Page 37 of Taken By Storm

“Remi ran the stand for you today.”

“That was sweet of her.” Kasi was grateful for her best friend’s help. Not that Kasi had been much of a friend of late. Prior to Mama’s death, she and Remi had been thick as thieves, always going out to the movies or to ladies’ night at Whiskey Abbey after they both turned twenty-one. They hadn’t done either of those things in the past eight months, Kasi too bogged down with work.

Not that her never-ending list of excuses for not going out had stopped Remi from trying. Hell, lately she didn’t even attempt to draw Kasi out, showing up at the farmhouse instead, armed with a bottle of wine that they split as she helped Kasi bake for the stand and regaled her with gossip and funny stories. She’d been too tired to truly appreciate her bestie’s attempts at lifting her spirits.

“But Dad?—”

“She made dinner for your dad,” Levi interjected. “Apparently, she coaxed him out of his bedroom and the two of them ate together on TV trays while watchingJeopardy. She said he was way too amused by how many answers she guessed wrong. He mentioned that your mother was some kind ofJeopardysavant.”

“She was. We always told her she should try out,” Kasi replied absentmindedly, too hung up on what else he’d said. “Daddy ate downstairs?”

“He did,” Levi replied.

She was instantly overwhelmed with a strong sense of regret. In the weeks following Mama’s death, Kasi had tried a million different ways to draw Daddy out of his room, but he always refused. After a while, she’d stopped trying, too busy with her own chores, too lost in her own unending grief. She’d thought the way things were now meant they were the new norm.

But what if they weren’t? What would happen nowadays if she pushed and prodded him like Remi had?

Oh God. What if Daddy hadn’t been hiding in his room due to grief but simply in need of someone to draw him out?

“I’m going to bake her a pie.” Kasi was perfectly aware even that wouldn’t be thanks enough for what her best friend had done today.

“She’d like that, but it isn’t necessary. She was glad to help because apparently, she’s made a lot of offers that haven’t been accepted.”

Kasihadrejected most of Remi’s offers to help. The only exceptions were those wine nights, which were too few and far between.

“As for the rest,” Levi continued. “Keith took care of the animals, then helped Pete and Paul finish harvesting the beans. They’ve got them packed up for delivery, and your brother haspromised me he’ll handle those for you, since neither of us want you driving for a few days. You’re prone to passing out.”

Kasi frowned. “You didn’t tell him about the other day in the fruit stand, did you?”

Levi crossed his arms. “I did.”

“I didn’t want him to worry.”

He scoffed, unmoved. “He’s not a kid anymore, Kasi.”

She rolled her eyes. “So he keeps telling me.”

“He went out with some friends after his chores were finished, but he was back by nine to relieve Remi. He’s home with your father. So, there’s no need for you to rush out right now.”

There were plenty of reasons for her to go home but the longer they sat there, the more self-conscious Kasi became about her near-naked state.

And his shirtless one.

His pecs were every bit as bite-able as she’d dreamed.

“Where are my clothes?” she asked.

“Your shirt is in the trash. I tried to wash it but the bloodstains wouldn’t come out. I had better luck with your jean shorts. They’re hanging over the porch railing, drying.”

“How am I supposed to get home with no shirt?”

Levi rose from the bed, looking hotter than a man had the right to in a pair of faded jeans. There was something oddly intimate about watching him walk around the bedroom shirtless and barefoot.

He grabbed something from a chair in the corner, returning to her side of the bed.

“Asked my brother Jace to stop by with a few things. He brought you one of my shirts to wear.” Levi pulled it over her head as he spoke, grinning when she pulled the large shirt down over the sheet to make sure she didn’t give him another peek at her tits.

“Didn’t realize you were so shy,” he teased.

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