Page 40 of The Cowboy's Redemption
Noise filled the garage, even before they entered a combined kitchen and family room crammed with all sizes and ages of people. No solitude and peace to be found here. It appeared to be some sort of family reunion, judging by the ratio of adults to children, and the huge platters of food overwhelming the round kitchen table. She’d known Levi had brothers and sisters. Tanner had talked about them. She hadn’t imagined there were so many. Every car parked on the street had to belong to the family.
Conversation didn’t come to a complete stop, not right away, but Dana felt the surge of curiosity as heads turned their way. She pressed against Levi, then realized how it must look, and started to renew the distance between them, but he dropped an arm over her shoulders.
“Hey, everyone. This is Dana. Be nice to her while I go change my clothes,” he announced into the sudden silence, then loped off for a set of stairs on the far side of the room, abandoning her.
She’d kill him for this.
“What an ass,” a cheerful, petite blonde said at her elbow. “Hi. I’m Gloria, his favorite sister. Let me introduce you around.”
“We aren’t staying long,” Dana began, but she was wasting her breath.
“You’re the pretty young lady Tanner Shannahan couldn’t stop bragging about,” Levi’s father said when Gloria introduced him to her. He got off his hands and knees, where he’d been giving bronco rides to the under-five crowd. “I’m sorry for your loss. Such a shame. He was like a part of the family.”
And this, Dana realized, was the family Tanner had wanted so much for himself. She’d met his parents. Not much wonder he’d been so jealous of Levi.
Freddie Harrington, gray-haired and slightly stooped, might or might not have been Levi’s father, but she had no trouble at all picking his mother out of the crowd. The resemblance was unmistakable. He had her eyes. And lips, nose, and mouth. Height, too.
“Hi, I’m Wren.” She offered Dana her hand. Her expression clearly stated that Levi was right, she knew exactly how they spent their spare time, and the jury was out as to whether she’d extend her approval.
At first, Levi’s parents seemed to have very little in common. Wren was a teacher and appeared to be the one who ran the household, judging by the way she handed out orders and brought control to the chaos happening right now in her home. Freddie worked at a tractor dealership and on a few of the ranches, including the Endeavour. He had the good-natured, roll-with-it demeanor of a man who believed kids should be kids, and so what if a few things got broken?
But then Dana caught a few of the looks that passed between them, as if they exchanged thoughts as easily as words, which expressed their contentment with each other as well as their family. Having grown up with happily married parents herself, and whose love extended to her, she could see how attractive the senior Harringtons would be to someone like Tanner, who’d had to earn his parents’ affection.
Someone—either another sister or a sister-in-law, she couldn’t say which—pressed a plate of food into her hands, meaning they were staying longer than planned, because she could hardly stash it somewhere and run.
Levi jogged down the stairs, wearing jeans and an old college sweatshirt, leaving her overdressed and again out of place. He spotted the plate she was holding. “Good. Somebody fed you. I don’t suppose anyone fixed one for me?”
He looked so hopeful and charming, Dana decided she wouldn’t kill him—just hurt him a little.
“She’s company. You’re not,” Gloria said.
“I’m your favorite brother.”
“No, I’m your favorite sister. Big difference, pal.”
They stayed for a few hours. After the initial shock of being thrust into such a large, friendly crowd, Dana enjoyed herself, even if she felt like a fraud. His family assumed there was more between them than there was.
Because while Levi was friendly enough with his family, he remained as politely distant with her as he’d been all day. She didn’t like it. Where was the warmth she’d grown used to? The quiet charm? Was he angry with her for wanting to be rid of an inheritance that should never have been hers?
Would this become their first fight? Fighting meant the end was in sight. She’d expected it, but not quite so soon. She’d planned to be gone long before it could happen.
Now it was here, and she couldn’t ignore it.
She confronted him in the truck on the drive back to Otto’s, hoping that maybe she’d misread him and was worried about nothing. “You’re quiet. Have I done something wrong?”
Wet pavement hummed under the tires. He drummed both thumbs on the wheel, as if thinking it over, and an old, almost-but-not-quite forgotten ache formed in her stomach.
“Why me?” he finally asked.
Chapter Thirteen
Dana
Dana didn’t knowwhat to make of a question she hadn’t expected. “What are you talking about?”
“You don’t like reminders of Tanner. You avoid having anything to do with his family. You dodge questions about him from fans. And yet, here we are.” He gestured between them. “I’m a reminder of him. I’m friends with his family. And you’re keeping me secret.”
“You didn’t want anyone to know about us, either.”
