Page 76 of A Future To Remember

“I will, Wanda. I know he’ll appreciate it. Have a good day off.”

She left and I locked the door.

Levi came out about two minutes later, and I’d already set out his lunch on the opposite side of the booth from me. He lit up when he opened the lid of the to-go container. “A whole double cheeseburger? How’d you pull that off?”

I took a bite of my club sandwich, chewed for a minute, and answered him. “Wanda is starting to realize you’re the real star on staff.”

His eyes widened. “She made me this?”

“She had Gus make it, but I doubt he knew it was for you. She did, however, make you that chocolate milkshake.” I pointed to the Styrofoam cup next to him.

He took a pull from the straw. “Man, that’s good. I haven’t had whole one of those other than what gets left in a blender in at least a year.”

“Wish I’d known. I would’ve made you one sooner. Oh, and she told me to send you,” I paused to form air quotes, “‘home’ with a slice of lasagna and some cereal for your breakfast tomorrow.”

He crunched on a fry and eyed me curiously. “What’s gotten into her?”

“It’s hard to think poorly of an individual when they continually show you how solid a human being they are.”

He blushed and stared down at his food. “Thanks, Maddy.”

“You’re welcome. Now eat up.”

Levi tucked into his lunch with earnest, and I couldn’t help noticing that there was a little brightness to him that hadn’t been there the day before. His shoulders were a little squarer, and his was head bobbing slightly to music only he could hear.

It was a welcome sight.

He must’ve caught me staring at him because he blushed and then pointed to the neat pile of cash and coin on the table. “Good haul?”

“Sixty-seven dollars and eighty-four cents,” I said with a proud smile. I then took the last bite of my sandwich and shoved myself out of the booth. “I’m going to head up to the loft for a quick shower and change. You and I can then head to the church store for a couple of things I’ve had my eye on before they close at three.”

Levi glanced at the clock. It was already almost two thirty. “Copy that,” he said.

I dashed up the stairs, showered, changed, and was back downstairs within ten minutes.

Levi was waiting for me near the back door, looking content and almost sleepy.

“You full?”

He patted his belly. “It feels so good.”

I laughed and tugged him out the door. We jogged the two blocks over to the church, where the parking lot was all but empty. This was good because I didn’t want a lot of witnesses around and the town to start gossiping about things they knew nothing about.

We walked into the church’s store, and I made a beeline over to the “sporting goods” section, which was no more than a cluttered corner hosting a variety of all but discarded fishing poles, half-inflated basketballs, a ThighMaster, a mini trampoline, and the thing I’d actually come for, a perhaps once-much-loved bench set with accompanying barbell and full set of weights, even including three sets of dumbbells.

The night before, when Levi had been talking about how he used to be big enough to take on the likes of Dalton Bishop, I’d remembered the weight set, and the price sticker on the entire thing was set at twenty-five dollars, and I couldn’t think of a better way to spend some of the money I’d earned that morning.

I turned to Levi, dramatically extending my arm and said, “Ta-da!”

To my surprise, however, as he stared at the weight set with wide eyes, the color drained from his face.

“What’s the matter?” I asked, knowing something was terribly wrong.

He tore his gaze from the bench press and stared at me. “It’s mine,” he whispered.

I grinned, thinking he was merely shocked at my generosity. “Yes. I know. I’m getting it for you.”

He shook his head. “No, Maddy. This is my set. I got it for Christmas from my parents four years ago. They must’ve…”