongue.
“It’s terrible,” Diana agreed.
Callie rested a beseeching hand on her father’s folded arms. “Levi needs a temporary safe haven, Dad.”
When he shifted his weight and harrumphed, she knew he’d accepted her explanation. And that reminded her of one of the many reasons she loved her father so much. Maybe he could appear ferocious, but he was every bit a gentle giant. She’d seen him take similar risks, stopping to assist folks stuck on the side of the road, or picking up a hitchhiker. Whether he wanted her following in his footsteps or not, he understood that helping someone in need sometimes called for a certain amount of risk.
“It scared me when Chief Stacy made it sound so foolhardy,” he said. “I don’t know what I’d do—what we’d do—” he gestured at her mother “—if something ever happened to you. Lord knows it was hard enough to get you here.”
His words caught Callie like a bullet to the chest. She stood there, instantly disarmed. All the things she’d planned to say, the admission she’d put off for so long, swirled through her mind, but she couldn’t bring it to her lips, couldn’t break her parents’ hearts. It’d taken them ten years to have a baby. Only after months and months of fertility treatments had they conceived. Callie knew, had always known, that she meant a great deal to them. Her father was already facing the decline of the woman he’d married forty years ago, the only woman he’d ever loved. That was bad enough.
“I’m glad I let him stay, Dad,” she managed to say. “It...it’s helped me.”
He might’ve asked what she meant by such a strange comment but her mother interrupted.
“We’ve got to go, Boone. I can’t miss my hair appointment. You know how busy Lola is.” Diana moved her wheelchair closer to Callie so they could touch. “You be careful with that man around. Keep your eyes open,” she warned, gripping Callie’s hands. “And call us nightly.”
Callie stifled a sigh. “I will.”
“You don’t think...you don’t think he’d ever—” her mother lowered her voice as if she couldn’t bear to say the word “—rape you, do you?”
Considering the bustier episode, which could’ve been taken as an invitation to have consensual sex, Callie might’ve laughed. But nothing about this situation was funny. “Definitely not.”
“Okay.” Seemingly satisfied, her mother nodded. “Don’t forget to check in.”
“Maybe he should stay here,” her dad mused, still reluctant to trust her safety to an unknown person.
Callie shook her head. “No. You and Mom have enough going on. And I need his help on the farm. I feel safer with him there. I promise.”
“Okay.” When he pulled her into his arms, he almost swept her off her feet. “Love you, Callie girl.”
Callie choked on the lump rising in her throat. She couldn’t tell them she was going to die. Something had to change.
“I love you, too,” she murmured against his shirt. Then, after they left, she sat in her car crying as she watched their taillights disappear down the street.
12
Callie bought Levi another shirt. She’d needed to distract herself so she could calm down and get her emotions under control before returning to the farm. And she liked shopping for him, liked picturing him in the clothes she found. Telling herself that she was fulfilling a need—he had practically nothing—and that he’d be wearing that shirt long after they parted company, somehow brought her peace. Maybe he’d think of her occasionally when he wore it....
She knew he’d find it odd that she was so keen on devoting her resources to him, since he was leaving in a few days and they’d probably never see each other again. But so what? She was going to do whatever she had to in order to cope with life as she currently knew it. If shopping for Levi buoyed her spirits, she’d shop for Levi. It might cost her a few bucks, but it wasn’t as if she was buying him a sports car.
Of course, the fact that she’d also bought condoms—and gone to the next town to do it so she wouldn’t have to look someone she knew in the eye while paying—was a little revealing. But no one had to know about that. She’d already hidden them in her purse.
As soon as she cut the engine, he strode toward her, Rifle at his heels.
“Well, would you look at that!” she said as she opened the door.
He glanced behind him. “Look at what?”
More pleased to see him than she probably should’ve been, she grinned. “Rifle is dogging your every footstep—so to speak. The two of you have become friends in spite of your ugly encounter with Spike and Sauron.”
“Who’re Spike and Sauron? The pit bulls?”
“That would be them.”
Bending slightly, he scratched behind her dog’s ears. “This is a good animal. Smart. Loyal. Eager to please.”