Sweet Soul (Sweet Home #5)(39)
We breathed the same air as we slowly, nervously drifted apart. Levi shyly met my eyes to assert, “I loved hearing your voice.” I stilled. “It’s beautiful… like you. Just as beautiful as your perfect pretty face. You ain’t got nothing to be ashamed of.”
Feeling brave, hearing the sincerity in his words, hearing the acceptance of my voice I’d wanted to hear all of my life, I quietly replied, “Thank you,” just as the wheel began taking us downward.
Levi shifted back to sit beside me, only this time his heavy muscled arm lay over my shoulders and he pulled me to his side. My smaller frame fit perfectly against his side, like we were too broken pieces being put perfectly back together. Wanting to touch him too, I put my arm around his waist, smiling to myself when I heard his breathing hitch at my welcome touch.
I stared out of the glass pod at the city beyond. I felt like I was in heaven—high in the sky; safe, fed and warm, with the sweetest kindest boy who accepted my biggest flaw.
I had to blink back the water in my eyes when I felt Levi brush a kiss on the top of my head, then move down to kiss the tip of my left ear. The ear that had been unsalvageable. The ear that was completely deaf. The one that had caused me so much grief.
Tipping my head up so he could see my face, Levi smiled his gorgeous shy smile, the sweet, sweet smile forever etched on my brain, and brought his lips to mine for a feather light kiss.
Sighing, he said, “I also love kissing you, Elsie. ‘Bout as much as I love hearing your voice.”
He waited, just waited, and I knew it was for me to respond. Fighting back the crushing insecurity that I’d lived with all my life, I replied, “I love kissing you too.”
I winced, the sound of my voice monotone and slightly higher in pitch than most people. But Levi’s finger smoothed the lines on my forehead and his smile lit up my world.
“I love,” he started, “I love that you saved your voice for me, that you gave your voice to me.”
For a worrying moment I still couldn’t believe if he was telling the truth or not. But there it was, in his eyes. He meant every single word.
It was a gift. It was freedom.
He’d given me back my voice.
“No more silence,” Levi said, and pulled me close. I felt him shift so that his mouth was nearer my right ear, the ear from which I could hear. “Not with me, Elsie. No more silence with me. Even if it’s only with me.”
Levi shifted on the seat, gently guiding me to sit up. The pod suddenly stopped, and the guy operating the wheel opened the door for us to get out. Without taking his arm from around my shoulders, Levi guided me from the pod and we began walking back to the car. I wrapped my arm around his waist. I couldn’t help but feel safe under his protection.
When we were far enough from the wheel, far away from anyone around us, Levi asked, “Did you like the wheel, Elsie?”
I looked up and nodded my head, only for Levi to patiently wait. I knew it was for me to speak. He may have been quiet, but part of him was unwavering, showing he wasn’t all shyness after all. “I loved it,” I said quietly, and Levi proudly threw me a smile.
Warmth burst in my chest, my body lighter now that my trapped voice had been set free. Levi’s arm dropped from my shoulder and he took my hand in his. I frowned, wondering why he’d let go, when he explained, “I wanna see your face when we talk.”
I breathed in the salty sea air, and stared out over the water. My fingers, joined with Levi’s, tightened, and I cast him a smile. Levi lowered his head and said, “You’re real pretty.”
I shook my head. I wasn’t, he was, but I loved hearing such a sentiment issuing from his lips. Ignoring a tightening in my stomach, I said, “The view from the wheel,” I paused as I fought the urge to be silent, “it was beautiful.”
Levi sighed and nodded his head. We were not far from the car when Levi asked, “What’s your favorite sight, Elsie? What’s the most beautiful thing you’ve seen?”
The happiness I was feeling fled, only to be replaced by a deep sadness. Levi must have noticed the dramatic switch because he questioned, “What? What’s wrong?”
I stared down at the floor, then knowing I wanted to share a little more of who I was, to open up to this boy, I stopped under the light of a streetlight.
I could see the frown on Levi’s face, but I wanted to do this. I had never told anyone who I was, what my life was like. I’d never told anyone, shown anyone… her.
Releasing Levi’s hand, who remained as silent as a statue, I took off my gloves, pushing the warm material into my pocket. The wind blew colder this close to the water, but I fought the chill to reach into my shirt and pull out my locket. I saw Levi’s attention turn to the necklace, and his frown slipped into an expression of curiosity.
“Your locket?” he asked. “You find your locket most beautiful?”
“Yes,” I replied, then continued “and no.”
Levi’s frown returned to his handsome face, when I lifted my fingers to open the tiny clasp. Levi watched my every move. I stepped further into the street light, opening the locket to reveal what I treasured most.
Levi stepped closer, his eyes narrowed as he studied the small picture. I knew he would understand when he saw the treasure inside: a picture of my mom, young and smiling. Beautiful; the most beautiful thing in my world.