Levi - Chapter One
Even from a distance, Levi could see the girl’s slender shoulders tremble as she buried her face into the old pony’s mane. Allie had had many other horses since she’d graduated from old Twinkie, the pony they’d all learned how to ride on, but somehow the old stead had never stopped being his half-sister’s first love and best friend. He’d never felt so useless as grief twisted in the very core of his jaded soul.
“We need to decide what’s best for Allie,” Amos, Levi’s identical triplet, said gravely, staring at their little sister. He handed a glass of whiskey each to Levi and their other triplet, Elijah.
“The ranch is Allie’s home,” Elijah said. “She’s going to need it even more now that Dad and Faith aren’t—” He blinked furiously as he swallowed the words, still too raw to speak. Levi understood how he felt. Today they’d laid their father and stepmother to rest in a plot together, never to be separated again. Just as how they’d lived and died.
“No one’s saying this isn’t her home, but I’d be lying if I said that the idea of raising our nine-year-old sister isn’t a little bit daunting.” Amos was always the calm, practical one. With the same deft touch he used to soothe a fractious colt, he could bring order to the chaos that were the triplets and the tornado that was their little sister. “It’s daunting enough running this place now that Dad and Faith aren’t here. There’s still so much they had left to show me.” He cleared his throat, staring down into his tumbler.
Until now, Levi had remained silent, buffeted by their emotions, adding to the tsunami of his own that threatened to engulf him, pulling him under until he feared he’d drown. Pushing it down, deep into his core and slamming a lid on it before it could escape with his other demons, he made a decision.
“I’d been talking with Dad just before—” He pushed it all down again as it bubbled inside. “Well, not so long ago. Since I retired from service, I’ve been at loose ends. Faith was always at me to move back, saying Allie wanted to see me. Maybe it’s time I come home.”
Home.
Was home meant to feel so achingly empty without the larger-than-life presence of their father or the effervescent force of nature that had been the stepmother they’d fiercely loved?
“Now that you mention it, there’s a position available at the hospital in town. Faith sent it through to me with a very strong hint that she’d love for me to be closer.” Elijah smiled sadly. “That woman was always bossing us around.” The brothers chuckled at the shared memory. They wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. “Maybe I should put in for it.”
Amos looked at his brothers, standing a little taller as if a weight had been lifted. “You’d move back so I wouldn’t have to do it alone?”
“Leaving Allie to be raised by you? I wouldn’t do it to her. Can you imagine? It would be steak and eggs for every meal. Faith would come back and haunt me.”
Levi snorted at Elijah’s ribbing of their brother’s culinary skill.
“I reckon Allie needs all of us. It’s what Dad and Faith would want.” Levi let the words settle. They felt solid, binding. He raised his glass of whiskey. “To Dad and Faith. And the big hole they left behind.”
Elijah and Amos raised theirs. “To Dad and Faith.”
#
A soft snore emitted from the slumbering girl snuggled on the sofa between Amos and Levi, Elijah having been banished to wash up.
“She’s exhausted.” Amos smiled sadly down at his sister.
Levi envied her ability to sleep so peacefully. She was granted a reprieve from the constricting weight that tortured each breath he took. “She barely ate dinner.” It concerned Levi. Allie didn’t exactly have any spare meat on her bones to be skipping meals.
“I think it will take a while for her to get her appetite back,” Elijah said, making his way back into the room. “We need to be very careful of how we handle things with her. She’s running on sheer emotion right now, but at some point, when life gets back to a new normal, we need to present a joint front. Not let her twist us around to do her bidding. The only thing we can be thankful for is that she isn’t a teenager yet. I don’t think any of us would be ready to deal with those hormones.”
“I don’t think I’m ever going to be ready for Allie to be a teenager,” Amos said in a panicked voice.
“I’m ready to deal with any of the teenage boys who come sniffing around.” Levi cracked his knuckles, the noise ominously sounding like muffled bones breaking. “I know a thing or two that might come in handy.” No hornbag teenager was getting anywhere near his little sister.
“I think we can draw straws with who gets to deal with the boys when the time comes,” Amos said, a fierce gleam in his eyes. He was usually so placid that it was easy to forget that he’d once been a star quarterback before he’d blown out both his knees. “Elijah might not want to since they made him swear an oath or something when he became a doctor.”
“I just can’t kill anyone,” Elijah said urbanely. “So I’ll have to patch them up after we’re finished with them.”
Levi chuckled. It had been years since they’d all been in the same room, what with him either on tour or Elijah working. God, how he’d missed them. Faith had always been trying her best to get them all together, always mothering them even if she’d had to do it by letter when he’d been deployed. It slammed into him again. They were gone. Staring down into his sister’s slumbering face, he silently vowed that he would do everything in his power to make sure Allie would only know love and safety.
“I’d better get this one to bed.” Amos gathered Allie in his arms and looked at the other brothers. “Can one of you pull back her bedcovers for me?”
Levi frowned at the name that flashed on his silently vibrating phone on the table. “Sorry. I need to get that.”
Amos rolled his eyes. “Okay. Elijah, you’re up. Go get the bed ready.”
Levi waited until his brothers were out of the room before answering. “Hello. It’s been a while.”
#
Agitated energy flowed through Levi’s body as he strode back into the room, having left for privacy while he took his call. Old habits die hard. He’d known Amos and Elijah wouldn’t be gone long, so he wasn’t surprised to see them there.
“That was an old friend.”
“Oh,” Elijah said with a suggestive wink. “No wonder you left the room. I have a few old friends like that too.”
