Page 5 of Choosing Happily Ever After

“I’m…Levi Langdon? Is that you?”

Oh shit.

That was really the only thing that she could think at the realization that it wasthatLevi. And he was clearly back from wherever the hell he’d gone all those years ago when he crushed Hope’s heart. But a moment later, when Hope muttered something about having to go before disconnecting the call altogether, there were definitely a few more choice words that came to Faith’s mind.

Hope

“Levi Langdon? Is that you?”

It was a reflex, and maybe one Hope should have thought about a little bit more, but the moment she saw the familiar yet different face of her first—okay, only—love, Hope disconnected her phone call, tucked her cell into her back pocket and ran toward the man she hadn’t seen in almost ten years.

It wasn’t until she’d wrapped her arms around him and was hugging him that she realized that pretty much any other reaction would have been a better choice. But by then it was too late. Besides, he was wrapping his strong arms around her—had they gotten stronger?—and was hugging her back.

Damn.He smelled good. Really good. Like salty air and the ocean, but also of something more familiar. Something more…Levi.

“Hey,” he said. His voice was the same, too. Maybe a little deeper, a little rougher, but the same. “It’s good to see you, Hope.”

Hearing him say her name broke whatever spell she’d been under that had allowed her to let down her guard too easily and so completely. Hope pulled back abruptly, but not before taking one last inhale. She stepped back, and then a bit farther, needing a safe distance between them, lest she throw herself into his arms as if she were an eighteen-year-old kid again.

“It’s…”What? It was what? Good to see him?Was it? She didn’t know. It had been so long.Toolong. Hope, in fact, didn’t know what it was. Finally she settled on something safe. “It’s unexpected to see you.”

Well, maybe it wasn’tthatsafe.She shook her head and tried again. “What are you doing here, Levi?”

It was a fair question. More than fair considering the last time he’d seen her, he’d told her that he was leaving Glacier Falls and was never coming back. And more than that, he was going alone. Without her.

And then he’d left her staring after him, tears streaming down her face and her heart breaking in her chest.

“I know I’m the last person that you expected to see, Hope, and I’m…” He ran a hand over his face and ruffled his hair before shaking his head. “I’m sorry.”

Something about the way he said the word rubbed her the wrong way. She took another step back and crossed her arms. “You’re sorry?”

“I am.”

“For what exactly?”

He must have sensed the anger that had sparked to life in her because he took his own careful step backward before saying, “For dropping in on you like this without warning.” His lips twitched up a little bit into a smile that she really didn’t want to think was sexy, but dammit, it was. “For leaving you the way I did.” The smile fell off his face at the exact moment her stomach clenched tight. “For not calling,” he continued, but she no longer wanted the apology. Hope shook her head, but Levi continued, “For more things then I could possibly fit into this apology. But still, I’m sorry, Hope.”

She squeezed her eyes shut, but only for a moment. Just long enough to let her muscles in her stomach relax. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. She wasn’t the same girl she was all those years ago. She’d come along way. Areallong way. A lot had changed.

But the one thing that hadn’t changed was that Hope didn’t hold a grudge. There were still a lot of feelings surrounding Levi Langdon, most of which she couldn’t process at that moment. But seeing him again felt good.Reallygood. She opened her eyes and smiled. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Well, not really,” she admitted. “But that apology will do. For now,” she added with a wink. “But seriously, why are you here?”

Instead of answering the question, Levi looked around the barn. In its current state of dishevel, it didn’t look like much. But it was Hope’s pride and joy and she couldn’t help but feel a surge of pride for what she’d created all on her own. “This is impressive,” he said after a moment. “I can’t believe what you’ve done here, Hope. And Logan told me all about how busy you were.” He looked back at her, his green eyes looking straight through her the way they always had. “You’ve done really well for yourself.”

She nodded. “You should have seen it last night. It was incredible.”

“I bet it was,” he said softly. “Everything you do is incredible.” He took a step toward her and for the briefest of moments, with the way he was looking at her, his scent still filling her senses, it was as if she’d been transported back in time. Feelings she’d thought were long dead crashed through her, threatening to knock her off-balance.

Before he could notice the way he affected her, Hope took a breath and turned around to face the table she’d been clearing before he’d walked in. She just needed a moment to pull herself together. Her cell phone chirped in her pocket but she ignored it.

“Hope, I really wanted to—”

“I was really sorry to hear—”

She turned around and laughed. “You go first.”

---