Charitable Hearts (11 page)

“Just the drugstore down the street.” Gary answered.

The doctor tapped his phone, got up, and began walking to the stairs. Maggie followed him. “I’m gonna walk him out, okay?” Gary nodded and sat in the chair near the couch.

They reached the top of the stairs while he finished calling the drug store, and Maggie showed him the way to the door. “Are you sure he shouldn’t go to the hospital now? I know he said no, but if he needs to go I’ll talk to him.”

“I would be happier if he went, but it’s borderline and I’d be erring on the side of caution more than anything. If you keep pushing fluids in him, and get him started on the Tamiflu immediately, he should start to feel better. If anything changes, don’t call the office, just go straight to the emergency room.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you for coming.”

Maggie shut the door behind him and leaned her back against it.

“You have to drink something,”
Maggie argued.

“I don’t want anything.”

“Okay, so hospital.”

“Stop threatening me with that every time. I’ll stop believing it’s a real threat.”

Maggie sat on the couch with Levi’s head in her lap, looking up at her. She leaned in closer to him and narrowed her eyes. “Never stop believing it’s a real threat. Never.”

He flashed a half smile and held her gaze. “Message received.”

“Good. Now drink something.”

He picked up the Gatorade bottle with the straw and took a sip. “See? Drinking. Kinda sick of Gatorade though.” It had been two days since the doctor had been to the house, and Levi was feeling better except that his fever kept spiking when they’d forget the ibuprofen the pharmacist had suggested in combination with the Tamiflu.

“Well, stop spiking a fever and you can have something else.” His hair clung to his forehead and Maggie pushed it back with her fingers. “Your hair is making funny shapes.” She smiled.

“I need a haircut.”

Maggie frowned. “What?”

“I need a haircut. It’s way too long.”

“No, it’s not.”

Levi smiled and looked at her funny.

“I like your hair. I don’t want you to cut it.”

He held up two fingers. “Just a little.”

“Half-inch maybe a little bit more. That’s it.”

“I didn’t think you’d care.”

Maggie tucked her own hair behind her ear. “You know I care.”

“Just about my hair.” He sounded petulant.

“You know that’s not true.”

“Prove it.”

“That’s childish.”

“I’m sick. I’m allowed to be childish.”

Maggie rolled her eyes. “Fine. How do I prove it?”

“When I get better. You have to go on a real date with me. I pick you up, we go to a super nice restaurant, and we paint the town red.”

She looked at him and wrinkled her nose. “Red is not my color.”

“Fine. Pick a color and we’ll use that, but it’s a real date, with us, dressed up, and we just spend time together. No charity talk. No talk about the past. We live in the here and now and enjoy ourselves.”

Maggie bit her lip.
How do I say no without hurting him?
“All right, I’ll go on a date with you.”

“Because you care about me.”

“Because I care about you and I don’t want you to cut your hair either.”

“Deal.”

“So you two are dating?” Sonja said and Maggie jerked her gaze to the direction of the stairs.

“Yes,” Levi said and smiled at Maggie.

“No,” Maggie said and make a face at him. “It’s just dinner, Sonja.” She looked up.

“Sounds like more than dinner.”

“He’s fine by the way. He had the flu, but he’s better now.” Gary said from behind her.

Sonja wrinkled her nose. “I didn’t want the flu and I don’t take care of people. They take care of me.”

“Yeah, we figured. So, where have you been? Please tell me you’ve found somewhere else to live.” Gary walked around her, grabbed a drink out of the fridge and sat down in his chair.

“I have.” She smiled at Maggie.

“That’s great,” Maggie said. “Have you gotten a callback or something?” It was as genuine as Maggie could muster.

Sonja’s lip curled slightly. “Right, because you really care.”

“Sonja, I’m sorry I got off on the wrong foot with you. I really wish you success. I know it can be hard getting back on your feet after bad things happen. I’m really sorry I was rude to you that night. There was no excuse for it.”

“Whatever.” Sonja rolled her eyes. “You know, I’ve met your kind before. You sound so sincere and yet you can’t wait for me to turn my back and stick a knife in it.”

If Levi didn’t have his head in her lap, Maggie would have jumped up to meet Sonja eye to eye. “You don’t know me. You have no idea what I’ve been through and I can promise you I don’t wish bad things on anyone.”