Levi ignored him. “I think I might have found an answer to at least one of our problems.” He took a deep breath, both brothers focused on him. “I’ve found a nanny for Allie.”
“We need to decide what’s best for Allie,” Amos, Levi’s identical triplet, said gravely, staring at their little sister. He handed a glass of whiskey each to Levi and their other triplet, Elijah.
“The ranch is Allie’s home,” Elijah said. “She’s going to need it even more now that Dad and Faith aren’t—” He blinked furiously as he swallowed the words, still too raw to speak. Levi understood how he felt. Today they’d laid their father and stepmother to rest in a plot together, never to be separated again. Just as how they’d lived and died.
“No one’s saying this isn’t her home, but I’d be lying if I said that the idea of raising our nine-year-old sister isn’t a little bit daunting.” Amos was always the calm, practical one. With the same deft touch he used to soothe a fractious colt, he could bring order to the chaos that were the triplets and the tornado that was their little sister. “It’s daunting enough running this place now that Dad and Faith aren’t here. There’s still so much they had left to show me.” He cleared his throat, staring down into his tumbler.
Until now, Levi had remained silent, buffeted by their emotions, adding to the tsunami of his own that threatened to engulf him, pulling him under until he feared he’d drown. Pushing it down, deep into his core and slamming a lid on it before it could escape with his other demons, he made a decision.
“I’d been talking with Dad just before—” He pushed it all down again as it bubbled inside. “Well, not so long ago. Since I retired from service, I’ve been at loose ends. Faith was always at me to move back, saying Allie wanted to see me. Maybe it’s time I come home.”
Home.
Was home meant to feel so achingly empty without the larger-than-life presence of their father or the effervescent force of nature that had been the stepmother they’d fiercely loved?
“Now that you mention it, there’s a position available at the hospital in town. Faith sent it through to me with a very strong hint that she’d love for me to be closer.” Elijah smiled sadly. “That woman was always bossing us around.” The brothers chuckled at the shared memory. They wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. “Maybe I should put in for it.”
Amos looked at his brothers, standing a little taller as if a weight had been lifted. “You’d move back so I wouldn’t have to do it alone?”
“Leaving Allie to be raised by you? I wouldn’t do it to her. Can you imagine? It would be steak and eggs for every meal. Faith would come back and haunt me.”
Levi snorted at Elijah’s ribbing of their brother’s culinary skill.
“I reckon Allie needs all of us. It’s what Dad and Faith would want.” Levi let the words settle. They felt solid, binding. He raised his glass of whiskey. “To Dad and Faith. And the big hole they left behind.”
Elijah and Amos raised theirs. “To Dad and Faith.”
#
A soft snore emitted from the slumbering girl snuggled on the sofa between Amos and Levi, Elijah having been banished to wash up.
“She’s exhausted.” Amos smiled sadly down at his sister.
Levi envied her ability to sleep so peacefully. She was granted a reprieve from the constricting weight that tortured each breath he took. “She barely ate dinner.” It concerned Levi. Allie didn’t exactly have any spare meat on her bones to be skipping meals.
“I think it will take a while for her to get her appetite back,” Elijah said, making his way back into the room. “We need to be very careful of how we handle things with her. She’s running on sheer emotion right now, but at some point, when life gets back to a new normal, we need to present a joint front. Not let her twist us around to do her bidding. The only thing we can be thankful for is that she isn’t a teenager yet. I don’t think any of us would be ready to deal with those hormones.”
“I don’t think I’m ever going to be ready for Allie to be a teenager,” Amos said in a panicked voice.
“I’m ready to deal with any of the teenage boys who come sniffing around.” Levi cracked his knuckles, the noise ominously sounding like muffled bones breaking. “I know a thing or two that might come in handy.” No hornbag teenager was getting anywhere near his little sister.
“I think we can draw straws with who gets to deal with the boys when the time comes,” Amos said, a fierce gleam in his eyes. He was usually so placid that it was easy to forget that he’d once been a star quarterback before he’d blown out both his knees. “Elijah might not want to since they made him swear an oath or something when he became a doctor.”
“I just can’t kill anyone,” Elijah said urbanely. “So I’ll have to patch them up after we’re finished with them.”
Levi chuckled. It had been years since they’d all been in the same room, what with him either on tour or Elijah working. God, how he’d missed them. Faith had always been trying her best to get them all together, always mothering them even if she’d had to do it by letter when he’d been deployed. It slammed into him again. They were gone. Staring down into his sister’s slumbering face, he silently vowed that he would do everything in his power to make sure Allie would only know love and safety.
“I’d better get this one to bed.” Amos gathered Allie in his arms and looked at the other brothers. “Can one of you pull back her bedcovers for me?”
Levi frowned at the name that flashed on his silently vibrating phone on the table. “Sorry. I need to get that.”
Amos rolled his eyes. “Okay. Elijah, you’re up. Go get the bed ready.”
Levi waited until his brothers were out of the room before answering. “Hello. It’s been a while.”
#
Agitated energy flowed through Levi’s body as he strode back into the room, having left for privacy while he took his call. Old habits die hard. He’d known Amos and Elijah wouldn’t be gone long, so he wasn’t surprised to see them there.
“That was an old friend.”
“Oh,” Elijah said with a suggestive wink. “No wonder you left the room. I have a few old friends like that too.”
Levi ignored him. “I think I might have found an answer to at least one of our problems.” He took a deep breath, both brothers focused on him. “I’ve found a nanny for Allie.”
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