Trailer Park Heart

I should have told him we didn’t have a story, but the words got stuck in my throat, refusing to surface. It wasn’t true anyway.

It might not be a love story, but Levi and I definitely told a tale.

“There you are!” Coco greeted from a few feet away. Levi and I jumped apart like someone had started a fire between us.

Or maybe it was in us.

“I’ve been looking for you,” she said, panting a little like she’d been running laps around the square.

“Did you text?” I asked.

She cocked her head. “Yeah, like ten times. I even called you. Which you know was traumatizing for me. I’m post voice calls.”

I rolled my eyes at my ridiculous, hipster friend. “Sorry, Co, I was watching Max.”

“Uh, huh.”

I was thankful for the dark night because it hid my telltale blush.

“Hey, Levi,” Coco finally acknowledged him. “What are you doing here?”

Max threw his arms around Coco’s legs. “He’s trick-or-treating with us!”

Her eyebrows jumped to her hairline. “Why?”

It was Levi’s turn to shift uncomfortably. “I like hanging out with Max,” he explained. “He reminds me of Logan.”

The world screeched to a halt as I noticed Levi searching Coco’s face for answers. Her expression twisted all right, but not with guilt. She stared at him like that was the strangest thing he could have possibly ever said.

“Okaaaay,” she dragged out, holding Max protectively against her thighs. “Weird.”

A puff of laughter escaped me before I could reign in my reaction. If Levi thought he could super sleuth my friends, he underestimated how deeply buried I kept this secret hidden.

No pun intended.

Ack, that was a terrible joke. I immediately felt guilty, even though it had only happened in my head.

“Are you guys ready for apple cider yet?” Coco asked me. “It’s freezing out here.” Her gaze moved to the giant plaid coat I wore, and her confused expression widened to another level of concern.

“I’m ready,” I answered casually, ignoring her jumping eyebrows and obvious glances at Levi. “Are you ready, Max?”

“Ready!” he cheered. “I got so much candy. It’s going to last me three years!”

We’d be lucky if it lasted three months, but I let him have his moment.

Levi took a step back, in the opposite direction we were headed. We all noticed.

“Are you going to drink apple cider with us, Levi?” Max asked.

He shook his head and I would have to thank Coco for her perfect timing. “Nah, not tonight, buddy. All that walking around wore me out.”

“You headed to Finch’s?” Coco asked.

“Not sure.” He shrugged, his hands shoving back into his pockets. “You?”

“Yeah, I’m not sure either. My wing-woman sucks.” She gave me a pointed look. “And has to worry about bedtimes and responsibility and all that crap. I’m not sure if I want to head over there alone.”

“I know what you mean,” Levi empathized. Then he looked at me and said, “She’s useless when it comes to keeping the unwanted ones away.”

I rolled my eyes at that criticism. “Please.” Then a thought occurred to me. “You two should go together! There. I just wing-manned you both into a date. You’re welcome.”

They gave each other disgusted looks, like I’d just asked them to kiss their cousin.

“What is wrong with you?” Coco sneered.

“Are you serious?” Levi guffawed at the same time.

“Well, have a good night, whatever you decide.” I smiled pleasantly at Levi, biting back another comment about Kelly Fink. Sounding jealous right now probably wasn’t the best call. “The apple cider is calling my name.”

“I’ll talk to you later, Ruby,” Levi promised.

“Bring Star Wars!” Max chimed in.

“All right, little man.” He held my gaze a moment longer, that too soft smile tilting his lips up. “Had fun tonight, Ruby.”

“Bye, Levi.”

He disappeared into the crowd and I was left with his coat and his smell and this wild, unsettled feeling coursing through my tingling limbs.

Coco tsked when Max ran ahead to Rosie’s. “He’s got it so bad for you.”

There was no point denying it. I knew he did. I’d known he had it bad since graduation night. It was just that he’d been gone for so long, I thought for sure he would have moved on by now. “What should I do about it?”

Coco linked her arm through mine and laid her head on my shoulder. “What do you want to do about it?”

Good question. “I don’t know yet.”

“Yes, you do,” she whispered. “I’ve never known you not to know your feelings exactly. Be honest with yourself, Ruby. You deserve that after all you’ve been through.”

But did I?

I wasn’t so sure.

And besides that, Levi was complicated and messy. Things might not be perfect for Max and me, but they were clean and easy. They didn’t leave us brokenhearted and shattered. We weren’t in danger of being left behind or forgotten.

Then there was the secret between us, the one I knew Levi had suspicions about. How could I ever explain that to him? How could I ever start something with him without explaining it?

How could he ever be interested in me after finding out?

I had worked so hard to figure out this little life of mine and now, with Levi’s explosive entrance back in Clark City, everything was out of place. He’d turned my world upside down and me inside out. Levi Cole wasn’t going to be happy until he’d managed the complete and utter destruction of me.

This was maybe his best revenge yet.

17

A New Hope

The next two weeks developed a kind of routine that involved Levi in my life more than I had ever anticipated. He came to Rosie’s for breakfast every weekday morning around six-thirty when all the working farmers showed up.

In the middle of November, we’d almost reached the off season for the agricultural industry, so I knew work was slowing down for him. Also, I’d asked. Partly because I was nosy, but also because I was genuinely curious.

His father really did want to retire. But more than that, he wanted Levi home to step up in the family business. Rich Cole was not an old man, nor was he struggling with his health. Levi and he had developed a ten-year plan of sorts designed to hand over the entire business in layers. That’s why he had time to stop by the diner every morning before he headed out to the Cole farm.

He’d also leased his apartment in town for two years. He said the farm was too small with his parents living there. I’d seen the Cole Family Farmhouse. It was not small. I took that to mean, he’d been on his own for too long. Speaking from experience, as one who still lived with her mom, he had done the right thing.

He planned to build a house on property nearby, but not until he could afford the land on his own.

We’d shared all of this over refills of his coffees and pleasant smiles. He was never impatient with me as I bustled around the diner every morning, hopping from one overall-wearing farmer to the next. He was always ready with that gentle smile that made my toes curl at the same time my heart always lurched in paranoia. He always tipped big.

I wasn’t sure if that was because he was still checking out my ass every time I turned around or if he was just being kind.