“As long as they don’t deserve those bad things. Which we all know I do, right?”

“I don’t know you, Sonja. I know what the press says, but it’s not like they are reliable. They’re trying to sell stories. You are not just a story. You are a person and no one needs to be treated the way you have been treated.”

Sonja looked between Levi and Maggie. “You think he really cares about you? This is LA. We are actors. We are paid to pretend. We get what we want from people and then we throw them away. Levi no more cares for you than he cared for Rachel or me.”

Levi came off the couch so quickly it surprised Sonja and Maggie. His face was a mixture of anger and pure hatred. He pointed to the stairs. “Get out. Get out now. You have no idea what you are talking about. The only reason you know about Rachel is because of Phil. I wish I’d never introduced you to him. You lied to me when you asked to meet him. I don’t care where you go, but you are not welcome here any longer.”

“That’s fine Levi. I moved my stuff out a week ago, but you were so busy playing with your new toy you didn’t even notice.” Sonja twirled and walked out of the basement.

Gary acted like nothing had happened. Levi fell back on the couch and put his arm over his eyes. Maggie felt like she’d just been in a high school drama production. “Did that really just happen?”

“Yep,” Gary said and took a sip of his drink.

“Am I the only one a little freaked out?” She looked down at Levi.

“She’s a drama queen.”

“She had feelings for you. You told me you were pretending to date. Are you sure you were both pretending?”

Levi moved his arm and looked at Maggie. “The only person Sonja has feelings for, is Sonja.”

“Maybe you underestimated her, Levi.”

“No, you’re giving her too much credit. Trust me.”

Maggie eyed him. “You’re feeling better.”

“No, I’m not.”

Maggie rolled her eyes. “You may not be over the flu completely, but you are well enough you don’t need me here.”

Levi pouted. “But I don’t want you to go.”

“I need to go home. Gary only brought me enough clothes for two days.”

“I’ve got a washing machine and a dryer. You can use them.”

Maggie tilted her head and shook her head. “Levi. Really. I need to go home. I’ll call you in a few days to see how you’re doing.” She looked at Gary, who was pretending not to listen. “Gary, if he gives you any trouble, call me. I’ll straighten him out.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She looked down at Levi again. “And you, listen to Gary. Don’t give him a hard time. Just because you feel better doesn’t mean you are better. Your body needs to rest. Don’t make me come back here and kick your butt.”

He laughed and took her hand. “Thank you for staying and thank you for not making me go to the hospital.”

Maggie couldn’t help herself, and ruffled his hair. “You’re welcome. Behave or else. Now, let me up.”

He smiled and looked down. His lashes cast shadows on his cheeks. Maggie’s pulse quickened.
He’s sick, you idiot. Stop that.
He shifted until he was sitting up so Maggie could stand. They sat shoulder to shoulder, looking at each other. She squeezed his hand, got up, and walked up the stairs.

On the ride home, all she could think about was the last few days. Taking care of Levi had reminded her of things from a life left far behind. During the times he was awake, they talked about his childhood in Wisconsin, about Amelia, and how he met Gary. Most of the time she let him do the talking. It seemed to make him feel better. When he’d ask questions about her she’d answer ambiguously and then turn it back to him.

It would never work.
She struggled to force down the feelings she had for him.
He did ask you on a date and you said yes.
“Shut up, Maggie.” She leaned farther down on the bike and pulled back on the throttle. It was never a good thing to be lost in thought on a bike in LA.

Toweling his hair dry,
Levi walked out of his bedroom, down the stairs, and into the kitchen with another towel around his waist. Gary sat at the bar with a plate of leftovers in front of him.

“Couldn’t make up your mind?” Levi asked, looking at his plate filled with Chinese noodles, half a chicken fried steak, and some sad looking nachos.

“It was going to go bad and you know how much I hate that.”

“Is it good?”

Gary shrugged. “Eh, it’s food. Want some?”

Levi made a face. “No. I’m good.”

“Still not feeling great?”

“I feel fine, and I’d like to keep it that way.” He laughed.

Gary stabbed the steak with a fork and cut a piece off. “You finally get a hold of Maggie?”

“Yeah, finally.”

