Page 107 of Taken By Storm

“How?”

“By believing he would press those charges even for a second.”

“Levi’s a big boy. He’ll bounce. Why did you believe it?”

“The night Scottie proposed, I realized… I forgot my mother’s birthday.”

“Oh, Kass.” Remi pulled her back into her arms. “Is it any wonder you forgot? You’re carrying around the weight of the world right now. I wish you’d told me all of this sooner.”

“So do I,” Kasi admitted, her voice wobbling. “I’m sorry I didn’t.”

Remi pulled back, drying Kasi’s cheeks, wiping away the tears with her thumbs. “Well, I know now. I’m guessing from the fact you just fell apart in my arms, you haven’t told Levi any of this.”

The guilt Kasi felt over believing Levi would press charges against Keith was now compounded by the fact she hadn’t confided in him, had her lowering her head in shame. “I haven’t.”

“Don’t you think you should?”

Leave it to Remi to hit her with the hard truths. “I should and I am.”

“Good.”

Kasi gave her best friend a grateful smile, grabbing her for another hug. “I love you.”

“I love you too. So give Scottie that stupid ring back, make things right with Levi, then have some of that smoking-hot sex that you are NOT going to tell me about.”

Kasi laughed. “Okay. I will.”

Kasi stood at the counter,glancing out the kitchen window, grinning when she saw Dad and Keith feeding the goats together, the two of them talking and laughing. When Mama was alive, they would return to the house after closing to start making supper together. Dinners were always a special time when their little family of four sat down at the kitchen table and ate together. She didn’t realize just how much she’d missed that until right this moment.

Glancing around the room, she let the memories of her mother that she usually kept locked away, flow through her mind. Rather than reliving the sad stuff, she smiled, recalling all the fun times they’d shared in this room.

Before she knew it, she was standing at the counter, her hands coated in flour as she kneaded bread dough, allowing herself to simply enjoy the soothing motion, the smell of the yeast, the peacefulness of the moment, as she heard her mother’s voice talking her through the process.

Really dig in there with the heel of your hand, Cat. Now lift and stretch. That’s it, my clever girl.

She got so lost in the memories she didn’t realize she wasn’t alone until she heard Levi’s voice in the doorway.

“Sure do like that smell.”

Kasi turned to face him.

Levi tilted his head toward the front door. “Keith was outside. Told me to head on in, that you were in the kitchen.”

She hated that Levi thought he needed an invitation to enter the house. During those glorious, too-few days when he was working on the farm, marking things off her honey-do list, he’d started coming and going without knocking.

When she glanced at the clock, she was surprised to discover she’d been working for nearly two hours. In addition to the bread, she’d made a Texas sheet cake, the chocolate confection baking in the oven.

“Levi,” she started, searching for a way to explain her behavior and to apologize for the things she’d done and said.

Levi held his hand up. “Let me talk first.”

Kasi bit her lower lip, then went to the sink to wash the flour from her hands. Grabbing a towel, she dried them off as she walked to the table to sit. She nodded at the chair across from her. “Okay.”

After the way she’d hurt him, he deserved a chance to speak his peace.

Levi sank down, then reached into his back pocket to pull out several folded pieces of paper. He opened them up, laying them flat on the table in front of her.

Kasi scanned the top page, trying to understand what she was looking at. It looked like some sort of rental agreement, but before she could read more than a few words, Levi placed something else on top of it.

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