“I know,” I said, and I hugged him.
“Wow, what is that?”
We broke apart and looked at a group of boys who had joined us in the little clearing.
“Is it a river coming up from the ground?” another of the group asked.
Levi stood, bringing me to my feet as well. “This is a cool place,” he told them. “It’s a secret fort.”
“Is it yours?” a third kid asked.
“It used to be, but I’m not going to use it anymore. You guys can have it,” he told them, and I looked back once as we walked away. They were already jumping off the rocks and laughing, like they’d made themselves at home.
We didn’t say anything else as we left the park, or on our way to the apartment building where, probably, Levi would break hislease because now he had his own home. I was still concerned about tax and other legal implications, and my mind reeled with questions about what August had been involved in, and with whom. But we could talk later, not right at the moment when he was looking like he’d lost his best friend. He had.
“I’m sorry,” I told him again as we walked up the steps. “I don’t know what to say to you about it, but I have a present. Maybe that would make you feel a tiny bit of happiness? It can wait,” I quickly added.
“You got a present for me today?”
“I ordered it before but it wasn’t ready until this morning,” I explained, and opened my apartment door. Coral streaked over and attacked him—with love. She gave a little to me, too.
“Did you get yourself a new desk?” Levi asked as the cat tried to settle around his neck, like a lion-sized boa. He pointed at the new piece of furniture jammed into the room. “Good, you needed one.”
“No, that’s the surprise,” I stated. “That’s the present for you.”
He glanced at me. “A desk? Thank you.”
“There’s meaning behind it, too,” I explained. “I had an idea. If you gave up your apartment, you could live here and work on your novel full-time. I would pay the rent and all other related costs, which would be ok now that my business is picking back up.” The bills were still omnipresent, but I could have dealt with it all if I was very, very careful.
“Me, move in here, with you?” he asked slowly.
“It was just an idea that I had,” I reiterated. “I know that you don’t like your job and I want you to be able to write more, but you’re not quite in the position to quit without some assistance. I would also benefit so much and so would Coral. We would love to have you.”
“The three of us, in your little apartment?”
“I have furniture now,” I added. “And look. The window works!” Then I pulled him into the bedroom where I opened the closet. “I plan to sell most of my fancy dresses, because I don’t need to hang onto them. It doesn’t matter what I wear.”
“That’s true,” he said, his words still slow.
“The box is gone.” I pointed to the empty space on the floor, where my mother’s stuff had sat for so long and taken up space. “We don’t have to talk about it now, but I think that I made a good decision about that.”
He sat on my bed, and Coral joined him. It did look small with both of them there. “I can get a new bed,” I remarked. I realized that the situation still wouldn’t have been ideal, but it was moot, anyway. “Now you don’t need to live with me, because you have a house of your own.”
“Come here for a minute.” He patted the mattress, signaling to me again. There was a lot less space than on the rock. “Coral, you need to get down.”
She didn’t care for that but accepted her fate, and I took her place. I filled some of the area she’d occupied and Levi pulled me close, hugging me.
“You built me that beautiful desk,” he said.
“It’s not so great. I think I forgot one of the supports for the top because there was an extra metal piece under the couch and that would explain why I had so many extra screws and round things. I mean, extra bolts.”
“I love it and I’m going to use it every day. Thank you.”
Those words felt like another hug. “You’re welcome.”
“I’m going to use it after I work at my other job, though, because I can’t quit. No, I don’t love it, but I don’t hate it, either, and it’s necessary,” he continued. “I’m lucky to have something that pays well and I’m not going to be an immature idiot again and sponge off you. Although, I also really appreciate your offer, and thank you for that, too.”
So he didn’t need me. “You’re welcome,” I repeated glumly.
