He turned and caught her staring at his ass, and the smile hit his mouth. “Maybe sooner than I thought.”
AN INCREDIBLY LONG week—which felt like five years—of “rest and relaxation” later, Levi finally escaped the family house for a doctor’s appointment. After an exam and the removal of his stitches, he walked out of the doctor’s office to where Tess was waiting for him in the parking lot. He slid into the passenger seat of her car, relieved as hell.
“Well?” she asked. “Is your head still scrambled?”
“Only slightly. Headaches might be a thing for me for a while yet.” He could live with that. “The good news is my freedom’s been obtained. I’ve been cleared to drive again.” And the relief was nearly overwhelming. He’d forgotten what it’d been like to live at home.
“Prepare for the inquisition, then,” Tess warned. “You know Mom’s been holding back for this very moment, trying her very best not to hound you about Jane, and why she hasn’t checked in on you.”
“Maybe we’ve been texting and calling.”
“Maybe.” Tess looked out at the parking lot. Her voice was flat when she asked, “You’re going to hightail it out of here now, aren’t you.”
“Eventually,” he said. “But not yet.”
She looked over at him, her eyes too shiny. “Not yet?” She sniffed. “Really?”
“Yeah, really.” He was surprised by her show of emotion, and also concerned. It wasn’t like a Cutler to be anything other than “perfectly fine.” “It’ll be another few weeks before I’m fully recovered, and you know Mom wants me to stay until their anniversary party.” She still hadn’t told him what she’d called him up to Tahoe for in the first place, insisting it was nothing for him to worry about while he was recovering. “What’s going on, Tess?”
“Nothing.”
“Try again.”
She sighed. “I didn’t tell Mom and Dad, but Cal and I didn’t have a prenup.” She drew a deep breath. “He took all the money out of our accounts before he ran off to Bali with the babysitter.”
“What the—” He scrubbed a hand down his face. His anger wasn’t going to help her. “What did the police say?”
“Turns out that neither screwing the babysitter nor taking money out of joint accounts is illegal.”
Maybe not, but Levi would like to have a minute alone with Cal to teach him a little respect. With his fist to the guy’s face. Since that was not the reaction Tess needed, he kept it to himself. But the money thing, that he could do something about. “I could help—”
“No. I don’t want your money. I want my own life back.” Angrily she swiped a few tears from her cheeks. Then she gripped the steering wheel tight and leaned in closer to the windshield to eyeball the car cutting in front of her in the roundabout. “Hey! Asshole!” she yelled, punctuating each syllable with her horn. “I have the right of way!” Then she took the roundabout on two wheels.
“Maybe I should drive.”
“I’m fine!”
“Yeah, I can see that—” He winced. “There’s another car coming—”
“I have the right of way!” She sped up, and when the second car honked at her, Tess told him he was number one. With her middle finger.
Five minutes later, she whipped into the parking lot of Cutler Sporting Goods. Levi let out a relieved breath and uncurled his fingers from the dashboard. Look at him. He’d survived a blizzard and his sister’s driving.
“I’ve got to get to work,” she said. “I’ll get a ride home with Mom or Dad. Take my car and go rest.”
“You’re picking up a lot of hours.”
She shrugged. “I’m taking on extra shifts when I can fit them in between Peyton’s dance classes or when she’s at a friend’s house.”
“Saving up to move out?”
“To fund my depression drugs.”
“Tess,” he said quietly.
“It was a joke. Well, sort of. I am eating a lot of barbecue-flavored potato chips. Supposedly not habit forming, though, so no worries.”
When Tess got out of the car, Levi moved into the driver’s seat. Funny how adrift he’d felt while being unable to drive, how out of control. Felt good to be in charge of his destiny again.
He ran two quick errands, stopping for a pizza and then at the Cake Walk for a specialty cupcake. He took the pizza to the hospital and asked for Mateo.
His oldest friend appeared at the front desk five minutes later, looking surprised to see Levi. “You okay?”
“Getting there, thanks to you.” He pushed the pizza across the greeting desk. “I didn’t bring the beer to go with it since you’re working.”
Mateo picked up the box. “I don’t need the thanks. But I definitely need the pizza.” He looked at Levi. “Is this a do-over pizza?”
“Yes. Is it working?”
“Possibly.” Mateo started to walk away, but stopped to say, “Keep them coming.”
Levi left the hospital and drove up to the North Diamond Resort. He parked and stared out his windshield at the imposing snow-covered mountain in front of him.
The sun was out, making the snow sparkle like diamonds—hence the resort’s name. At 7,500 feet, the air was crisp but somehow also warm at the same time, and the sky was so clear and sharp blue it looked photoshopped. Feeling an odd and uncomfortable sense of déjà vu, he got out and breathed in the harsh, cold, crisp air of winter, welcoming the freezing freshness of it. He turned his face up to the sun, but the air was too cold, too all-encompassing, to warm him. He didn’t mind. Winter worked for him. Winter invigorated him.
Even if it’d almost killed him.
The parking lot was full, the lifts were running, and given all the skiers and snowboarders on the ski runs, business was booming in spite of what had happened with the gondola only a week ago.
The investigation had yielded a decision that it’d all been a freak accident. Earlier on the day of the storm, there’d been some construction work done and somehow a piece of debris had been left behind. A small chunk of wood. The vicious wind had knocked it onto the track.
The odds against such a thing were astronomical.
But Levi still didn’t get onto the gondola.
Instead, he found a friend who happened to be on ski patrol and hitched a ride on his snowmobile up to the urgent care clinic at mid-mountain. He entered the clinic and asked if Jane was working. He’d called earlier. He’d called all the clinics. He couldn’t get anyone to tell him who was on duty. So here he was . . .
“She’s not on our schedule today,” the nurse at the front desk told him.
He drove to High Alpine Resort next. No luck there either.
Two hours later, Levi walked into the last urgent care clinic in the area. This one was in Sunrise Cove, right next to the hospital.
There was no one behind the front desk, but he didn’t need help because Jane was standing in the middle of the room wearing scrubs and a familiar attitude, staring up at the only other person in the room—a huge guy, at least six-five, and clearly a fan of daily lifting at the gym.