“Shouldn’t I be rewarded?” she asks.
“Having your hands on my body isn’t a reward?” I raise an eyebrow at her.
Shaking her head, she laughs. “You’ve lost it, Levi. Can I have a raincheck? I’ve got some work to do still.”
“Sure. Go study and whatnot. I’ll call my dad and then go do the same.” This time when I stand, Presley takes my hand, and I walk her outside to her car, which is parked beside mine.
“Don’t worry about your dad so much, Levi. He can take care of himself and if he can’t, I’m sure he’ll call you and go to the doctor.”
“I don’t know about that, Smarty.” I tuck her into my arms, resting my chin on the top of her head.
“What do you mean?”
I hadn’t told her this. I don’t know why. Maybe because she didn’t ask, and I didn’t offer. “When he had his heart attack, he was at home. Alone.” Pausing, I try to keep myself together. “I walked in and it was like losing my mom all over again.” My voice is barely audible, and I just want to go home. “That’s why I worry. I’ll catch ya later, okay?” After giving a quick kiss to the top of her head, I open her car door for her. Please just let her go home this time.
“Levi,” she starts.
“Go home, Smarty.”
I sigh a breath of relief and regret when she does as I ask. Back in my SUV, I grab my phone from the console. Sure enough, there’s a handful of missed calls. I speed dial my dad.
“I don’t need an answer now,” Pops answers with a chuckle.
“Sorry, Pops. I am coming this weekend, but not sure about Presley yet. Everything okay, though?”
“Of course, son. Make sure she comes. I have a surprise for you two.”
“What kind of surprise?” I ask, suspiciously.
“Don’t you worry about it. I’ll talk to you then. Not a minute before, you hear me? Don’t you have schoolwork or something to take up your time?”
Chuckling, I tell him, “Yeah, I do. I’ll see you then, Pops. I love you.”
“Love you too, son.”
Cranking the ignition, I decide to go visit my mom. My head still feels cloudy. I don’t even want to hear the radio in the background, so I turn that off. Soon enough, I’m sitting on that cold bench, the winter air suffocating me with its bitterness.
“Hey Momma,” I whisper, my eyes glued to her name engraved on the stone. My throat feels like it’s cutting off my air it’s so tight, so I just think about what I want to say to her.
I miss you. A lot. Really wish you were here so you could meet Presley. She’s not having a great time with her parents. She could have come and talked to you if you were still here. I sure as hell, I mean heck, don’t know what to do to help her.
I really wish I could hug you. Miss you so much. Dad seems to be doing better, but now I’m worried all the time. Like I’m going to lose him like I lost you. I was terrified being at the hospital, waiting to see if he was going to be okay. I still wonder if he’ll be okay, even though he’s doing fine. Isn’t there some way you can promise that I won’t lose him too? I won’t be able to handle it, Momma.
My mom’s name becomes blurry to me, and I squeeze my eyes closed for a second before focusing again.
Should probably head home. Love you, Momma. Watch over him, please.
I hope my silent beg reaches her, and that it works. Sighing with exhaustion, I go home.
Chapter Nine
Presley
“Smarty, we’re going for a weekend, not a month,” Levi says as he loads another bag of mine into the SUV.
“Carr, don’t start.” I climb into the passenger seat as he shuts the back hatch. We are spending the weekend with his dad, and I couldn’t be happier to get away for a little bit. I haven’t heard from either of my parents since the night of my breakdown. Since then, Trevor has been smothering me to make sure that I’m okay, which is becoming very annoying. So I’ve immersed myself in studying. Levi and I haven’t even seen each other all week because of our schedules, and I can’t wait to see his dad.
We head off, and I begin telling Levi about this huge project for my Constitution class and how stressful it’s been. Then Levi dives in telling me about his Organic Chemistry class project. Needless to say, it’s going to be a long semester.