LITMIR.BIZ

      CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

      LEVI PULLED ON HIS suit jacket, the one usually saved for weddings or funerals. The whole town had been invited to old Mr. and Mrs. Holland’s anniversary party, the police chief included. He hadn’t seen Faith much since the night he’d kissed her. Last weekend had been Columbus Day, and what with Sarah home and all the tourists, the biplane show out on the lake, the wine tasting on the green, the wooden boat parade, he hadn’t had a free minute. Not that he knew what he’d do with it, to be honest.

      On Monday night, he’d driven Sarah back to school, stopping at Target to get her some stuff to make her dorm room more homey, pillows and girly stuff like that. Then he’d taken Sarah and her roommate out to dinner. Seemed like they were getting along just fine, those two girls.

      As he’d said goodbye to his sister, he’d tried to find something to say about their mom, something similar to what Faith had said, but nothing sounded right, so he’d just given her fifty bucks and told her to study hard. Drove back to Manningsport and tried to chop away at the mountain of paperwork on his desk at the station, even if it was ten o’clock at night.

      Thought about Faith.

      Yeah, she was...delicious. He was a guy, he was straight, she was luscious and lived across the hall from him. Also, she smelled good. And though he’d once viewed her as an irritating puppy of a person, she was...more.

      That didn’t mean he wanted to date her. He wasn’t sure he wanted to date anyone right now. His divorce wasn’t even two years old.

      He should really stop thinking about her.

      Levi drove up the Hill and turned into Blue Heron’s driveway, where a line of cars was heading up the long dirt road that bordered one of the fields. There was a tasteful new sign with the gold and blue vineyard logo on it: The Barn at Blue Heron, 0.4 miles. As ever, it amazed him how much land the Hollands owned.

      At the top of the ridge, a field served as a parking lot. Rock walls divided it up, the walls looking as if they’d been there forever, though Levi was pretty sure they were new.

      “Levi, hey!” Jeremy approached from the field. Living next door, he must’ve walked over.

      “Hey, Jer. How’s it going?”

      “Very well, my friend. How are you?”

      Levi had heard from Emmaline that Faith and Jeremy had been at O’Rourke’s the other night, laughing it up. The news had caused a ping of jealousy to echo through him. Which was stupid, of course. The two of them had a history. Everyone knew that.

      Didn’t stop that pinging, though.

      People were streaming toward a path flanked by two maple trees, which were lit from the bottom by small spotlights, casting the yellow leaves in a warm, golden light. The path was wide, a stone wall running along one side, little copper lamps lighting the way. A wood thrush called, and farther away, an owl hooted. Somewhere in the distance was the sound of rushing water.

      Suddenly, Levi recognized where they were. He’d been here before. Twelve years ago, he and Faith had eaten lunch about a hundred yards from here, over by the waterfall.

      “Have you ever been out here?” Jeremy asked like a fricking psychic or something. “There’s a nice place to swim.”

      Ah. So Jeremy had been here, too. Well, sure. He was the one who dated Faith. “I don’t know. Maybe,” he said. Then they rounded a slight curve in the path, and both men stopped.

      “Wow,” Jeremy breathed.

      The structure in front of them was both modern and old—the old stone barn, topped with a clear-paneled roof, glowing from the soft lights inside. All around, trees had been lit from below—white birch and silver maple, beech and hickory. There were flower beds, but it wasn’t fussy or precise; it was kind of...magical. Like something out of a fairy tale.

      “Levi, Jeremy! So glad you could come!” John Holland greeted them at the big barn door, which was lit with copper lanterns. Two women flanked him; one in what appeared to be a brown paper bag; the other in, ouch, best not to look. Right. Lorena Creech, who’d been sniffing around Faith’s father in recent weeks. “Come on in, see what our Faith has done. Phyllis! How are you! The walk wasn’t too bad, was it?”

      “This is unbelievable,” Jeremy said as they went through the barn doors.

      Inside was quite possibly even prettier. Lamps made from Blue Heron wine bottles had been fastened to the stone with iron brackets. More wine bottles, the necks cut off, sat on the tables, filled with what looked like wildflowers. People milled about, pointing and exclaiming.

      The far wall of the barn was missing, and a two-level deck cantilevered out over the hill. There were more tables out there, and people admired the view, which stretched out past the lighted trees, over the fields and all the way to the lake.

      “Levi! I clocked a speeder going past my house at sixty-two miles an hour,” barked Mrs. Nebbins, who owned her own radar gun and phoned him about three times a week. “When are you going to set up a speed trap on my road?”

      “I was out there yesterday,” Levi said.

      “Well, you need to give more tickets. Or maybe put out some spikes. That’d slow people down, let me tell you.”

      “Phyllis, you just get more beautiful, if that’s possible,” Jeremy murmured, kissing her cheek.

      “Oh, Jeremy, you liar!” she said. “Have you seen Faith? Is it hard? Is she still in love with you? She probably is, poor thing. Listen, my knee is out of whack, and those exercises you gave me didn’t work, so I stopped doing them.”

      “Really? How long did you do them?”

      “Two days.”

      “That’s just insulting,” he said. “Come on, complain away, I’ve got all night. But I want to see that deck.” He escorted the crotchety old lady away, grinning over his shoulder at Levi. Too bad the guy was gay. He was so good with women.

      Levi got a glass of seltzer water and wandered around. The barn smelled of freshly cut wood, grass and food. Lorelei from the bakery was putting some flowers on top of a chocolate cake; she waved and smiled. Colleen manned the bar, which was made from stone and topped with a huge slab of wood. Suzette Minor, she of the mysterious noises and slutty nightgowns, gave him the eye from over the rim of her wineglass. Where was Gerard? Last he heard, they were seeing each other. Levi nodded, turned and bumped into Faith.

      “Hey,” he said, grabbing her arms to steady her. Her skin was cool and smooth.

      She blushed, the color rising from the neckline of her red (have

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