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“Good. I’m good.” A silence fell and Levi said, “Actually, that’s a lie. I’m not good at all.”
“What’s wrong? Is Asher—”
“No, Asher is fine. In fact, he’s so good he’s moving out. Tomorrow. He’s found a place of his own.”
“I know this must be hard for you.”
“I’ll admit to mixed emotions. On the one hand I’m glad he’s doing so well. Ever since he decided on the nonprofit for veterans and shelter animals he’s been a lot more like his old self. And I know he needs his independence. It’s just…”
“You’ll miss him,” she finished for him.
“Yeah.” He was quiet a moment. “I miss you, Dana. I thought I’d get used to you being gone but every damn day I miss you more.”
Her breath caught in her throat. She blinked back tears, after hearing the one thing she’d feared he’d never say. “I miss you too. So much.”
*
“I’m going to be fine,” Asher said to Levi as he crammed a few last items into his duffel bag.
“I know.” But would he?
“I’ll still be living in Whiskey River.”
“I know,” Levi repeated. “It’s just that…I’ve gotten used to you living here.”
“You’ll get used to me being somewhere else soon enough. Besides, you’ll need the house to yourself once Dana comes back.”
“If she comes back.”
Asher looked at him. “She said she was coming back when the job was done.”
“That’s what she said.”
“But you’re not sure she will.”
“No, I think she will. It’s her staying I’m worried about.”
Asher sat down on the bed. “Why? You’re in love with her; she’s in love with you. What’s the problem?”
“She thinks I don’t trust her.”
“Oh, this is about when you were such a dick about her job offer.”
Levi winced. “I wasn’t—” He cut himself off. “Yes, that. She thinks because I thought she’d accepted the job without talking to me that means I don’t trust her. And she doesn’t think we can be together if that’s how I feel.”
“Well, is it?”
“No. I screwed up.”
“So do something to prove to her you’re in it for the long haul. To prove you trust her.”
“Like what?”
“Hell, Levi, I don’t know. Put that brilliant brain of yours to work on it.” He stood and said, “Come on. I need your help to unload and I need to be there when they deliver the rest of my furniture.”
The day before, Levi had hired a couple of guys to take the electric bed that had been in Asher’s room over to his new house and set up a regular bed in its place at Levi’s. It was one of the few things Asher agreed to take, and he only did that after Levi told him not to be a hardheaded butt and to take it since Levi had no use for a fancy electric bed in a guest room.
“Right behind you.”
