The Best Man (Blue Heron #1)(114)

“Of course I’m gonna cry. You’re so mean to me, Levi.”

“Sarah, come on.” He paused. “I’ll drive up tomorrow and take you out for dinner, okay?”

“I want to come home.”

“Two weeks, Sarah. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He hung up from his sister, feeling worse than ever.

Faith had been gone for twenty-two days. Three weeks of one day after the next, three weeks of hardly sleeping, three weeks of every place in this damn town being about her.

The stupid phone rang again. Jeremy, the screen said. Levi let it go to voice mail. Despite the ridiculousness of the argument, he kind of hated Jeremy these days for being Faith’s first and perfect love. He sighed.

“Enough with the sighing!” Emmaline barked. “Knock it off, or I’m gonna go work for Jeremy, and don’t think he hasn’t asked.”

“Do it. I still don’t know what you do here.”

“You’ll find out after I quit, won’t you?”

He closed the case he was working on—all those petty burglaries had been courtesy of Josh Deiner, the kid who’d gotten Abby Vanderbeek drunk that day. Another rich kid who had to get his jollies by breaking the law. “I’m done for the day.”

“Thank you, Baby Jesus.”

“Everett, will you close up tonight?”

“Roger that, Chief! Thanks! Closing up, roger. Will call with a report at oh-eighteen hundred.”

“No need, Ev.”

“Will do anyway, Chief!”

Levi started to sigh, caught Emmaline’s murderous look, and walked out instead. Went home, glancing automatically at Faith’s door. Right. It wasn’t her door anymore. Some middle-aged guy had moved in.

He went into his own apartment, which had once been very peaceful and relaxing and now seemed enormous and barren. Ignored those stupid thoughts, changed out of his work clothes. The refrigerator cycled on. From downstairs, he heard the theme song of Game of Thrones, which Eleanor Raines had recently discovered and was watching at extreme volumes to compensate for the fact that she refused to admit that she needed a hearing aid.

He didn’t particularly want to go to O’Rourke’s, but it beat staying home listening to all those beheadings and wolf attacks.

Which reminded him: he missed Blue.

Two minutes later, he walked into the bar. “Hey, Levi,” Connor said.

“Connor.”

“How about a beer?”

“Thanks.”

“Hey, ass**le,” Colleen said to Levi, leaning down to make eye contact. “I’m not speaking to you, but if I was, that’s what I’d say.”

“Hi,” Levi grunted.

“Coll, get the man a beer and leave him alone,” Connor said, going into the kitchen.

The only good thing that had happened in the past three weeks was that Nina was gone. She’d knocked on Levi’s door the day after his and Faith’s breakup idiocy argument and told him that she’d be on her way, sorry for the inconvenience, best wishes.

“Why the change of heart?” he’d asked. “I mean, I’m relieved, but...” He’d shrugged.

Nina had looked at him a long minute. “You’re in love with your little birdie,” she’d said. “I saw you yesterday. Okay, fine, I was spying, but her windows are right there overlooking the green.” She smiled. “Saw you fighting.”

“And?”

“And you never fought with me.” Much to his surprise, Nina’s eyes had filled with tears. “We never had a fight, not once. What does that say?”

Levi would have guessed that said they’d been compatible, but then again, he was dealing with a female, and females didn’t make sense.

“I’m sorry for what I put you through,” Nina said. “I really am. I’m not proud of walking out on you. I just... I don’t know. I couldn’t stay.”

“It’s okay,” he said. “I’m over it.”

“I know, moron. That’s why I’m going.” She inhaled sharply, dashed a hand across her eyes, then smiled at him. Hugged him hard. “See you, big man,” she’d said, had given him a noisy kiss on the cheek, and off she’d gone.

Life in a small town during the winter...there wasn’t a lot going on after the long and busy tourism season. The ice harvest would be any day now; that meant a bunch of workers out in frigid temperatures, usually at night, gathering the frozen grapes to make the sweet wines the region was famous for. In a few weeks, the village would have its Christmas stroll, lit up like a movie set. And then...not much.

“Hey, buddy.” Jeremy came over and took the stool next to him. “I just called you, not ten minutes ago.”

“Hey.”

“How are you?”

“Great.” He took a sip of his beer.

“One-word answers,” Jeremy said to Colleen as she set down a glass of red wine in front of him.

“I know. It’s enough to make me spit in his beer,” Colleen said, causing Levi to look up sharply. She smiled enigmatically and gave him the finger.

“Coll, have you heard from Faith?” Jeremy asked, for Levi’s benefit, he was sure.

“We talk every day. You?”

“Almost every day. She sounds great, doesn’t she?” He smiled.