tapped the steering wheel in time to the beat as the road meandered through patches of ranch land, the occasional spurt of forest, backdropped by the mountains that provided Whispering Pines and other puny little northern New Mexico towns like it, both spring runoff and something resembling a viable economy. Differences were subtle—a new fence here, a fresh coat of paint on a house there. He should’ve found the continuity comforting. Instead, the sameness bugged him. Same way everybody expected him to somehow fit right back in, as if he were the same goofy twenty-two-year-old who’d joined up six years ago. Not that he knew for sure yet who he was, but for sure that clueless kid wasn’t it.
The village was still half asleep, the tourist traps and art galleries and chichi restaurants on Main Street not yet ready to welcome the resort patrons curious enough to come down the mountain to investigate “real” New Mexico. Almost silently, the truck navigated the gentle roller coaster that was the town’s main drag, past the sheriff’s office and the elementary/middle school, the 7-Eleven and the Chevron station, the corner anchored by one bank and three churches. Rosa Munoz was out in front of the Catholic church, clipping lilacs, same as she’d been doing for as long as Levi could remember. Wearing the same sweater, too, from what Levi could tell.
Long before he reached the house, he spotted Val standing on the porch in a hoodie and jeans, clutching a mug in her hands. Like maybe she was waiting for him, although common sense told him that was dumb. He backed into the driveway, the top layer of cement eroded worse than the street in front of it. The dog—a good-size hound, he now saw—bounded up when he opened the door, baying loud enough to cause an avalanche. Still seated behind the wheel, Levi glanced down at the dog, then over to Val.
“You mind calling him off?”
“Don’t worry—he doesn’t bite. Hasn’t yet, anyway.”
Shaking his head, Levi got out, pushed past the still barking dog and headed up the driveway...straight into Val’s frown. Which he ignored. By now the damn dog was jumping around, occasionally shoving his cold nose into Levi’s hand. “Uh...if you got him as a guard dog, you might want to see about getting your money back.”
“I didn’t get him at all. Tommy brought him home one day from some rescue place near the base. Scrawniest puppy I’d ever seen.” Levi looked up. The frown was still there, but her eyes didn’t seem quite as icy as before. “I didn’t have the heart to say no. To him or the dog.”
Levi looked back at the beast. Who’d planted his butt on the rough ground and was waving one paw at him, like he wanted to shake. Levi obliged. “What’s his name?”
“Radar.”
“Because Early Warning System would’ve been too obvious.”
Val’s mouth might’ve twitched. “Not to mention too hard for a toddler to say.” Then she clamped her mouth shut, as if regretting her humorous slip.
“Where are the girls?”
“With their grandmother. Connie and Pete live closer to the school, and she takes care of the baby while I’m at the diner—”
“The diner?”
“Annie’s Café. Part-time.”
“You’re waitressing?”
“I’m doing whatever it takes to keep sane. And we need to get a few things straight.”
Levi propped one booted foot on the bottom step as a tremor shot up his spine. “Which would be?”
Val’s cheeks went pink. He guessed not from the chill in the air. “This is strictly a business arrangement. Why you’re here is...immaterial. As you duly noted yesterday, the house needs a lot of work. Work I can’t do.”
Levi decided to put the why-he-was-here comment on hold for a moment. “Because you weigh less than the dog?”
She smirked. “Because I don’t know bubkes about fixing up houses. And I gather you do.”
“Enough. Although if you’ve got serious electrical or plumbing issues, you’ll need to call in a pro. I can change out fixtures and sh—stuff, but anything more than that—”
“Got it. But I’m hiring you. Meaning I expect to be given a bill for your work—”
“Not gonna happen.”
“Then you’re right. It isn’t.”
“You don’t mean that.”
A moment’s hesitation preceded, “Yeah. I do. And, yes, I know what I just said—”
Levi held up one hand, cutting off the conversation before it got even stupider than it already was. He remembered Tommy’s mentioning Val’s stubbornness from time to time. His friend found it amusing, probably because he was crazy in love with the girl. Right now, Levi was more inclined toward annoyance. Pushing back his denim jacket to cram his hands into his front pockets, he frowned.
“You really hate me that much?”
Judging from her wide eyes, he’d shocked her. Good. Took a moment before she apparently found her voice. “What I do or don’t feel about you has nothing to do with it. But when there aren’t clear-cut expectations, things can get...weird.”
“Agreed. Except since I doubt either of us would let it, not an issue. Besides...”
Damn. He could almost hear Tomas whispering in his ear, Dude—you gotta be up front with her.
“Okay...when you asked ‘why’ yesterday, the reason I didn’t answer wasn’t because I didn’t have an answer. It was because... I couldn’t find the words. Any that sounded right, at least...”
“You’re here because Tommy asked you to keep an eye on me and the girls.”
Levi started. “He told you?”
“No. Josie did. Yesterday, after you left.”
“Hell.”
“Yeah. Still haven’t wrapped my head around the fact that he said something to our kid but not me. So I already know why you’re here—”
“Because I made a promise, yeah. And I know you don’t like me, or trust me, or whatever, so this is every bit as awkward and uncomfortable for me as it is you. Except the longer I think about it, the more I realize none of that matters. Because what matters is making sure my best friend’s kids aren’t living someplace that’s gonna fall down around their ears. That here’s something I can do to maybe make things better for somebody, to honor the one person who saw through my BS when we were kids, more than even my parents, my brothers. This is about...”
He felt his throat work. “About my debt to my best friend. One I fully intend to make good on. So it might make things a little easier if you’d get on board with that. Now. You want to pay for materials, I won’t object. But my labor... It’s my gift, okay? Because this is about what Tommy wanted. Not you, not me—Tommy. So deal.”
That got a few more moments of the staring thing before Val released a short, humorless laugh. “Wow. Guess you found your words.”
“Yeah, well, don’t get used to it, I just used up at least three months’ worth. So are we good?”
Another pause. “Except what are you supposed to live on?”
“Never mind about that. But here.” He dug the rumpled Lowe’s receipt out of his pocket, handed it over. What he kept to himself, though—for the moment, anyway—was that he knew how much the family had set aside for repairs, because he’d asked Pete Lopez the night before. Not nearly enough, if his hunch was correct about the extent of the work needed. Especially if she ended up having to call in pros. “Also,” he said as she looked it over, “you don’t need to stick around. I brought my own lunch. And the woods over there will work fine when nature calls.” Her eyes shot to his; he shrugged. “I’m used to making do.”
Shaking her head,