When Summer Comes (Whiskey Creek #3)(57)
Author: Brenda Novak

“So? There could be a mistake.”

“There’s no mistake. He’s not being straight with us. I’m convinced of it.”

She nibbled at her bottom lip while watching the other cars on the road. “Post-traumatic stress disorder affects a lot of our soldiers, makes them do things that might seem crazy to us.”

“Using a false name isn’t crazy. It’s a willful deception, an attempt to hide his past.”

“Maybe it’s nothing like what you’re thinking.”

“What else could it be?”

She’d already created an alternate scenario. She’d needed some way to justify continuing to associate with him. “I know he has an abusive father. Maybe he wanted to leave his past behind to prevent his father from ever contacting him.”

“Is that what he told you?”

“No. But it’s plausible.”

“If that was it, he would’ve said.”

Not necessarily. Levi wasn’t at all forthcoming. What she’d learned about him had come out in bits and pieces. “Everyone’s different. I think you’re missing the bigger point here.”

“Which is…”

Her friend Riley passed by with his son, Jacob. Under normal circumstances, she would’ve flagged him down so she could ask him whether or not he knew for sure when Phoenix would be getting out of prison. Callie realized that day would be difficult for him. It would be difficult for Phoenix, too. How would she ever make the transition to regular life, especially since she’d be returning to a community so united against her?

But Callie didn’t honk or wave. Instead, she hunkered down in her seat and hoped he wouldn’t notice her. Lately, she hadn’t been good about returning his calls, either, couldn’t cope with any more accusations of neglect and questions about what was wrong with her.

Fortunately, her car was a popular make and model, and there were enough tourists streaming through town. He drove by without even slowing.

“Denny lied about the night of the attack,” she said into the phone. “We know that for sure. We also know he blames me for the loss of his dog and that he’s been making noises about doing something to punish me for it. That leads me to believe he’s got to be the one who set fire to the barn. There isn’t anyone else who has it in for me. So…how does a liar and a possible arsonist have enough credibility to convince you that you need to arrest Levi?”

There was a long pause. “You won’t listen to me on this guy, will you?”

She didn’t respond to that directly. “Even if Levi did threaten Denny, you can’t blame him for wanting to defend himself.”

“Are you sleeping with him?”

This was the last question she’d expected from the chief of police. “Does that have anything to do with the barn-burning or anything else we were discussing?” she asked.

“It could explain your behavior, why you’re so blind when it comes to him.”

The air-conditioning was too cold. She adjusted the vents so they wouldn’t blow on her. “I think I’m seeing well enough, Chief. I know Levi has problems. But he’s a good person, someone who’s worth helping. I’ve already noticed how he’s begun to relax since he’s been here, that he isn’t walling everyone out anymore.”

She could’ve expounded on that statement, could’ve told him she didn’t know many people who would’ve taken care of a two-day acquaintance as well as he’d cared for her the night she was sick. He was also a man of his word, or he would’ve moved on the second his bike was fixed. Even with the barn burned, he was sticking around, trying to look out for her. He had a tender heart. What would he be like with consistent kindness and a stronger sense of safety and security? There was no telling. But she was afraid revealing all of that would only confirm what the police chief had already inferred—that she cared about him and, therefore, saw only the best.

“Callie, I’ve known you since we were kids,” Chief Stacy said. “Maybe I’ve got a few years on you, but we grew up together. I don’t want to see you hurt.”

She felt guilty for being so defensive. He was just trying to do his job, a job he was good at. “I appreciate the sentiment. Really, I do. But Denny is the only threat to me. If you really want to help, make sure he keeps his distance, okay?”

He spoke over the blare of a radio in the background. “I’ve got a cruiser going by your place every hour, starting at eight in the evening.”

Putting her X3 back in Drive, she waited for a break in the traffic streaming past her. “I’m grateful. Thank you.”

“I have to admit, though…”

“What?” she said when his words drifted off.

“I never expected you to fall for someone like Levi. A woman like you…you deserve more. A guy with a job, at least,” he added with a chuckle.

She had a chance to merge onto the highway, but the chief’s words—or rather, the telltale self-consciousness in his voice—shocked her so badly that she missed it. “I’m flattered,” she said. “I really am.”

“My divorce will be final soon.”

Where was he going with this? If it was what she thought, what any woman would think, she regretted saying she was flattered.

“Will you keep that in mind?” he asked before she could respond to the divorce statement.

Callie shoved her transmission back in Park. Was he serious? So what if he had a steady job? She’d never looked at him as a possible love interest. He seemed much older, had been married since she was in high school. But the divorce changed nothing on her part. She didn’t find him remotely attractive.

Since when had he decided he’d like to date her? Was it just because he’d recently become more aware of her, thanks to the dog attack and Levi?

Obviously, he assumed that if she’d be interested in a vagrant, he should have a much better chance.

Intending to let him down easy, she opened her mouth to say that she appreciated the kind of person he was. It was the beginning of her own version of the clichéd “I just want to be friends” speech. But then she realized she might not need to state her feelings one way or the other. If she didn’t get a liver soon, dating anyone would be a moot point.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she promised.

* * *

The first thing Callie saw when she arrived home was a worn leather jacket tossed over Levi’s bike, which was parked out front instead of in the back, as usual.