Page 54 of Finding Her Strength

It’s easy to forget that Levi used to get around before we started dating. He’s still just as charming as he was the first day I met him, but after our trip to the beach, something about him feels almost… settled. Relaxed. Sometimes I wonder if he’ll get tired of my broken pieces. If he’ll decide it would be easier to go back to that easy, playboy life. It wouldn’t surprise me if he did. I’m not the easiest choice.

“And I know I’ve never seen him this happy. It’s a good look on him,” Sara says, surprising me. Before Levi and I started dating, the two of them hung out frequently. I was worried she’d hate me for taking up all his time.

“Alice is over the moon despite being pissy about not getting any details,” Quinn says with a sly smile.

“What do you mean?” I haven’t heard anything from Alice about our relationship, so I’m surprised to hear Quinn say there’s something going on.

“Oh, Alice was on a warpath when everyone found out you and Levi started dating. She wanted all the details and was royally pissed at Levi for not telling her about you two. Since he hasn’t told her a single thing, she’s been pestering the hell out of me and Cooper.” If Quinn wasn’t grinning at me, I’d feel awful she was being hounded by Alice.

I’m not surprised in the least that Levi kept this from me. He’s always doing things to protect me. Keeping his mother at bay so I don’t have to share the details of our relationship is yet another way he’s proving how much he knows me. It would be incredibly difficult for me to say no to his mom, so him doing it for me makes me want to kiss him.

“I’m sorry you’re taking the brunt of her questions, but also, thank you for taking the heat for me.” I laugh, knowing we’ll have to give in to Alice’s request for information soon. Maybe I can invite her over for dinner one of these nights, and let her ask us whatever she wants. Levi is going to hate that idea.

I realize my glass is empty, so I stand to go back to the kitchen for a refill. When I walk in, Noah’s little hand reaches up to grab a cookie from a platter on the table. He peeks around the corner of the dining room, keeping a watchful eye on the adults. He turns to escape when he spots me and freezes.

I lift my hand to my lips and slide my finger and thumb across them like I’m zipping them. He grins so big there’s a chance it’ll split his face in two. He comes into the kitchen, munching on his cookie.

“What’s your name?” he asks.

“I’m Hope. You’re Noah, right?”

“Yep. Natalie and Tucker are going to be my mom and dad one day. I can’t wait. It’s taking forever.”

“I bet they’re excited, too.”

“Yeah. I like their friends. I used to be scared of new people ‘cause my first mom wasn’t a good one, but now, I’m going to have a great mom.” Noah keeps munching on his cookie as if he didn’t just drop a bomb. At only five, this little boy has had a hard life. Something I can relate to on a certain level. I may not have been as young as him, but I know what it’s like to suffer at the hands of a parent.

“Yes, you are,” I say in almost a whisper, overcome with emotion for a kiddo I barely know. I hope with all I have that this works out for him. He slips out of the kitchen and into the living room, most likely to find Natalie.

After taking a deep breath to clear my emotions, I grab a bottle of wine to refill my glass. My phone starts ringing in my pocket, surprising me. All the people who would call are in the other room. When I pull it out,Unknownis flashing on the screen.

“Hello?”

“Rosemary…”

My body freezes instantly.

No.

I wasn’t supposed to hear from him ever again.

“That’s not my name,” I croak, barely able to get the words out.

“I know. Sorry, Hope. You know I wouldn’t call if it wasn’t important. I have news.”

I don’t say anything. I wouldn’t know what to say, even if I could get the words past the lump in my throat.

“He’s out. On a fucking technicality. His lawyers found an issue with some of the evidence, and they won the appeal.”

My breath freezes in my lungs.

Even though the kitchen is empty, I still glance around the room, afraid he’ll be standing in the corner, watching me like he used to do.

“Watch your back,” he warns, his voice deadly serious.

Then, the phone goes dead.

31

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