Page 93 of Taken By Storm

Suuuuuuure. It was against her will.

She’d never felt so brutally possessed and sweetly cherished. She wasn’t even sure how it was possible to feel those two things at the same time, but damn if Levi didn’t manage.

It was during the wee hours of last night, when sleep continued to elude her, that she was finally able to see just how deeply in love she’d fallen with Levi. True to his name, he’d stormed into her life and turned everything upside down and inside out.

She rubbed her neck wearily. She might have said the words, might have told him they couldn’t be together, but they weren’t broken up. Yet. At least not in Levi’s eyes.

Even after this morning.

She’d hurt Levi’s feelings when she had accused him of pressing charges against Keith. He’d been nothing but wonderful and supportive and…

Shit. Why the hell had she let Scottie, the weasel, plant that seed in her head? Why had she let it take root?

And why was she still considering the asshole’s proposal?

Rising from her stool, Kasi grabbed a broom to sweep the stand, her mother’s words whispering in her ear.

“Nothing like hard work to clear a troubled mind, Cat.”

Kasi smiled sadly as she recalled the silly nickname Mama used for her. Kasi was Cat, Keith was Kit. She’d never thought to ask her mother why, and suddenly she wished she had.

“Just sweep,” she muttered under her breath, fighting like the devil to shut her stupid head up. If her mind couldn’t find something—anything—fucking happy to think about, then she’d prefer to think of nothing at all.

Once she’d swept the small pile of dust, dirt, and leaves into a pile, she bent down to scoop it into a dustpan, then returned to her stool, sinking down heavily.

Kasi felt the first tear slide down her cheek. She didn’t bother to stem the tide, letting them fall. Mercifully, no one stopped by the stand because it took her close to a half an hour to pull herself back together.

Unfortunately, exhaustion had set in hard, so she closed the farm market.

Rather than load the truck and return to the farmhouse, she remained where she was. She couldn’t face her father or Keith or Levi or anyone yet.

Because, in the end, she’d let them all down.

So, instead, she put her head down on her arms on the counter and closed her eyes, shutting every miserable thought away, hiding out in the stand, refusing to acknowledge all the shit swirling around outside this shed.

Kasi gaspedwhen a loud rumble of thunder cracked overhead.

She glanced around the dark shed wondering how long she’d slept. Given the sharp pain in her neck, she guessed she’d been out at least a few hours.

Rising, she opened the door, cursing her luck, as the sky opened, rain falling in large drops. Darkness had fallen as well, so it had to be late. Daddy and Keith must have assumed she’d gone to Levi’s, considering the two of them had been spending pretty much every single night together since they’d started seeing each other.

Returning to the counter, she looked at her phone. She was shocked to discover it was nine thirty at night. She found a couple texts from Keith, asking where she was, then a final one letting her know he and Daddy had fended for themselves for dinner, eating BLTs. He ended that text with “Say hey to Levi,”so she’d been right about why they hadn’t thrown up the alarm and looked for her.

In addition to Keith’s texts, there was one from Remi, who’d heard from Edith Millholland, who’d heard from Mrs. Grover, that she and Scottie were getting married. Remi’s text was followed by at least twenty crying-laughing emojis, indicating her best friend obviously didn’t believe the rumor. Scottie’s mother apparently shared his arrogance, certain there was no woman on earth who could refuse his proposal.

And then, there were nineteen texts from Levi as well as three missed calls. All of them said basically the same thing. That she was still his and this thing between them wasn’t over.

Every single one of the texts felt like a punch to the gut.

Tucking the phone in her back pocket, she grabbed a couple of the empty produce baskets and carried them outside.

One short trek to the truck and she was completely drenched, the rain coming down in a deluge.

“Fuck,” she muttered, returning to the stand to lock it. She’d get the rest of the stuff in the morning. Right now, all she wanted was to take a hot shower and crawl beneath her covers. The long nap she’d just taken hadn’t put a dent in her exhaustion.

Climbing in the cab of the truck, she pulled her phone from her back pocket, tossed it into the center console, then turned the key. Nothing. She tried again and again and again, but the engine was completely dead.

Of course it fucking was.

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