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He let go but said, “Are you coming back?”
Her answer to that was to slam the door behind her. Seconds later he heard her car start up and the garage door open.
Levi heard clapping and turned to see Asher and Maggie standing in the kitchen doorway. “Congrats,” Asher said. “Looks like you really screwed up.”
“How do you know it was me?” he snarled. “How do you know it wasn’t Dana who screwed up?”
“Call it a hunch. Am I right?” Maggie stood beside him, placidly wagging her tail.
“Yeah, you’re right. Asshole.”
“Hey, I’m not the one who ran off his girlfriend by committing some dumbass move.”
Levi started to ask how Asher knew that he’d committed a “dumbass move” but decided it wasn’t worth it. “It was a simple misunderstanding. She’ll be back.” He hoped.
“If you say so, Bro. But she looked pretty mad to me. Come on, Maggie,” he said, turning to leave. “Let’s go see those puppies.”
Chapter Nineteen
Dana drove a short distance away before she pulled over and parked. She was so angry she didn’t trust herself to drive. She cried a little, to let off steam, she assured herself. Not because he’d hurt her. Though he had, the big jerk. How could he think she would leave again? Without even discussing it with him?
She’d made a mistake when she was young and, frankly, stupid. And Levi had just proved that he was never going to forgive, much less forget. If only she’d been more honest with him before. Or at the least, talked to him before she accepted the damn job. But she’d been so sure he’d be willing to come with her. At least, that’s what she’d always told herself. Maybe she hadn’t told him because she’d been afraid of his response.
Dana pounded a hand on the steering wheel. She tried to look at things reasonably but she was still too mad. She thought about going to Booze’s and having drink. If Siobhan was working she could talk to her. But she didn’t want to be around anyone. Not even her friends. They would commiserate with her, of course, and agree that men were clueless, but they didn’t know the whole story and she didn’t feel up to explaining it to them. So she drove to the Gas & Go and picked up her favorite comfort food.
Ice cream. Chocolate ice cream.
Half an hour later she’d finished the ice cream—two pints of it—and was feeling a little nauseated. But she was calm enough to consider that she couldn’t totally blame Levi for his visceral reaction when he heard about the job offer. As annoying as it was to admit a fault, she had never told Levi why that job had been so important to her that she hadn’t thought to tell him until after she’d accepted. And he’d never told her why he not only didn’t want to, but couldn’t live in the city with her. Certainly not at the time. Not since then either. Hell, she wouldn’t have known as much as she did if Asher hadn’t mentioned what Levi had told him years ago.
But her reaction to the problem had been to do what she always did. She’d taken off so they not only wouldn’t but couldn’t talk about it. It was long past time that she changed that behavior.
By the time she got back to the house at least an hour had passed. She unlocked the kitchen door and noticed he’d left the lights on for her. Dana tossed her keys and purse on the counter and stopped short, realizing Levi was sitting at the kitchen table. Waiting for her.
“I wasn’t sure you were coming back,” he said.
“Neither was I. If I’d still had my apartment I probably wouldn’t have.”
“I’m glad you came home.” He paused a moment. “Still mad?”
Dana pulled out a chair and sat down. “Yes. But not nearly as mad as I was when I left.”
“You were gone a while. What did you do?”
“I ate a pint of ice cream.”
His lips twitched. “Did it help?”
“No. So I ate another one.”
“Did that help?”
“No, it just made my stomach hurt.”
“I’m sorry, Dana. I jumped to a conclusion that was obviously wrong.”
Dana sighed. “Did you really think I’d do that to you again? After last time was such a disaster?”
“I wasn’t thinking. I just reacted.”
