I take the other back door inside and run to my room, where I throw on actual clothes. (And a bra. Thanks, Astrid.) I wrap my hair into a bun atop my head and hurry back to the main part of the house.
Astrid stops me in the kitchen, handing me the sponge. “Mom said it’s your turn.” Her smile is persistent, clearly adding, I’m going to tell her you’re a disobedient brat if you don’t.
I raise an eyebrow. “Where’s Levi?”
“Dufus?” Astrid grins. “He’s sitting with Daddy.”
“Okay. Don’t make him work—”
“And he’s helping Mama rearrange her jewelry box.”
I rub a hand over my eyes, shaking my head. She leaves, and I hurry with the dishes, not wanting Levi to feel obligated. But when I get into the living room fifteen minutes later and sit beside him, I find he’s having the time of his life, safekeeping the three pairs of earrings my mother has bestowed upon him.
His grin, meant only for me, bares all his teeth. “Next job: Jewelry organizer for the wealthy.”
“Oh, really,” I say, amused.
“Yep. We’ll move to L.A. and buy a huge mansion once I’ve saved enough money, and we’ll get a dog and a fish and have a really great swimming pool and invite all my celebrity friends over for a party.”
“The American Dream,” I say drily, but in reality, I’m brimming with joy because he said “we”.
“Absolutely, honey.” He pats my knee.
“That’s nice, dear,” I reply, in all seriousness.
Astrid pretends to gag, but Millie is smiling at us in rapture. “You two,” she says. They’re the same words Astrid said earlier, but they sound completely different coming from her. Less cynical, more romantic. I reward her with a smile and a kiss on the cheek.
“Yeah, you two,” my dad says from his recliner. “So ooey-gooey.”
“Dad,” I say, very seriously. “Don’t invite Levi over and expect us to never look at each other.”
He winks at me. “Of course not.”
I smile, even though it hurts.
Levi places the earrings in their new spot in the box and grabs the next pair from my mom. “Hey, Matt, mind if I borrow your daughter tomorrow? We probably won’t be back until late.”
Papa’s eyes narrow. “Um.” He looks uncertain, but not because he doesn’t trust Levi. He’s confused about the question because Levi borrows me all the time.
I nudge Levi. “Meaning…?”
“There’s a TCP event in Malibu, and I have a plus one.”
My dad makes an “ah” shape with his mouth. “Well, sure. That’s fine.”
Levi looks at me, as if waiting for an answer. Does he think I’m going to say no? Ha! I rest my chin on his shoulder. (Our faces are touching in a lot of places but not enough places. Not the right places.) “That sounds like fun! What kind of event?”
“Silent auction. One of our sponsors is putting it on, actually. I’ve been talking to ehim about the TCP building, and he’s interested in discussing his properties with me.”
“You’re moving TCP?”
“I have no plans yet, but if he can offer me something better than what we already have, I’ll take it. He owns, like, ten houses and several office buildings.”
“Sounds…rich.”
“Oh, believe me, he is.” He kisses my nose. The fact that he can do this in front of my whole family without getting scolded means he’s scored some serious points. “And I’m taking you to dinner.”
I give him my best skeptical look, but I’m actually hyperventilating inside. “Where to?”
“Somewhere awesome. Duh. Dufus knows best.”
I make a strange giggle-hum in the back of my throat. It sounds awfully giddy. “Whatever you say.”
“So long as you keep your cell phones on you,” my mom says, “I have no problem with it.”
I grin. “I’m excited. What time should I be ready?”
“One o’clock.”
I nod excitedly. “It’s a date.”
Once again, Astrid makes a gagging motion, and Millie is in the clouds. But they’re both smiling, and my parents are, too, and that makes everything a little bit more bearable.
I spend the evening with Papa.
My mom and sisters leave for ballet class, so it’s just me and Tom and my dad. The last time this happened was…well. I don’t remember the last time this happened.
I sit on the couch, my legs curled under me. It’s nearing dinner, so Tom is heating up some leftovers. Papa has his legs up on the recliner, listening intently while I explain the process of creating a Zen Artistry arrangement. As I pause to show him a picture of the orchid with its wide petals and the long, skinny shoot of horsetail, he says, “Will you read to me again?”
I look over at him and instantly forget about the picture. His eyes are closed and his chest is rising and falling in regular, even breaths. Tom hands me a plate of food and sets Papa’s on the coffee table. “When he’s ready,” he whispers to me.
I nod at Tom and say to Papa, “Of course I’ll read to you.” I grab Crime and Punishment, opening to the bookmark.
It takes me a moment before I realize this is where we left off, nearly a week ago, and that he hasn’t picked it up since. I glance at the table, noting that the book was exactly where I set it down last Monday. The cover has even gathered a bit of dust.
My heart is breaking, breaking, every inch shattering. (But what did I expect?) “Daddy,” I murmur.
“Yes?” He doesn’t open his eyes.
I don’t know what to say. “Okay. I’ll read now.”
He smiles, warmly.
I hide my tears from him and Tom (and myself) and start to read.
Chapter 30
It’s Sunday afternoon, the silent auction looms ahead, and I feel compromised. “I can’t believe you made me leave the house like this.”
From the driver’s seat of his car, Levi casts me a brief look and frowns. “Why? You look beautiful.”
I let out a howl of laughter. My face is flushed, my hair is greasy from the heat, and I’m wearing the sweatpants I wore yesterday around the house. I suddenly feel warm—and it’s not just from all the sun. “Shut up, Levi.”
He gives me a mystified look. “I’m not lying to you.”
“Well, you’re delusional.”
“We’re going somewhere casual for dinner, so relax,” he says, and for some reason, this surprises me. He explains, “I figured we could only handle so many snooty rich people in one night.”
I laugh again. “Right. Well. I still could have just slipped the dress on before we got into the car.”
“What dress?”
It hits me like a freight train: absolute panic. “What dress? WHAT DRESS?! Levi, the dress I’m supposed to wear tonight, that dress!”
I look over at him, and he’s trying not to smile. As if he’s got all the secrets locked inside his mouth. I blush. (Shh, forget about that, Bee.) “I knew we forgot something,” he says.
I turn sharply toward the back seat. My dress, which I expressly put on the seat, is nowhere to be seen. “Levi. Why are you…happy? This is terrible!”
He breaks out into a full grin. “I’m happy because I told Astrid to hide the dress inside. I was distracting you with that long and very excellent hug. Remember?”
Oh, I remember. “Why?” I wail.
“Because I have something better.”
I’m silent, looking at him incredulously. Then I explode, “You bought me a dress?!”