7. Levi

7

LEVI

L evi pulled up in front of the toy store, hoping he could get just one more errand taken care of this morning before Flora needed to go home and unwind.

Since he hoped they would only be staying a few minutes, he didn’t bother with the carrier. She hugged right onto him when he lifted her from the car seat, and he soaked in the sensation of being a person she trusted.

Levi had been many things in his life—a farmhand on his own family’s farm, a helper on a neighbor’s dairy farm, a soldier, a student, and now a lawyer.

None of those things had ever given him the sensation of completeness that filled his chest every time he was reminded that he was Flora’s caregiver. It suddenly felt like a piece of his heart was outside of his body, clinging to him and banging excitedly on his arm when she caught sight of the display in Lily’s window.

“Pretty,” he agreed with her, admiring the little town with cars and trucks and dollhouses .

“ Gah ,” Flora said, wiggling her fingers at the reindeer pulling Santa’s sleigh above.

“Yes,” he told her. “ Deer .”

“Howdy,” Reggie Webb said, walking past with a paper coffee cup in his hand. His eyebrows lifted almost to his hairline when he saw the baby.

“Reggie,” Levi said, waving to the town’s biggest gossip.

He wondered how long it would be before rumors were flying about him having a baby. Old Reggie Webb loved knowing all the goings-on in town, but he had a big heart, so whatever rumors he spread wouldn’t be ugly. But they would raise questions with just about everyone Levi knew.

Levi shook his head, smiling at the idea, and headed into the store.

Lily was wearing a long-sleeved, pink t-shirt today over a flowing, darker pink skirt. Rose quartz bracelets sparkled on each of her wrists. She was bent down talking to a little boy who seemed to be practically jogging in place with excitement.

“You’re going to choose one toy from that shelf,” Lily was telling him. “Whichever one you think you would love most if you were spending Christmas in the hospital.”

“ The hippo ,” the boy yelled, as if he were worried someone else would snatch it first even though he was the only child in the store at the moment.

“Great choice,” Lily told him with a big smile. “Go ahead and get him. ”

The boy sprinted to the shelf of plush toys and grabbed a blue hippo.

“Excellent,” Lily told him. “Now you can put him in the gift bin.”

The boy walked over to a big bin that was wrapped in pretty holiday wrapping paper. He looked inside it worriedly.

“He’ll be very safe in there with his friends,” Lily told the boy. “And when it’s time for him to meet his new child, I’ll put a bow around his neck first, okay?”

“Okay,” the boy squeaked, dropping the hippo in the bin.

“Now go on and grab a marker from the cup,” Lily told him, pointing to a cup of markers near the wall. “And sign the great big card. You can draw a little picture too, if you want.”

Levi hadn’t really noticed all this stuff last night when he’d come in. He had been sort of occupied with Flora and Andrea.

“What do I owe you for the hippo?” a lady waiting at the counter asked.

“Oh, the gift is part of the purchase you already made,” Lily told the lady. “There’s no extra charge.”

“That’s very generous,” the lady said, sounding impressed.

Levi was impressed too. He took a closer look at the area of the small store dedicated to the project and wondered how Lily could afford to do it.

“It’s a pet charity of mine,” Lily said. “And the kids really enjoy it too. And of course I know the recipients will be thrilled. It’ s win-win-win.”

“I drew a hippo,” the little boy yelled, running back to his mother. “And I signed my name.”

“That’s wonderful, Aaron,” his mother said fondly. “You just made a little boy or girl very happy. Say thank you to Miss Lily.”

“Thank you, Miss Lily,” Aaron said happily.

“Thank you, ” she said with a warm smile. “Have a very merry Christmas, if I don’t see you before then.”

Aaron cheered at the reminder of the upcoming holiday and his mother gave Lily a little wave as she headed out.

“This is really impressive,” Levi said.

“I meant what I told her,” she replied. “I do it because it makes me happy.”

He nodded. He’d done plenty of pro bono work himself over the last year or so. The highway was coming in and Sebastian Radcliffe had bought up a lot of property. A whole lot of people had questions and he knew they couldn’t really afford a lawyer’s fees.

“How are you today?” Lily asked in a voice that told him she didn’t mean Levi.

“She’s had a very exciting day,” he said. “She went to work with me and met Mrs. Tally, who gave her applesauce and played games with her.”

“I’ll bet she fell right in love with you,” Lily told Flora.

Flora waved her arms and legs and made happy squeaking sounds back at her.

“Listen,” Levi said. “It was very kind of you to get us set up with so many supplies last night after hours. I’m just here to take care of the bill.”

Lily tore her eyes from Flora and looked up at Levi with a furrowed brow like she was about to give him a piece of her mind. But the bells on the shop door jingled and Levi looked to see who it was.

“Levi,” Chad Stransky said, looking relieved. He was around Levi’s age, and worked as a sort of groundskeeper and jack-of-all-trades over at Levi’s aunt’s inn. Chad was normally a very laid-back guy, but today there was something almost like fear in his eyes. “I hoped that was you. I was just heading over to your office when I spotted you in here.”

“What’s up?” Levi asked, hoping everything was okay.

“Your Aunt Trudy got a notice asking about her deed,” Chad said. “It says she has to send a check in right away, but she didn’t get to last week’s mail until today. Do you think she’s okay if she puts a check in the mail now?”

“Her deed?” Levi asked. “What about her deed?”

“The place has been in her family for generations,” Chad said. “She inherited it when she was a young woman, and she’s been going through the attic, but she can’t find the paperwork from the transfer.”

“So, she got a letter saying she has to pay for a new copy of her deed?” Levi asked, already pretty sure he knew what was going on.

