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But my body doesn’t know it yet.

19

CARMEN

Saturday morning comes far too fast.

I’m still in my robe, cradling a mug of coffee, when a small, enthusiastic knock sounds at my front door. I open it to find Theo bouncing on his toes.

“Can I play with Fifi?” he asks brightly. “Levi says I have to be back soon because we’re going to the snooker club.”

I raise an eyebrow. “He takes you to a snooker club?”

Theo nods very seriously. “He says it’s educational.”

I try—and fail—to suppress a smile. Only Levi could convince himself that taking a ten-year-old to a snooker club counts as educational.

Ten minutes later, I’m sitting on the back steps watching Theo and Fifi in play fetch. Fifi mostly wanders in slow, confused circles while Theo walks after her, laughing the entire time.

“Can you come with us today?” Theo asks suddenly, looking up at me with those big, hopeful eyes.

I hesitate.

I don’t think I should see Levi right now. Not after last night. Not after I sent him home confused, frustrated, and looking at me like he had no idea what he’d done wrong.

“Maybe not today,” I say gently.

“Maybe not what?” Levi asks from over the fence.

I startle. I hadn’t even heard him approach. For a man his size, he can be surprisingly quiet.

“Can Carmen come to the club with us?” Theo asks, turning the full force of his hope on his brother. “Please?”

Levi looks at me for a long moment.

“Of course she can,” he says easily.

They both look at me expectantly.

“Sure,” I say, surprising myself. “Keep an eye on Fifi. I’ll get ready.”

As I head inside, I hear Levi mutter to Theo, “Maybe Fifi can tell us what it was like living through the Great Depression.”

I roll my eyes, but I can’t stop the small smile that spreads across my face.

He’s ridiculous.

I change into jeans and a soft cream sweater, adding just enough makeup to look like I haven’t spent the night replaying what happened.

When I step back outside, Levi and Theo are already waiting by the Mustang.

The second Levi looks up and sees me, he goes still. His gaze moves over me once, before he seems to catch himself. A faint flush climbs his neck, and he turns away quickly, reaching for the car door like it suddenly requires his full attention.

“You coming or what?” he says.

We pull onto the road. Theo chatters happily in the back about snooker rules while Levi grips the wheel with grim concentration.

Every time he uses his left hand to steady it, I notice the slight tremor in his fingers and the way his jaw tightens against the pain.