Page 25 of Hopeless Romantic
Levi was in his back office, no closer to finding the root of the problem. Overnight, a thousand dollars of inventory had up and walked away. He hoped it was a clerical error, but his gut said it was more of an error in judgment.
He’d been teaching Paisley the finer points of parallel parking when a delivery of high-end wine arrived. With his one manager working nights and the position for day manager still vacant, the responsibility of signing for and unloading the order had fallen on the new lunchtime chef.
There was a rap at the door, and then it opened. Sounds of the kitchen staff prepping for the dinner rush drifted in along with Gray.
“What’s the point of knocking, if you don’t wait for a reply?” Levi asked.
“It’s not like I’d be interrupting something.” Gray dropped onto the couch and sprawled out. “I doubt you’ve been laid since Vikki dropped her anchor in some other guy’s marina.”
There were a lot of things he hadn’t done since Vikki left. Sex wasn’t one of them. Not that he needed a sock for the doorknob, but he’d dated. Some. Then again, he hadn’t met anyone who’d made him want to take things beyond the morning after. Lately, even the casual hookup had lost its appeal.
Sadly, he didn’t have time for anything more.
“You’re one to talk.”
“I’m an out-of-practice single dad with the gray hairs to prove it,” his brother-in-law said, and they both knew he was lying. Gray hadn’t looked at another woman since meeting Michelle nearly fifteen years ago. That fact hadn’t changed since her death.
“Your patients call you Dr. Doable—I think you’d do all right.”
Gray deflated with the labored sigh of someone who was circling the drain. “I’m not ready. Plus, Paisley needs all my attention right now. Studies show that emotionally, teenagers benefit more from a stay-at-home parent than pre-adolescents. Between Michelle and me, we arranged our working hours to make sure there was always someone around to help with homework, friend issues, things like that.”
“Between you, me, Emmitt, and now Annie, that kid has more eyes surveilling her every move than a mob boss under investigation.” Levi leaned his elbows on the desk. “I think you could find the time for a date here and there.”
“Says the guy whose must-do list is getting longer instead of shorter, even though you spend every spare minute working on that boat.Rhodes Less Traveledhas been ready to set sail for over a year, yet she hasn’t left Buzzards Bay. Why’s that?”
First, he’d postponed the trip because his dad was gone, and he couldn’t stomach taking it alone. Plus, he had to help his mom and Michelle run the family’s marina and fish-and-chips shack. Then Paisley came along, and just when she was becoming her own little person, Michelle died, and he hadn’t felt like leaving at all. But enough time had passed, Paisley and his mom had worked through the worst of their grief, and he still couldn’t bring himself to leave.
Levi could say that he was waiting for Paisley to head off to college. But that would be a lie. He hadn’t a clue why his anchor was cemented in his hometown harbor. Hell, he didn’t even know when it began to harden.
“Teenagers benefit more from a stay-at-home parent figure than pre-adolescents,” he intoned, repeating Gray’s earlier statement. “Look it up,” he joked. Paisley wasn’t the whole reason he was delaying. But until he could identify what was holding him back, parental duty was the best he could come up with. “And I’m as much her parent as you are.”
“Jesus, we’re pathetic.” Gray laughed. “If Emmitt could hear us now, we’d never live it down.”
“Only because he’s getting some on the regular. Otherwise, he’s the same guy who lost his trunks going down the Slip ’N Slide on a dare. He was trying to impress Jamie Olsen but failed to factor in that it was November and really cold water. Back then, his hair was more reddish than auburn, so let’s just say he spent the better part of junior high finding his locker full of baby carrots.”
“Is that why he hates carrots?” Gray asked, laughing.
“He didn’t hit his stride with the ladies until senior year. In fact, where is he?” Levi checked his laptop for the time and saw the date. “Tonight’s bowling. The fucker talked me into it, so I declared him the designated driver. At least I can enjoy a pint or two on his tab while proving my long-standing theory that prolonged exposure to lab coats negatively affects one’s coordination.”
Not even a chuckle from the Lab Coat sitting on the couch.
“Tonight, I will expand that theory, to see if it includes humor and all-around likability.”
Gray continued his assessing stare and added a head tilt. In conjunction with a well-placed elbow to the knee, posture slightly forward—in a manner meant to convey capability and trustworthiness—it could only mean one thing.
Doctor Gray was officially in the house.
“Bowling was Tuesday,” Gray said. “Tomorrow night is Friday, which means family dinner night at my place. You’re bringing beer, dessert, and your mom. Do you need me to write down my address? Or your mom’s, for that matter?”
“I’ve been a little busy holding together the family business. I’ve got more jobs to fill than people on my payroll. A stack of résumés that would take me a week to sift through. And the ‘emergencies’ from my mom are nonstop. I’m on fumes, man.”
“How can I help?” asked the only other man on the planet who understood, firsthand, what it was like to be part of Ida’s family. The fierceness with which she loved her children, the endless loyalty she had for her family, and the unparalleled devotion with which she ferreted out every single detail of every aspect of their lives.
It was relentless. Done with love, but he swore Ida could extract all the burial sites from a serial killer. Still, at the end of the day, she was his mom, and Levi’s love for her was boundless.
“She’s just lonely,” Levi said, the familiar burn of injustice and anger beating in his chest. “Her meddling is how she stays connected when we’re not around. And lately, I’ve been a pretty disappointing son.”
“It’s been a rough ten months.” Gray’s words were thick with emotion. “For all of us. Can we do better? Sure. But give yourself some slack.”
