Page 40 of Another Postcard

He stopped tickling me and wrapped me up in his arms. “Damn fucking straight,” he mumbled.

In New Orleans, we took an extra day and spent some time with the band, NOLA’s Own. They were old friends of ours whom we rarely got to see. Then our tour stopped in Austin, then Salt Lake City, L.A., Sacramento, and San Francisco over the next eight days, so we had a little time to rest our voices and not get burned out too early. Then we moved on to several stops in the Pacific Northwest, up to Vancouver and then over to Montreal and Quebec. There was a postcard at almost every stop since Austin. The postmarks were from all over the North East and New England areas. Never from the same post office. They were starting to bother me a little, something about them just didn’t seem quite right. Beyond the fact that they were getting more possessive and ardent.

One of them looked like a Valentine, the chimp in a pink dress with big red kissy lips and surrounded by red and pink hearts. The writing across the top said, “Wishing for you to Be Mine.” The message saying,

Levi,

You have my heart forever. Please give me yours.

The next one was a chimp burning rubber in a shiny red Mustang. The caption said, “Playing it fast and loose.”

Levi,

I know you’ve stopped seeing other women for me! Let’s play together!

Then there was the chimp blowing out a birthday cake with “Make a wish!” on a banner above its head.

Levi,

You’re my every wish come true and I can’t wait to make yours come true too.

Until then, I love you so much!

After that was a chimp fishing in a river, the flap of his waders having fallen down so you could see his hairy ass. He had a little text bubble that said, “You caught me.”

Levi,

I caught you, you’re mine. So, tell Brooklynn to stop trying to steal you. I don’t like the way she sings that song with you. She’s trying to make the world believe it’s not about me.

Levi had brushed them off, but he’d looked a little grimmer than usual when he read the last one.

I mentioned my worries to Cameron and he said he was keeping a watchful eye on the situation. I had a feeling he was placating me and it pissed me off. I felt a little bad for reaming him out so I went back and apologized later, but he admitted that I’d been right. So, when I asked him about the fact that the postcards were being mailed directly to the package offices and contacts in each stop, he copped to being concerned about it too. But, so far, none of them had been threatening, they were only getting more ardent. They had no indication that the sender was even in the stalker category. Again, Cameron assured me that they were keeping vigilant about it and not to worry.

That night, Baylee seemed to sense something was off with me during our phone call and asked repeatedly if I was okay. I didn’t want to tell her about the notes being sent, I was afraid that she would over react and it would scare her. So, I hadn’t shared the situation with her and I wasn’t about to. However, guilt at not telling her about Levi and me was poking at my conscience. When I really faced facts with myself, I owned up to the fear that things with Baylee would change. I didn’t know how she would react and that bothered me. Would she like Levi as a permanent addition to the family (not that I was assuming we—not important at the moment), would she feel like I’d left her or was abandoning her? There were so many scenarios playing out in my head, so I just kept putting it off, which meant putting off going public with our relationship. Levi was getting frustrated by it too. I felt like I was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

“You’ll always love me, no matter what. Right, sweet girl?” I asked her with a sigh.

“We’re sisters, Brooklee. It’s our job to love each other,” she said solemnly. “But, it’s okay to love other people too.”

I’d been lying down, but when she said that, I popped up, completely alert. Was she referring to Levi and me? Had she picked up on something? I didn’t want to ask in case she hadn’t but I was eager to know if she was telling me that she was fine with a relationship between Levi and me.

Speaking of the devil, he walked into the room and smiled at me. “Who’s that, baby?”

“Baylee.”

He grinned and put his hand out for the phone. He liked to butt into my calls with Baylee and sweet talk her. It was absolutely adorable. However, he was usually chased away by Cecily’s over the top fangirling. Which was pretty damn funny. I handed him my iPhone and he put it to his ear.

“Is this my Baylee Bear?”

I heard Baylee’s giggle and my heart squeezed. Damn, I loved them so much.Whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back it up there Brooklynn! You WHAT?!?I loved them. Him. I loved Levi. I told the little voice freaking the fuck out in my head to shut up and sent it crying with its tail between its legs.

“She’syoursister, Baylee Bear. Of course, I’ll take care of Brooklynn,” he assured her, giving me a dirty grin. I smothered a laugh in my hand. I listened to the rest of their call and then laughed hysterically when he started to get uncomfortable and disengage from the conversation. Cecily had clearly taken over the call. He finally managed to put me back on the phone, tossing it to me like it was coated in the plague.

I talked with Cecily for a few minutes about Baylee’s progress with her activities and what their plans were. I was bringing them to the concert in Montreal, right before we left for Europe and I couldn’t wait to see them.

23

Levi

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