Mom comes over to me, wrapping her arm around my shoulders. She guides me away from everyone, and we go into the bedroom, shutting the door.
“Sweetheart, I know that you want to do it alone, but you can’t right now. I’m not saying you can’t ever, but your father and I know how hard it is. We remember when we first went out on our own after we married. Let him do this for you.” She squeezes my shoulder a little tighter. Essentially, it would be Dad’s money that paid for everything anyway. And I can’t do it all alone.
I look at my mother and smile, nodding. “You’re right. Plus, it’s better than anything we’ve seen today.”
“It’s very nice. It’s close to the school. Safe area.” Mom keeps naming off all the good qualities of the apartment. “Come on, Presley, I can go on and on,” she points out. I lay my head on her shoulder as she kisses the top of my head. “Oh, I feel so old right now. My baby girl is growing up. I couldn’t be more proud.”
The tears are making their way up to my eyes at hearing my mother’s words. “Thank you, Mommy,” I tease her in a childlike voice.
“Oh, good grief, Presley McCarthy.” My mother pushes me away as I laugh. I know how much she hates that voice, but there was too much tension in the room. “Now come on and let’s get these papers signed.”
We go into the living room, and Stacy turns to me. I smile brightly. “Where do I sign?”
~
When all the papers are finished, Stacy tells me that I can have the keys within the week. I give her the address to mail them to. Even though I wouldn’t be moving until December, Mom tells me that we can take another weekend to come up and clean the place before we move everything.
When we get back to the hotel, Mom suggests that we go out to a nice place and celebrate. We all agree and get ready. We end up going to a small, quaint, Italian restaurant. We are seated far back in the corner. I inhale the aroma of garlic, onions, and pasta that hangs in the room. I stare at my menu, trying to decide which plate I want. Everything sounds good, and I’m starving since we skipped lunch to look at all the apartments.
“Excuse me, I need to use the ladies’ room.” Mom stands.
“Oh, me too.” Marley gets up at the same time, and they leave me by myself.
“I guess I’
ll just stay here then,” I mumble into my menu.
“I can keep you company.”
I jump in my seat, almost screaming when someone’s hot breath hits my neck. I whip around ready to fight when I see Levi’s smile and blue eyes shining back at me. “Oh God,” I nearly yell, leaping up, and hugging him tightly around his neck.
“I’ve been called that before,” he whispers in my ear.
“Don’t ruin the moment,” I tease back at him.
His soft chuckle sends shiver down my spine.
“What are you doing here?” I step out of his arms.
“You think I wouldn’t make time to see you?” He teases me and sits down in Marley’s spot.
“Oh, Mom and Marley will be back in a moment.” I point behind me.
Levi’s smiles deepens, shaking his head. “No, they won’t. Marley knew I was coming, and she told your mom. They saw me coming in. That’s why they left.”
Momentarily, I feel a little sad that they left. This weekend was supposed to be the three of us hanging out. Then I see the look in Levi’s eyes, and the happiness sweeps over me again. I hold his hand tightly, not wanting to be away from him for one second. Levi doesn’t say anything either. He just holds my hand. We don’t say a word. Just look at each other. He’s here. He really is right in front of me.
“I have an idea.” He leans in close to me.
“What’s that, Mr. Carr?” I seductively whisper to him, biting down on my lip.
“I have a hotel room-”
He doesn’t even finish his sentence when I cut him off. “Let’s go.” I pull out my wallet from my purse, throwing some money on the table.
Levi is laughing at me, but follows me out of the restaurant. We walk hand in hand through the streets back to the hotel. I am so content with him next to me. We don’t say anything until we hit the lobby of the hotel. He’s staying at the same place as I am. It makes me smile because he pays so close attention to me when I’m talking.
He rubs his thumb over my knuckles, and I feel the shiver down my spine. Why am I nervous? This is Levi. This is my Levi. We hop into the elevator and ride up to the sixth floor. I follow him to his room.