Brenda Novak - When Summer Comes

Callie was driving. Levi sat in the passenger seat. She’d noticed the missed call when she’d picked up her phone, but she hadn’t wanted to speak to Kyle while she was with Levi. She knew he wouldn’t be happy about the encounter with Denny Seamans and Powell Barney. He’d say that Levi’s presence had compromised her safety. But it was Denny and Powell, and only Denny and Powell, who were to blame for what happened last night.

“You mean my friend,” she said. “I saw that.”

“You’re not going to call him back?”

“I will when I have a minute to focus.”

“You might want to do it sooner rather than later.”

She arched her eyebrows. “Because...”

“He’ll only come over if you don’t.”

“True.” He had an excellent point. Having these two men in the same room made her uncomfortable. She preferred to avoid that in future. But if she called Kyle while driving, she’d have to use her hands-free, which essentially put him on speakerphone, and she wasn’t about to let Levi hear their conversation. She had no idea what Kyle might say. So she waited until she pulled into the auto parts store.

“I’ll be right in,” she told Levi, and dialed Kyle’s number the second he got out.

“Hey,” she said when Kyle answered.

“Hey yourself,” he responded. “Where’ve you been?”

“Sorry I missed your call. I was in the shower.”

“All morning?”

“Levi and I were in a hurry to get to town.”

“So he’s with you?”

“Sort of. He’s in the auto parts store.”

“I see. And once he fixes that bike of his he’ll be leaving?”

She clenched her jaw. “After he’s painted the barn, Kyle. You know the deal.”

“That doesn’t mean I have to like it,” he grumbled. “But I’m relieved you’re okay. He didn’t hurt you or do anything weird?”

“No.”

“The owner of the dogs who attacked Levi brought them to the vet yesterday.”

She slipped her keys into her purse. She could see Levi heading down an aisle inside the store. He wasn’t at the register yet, but she’d have to go in soon so she could pay for the parts he needed. “How do you know?”

“Cheyenne was there. Her dog has a sore foot.”

“Why didn’t she call me?”

“Why would she? She didn’t know you had anything to do with some vagrant getting bitten by pit bulls—until I told her.”

Great. Now Cheyenne knew? She was part of the group Callie and Kyle had grown up with. It was only a matter of time before the whole gang found out, which meant Callie would be hearing from more and more of them. “I still don’t get why she called you.”

“She wanted to tell me that she’d seen Noelle with another guy on her way home.”

Noelle had to be the most hated ex in all of Whiskey Creek. She hadn’t been particularly popular before marrying Kyle. Everyone had known he was making a terrible mistake. But, at the time, there’d been a baby involved and his sense of decency demanded he see it through. “That’s good news, right?”

“If she marries him. Then I won’t have to continue paying spousal maintenance.” He cursed under his breath. “I still can’t believe how much that judge ordered me to pay. He saw a pretty woman weeping in front of him and it didn’t matter what I said after that.”

“You could’ve fought harder.”

“It wasn’t worth it to me to drag the damn thing out. Money is only money, I guess. At least I don’t have to live with her anymore.”

“So how badly were they hurt?”

“The dogs? One had a couple of broken ribs. The other a broken leg. And they each needed stitches. Cheyenne said she thinks they must’ve hurt each other in the fight, because one’s ear was cut.”

The attack must’ve been horrific. It was a wonder both dogs and Levi had come out of it basically okay. Callie doubted someone without Levi’s ability to defend himself would’ve been able to fend them off. “They would’ve killed a lesser man.”

“A lesser man?” Kyle repeated.

She straightened at the wry note in his voice. “Someone who can’t fight like he can.”

“How do you know he can fight?”

“Because I saw him. The owner of those dogs—Denny Seamans—brought his buddy Powell and showed up on my doorstep last night.”

“And you didn’t call me?”

The thought hadn’t even crossed her mind, but she didn’t want to admit that. “I wasn’t expecting it to go the way it did.”

“What happened?”

“Denny tried to convince me that his dogs weren’t at fault, that they only attacked because Levi trespassed on their property.”

“Maybe that’s really how it went down,” Kyle said. “You don’t know. You weren’t there.”

“Levi wasn’t in their garage.” She was so glad she’d had a chance to peek inside it. She suspected no one would believe the truth otherwise, not with Denny and Powell protesting to high heaven.

“You were looking for his bike when you checked, Cal.”

“Yeah, but if those dogs attacked Levi in the garage and not out on the street, there would’ve been blood.” Just look at the amount he’d gotten on her porch....

“Maybe Denny Whoever cleaned it up before we got there.”

“When they had two dogs who needed to see a vet right away? No. I’m guessing he and Powell woke up to find the dogs injured, loaded them up and took off. That’s why they weren’t home when we went by.” She shifted in the seat, trying to get comfortable. “They didn’t bother cleaning up the blood on the driveway, did they?”

“So what are you now? A forensics tech?”

She could tell her loyalty to Levi irritated him. He didn’t want to deal with some interloper, especially one who had nothing—no reputation, job or known background—to recommend him. Kyle had been through too much with his divorce. Not only that, but he’d been stressed out before Levi appeared. His sister was going through her own divorce. She and her kids had been staying with him for two months.

“It doesn’t take a forensics tech to realize there’d be a mess,” she said.

“I’m guessing you told Denny and Powell this.”

It was getting too hot to sit in the SUV. Once again checking the store to make sure Levi wasn’t waiting for her, she opened her door to catch the breeze. “More or less. Then our exchange woke Levi and he—”

“Snapped,” Kyle broke in.

Why did he automatically assume it was Levi’s fault? “No, he didn’t snap. Not exactly. I think he would’ve done a lot more damage if he’d really let go.”

Kyle barked out an incredulous laugh. “Against two guys? Come on! Cheyenne said they were built like army tanks.”

“That’s true. They are—and last night they were itching for a fight. But when one of them went after Levi, Levi knocked him out with a single punch.”

Her recap sobered him. “What did the other guy do?”

“Fortunately, that discouraged Denny from getting involved. But he wasn’t happy. He helped his friend to the car, said it wasn’t over and drove off.”

Silence.

“So what do you think?” she asked.

“You should’ve listened to me and sent McCloud on his way when you had the chance.”

She slapped the steering wheel. “Levi hasn’t done anything wrong!”

“He caused Denny’s dogs to be impounded and knocked out his friend!”

“As much as I hate to say it, since I love dogs, those two are dangerous. So are their owner and his buddy! I have to stand up for the truth, Kyle. If I don’t, it’ll be my fault if those pit bulls are released and hurt someone else. Is that what you want?”

The question seemed to take the edge off his anger. “No. Of course not. I just... If Levi’s going to be moving on, it’s better if he does it sooner rather than later. That’s all.”