Page 69 of Love Unbound
“Have you tried reaching out to him?” her mother asked softly as they worked.
Jodi jolted out of her reverie, shaking her head. “I figured he didn’t want to hear from me.”
“What makes you think that?”
Jodi shrugged as she sprayed an all-purpose cleaner over the counters, then picked up a rag cloth and scrubbed. “He hasn’t called, either.”
“Maybe he thinks you’re still upset with him,” Serenity murmured from where she was cleaning the inside of the refrigerator. Jodi had told her mother about the fight, everything that he had said, everything that she had said. Admitted that she’d told him how she felt and that he hadn’t reciprocated. Her mother turned to look at her, setting down the cloth she was using. “Jodi, I don’t want you to miss out on something like this because of pride. I didn’t say anything when you started datingJosh, and I regret it every day. I knew you didn’t love him, but you seemed content. I can’t stand by and let you and Free throw this second chance away.”
Jodi fought the tears that stung her eyes. “This was just a fling, something to kill time while he was stuck in town. I think him not reaching out at all says enough. It’s the same as last time.”
But Serenity smiled over the small, cracked table that stood between them. “Jodi, sweetheart, Freeman looks at you the same way your father looks at me. Nobody looks at someone like that for ‘just a fling’.”
Jodi turned away, going back to scrubbing the countertops, so that her mother couldn’t see how badly she wanted to believe those words.
Chapter 51
Jodi groaned into her pillow, willing whoever was knocking on her door to go away. She raised her head enough to look over at the clock, wrinkling her nose at the time displayed there. Sunday mornings were her only day to sleep in, and whoever was at her door was interrupting that.
When the knocking didn’t stop, she swore in annoyance and climbed out of bed, pulling on a long-sleeved wrap over her pjs. Padding barefoot down the hallway, she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and opened the door. Her hair was a mess piled on top of her head, but she didn’t care as she glared daggers at the man standing on her porch.
“Morning,” Levi drawled as he leaned against the doorjamb. Jodi made a face. Her father chuckled, his eyes crinkling in the corners. “Got any coffee?”
“Don’t you have coffee at home? I was sleeping,” Jodi whined petulantly, crossing her arms over her middle, but she stepped aside grudgingly, letting her dad lumber inside.
He chuckled deeply and the sound soothed Jodi in a way nothing else did. Levi had always been the one man that she compared everyone else to, even Free. His gruff exterior masked the gentle giant that she knew he was. He had kissed her bruises, bandaged her scrapes, and hugged away any fears as she’d grown up. Her heartache was his heartache, she knew. She had watched him treat her mother with dignity and respect, had taught her and her sisters to demand nothing less— which she had completely ignored with her marriage to Josh. She loved herdad deeply and respected him just as much.
Jodi led the way to the kitchen, where her dad had settled himself into one of the wooden barstools at the small counter. Jodi started the coffee to percolate, having gotten it ready the night before so all she had to do was start it when she’d awoken. She crossed to the cabinet and pulled down two coffee cups, setting them down to wait for the coffee.
When it was ready, she poured a steaming cup and passed it to her father, black and hotter than hell, just the way he liked it. He murmured his thanks and took a scalding sip. Jodi rolled her eyes and poured a small amount of French vanilla creamer into the bottom of her cup before filling it the rest of the way with coffee.
Jodi leaned her hips against the counter across from where he sat. “What brings you over this early? I know it’s not just for coffee.”
Levi smirked around another sip of his coffee. “Can’t a father come visit his oldest daughter?”
“At seven-thirty in the morning?” Jodi griped, throwing him a sidelong glance.
He set down the mug and wrapped his large, work roughened fingers around it, making it look tiny in his hands. “I’m just worried about you, sweetheart.”
Jodi rolled her eyes heavenward. “I wish you all would stop.”
Levi harrumphed and eyed her shrewdly. He ignored her last statement, saying, “Why don’t you take a break from moping and come over for dinner tonight?”
“I’m not moping,” Jodi muttered sourly, crossing her arms over her stomach, the one still holding the steaming cup of coffee stopping halfway to her mouth.
“Mmhmm,” was all Levi said.
“We’ve been busy at the shop. And I’m tired,” Jodi snapped irritably, raising and lowering her shoulders in a half shrug. “Ihaven’t been sleeping well.”
“Obviously.”
Jodi’s jaw dropped. “Rude.”
But Levi just took a sip of his coffee, then held it out to her in a silent request for a refill. She rolled her eyes, setting her cup down on the counter with a thud before turning and picking up the carafe, bringing it over to him and refilling his nearly empty cup. She returned it to the hot plate and picked up her coffee again, once again leaning her hips against the counter. Her legs were bare from her lounge shorts, her feet crossed at the ankles.
When he had taken another drink, he set his cup down and said, “That new hire will be in today. Why don’t you come out and say hello?”
Jodi blew out an exasperated breath then, throwing one hip out in annoyance. “Did you seriously come out here at seven-thirty in the morning on a Sunday to play matchmaker?”
