Page 48 of Levi
“Wow, slow down,” I say as she peppers me with a ton of questions all at once.“How are you here?”I ask once our tears have stopped flowing.
“Levi called Linc last night and we got on the first plane we could,” she explains.“This whole time you’ve been here close to Glammy’s town?”
I nod.
“Brody has a ranch outside of Helena.”
“Brody?”
“Yeah, I think we might need some drinks and I’ll explain everything,” I say, and lead her into the bar.We pick a booth, off in the corner, and I immediately start a tab for us.
“Keep them coming, please,” I say to the bartender as she comes by.
“By the way, I let Dad know last night after Linc got the call.Your dad has been AWOL for a long time.So, you should reach out if you can to let him know about all this.Now, spill,” she says as our first round of drinks gets quickly delivered.
As I tell her what I went through the day I was arrested, she sits and listens, holding my hand as I relive one of the worst days of my entire life.Losing my mom at such a young age was the worst, but this was up there.I explain about Mr.Buttons and how he’d said that Linc and Levi work with the courts to relocate people until it’s safe to return, and bring her up to date with Brody.Drinks have never stopped flowing as I tell her everything that led up to this morning.I show her pictures of Halo and she cries even harder at how big she’s getting.We talk about everything, trying to catch up on the last two-and-a-half years.
“I can’t believe that Glammy and Granddad kept this from me,” Everly says above a whisper, and I get up and walk to the other side of the table, engulfing her in the tightest hug.
“Please don’t be mad at them.When they and Grandma and Grandpa first saw us in Helena about a year ago, Brody made it clear that if they told anyone then we’d have to relocate.”
“This is all so crazy, Saylor.”
“I know.It’s like a spider web of bad decisions and regrets all weaved together.”
“What are you going to do, now?”Everly asks as she licks the salt off the rim of her margarita.“If what Levi is saying is true, then this Brody guy has known that your husband has been looking for you all this time, and has kept my niece not only away from her daddy but me.”
“I’m so confused, because if you were to meet Brody you’d see that he’s a great guy and would never harm anyone.I don’t know what to make of all of this.I feel like I’m a pawn in some game and have no idea who the players are,” I admit.
The bartender comes over and drops off a round of lemon drops and I spot Everly’s ring finger.
“So you and Linc tied the knot?”I point down at the massive engagement rock on her finger, with a matching wedding band attached.
Everly looks down and twirls it around her finger.
“It was a long road but we got married barely a year ago,” she says.
“What took you so long?”
“When everything happened at the hospital with Daniel and finding out what he’d done, Linc and I unintentionally took sides.At first, he was defending his dad and Levi and I were furious at what had been done to you.I knew you’d never harm Levi but everyone was so scared for Levi, and then you went missing.A lot of words were exchanged in the heat of the moment and I called off our engagement.”
“Oh Everly, I’m so sorry,” I reach over and hold her hand.
“I moved out and back in my apartment for a while.Dad and Adam went into mission mode, trying to locate you and find any leads through their contacts, but was hitting dead ends at every turn.Linc tried to contact me several times over the next month but I just didn’t want to hear it.I was devastated that you were gone and that the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with could think my best friend would try to kill her husband.It was a mess.”
“I can’t even imagine that all of us were so effected by some crazy madman who wanted revenge on Linc and Levi.Our life could be made into a Lifetime Movie.”We laugh.“How did you work it out?”
“I know right.Anyway, Dad was the one who set us up.I went to a restaurant, thinking I was meeting him there, and it was Linc who showed up.Dad texted and told me to hear him out, and to either fix things or cut ties completely.So we started slow,again, and then eventually he popped the question and we married a month after him asking.He said he didn’t want to take any more time away from our future than what had already passed.I had wanted to wait until you came home but Linc insisted that you’d never want me to wait.”
“He is right about that,” I tell her.She seems so happy.Marriage is a perfect look on her.
“How was it seeing Levi again after all these years?”
That is such a loaded question.
“He looks good,” my inebriated-self blurts out, and I clamp a hand over my mouth.
“Those Thorne brothers sure are good looking,” Everly stares off dreamily.
