Page 21 of Get Lost with You
“Knock, knock,” Presley said from the open doorway.
“We need to shut that door,” Levi muttered, stepping back.
Presley’s gaze locked on Jilly’s and the excitement in her eyes nearly made her groan. There was no way Presley wouldn’t corner her about this at the first opportunity. More than that, she knew Presley would push her toward Levi, because despite her own rocky past with love, Beckett’s girlfriend was a hard-core believer in happily ever after.
Especially if it meant she got to play the role of Cupid.
Ten
Somehow, Pete offering him a place to live turned into a lively get-together that Levi couldn’t have anticipated. And hadn’t realized he’d been missing out on for years now. His life in Vermont was full and busy. He spent anywhere from fifty to seventy hours a week at work. He ran, planned meals, and every now and again, had a few beers with the kitchen staff. Whatever friendships he’d forged, however, had nothing on these ones. This. This was what he’d been missing; the kind of friendships where it didn’t matter if an hour or a year had passed, you easily fell back into the groove of what you’d always been. It’s what he’d come home for. His gaze lingered on the doorway where Jillian had disappeared to take a phone call a few minutes ago.
By dinnertime that night, Pete’s little above-the-garage apartment was nearly emptied out. The downstairs storage space was fairly open, so they’d put all of the possible museum items there for him and Jilly or Jilly and Gwen to go through. Gray had shown up at noon with sandwiches and a truck. Now, it was full of items to take to the dump in Mackinaw City.
Presley had shown up right when he was almost certain that Jillian was going to kiss him. Of course, Presley was too happyand eager to help to dwell on it. Beckett’s girlfriend was some sort of Tetris wizard when it came to seeing and sorting things into stacks, piles, and more efficient spots. She immediately started going through boxes that weren’t really museum worthy but might have sentimental value to Pete and Gwen.
Beckett joined them later in the afternoon with his “favorite sidekick, Ollie.”
“Bet Pete won’t mind you using this couch. Might as well,” Beckett said, a hand on the still-upright piece of furniture.
“Where will you sleep?” Ollie asked.
Levi looked over at the kid. She was pretty freaking cute. She was lying on the floor reading, but her legs were up against the wall, straight in the air, and she was using her backpack as a pillow.
“I’ll get a bed. Put it in the corner where you are now. Maybe a smaller couch so there’s more room.”
“You should live at the lodge,” Ollie said. “It’s the coolest.”
Levi smiled and continued scrubbing out the fridge. It had nothing in it but a funky smell he didn’t want to think too much about. Grayson walked over to his niece, bending at the waist to look at her upside down.
“It is the coolest, isn’t it?”
Ollie grinned up at him. “Yup. And I’m going to work there all summer.”
“If your mom says so,” Beckett added. He and Gray worked together to set the couch down, now that there was room.
“Uncle Gray already said I could,” Ollie said, lowering her legs to the side with a thump before rolling into a seated position.
Grayson came back, tapped her on the nose. “Mom’s the boss, kid.”
Levi tossed the cloth he was using into the sink as Jilly and Presley walked back into the apartment. Presley had three pizzasin her arms and Jilly had a smile so wide, it immediately brought out Levi’s.
Ollie scrambled to her feet. “Pizza!”
“Wash your hands,” Jilly said, glancing at Levi, causing a little glitch in his chest, before walking over to Grayson.
Helping Ollie reach the sink, Levi washed his own hands when she was done, listening to Jilly’s excitement.
“It’s a small fitness company based in Northern Michigan. They’re looking at two team-building retreats a year. Their other booking fell through, so if this works out, we could scoop them and have a steady client during the offseason. What do you think? We could offer the end of next week. It would be a perfect trial run.”
Grayson Keller was exactly as Levi remembered him. Steadfast, serious, thoughtful, and he loved his family. The guy was loyal, smart, and made him laugh. Levi was always closer with Becks because Gray was older, but he’d missed them both.
“What?” Jilly said, looking up at Gray as Beckett, Presley, and Ollie set the pizza on a few boxes and began to open the lids. “What aren’t you saying? I can go over tomorrow and do a virtual walk-through with them.”
“I have my field trip to the mainland tomorrow!” Ollie added. She’d been talking about it off and on for the entire afternoon. They were going to the Mackinaw Bridge Museum. Levi had chuckled along with the others because they’d gone on a similar trip back in their elementary school days. It was weird to him, how so much could change yet so much stayed the same.
Jilly was fidgeting with her hands, wringing one with the other, and he wondered why this phone call had her so nervous.
“Shane asked for the week off. He’s taking Louis on a surprise trip before the summer season kicks into gear,” Grayson said.
