Luring Levi (Tarnished Saints Series Book 2) (12 page)

“What do you mean?” She knew exactly what he meant but there was no way she could tell him now. The kids were sitting right behind them listening to every word.
When would she ever get a break?

“You keep saying you want to tell me something, so spit it out.”

Not what she wanted to hear him say at all. This was a tender subject and something like this could not just be spit out, whether kids were present or not.

“I . . . forgot.”

“It was something about your kids.”

She didn’t like the way he said
your
kids, but what did she expect? That’s exactly who they were to Levi. He didn’t know any better, so she couldn’t be mad at him for saying it that way.

“It can wait,” she said, looking the other way out the window.

“Fine.”

He was obviously back in a snit again.

They rode the rest of the way in silence and she was thankful the kids were occupied with the candy instead of fighting.  Then he came to an abrupt stop just outside the gates to the fair ground
s and swore.

“Damn, everyone’s already here waiting and they don’t look happy.”

“Damn!” repeated Vance from the back seat.

“Please stop all your swearing,” she said
, speaking to both of them.

He
left the keys in the car and started to walk away without even a goodbye and Candace got out of the car and ran after him.

“Can I see you later?” she asked, keeping pace with him.

“After my mayoral fair commitments I’ll be spending the rest of the day cooking at the diner. I’ll be there late, so no, I don’t think so.”

“Levi, I really need to talk to you.”

He stopped in his tracks and his eyes bore into her. “So talk.”

She swallowed hard and looked back to the car
. Thankfully her kids were behaving.

“I . . . I . . .”

“Look Candy, if you don’t want me hanging around you than just say it already. I’m a big boy, I can handle it.”

“Is that what you think?” she asked, surprised.

“I know you are embarrassed just being around me, and ashamed of who I am so just say it to my face so I don’t end up having to hear it as town gossip.”

“No,” she said shaking her head. “It’s not like that at all.”

“Then what is it like?” he asked.

He was so angry and his eyes so dark that she couldn’t tell him now even if she wanted to. She was almost glad for the interruption when a man walked up and introd
uced himself to Levi as being one of the fair officials. He started talking and they started pointing and then the clipboards with paperwork emerged.

Her heart sank to think that she once again failed to tell him that he was the father of her children. She didn’t know if she’d ever have another chance. And by the way Levi was acting she didn’t know if he’d even care.

“Mother, can we go to the beach now?” Valentine stood next to her, pulling on the end of her shirt.

“Yeah, I want to
build a sand castle,” said Vance from next to her.

She ran a hand over Vance’s head and looked over to Levi, realizing they really did look alike. How was Angel the only one to notice? She wished they were goin
g to the beach today with Levi - as a family. As a mother and father and their two young kids. But they weren’t.

“Yes, let’s go,” she told them and
took one of each of their hands in hers as she led them to the car.

Levi was barely listening to the man in front of him as he watched Candace holding the hands of her kids and retreating to the car. Spending the day at the beach was something he would have loved to do with her and her kids. He wanted more than anything to see her in a bikini and also to show the kids how to build one bad-ass sand castle. He used to love going to the beach when he was a child, spending the day with his brothers. They’d bonded with each other even if it was just holding each other under the water until they turned blue. Still, it brought them together as a family. And he still held the family title of Champion Sand Castle Builder, even if Judas always kicked it in, being jealous that he’d never won the yearly competition.

If only he had a family to spend special moments with
now. He never thought he wanted kids until lately. That little Vance reminded him of himself at that age. So much so, that it was almost scary. And that little prissy Valentine just needed to be around a bunch of boys to drop the stuck-up attitude at only six years of age.

If he were their father, things would be different indeed. He wondered who
m the lucky bastard was who planted his seed inside Candace getting two kids for the price of one. Whoever he was, he was a low-down, slimy, skin-flint bastard, that much was for sure. Because Candace deserved a good man to take care of her and her kids, and the guy was an idiot to let a catch like her just walk out of his life forever.

“Did you hear me, Mayor Taylor?”
asked the fair commissioner. “Is it all right to start setting up for the fair now?”

“Yes, everything’s in o
rder,” he said handing the clipboard back to him. His eyes wandered over to Candace again as she pulled out of the lot and headed toward the beach.

“That lucky stiff doesn’t know what he’s missing,” he said softly and shook his head.

Chapter 9

Candace sat on the beach and tilted her face up to
ward the sun. Angel sat next to her. The girls as well as Eli and Vance were taking turns burying each other in the sand, but out of earshot.

“So I’m guessing
by the look on your face that you didn’t tell Levi,” said Angel, throwing a scrap of bread from the lunch they’d just finished up into the air. A gull swooped in and caught it in midflight, followed by another that tried to get it as well.

The kids decided it was more fun to chase the birds around the beach, and squealed  with laugh
ter as Angel threw a whole handful of crumbs into the air, bringing forth a few more birds.

“No, I didn’t,” replied Candace
, closing her eyes.

Angel brushed the crumbs from her hands and lay back on the sand. “Do you want me to tell him?”

“What?” Her eyes popped open. “No!” she answered in horror. “I’ll do it.”

Angel laughed. “Just kidding. I knew that would put a fire under your butt.”

“I tried to do it this morning but he was too busy with the fair and meetings and cooking at the restaurant to even listen.”

“He’s cooking at the restaurant?” she asked.

