Page 162 of Between Never and Forever
And it’s not lost on me that Savannah didn’t say she loved me back.
Thatdon’t forget about mecould just as easily have been a goodbye. Just like last time.
I get into my truck and drive back to the office. I take Brynn around to do some site checks. We’re finishing up the final house in the River View neighborhood. Another connection to Savannah severed. I feel like she’s slipping through my fingers.
By Sunday, my house is back in the same condition it was two weeks ago. It’s like the film crew was never here. I got her back for a matter of days, and now she’s been all but erased. Sunday night, I’m scouring the internet for any mention of my name when I find an article about The Hometown Heartless, and a slew of photos allegedly from Saturday night.
From what I thought, Sav would have been on an international flight to Italy, but according to these photos, she was in L.A. She’s walking into her record label’s offices with the rest of the band. Mabel in front, Jonah in back, and Sav and Torren in the middle. His arm is around her, and on her finger is that fucking emerald engagement ring. The next set of photos is of the band leaving the offices hours later. It’s dark and there’s no clear shots of Sav’s hands, but Torren is still right beside her.
I don’t read the article. I close out of it and pour myself a whiskey on the rocks.
This is for the best right now. Until my meeting on Wednesday with the lawyers and the Larks, my name needs to stay out of the tabloids. Keeping the attention on Sav and Torren is a good thing.
Even if I fucking hate it.
37
On Wednesday,my phone wakes me at five in the morning.
I groan as I roll over to grab it. In my haze of exhaustion, my eyes don’t focus on the phone when I accept the call, so the video chat surprises me. I’m shocked even more to see a distraught Savannah on the other end.
I shoot upright in the bed.
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
“Levi...I’m so sorry. It broke a few hours ago, but I didn’t see it until just now. I’m so fucking sorry.”
“What? What broke?”
She sighs and closes her eyes. She shakes her head.
“They know. It’s all over the internet. Pictures of us at the ER. Pictures of you leaving my trailer on Friday. Someone came forward and said they saw Torren return to the hotel the night of the show downtown, so now they know it was you on the roof.”
“Fuck.” I push my hands through my hair and try to control my breathing. “Fuck.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“No...It’s not your fault. It’s not that big of a deal. I’ve got a meeting in three hours. I’ll...it’ll be okay. I wish I’d had a little more time, but it will be okay.”
“Levi...”
Her voice breaks, and her eyes are so sad. They’re filled with a regret I can feel even though she’s across the world.
“What is it, Sav?”
“Levi, they’re saying Brynnlee isn’t your daughter.”
The breath is sucked from my lungs, dread coiling around my windpipe and squeezing. I drop the phone on my bed and stand, going straight for my laptop. I open it and go to a web browser, then search Sav’s name.
Every single headline that pops up in the search results is about me. Sav Loveless’s newest “affair.” They think she’s still engaged to Torren, and they’re using the photos from L.A. a few days ago as proof. The comments on some of these articles are vicious. Spewing vitriol at Sav. At me. Wishing death on us both.
I ignore those, though. Instead, I skim the article until I find what I’m looking for. It’s all there. All of it, in bold font on the internet. Every article mentions it. There must be a dozen of them all saying the same thing.
Levi Cooper. Business owner. Widower. Single father to an adopted seven-year-old daughter.
“Fuck.Fuck.”
I slam the laptop closed and stalk back to the bed. I pick up the phone and take in Savannah’s face once more. It’s full of questions. Questions and sorrow. Remorse. I close my eyes and breathe.
