The Endless Road to Sunshine - Nicky James Page 0,93
drive?”
“Long. I’m starving. I would have been here sooner, but the 401 through Toronto was hell.”
“Always is. Come in. I put a plate of dinner aside for you.”
He took my bag and guided me inside. I’d been to Levi’s plenty. It was a second home for me. We’d been friends since our first year of college. I’d known him longer than I’d known Morgan.
Scanning, I didn’t see any signs of the girls. “Where’d they go? I heard them screaming like banshees a minute ago.”
“Autumn corralled them for their bath. We should get a few minutes of peace before I have to read them stories and tuck them in for the night.”
Levi took my bag down the hall to his spare bedroom before meeting me in the kitchen. I had already found the covered plate of food and shoved it into the microwave.
“You want a beer?” Levi asked, his head in the refrigerator.
“No. I mean yes, desperately, but no.”
He cocked a brow as he glanced over his shoulder.
“You should not promote my drinking.”
He closed the fridge, a pinch in his brow. “Is it bad again?”
I leaned against the counter near the microwave, folding my arms over my chest. “It’s not good. It’s a crutch. I know. One I’m leaning on too much.”
“All right. No beer. There’s iced tea. Water. I can make coffee. Or…” He thumbed at the fridge, a smile tickling his lips. “The girls have apple juice, but you have to drink it out of a tiny little juice box.”
“Fuck off. I don’t want apple juice. I’m fine for now.”
A thunder of running feet tore down the hallway, followed by Autumn shouting, “Claire, get back here.”
“Oh boy,” Levi said. “Incoming.”
At that moment, a naked toddler streaked into the kitchen, blonde curls bouncing and tangling around her face as she dove behind her daddy’s legs, hiding and giggling so hard she was vibrating.
“Levi! Can you grab her?”
“Good grief. Yeah, I’ve got her.” Levi scooped two-year-old Claire up into his arms. “You can’t run around naked, you goof.”
“Unka Jay’s here.” Claire pointed at me, silver-blue eyes alight with her smile. She was the spitting image of her mother.
“Yes, princess. Uncle Jason is here. Where are your clothes?”
Claire shoved at Levi’s shoulder, reaching for me. “Down. No, Daddy. Unka Jay.”
“Unka Jay doesn’t want to see your naked butt. Come on. Bath time.”
Claire squealed as Levi took her back to her mother. The microwave beeped. There was roasted chicken, rice, and green beans on the plate Levi had saved for me. I found a fork and knife in a drawer just as Levi returned.
He had fingers crossed on both hands, and he was chanting at the ceiling. “Please don’t be pregnant. Please don’t be pregnant. Please don’t be pregnant. I changed my mind. I can’t do it. If you are a merciful God, you will save me. I beg you.”
I chuckled. “You’re so dramatic. If Autumn is pregnant again, you’ll be thrilled.”
Levi groaned as two giggling girls splashed so loud in their bath the noise traveled across the house. “Yeah. Maybe.” He considered. “A two-year-old, a four-year-old, and an infant who will never let me sleep through the night. How big is your apartment again? I’ll sleep on the floor.”
My face hurt from smiling, and it felt good. “Forget that. If you abandon your family, I’ll make you share my bed. FYI, I sleep naked.”
“You know, on second thought, I can handle a baby just fine. Keep your naked ass away from me.” Levi chuckled. “Come on. Bring that with you. We can escape to my office where we won’t be disturbed.”
Levi’s office was furnished with a black leather couch, accent tables, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves containing nothing but law books along one wall, and a mahogany desk that sat under a bank of large picture windows that looked out over their huge backyard. It was the one place he could escape his children and work in peace.
I collapsed in the corner of the couch, and Levi sat on the other side, propping his feet up on the sleek black accent table in the middle of the sitting area. While I ate, he gave me a rundown of the following day’s events.
“Our visit at the prison is scheduled for eleven. Francis is meeting us there. The package is drawn up and ready for Morgan’s signatures. All he has to do is sign his name in four places, and it’s done. I don’t know what games he’s playing, but whatever you do, do not let him