Page 15 of Into the Fire
His voice was quiet, almost like he was talking more to himself than anyone else. “Said it wasn’t what she signed up for. That she wasn’t built for this kind of life.”
He let out a slow breath, jaw tightening as he looked out across the pasture. The sky had started to glow with the sunset, but the memory behind his eyes dimmed it.
“It wasn’t planned,” he added after a long pause. “A baby. Us. Hell, we weren’t even really serious. Just… two young people, I guess. She made it clear from the beginning that she wasn’t staying in Cold Creek forever. But when we found out she was pregnant, everything changed. Or at least I thought it did.”
Emery stayed silent, giving him space. Her heart ached with quiet understanding.
“She stuck around for a little bit,” he went on. “Made it look like maybe she’d try. But deep down? I think she’d already checked out. She didn’t want the ranch, the responsibility. When she finally said it out loud—that she wasn’t built for this—there was no convincing her otherwise.”
His eyes flicked to Emery’s. “So, she left. And it hurt like hell, but I wouldn’t beg someone to be a mother who didn’t want to be one. I couldn’t let my little girl grow up wondering if she was too much to love.”
There was a silence between them, heavy but safe.
Emery blinked, her fingers tightening slightly on the armrest. “You were alone with a newborn?”
He nodded once. “My mom helped when she could. But yeah. It was… a lot.”
“She’s never come back? Not even to visit?”
“Nope.” His voice was clipped. “Not once. Not even a birthday card.”
Emery swallowed hard, her chest aching a little as she imagined it—tiny June, wide-eyed and waitingfor a mom who never showed.
“I’m sorry,” she said quietly.
Levi nodded again but didn’t say anything.
A breeze stirred Emery’s hair as she sat in silence, letting the moment settle between them.
“I didn’t mean to pry,” she added.
“You didn’t.” He glanced sideways at her then, the edge in his expression softening. “Just… not used to talking about it. Most people don’t ask.”
“I’m not most people.”
“No,” he said, eyes lingering on her a little longer. “Guess you’re not.”
The swing creaked gently as they sat, both of them staring out into the dusk, the weight of old stories still hovering in the quiet, but something softer blooming alongside it.
Trust. And maybe… something else.
The crickets had taken over the quiet. The porch light cast a warm glow over the steps, and Levi now stood and leaned against the railing, arms crossed.
For a moment, neither of them spoke. It wasn’tawkward, just easy. The kind of silence that didn’t need filling. Until his voice cut through it, a low rumble with a trace of curiosity.
“What about you?” he asked, tilting his head slightly to glance at her. “Now you know my mess. Tell me your story, Emery.”
She blinked, caught off guard. “Which part? The one I tell most people when they ask, or the real one?”
Levi’s mouth twitched, just a little. “Let’s start with the real one.”
Emery gave a quiet, breathy laugh. “Okay… real version it is.”
She looked out into the evening, like she might find the right words in the trees.
“Well, first of all, I think it’s amazing … the way your mom jumped in to help you. Not everybody has that. Parents who show up, I mean.”
“I get that. My dad left when I was young, and my mom more than made up for him being MIA. Maybe that's why I was so adamant about not begging June's mom to stay. But yours weren't around?”
