Kindred Spirit - Noah Harris Page 0,25

attraction they had toward one another, Jacob hadn’t expected him to be so bold. Then again, this was the same man who had invited Jacob out for a meal, and nothing more than conversation had happened between them. Maybe that was all it would be again.

“Ah,” Levi began, licking his lips nervously.

Jacob grinned. “Sure, but I get the beer. Can’t believe they deliver out here for pizza, though.”

Levi laughed, turning, but not fast enough to hide his relieved expression. “They don’t. There’s some frozen ones in my freezer. They’re actually pretty good.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Jacob said, trotting after him.

Again, he told himself it was probably a bad idea. Just as bad if not worse than his flirting with Levi. But when Levi flashed him a pleased smile as he lugged the ladder into the back of the truck, the little nagging voice faded away.

Levi

Levi wasn’t feeling nearly as nervous as he thought he’d be as he drove them back to his house. They’d stopped by the motel long enough for Jacob to grab a few things for his overnight stay, then at the general store for a six-pack before continuing on. Levi had thought about asking if Jacob had brought his gun on impulse but managed to stifle it before it slipped through his lips. There was honestly no reason for Jacob to bring the gun, and even if he did, Levi thought he could trust a sane and capable former member of the military with a firearm.

Plus, it wasn’t like he didn’t keep a shotgun under his bed. Most people in Gilcreek kept a rifle or shotgun nearby as a matter of course. Hunting season was a big deal for Gilcreek, and while Levi wasn’t a hunter himself, no one would have batted an eye to find out he had a gun in his house. Of course, when they thought shotgun, they tended to think the hunting variety rather than the semi-automatic pump-action shotgun that would have looked more at home in an armory than in a hunter’s gun case. Then again, he wasn’t exactly worried about bears coming onto his property so much as unwanted visitors of a far more dangerous quality.

“It really is beautiful out here,” Jacob said softly as he stared out the passenger window.

Levi smiled. “Just now figuring that out?”

“No, not at all. But it just...keeps hitting me whenever I take a look around. I think I’m getting used to it, and then boom, something catches my eye and takes my breath away. I understand why people want to stay out here.”

Levi understood. He’d gone through something similar when he first moved to Gilcreek. The word verdant didn’t have any real meaning to someone unless they saw it firsthand. The area that made up Gilcreek and its surroundings was all wild forest and towering mountains. There was a sense of rugged beauty to the whole affair, equal parts breathtaking and unnerving.

“Don’t see a whole lot of the wild, wild up...north?”

Jacob chuckled. “Don’t see a whole lot of wild anything, except when I was in the Army. And I have to say, I got enough of a desert climate to serve me for a couple of lifetimes.”

“Where are you from?”

“New York.”

“City?”

“Yeah.”

Levi grimaced. “I think I can understand why you’re so taken by everything here. It’s gotta be a lot greener than you’re used to.”

“I mean, Central Park was pretty green.”

It was Levi’s turn to chuckle. “Somehow, I don’t think that’s the same thing as being out here.”

“Not even close. Sometimes, when we could afford it, my mom would take me further upstate for a weekend. Once you get further north, New York gets really pretty.”

“Just your mom, huh?”

Jacob shrugged. “Just her. Dunno what happened to my dad, barely remember him. Took off when I was a kid, and my mom never talked about it.”

“Oh. Have a good relationship with your mom, then?” Levi asked, unable to help the twinge of jealousy.

Jacob’s face remained facing out the window, hiding his expression. “She passed about four years ago. I was on my last deployment when it happened. A mugging gone wrong.”

“Oh,” was all Levi could think to say.

Having been on the receiving end of his fair share of condolences offered by people when they learned about his parents, Levi didn’t try to offer his to Jacob. There were only so many times someone could hear how sorry people were before the words started to lose their meaning. Levi was sure that everyone who said they were sorry