“Hey, she’s a smart girl. She knew it would take longer than a week for you to recover and she knew you’d fake being well.”

“I know. I just wanted to see her.”

“You got it bad for her.”

Levi grinned. “I do. I have it horrible for her. I haven’t seen her for nearly two weeks and I feel like it’s been an eternity.”

“So, did she say she’d go out with you Friday?”

“She did.”

“Where are you taking her?”

“Le Canard Doux.”

“That sounds nice.”

“It’s the French man. They make everything sound nice. It means The Sweet Duck.”

Gary set his fork down and chuckled. “What?”

“I’m serious. I wanted to know what it meant and I Googled it. It means The Sweet Duck.”

“Maybe they serve sweet duck.”

“Or their guests are served by sweet little ducks.” Levi pulled out a drink from the fridge.

“Listen, I know you have this special date with Maggie planned, and I think that’s great.”

“Yeah…and?”

Gary set his elbows on the bar, linked his fingers and placed his chin on them. “We know something happened to her and I think it is great you like her.”

“Okay. Where is this going?”

“I just think you need to be sure Maggie is who you want because I think if you hurt her, not only will you lose a good friend, but I will too. Plus, other than Laura, we’re the only friends she has in this world.”

“Gary, I have no plans to hurt her.”

“I know you may have no plans to hurt her. I’m just throwing this out there so you can think about it.”

“I love her, Gary.”

Gary sat back on the stool. “Whoa. That’s a big one, man.”

“I’ve thought about this a lot. I love her. She is cool and funny and kind and beautiful and she never once treated you like a second thought.”

“You never cared before how your girlfriends treated me.”

“I did too. Remember Lizzie Cramer? I told her to hit the streets.”

“So one time in seventh grade?”

“Okay how about Mary Capeckney? She liked you.”

“Now we’re back to fifth grade? How about try sometime in the last ten years?”

“Okay, so I was derelict in my Gary duties.”

“I like Maggie, Levi. She’s my friend, too. If you hurt her, there will be sides, and custody arrangements, and you know how I feel when parents fight over their children.”

Levi braced his hands on the bar and laughed. “Gary, I will do everything in my power not to hurt her. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this way about anyone. I know I didn’t love Rachel.”

“Everyone knew you didn’t. She was a distraction from Amelia and your parents.”

“I can’t believe I married her. What was I thinking?”

“You weren’t.”

“Did you know Maggie was adopted?”

“Yeah, when I wasn’t out cold, we talked.”

“About what?”

“Mostly it was me, talking about me.”

“Your favorite subject.”

Levi rolled his eyes. “Shut up,” he said, walking around the bar and sitting next to Gary. “No, when I’d ask a question she’d figure out a way to direct it back to me. Like she was avoiding something.”

“Have you asked Laura?”

“I want Maggie to tell me. When I told her about Rachel and Amelia, I thought she’d open up too, but she didn’t.”

“It was just a thought. I’m still surprised you said you loved her.”

“Me too, but I do.”

“Frozen in carbonite, love?”

Levi shook his head and stood. “No, rodents of unusual size.”

“Holy crap.”

“Yeah, man,” Levi grabbed his shoulder. “This one is serious. Oh, that reminds me. When Maggie was taking care of me, she mentioned introducing you to her assistant, Ellis.”

Gary’s eyebrows shot up. “What? You’re just now telling me this?”

“Cut me some slack. I was sick.”

“Okay, okay. So, did she show you a picture or something?”

“Yeah, and she’s totally cute. Like blonde hair, brown eyes, button nose. It’s like Maggie cut her out of a mold for you.”

“I have to see this girl.”

“I’ll make sure to tell Maggie on Friday that you might be interested.”

“Might?”

“Definitely.”

“I’ve got some plans to make for Friday. You want to come with?”

“Nah, I promised Frizzy I’d help him kill a troll.”

“The pit troll?”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t go without your satchel. Trust me.”

“Okay, man. Smell you later.”

“Smell you later.” Levi smiled and headed up the stairs. When he came back down the stairs, the kitchen was empty and he could hear Gary yelling all the way from the basement. He smiled, looked at the door to the basement, and shook his head. Maybe Gary needed a girl worse than Levi thought.

“Yeah, that guy needs a girl,” he said to himself and laughed.