Page 84 of Taken By Storm

Kasi glanced at it with a detached eye, acknowledging the fact it was large and gaudy and completely not her style.

She was vaguely aware of Scottie giving her a kiss, just a brush of his lips against hers, but enough to make her skincrawl. Then she heard him say his goodbyes, though the words sounded like they were coming to her through noise-canceling headphones. Mumbled, low, hard to hear.

Kasi didn’t show him out, didn’t say anything, didn’t move, not even when she heard the front door close behind him and the sound of his car fading as he drove away.

She remained frozen in that doorway, her eyes following the tick marks, from that first one on the bottom to the one on top. A lifetime lived in inches.

Then she considered how there wouldn’t be any more marks. She would be stuck there, just like that, forever.

She slipped Scottie’s ring into the pocket of her jeans, hating the weight of it, the feel of it, the emptiness of it.

Out of sight. Out of mind.

If only.

The numbness started to lift, despite her best efforts to wrap it around herself, the pain forcing its way through.

Kasi slid down the doorframe, her body trembling in agony, her heart shattered into a million pieces. She rested her head on her knees, racked by the tears she couldn’t hold in anymore.

Her coping technique failed her as every single thing she’d done wrong crashed in on her at once.

She shouldn’t have slept with Levi, shouldn’t have let herself believe that they could have a future together.

She shouldn’t have let things get so bad on the farm.

She shouldn’t have let her father down, letting him shut himself in rather than pulling him out the way Levi and Remi had done. She’d left him alone to suffer in his self-imposed sanctuary instead of being there for him. She’d done the same to Keith, failed him in too many ways to count, and now he was facing jail.

And she shouldn’t have left Mama alone in the kitchen that day. Maybe if she’d been there…

Kasi crawled to the couch, tears pouring from her like heavy rain, dropping from her face to the carpet. Climbing on the couch, she curled into a ball, the pain too much to bear.

Months of sobs erupted, and she did nothing to hold them back, six words beating into her brain and on her heart like a sledgehammer.

I shouldn’t have left Mama alone.

Chapter Fourteen

Levi glanced at his phone when he pulled up outside Kasi’s house, grinning like a damn fool. Usually rain during harvest season pissed him off because it put him behind schedule. But last night’s summer shower was just enough to score him a few hours off this morning as they waited for the grapes to dry.

He decided to put that time to good use, hoping he could entice his girl into joining him in a little predawn hanky-panky in the barn. Looking around, he realized how much he’d come to love this farm.

Levi had recently started growing hops on a small patch of land. Rain or Shine Brewery didn’t need a lot of hops, so it worked out fine. However, if he had more available land, he could increase his yield to sell to other breweries in the area. His dream was to eventually move Stormy Weather Farm away from outsourcing the things needed for them to produce their wine and beer. Unfortunately, that seemed destined toremaina dream because there simply wasn’t enough land for them to plant all the things he wanted—like apple trees, barley, berries, and even jalapeños.

Farming had always been his passion, and while he loved working with the vines, he was starting to feel the pull to branch out and explore different kinds of farming. He’d enjoyed his time here, working with the Riley twins, cultivating many different types of produce. There was a science to farming that had always fascinated him. He’d perfected the chemistry of growing grapes, and now he was chomping at the bit to try something else, to learn something new.

He sighed and let that thought go. As Dad was fond of saying, “If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.”

Levi was aware that five thirty in the morning was way too early for a visit. But, like him, Kasi’s days started before the sun even thought about making an appearance.

Or, at least, they usually did.

There were no lights on inside the house. Not even the front porch light, which was always on.

Maybe she’d overslept.

Considering the long hours she kept, it wasn’t like anyone could blame her if she snoozed through the alarm once or twice.

If Levi could be certain she was oversleeping, he’d turn his truck around and head home because there was no way he was waking her up, relentless erection be damned. Those dark circles were lingering beneath her eyes again. If he wasn’t so sexually satisfied, he might feel some guilt about that. Because he knew exactly whose fault those reappearing circles were.

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