Page 174 of Between Never and Forever
We walk into the kitchen, and I take a seat at the island. Levi grabs me and Red glasses of water as he fills us in on the situation.
There is a warrant out for Terry’s arrest. Everyone is looking for him. He’ll probably go straight back to prison because he wasn’t supposed to have a gun. Not only that, but he discharged it with people present while shouting that he was going to kill my mom in front of a sidewalk full of paparazzi.
What a scum bag.
Good news is that this whole fucked-up mess has discredited the Larks significantly, and Levi was able to get a restraining order against Terry, William and Helen, and his own mother as a precaution. Plus, there are officers on the beach and patrol cars circling town, so this is probably the safest house in the state. Not that I think they’ll do anything. They’re not the type to do their dirty work themselves, hence the reason they tracked down a human parasite like Terry.
“Ironically, the idiots outside serve as extra security,” Levi says with a tired laugh. He puts his arms back around me and I sink into him. “They’ll get him, and this will be all over soon.”
I glance at my mom. She looks nervous. She looks exhausted. My heart twists. She worked so hard to get away from him and now he’s back. I don’t even know how I’d feel if I were in her shoes. If it was Oscar or Sean. Mr. Oglesby. Hell, if I were Terry’s target.
I’d be terrified and pissed and so fuckingtired.
Without over thinking it, I reach across the counter and grab her hand, giving it a squeeze. She flinches but doesn’t pull away. I don’t know what to say. I don’t have the words. I just let the gesture speak for me and hope that the way I’m feeling right now is obvious.
It’s okay. You don’t deserve this. I’m here. I’m proud of you. It will be okay.
“Sav, c’mon!”
Brynn shouts from down the hall, and Levi’s chest rumbles behind me with a laugh. I stand from the stool and step out of his embrace. I turn and give him one last kiss on the lips.
“The Boss beckons,” I say with a grin, then I turn and head toward the music room.
Brynn and I mess around for a bit in the music room. She’s started teaching herself a Van Morrison song, and I’m really impressed by what she’s accomplished in the short time she’s been playing. She has me play “Blackbird” a few times while she stares at my fingers picking the strings, and then she drags me into the rec room down the hall for a movie night.
“Let’s get Ms. Sharon and she can watch with us. It can be a girls’ night,” Brynn says, hopping up from her oversized bean bag and disappearing before I can even respond.
Minutes later, Brynn’s back with Sharon and Levi in tow, then Ziggy barrels through their legs and cannonballs into Brynn’s beanbag chair. Brynn groans playfully and I roll my eyes. Menacing, mannerless, disaster of a dog.
Levi gives me a look that asks if I’m okay with this, a movie night with Brynn and Sharon, and when I glance at my mom, she’s hope wrapped in discomfort. She wants to be in here with me and Brynn, but she doesn’t want to upset me.
I think back to what Levi said. Brynn’s already lost so much, and my mother is important to her. My mother is a safe space for her, and with all the bullshit swirling around right now, she deserves every possible safe space.
I smile and nod at Levi, then turn my attention to my mom.
“What movie are we watching tonight, Ms. Sharon? Do you usually choose or does Boss?”
My mom’s jaw drops, and she blinks at me, a shocked smile turning up her lips. When she doesn’t answer right away, Brynn answers for her.
“We take turns, and it’s my turn but you can pick since you’re new here.”
I laugh, and when I glance at Levi, his smile makes my whole chest clench in the best possible way.
I rack my brain, but I don’t really know any kid movies. I didn’t exactly have the type of childhood that included fairy tale movie nights and family bonding. When I come up short, I smile at Brynn.
“How about you choose, and I’ll choose next time.”
“Okay!”
She wastes no time pulling up a movie, and Levi gives me a wink before leaving the room and shutting the door behind him.
I wake up in a beanbag chair to a quiet room.
There’s a screensaver floating on the television. I think I fell asleep in the middle of the third superhero movie.
I glance at the other beanbags. Ziggy abandoned me after the second movie, so she’s sleeping with Red in the primary bedroom.
At some point, Brynn ended up next to Sharon and they’re both fast asleep. My mom has her arm around Brynn and they’re sharing a fleece blanket that has little unicorns and rainbows on it. The sight brings as much joy as it does pain.
