Page 14 of A Step Too Close
“Dumb question. Is this the same house?” I ask.
“No,” Levi says. “That house was sold about a year later to the bank. They tore it down and the land was used to build a housing development.”
“Ah. Okay,” I say.
“Dinner should be ready,” Levi says. “Let’s eat and catch up.”
Everyone moves to the dining room and I help Levi bring dinner out. Once we are all sitting, the tension seems to melt away. We talk and laugh as if we have all known each other our entire lives. This is the most at peace I have ever seen Levi, and it trulywarms my heart to witness. Macie and I clean up after dinner while the others chat, but eventually we make our way into the living room to meet up with the others.
“Hey,” Levi says with a confused look.
“Hi. What’s wrong?” I ask.
“Where were you? I didn’t even realize…”
“Don’t worry about me. I’m a big girl,” I laugh. “Macie and I cleaned up the kitchen. You’ve been busy catching up.”
“Arden, you didn’t have to do that,” he says, pulling me into his lap to sit.
“Maybe. Maybe not, but I did. Don’t worry about me; just catch up with your family, sweetie.”
“God, you are just like her,” Jett sighs.
“Charlotte?” I ask.
“Yeah,” Jett says.
“I don’t know if it’s appropriate to compare Arden to Charlotte,” Heather, Levi’s mother, says.
“Eh. As long as she’s okay with it,” Parker, Levi’s father, says.
“I don’t mind,” I laugh. “What did she look like?”
“You want to see her?” Levi asks me.
“I do. Melody too,” I say. “If she got her attitude from her daddy, I bet she was stubborn as shit.”
“Funny,” Levi says with a smirk as he tickles my side. He pulls his phone out and pulls me back to lie against his chest. I watch as he navigates through his pictures until he selects one.
The picture is of a younger Levi, a beautiful blonde woman with bright blue eyes, and a little girl who is the spitting image of her mother. Looking at them, it fucking hurts. I never knew them, but knowing they died the way they did… it’s heartbreaking. “They were beautiful,” I say softly. “Melody looks identical to Charlotte.”
“Yeah,” Levi says blankly. I turn slightly, and he is lost. I lift his chin to make him look at me, and I watch as the memories slip away and he comes back to me.
“There you are,” I saw sweetly.
“I’m sorry. I…”
“Stop apologizing, Levi,” I say, cupping his cheek.
“Thank you for pulling me back. I haven’t looked at a picture of them since I drank last.”
“I cannot imagine how much it hurts,” I say. “But Levi… They are still with you. Charlotte and Melody are every ray of sunshine and every cloudy day. They might not be here in physical form, but they are looking down on you and I have zero doubt that they are so damn proud of how far you’ve come, baby. You served your country, survived being shot, came home and lost your family to a horrific attack, and you still survived. You battled against yourself and the memories for a decade, but you still survived. You built a company, and you found your way to the surface. I haven’t lost a spouse or a child, but I had a part of my soul stolen from me. I know what drowning feels like, and you survived, Levi. Be proud of that and never apologize for getting lost in those memories because love it or hate it, it’s a part of you now. We will never get over the things that have happened to us, but we will learn how to navigate better through the pain every day.”
Levi grabs my face and kisses me hard and for a moment, the world disappears. When we pull away, I can’t help but smile at him. “You are amazing, Arden.”
“I’m not amazing for telling you the truth,” I laugh. “We leave an imprint on this earth that lasts long after death.”
“Despite the constant reminder that you and Charlotte share qualities, you two are so different,” he tells me. “I don’t ever want you to think that you are a replacement or a surrogate, Arden. You are your own person, I just happen to have a thing for sassy little brats with hearts of gold. ”