“They said that if she didn’t still have her original, she needed a duplicate,” Chad said worriedly. “And that if she didn’t send five-hundred dollars right away, she wouldn’t be able to prove ownership. She’s all flustered about the whole thing. Something about it doesn’t seem right to me, so I wanted to find you and see if you could explain.”

“Five-hundred dollars,” Lily echoed in horror.

“It’s a lot,” Chad agreed. “But it’s nothing compared to losing the inn.”

“It’s a scam,” Levi said quietly, not wanting to embarrass the other man.

“A scam?” Chad echoed in confusion.

“Do you have the letter with you?” Levi asked.

“No, but I took a picture,” Chad said, scrolling through his phone. “She’s supposed to send the original in with her check.”

“People send these letters out to scare people,” Levi said while he waited for Chad to find the photo. “She might actually get a copy of her deed mailed back to her if she pays. But the county records are digitized nowadays, so she doesn’t need a hard copy, even if she sells the place. And if she’d like a paper copy just for her own peace of mind, she can stop by the courthouse anytime. I think they charge two dollars per page to make copies these days, so six dollars should do it.”

“Here,” Chad said, handing over his phone.

The glass screen was a little cracked, but Levi was easily able to scan the letter. It was a classic scam, not even addressed to Trudy by name.

“Tell her that she can ignore it,” Levi said, nodding to Chad as he handed back the phone.

“She’s probably mailing the check now,” Chad said. “I have to catch her, but she’ll never listen to me.”

“I can talk to her,” Levi offered.

But Flora was already getting wiggly and bored.

“I’ll take Flora,” Lily said right away. “Go call Trudy before she gets swindled.”

“Thank you,” Levi said, letting her take the little one. “ Her diaper bag is in my truck if she needs anything. It’s not locked.”

“Trudy,” Chad said, already holding the phone to his ear as they stepped outside together.

It was sunny but freezing outside. The candy canes hanging from the light posts looked so cheerful, and the flag over the train station waved merrily in the biting wind.

“Did you mail it yet?” Chad asked, without even saying hello.

There was a pause and his shoulders slumped in relief.

“Good,” he said. “Don’t mail it.”

Another pause.

“No, don’t ,” he said. “You don’t have to. Levi is here. He says it’s a scam and he can explain.”

Levi could hear his aunt’s voice from beside Chad. He couldn’t make out her words, but her worried tone was clear.

“I’m going to give you to him,” Chad said, handing over the phone.

“Hey, Aunt Trudy,” Levi said calmly. “No need to worry. Everything is going to be just fine.”

He talked her through it all, assuring her that he had seen the letter and that he’d be happy to pick up a copy of her deed next time he was at the courthouse, no charge.

After a minute or two, she seemed to feel a little better, and he could tell the moment when she was really feeling herself again because she told him that if he brought over that copy of her deed she would cook him the best meal he ever ate, and he was welcome to bring along a friend if he liked.

“That sounds amazing, Aunt Trudy,” he told her. “I’ll definitely take you up on that.”

He signed off and turned back to Chad.

“She’s lucky to have you around,” he told the man. “A lot of people fall for scams like that every day. I’m glad you came out to find me.”

“It’s a pleasure to work for someone who trusts me to help with things like this,” Chad said. “She’s a great lady.”

“You saved her a lot of money and worry today,” Levi told him. “Give her a hug for me, will you? And tell her I’ll be by with the deed soon.”

“Will do,” Chad said, waving and jogging off to his truck.

Levi shook his head and sighed in relief. He’d have to put a post on the community bulletin board right away warning people not to fall for those letters if they got one. Hopefully folks would pass the word along.

I might do better to run down Reggie Webb and tell him, he thought to himself. He’d spread the word faster than the bulletin.

But before he did anything else, he had to go reclaim the baby first. Poor Lily couldn’t watch the baby and run a toy store all day.

He headed back inside, setting the bells over the door jingling, his eyes scanning the shop for Lily and Flora. Lily was probably having to give the little one plenty of attention to keep her quiet. He was glad not to hear crying .

But when his eyes finally landed on the pair, he was stunned.

Flora was quite content. She was sitting on Lily’s hip, supported in a sort of long pink cloth that looked almost like a scarf that wrapped around Lily’s waist and chest.

Lily bent gracefully over a small table in the back, as she explained a card game to a little boy and girl who were smiling up at her.

And Flora presided regally over the conversation from her place on Lily’s hip, looking like she was certain the whole card game was being held for her amusement.

“Hey,” Lily said, straightening and heading over when she noticed him.

Flora made a happy little noise and gave him a great big, heartwarming smile. But she didn’t try to wiggle away from Lily. She seemed very happy right where she was.

“I’m so sorry,” he told Lily. “I didn’t mean to drop her on you like that.”

“She’s no trouble at all,” Lily said with a smile. “We’re having fun here. Why don’t you go get some lunch?”

He opened his mouth to refuse, but his stomach chose that moment to grumble.

He hadn’t had his dinner last night, or breakfast this morning, come to think of it… He actually hadn’t had both hands free until this moment, except for the time he’d spent walking Mrs. Tally’s lot.

“Go on,” she told him. “We’ll see you in an hour or so. No rush.”

“Thank you,” he heard himself tell her for about the hundredth time in the last eighteen hours. “I’ll be back soon.”

“She’ll be just fine,” Lily said, smiling up at him.

He let himself take the two of them in, pretending they were his to keep for just a second before he turned and headed out.

Keep it together, he told himself again. Flora needs you to be responsible, so be serious.

But the overhead bells jingled like they were laughing at that idea as he headed out the door.