When Summer Comes

“I need the plugs, maybe a few other things. I’ll know more when I finish here. But...maybe we can go tomorrow?”

She nodded. “I’m glad to hear you say it can wait. I made some beef Stroganoff. My grandmother’s recipe. Why don’t you get showered and come in for dinner?”

There didn’t seem to be any need to keep pushing himself. He wasn’t in a hurry. He liked the farm. It was isolated enough that, besides Callie, he didn’t have to run into other people.

“Okay.”

“My uncle installed an instant water heater for the bathroom in the barn,” she explained, “so you should have plenty of hot water, but the shower’s tiny and not much to look at. I put some towels out there.”

“Thank you.” Fortunately, Callie, the one person he did see here, wasn’t difficult to be around. After that conversation in the car, she’d stopped prying into his past. He got the feeling she understood that he didn’t want to talk about himself and wouldn’t push him again. Since they’d returned home, she’d left him to his own devices, and that felt almost comfortable.

“Let me know if you need anything else,” she said, and started back to the house.

“Callie?”

She pivoted to face him.

“Why are you helping me?”

Her eyebrows slid up. “I want the barn painted, remember?”

“You could hire a handyman. It doesn’t have to be some stranger who’s been attacked by dogs. Your boyfriend could even do it on the weekends.”

She didn’t bother protesting the status he’d assigned to Kyle. She didn’t seem to want to touch that subject, no matter when he brought it up. The way she’d answered his only question in the car led him to believe that she valued her privacy as much as he did. “You’ve got something I need, and I’ve got something you need. That makes it a fair trade for both of us.” She tilted her head to one side. “Why? You don’t trust me?”

“I don’t want to owe anyone.” He didn’t want to feel any obligation or gratitude, either. He didn’t want to feel anything—except the sun on his face and the wind in his hair.

“It’s a fair trade, like I said. That means we’ll be even.”

When he nodded, she walked into the house and he got up to take a shower. She’d said all the right things—but he had a feeling that if he wasn’t careful, he could wind up owing her a lot.

5

Dinner was delicious. Levi ate more than he had in a single meal for months. He probably should’ve stopped Callie when she kept ladling Stroganoff onto his plate, but he was enjoying it too much to protest. Unlike some of the other soldiers, he wasn’t one to complain about the food served in the canteen. It’d tasted better than any he’d known previously. His father had been so determined to make an MMA champion out of him, and to use that success to build the reputation of his dojo, that comfort foods and junk food weren’t allowed. No pizza, fries or greasy burgers. No gravies, no soda, no cookies or candy or cupcakes. He’d been in training almost since he was a toddler, had been raised on vegetables and lean protein. And steroids.

But Levi had flushed them down the toilet more often than not. Given the cost of those drugs, his father would’ve beaten him to within an inch of his life if he’d ever found out—there were certainly beatings for lesser crimes—but Levi definitely didn’t want to turn out like his old man. He often wondered if Leo would’ve been a little less vicious without all the performance-enhancing drugs he’d taken to build up his own body.

Levi expected Callie to try and strike up another conversation. Normal people talked over dinner. But, apparently, she’d figured out that he preferred to be left to his own thoughts because she didn’t say anything. Only the click of their utensils and an occasional “Would you like some more iced tea?” broke the silence.

“That was the best,” he said when he’d finished.

She’d already gotten up and gone to the sink. Apparently, she hadn’t expected him to say even that much. “Thank you.”

When he didn’t leave, she cast a glance over her shoulder. “Feel free to go out and get some sleep.”

He was on his own? That easily?

At first, Levi felt relieved that she demanded so little. He was tired and sore, and he had a terrible headache. But he couldn’t walk out without doing something to show his gratitude. Where would he be without her? His wounds had been stitched up, he had his bike, he had a full belly and a bed for the night. That was a lot to accept without giving in return. He hadn’t even been good company.

He hadn’t been good company to anyone for a long time....

“Is there anything I can do for you?” he asked.

Her eyes widened. “What do you mean?”

The setting sun cast shadows across the kitchen; she hadn’t yet turned on the lights. “I’d like to repay you in some way, if I could.”

“Painting the barn’s enough.”

He gathered up their glasses and silverware. He could at least do the dishes. She was looking pretty tired. When she thought he wasn’t paying attention, she’d lean on the counter or hang her head as if she needed to regain her breath.

“I’ll do it,” she said, taking what he held. “It’s not a big job. And you haven’t had much sleep, considering what happened last night.”

He couldn’t quite figure out why she was going so easy on him, why she was allowing him to stay. “You’re sure?”

She smiled. “Positive.”

For a second, he wondered if something more than fatigue could be wrong with her, but then he decided it was the odd lighting that made her look so pale.

“Okay.” He left the dishes to her but didn’t go directly to the barn. He went into her bathroom so he could wipe up the mess he’d made there last night when he was bleeding. He’d been meaning to do it all day, but he’d been too drugged with whatever sleeping pills the vet had given him while stitching him up. Then he’d met Kyle, slept while they went looking for his bike because he could hardly stand, gone with Callie himself and, when they returned, started tinkering with his engine. Now he saw that it was too late. She’d already cleaned up.

The shower curtain he’d pulled down had been washed and was neatly folded on the back of the toilet. He must’ve bent the rod, since it was gone.

Making a mental note to see about fixing what he’d broken—so he wouldn’t leave her any worse off than he’d found her—he headed out. But the place suddenly seemed too quiet. He glanced toward the kitchen to see why he couldn’t hear Callie doing dishes anymore and spotted her through the doorway.

It looked as if she was clutching the edge of the table so she wouldn’t topple over.

The creak of the floor must’ve given away his approach. She straightened and turned. “You’re still here?”

He ignored the question. “Are you okay?”

“Of course!” She pressed a hand to her stomach. “I just...ate too much and...it gave me a cramp.”

Not entirely convinced, he waited to see if she’d venture another explanation. What she’d said so far didn’t quite match what he saw in her face. But when she left it at that, he could only accept her response. He couldn’t see why she’d have any reason to lie, but he also couldn’t see how whatever pain she felt could be related to too much food. From what he could remember, she hadn’t eaten anything.

* * *

Rifle woke Callie for the second night in a row. Nerves jangled, she thought her dog was still reacting to Levi’s presence. She’d been in bed for over an hour, although it was only ten o’clock. She’d barely drifted off. Maybe Levi couldn’t sleep and had gotten up to work on his bike. There was a light in the barn if he chose to use it.

But she couldn’t imagine he felt good enough to do that. And she couldn’t understand why Levi’s moving around would bother Rifle. So far, she’d limited contact between man and dog. The way Levi watched Rifle, as though he might have to defend himself at a moment’s notice, confirmed that he was now, if he hadn’t been before, leery of such a powerful animal. She had, however, introduced them, so that if they did come into contact there wouldn’t be any problems. Once Rifle realized that she welcomed Levi’s presence, he did, too. He’d even wagged his tail and tried to lick Levi’s hand when Levi came in for dinner.

So what was going on?

Throwing off the covers, she got out of bed and dragged her pellet gun into the living room. She couldn’t completely ignore Kyle’s warnings. Levi, or anyone else, could be capable of far worse than she’d ever want to believe. He certainly wouldn’t be the first person to turn on someone who’d merely been trying to help.

But it wasn’t Levi who’d set the dog off.

Headlights bore down on the front of the house, and the engine of a truck continued to rumble as a door opened and shut. Although it was late for Godfrey to be out, Callie guessed he’d stopped by to tell her what he’d discovered on the pit bulls. She’d left him a message earlier, detailing what she’d found at the rental, so she’d been expecting him to get back to her with an update.