“Yes. He is helping out the owner so she doesn’t lose her diner.”

“That’s good that he’s cooking again. Maybe you should help out too. After all
, you are just as good a cook as him. Or so I’ve heard.”

“I thought about it,” she said. “But I have the kids, so it wouldn’t work.”

“I’ll tell you what,” said Angel. “I’m going to Lansing tomorrow to close on my house that I sold. Now that I’m married to Thomas and we own the Ainsley’s large home, there’s no need for me to have it. I’m taking Gabby with and I’m meeting with a friend of mine, Tilly and her daughter. We’re going to spend the night there as well. I’ll take your twins with me if you want and give you the time you need alone with Levi to tell him your secret.”

“But won’t your car be filled with the boys as well?”

“No. Thomas is staying home to watch them, since one of us has to be here with the rest of them in case Child Services comes by to check. That will be happening for a while yet even tho Thomas was proven to be a fit father. They are real sticklers. Besides, the boys have to finish painting the station as the fair starts tomorrow.”

“
That would be wonderful,” agreed Candace. “And my kids love playing with Gabby so I am sure they would have fun. You are a godsend, I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“I’ll have the kids back in plenty of time to enjoy the fair since it lasts all week. Besides, there is no way I am going t
o miss watching you and Levi duke it out on
Sliced.
”

“Duke it out?”

“Cooking,” she added. “Not fighting. Or at least I hope not.”

“No one hopes it more than me.”

* * *

Candace
stopped at the gas station with the kids to fill up the tank after the beach. Gus ran out to help her.

“Oh, I can get it, Gus,” she said. “It’s not a problem.”

“No, no, that’s part of the service of this small town. I like to let the customers remember how it used ta be before everyone had to start pumping their own gas and do everything themselves.”

“Ok, then go for it,” she said.

“Mom, what are they doing?” Vance pointed to the boys painting the outside stonework of the station with rollers and brushes.

“They’re painting, honey.”

“I want to paint,” said Vance.

“Me too,” said Valentine.

“Oh, I don’t think so, you’re too little.”

“Eli’s painting and he’s six like us.” Vance made a point.

“Well, if it’s ok with Mr. Kramer.”

“Send them over to Dan, he’ll set them up with some brushes or
give them something they can do,” said Gus.

“Go ahead, but just don’t wander off.
And keep clean,” she added as an afterthought.

Her kids ran off to help and Gus took his time filling the tank and washing her windows. He was so slow
she wondered if people often jumped out and did it themselves just so they wouldn’t have to wait.

“Mr. Kramer,” she said, spying the dumpster filled to overflowing with items from the spare room.

“Just call me Gus,” he told her, looking up from what he was doing and stopping while he spoke.

“Gus, I am wondering what you are going to do with all those antiques you have in the dumpster.”

“See, I told the missus them were antiques but she insisted I get rid of them anyway.”

“I see a bed frame and a couple of lamps.”

“Yep, and them lamps work better than the ones in my house.”

“Would you mind if I used some of the furniture and things to fix up the room for Levi?”

“Levi?” he asked. “That man would sleep in the gutter and not care. Don’t waste your time on him, honey.”

“Could I borrow Dan and a few of the older boys for a little bit to help me?”

“Ya can if ya want to, but they ain’t gonna be happy ta have ta haul all that stuff back up there after they just got done haulin’ it all down.”

“I’d appreciate it,” she said with a smile. “And I’m sure Levi will too.”

* * *

Levi stumbled up the steps to his room above the station, just past midnight. He was dead tired after working at the fairgrounds all day and cooking all afternoon at the diner.
Again.

Tomorrow
was the food tasting, and he and Candace would be doing the judging together. He found a way not to have to go to the diner tomorrow, as he’d instructed Enrique on some fast foods they could make and serve at the fair. So they reserved a concession stand in the food court at the center of the fair, and were going to be bringing Levi’s recipes via Margery’s Diner to the fair instead of having people come to them. His Panini specialty sandwiches were really starting to sell.

He was damned proud of the job he was doing at the diner. The customers started to come in again and everyone was raving about his creations. He felt happy that he was able to help Margery keep the place from closing. Now if he could just help her find a cook that would follow his instructions
exactly and spoke enough English to understand him, then he’d be free from helping her out.

He opened the d
oor to the room, never having bothered to lock it, and stumbled inside, knowing it probably hadn’t been a good idea to accept the offer of going to Burley’s Bar and strip joint with the fair workers who were staying here in town while the fair was in progress. But they said they were buying, and he hadn’t a dime to his name. He needed a drink desperately and so he’d accepted.

H
e knew he wasn’t doing such a great job as mayor and had felt that a night out would help him to forget his worries. Plus, he was having a hard time with the fact Candace seemed to be trying her damndest to dump him. He purposely hadn’t given her a chance to finish a sentence every time she said she needed to talk to him, because he didn’t want their relationship to end.

He walked into the room, surprised to see a light coming from inside. He stopped in the doorway and rubbed his eyes, t
hinking he was too damned tired to realize he’d just entered someone else’s home.

He looked around the room, surpri
sed to see a bed with an ornate headboard pushed up against the wall. In the corner was a coat tree with some of his clothes hanging on it. Next to it was an old chest of drawers with peeling paint, and next to that was a dresser with one shorter leg propped up with bricks sporting a cracked mirror. And under the window was an old rocking chair.