“Uh huh. Okay.”
“I mean it, Levi. You should be working. You put so much into that tour. It sucks that you’re missing the end just because of me.” I debate whether or not I should ask him if Daltrey expressly told him to stay here with me. We don’t bring Dalt’s name up very often. I think Levi can tell how much it hurts me to think about him. Levi told me when Dalt got out of jail—part of his daily media round-up—and mentioned that he had spoken to him. That was the extent of our Daltrey-related conversation. I was too afraid to ask if Daltrey was angry at me for taking off the way I had.
“It’s the thing you always wanted to do,” I say softly, looking out at the water again. “Working on a tour like this.”
“Things change, Daisy.”
I look over to see him staring at me, an unreadable expression in his eyes. “Like what? You don’t like working in the music industry anymore?”
He waves a hand dismissively. “No, of course not. I just… I’m pissed, okay? I’m pissed at him for what he did.”
I widen my eyes in surprise. “You’re mad? At Daltrey?”
“Of course I am! He totally screwed you over, Daisy, in case you haven’t noticed.”
I gape at him. “What? No he didn’t. He messed up, but he was just trying to help—”
“He was trying to help himself. He was mad, and he thought beating up Justin would make him feel better. That’s all that was about. He wasn’t thinking about you at all.”
“Levi—”
“No, it pisses me off. He didn’t consider how you would feel that day he disappeared. And he sure as hell didn’t consider what it would do to you if the media got a hold of your story.” He gestures angrily at his phone. “He just assumed I would take care of it. Good old Levi does whatever one of those guys asks.”
The venom in his voice is horrible. Does he really resent being here that much?
He catches sight of my face and quickly shakes his head. “No, Daisy. I didn’t mean it like that.”
“You could have said no,” I say, struggling not to cry, “when he told you to take me out of there.”
“No, Daisy.” He reaches across the table and takes my hand. “He didn’t tell me to do anything with you. I mean, I figured he’d be glad I was looking out for you, but he didn’t like, instruct me or anything. I left with you because I wanted to.”
Something about the way he’s looking at me makes me feel strange, but then his normal, no-worries expression returns.
“It just makes me mad that he does stuff like this. Like all the times he asked me to check on you because he was too busy with the band. I was happy to do it. Hell, I would have done it even if he hadn’t asked. But why didn’t he ever take the time to do it himself? And all his bitching about missing you last year. Why didn’t he man up and just go find you?”
“Levi…” I don’t like this conversation or having these things about Daltrey thrown in my face. Tears tickle the corners of my eyes.
Levi stares out at the waves. “The day you told me what happened, the last thing I wanted to do was walk away from you. I would have never gotten on a plane, no matter how much I might have wanted to beat the crap out of that slime ball myself.”
This is sounding a little overwhelming. Levi and I have been friends for a long time, but I’m not completely sure this is friend-level intensity.
“If you were my… well, I wouldn’t have left you if I was him.” He looks over at me and seems to realize what he’s saying. His face falls a little. “I just think it’s shitty that he left.”
“Levi…” My stomach is churning. “Are we… are we okay?”
His smile returns, but it seems muted. “Of course we are. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be ragging on him. I just…” He takes a deep breath and looks right into my eyes. “You deserve better.”
I have no idea how to respond to that or how to feel about the look in his eyes right now. Before I can figure it out, I hear the crunching of gravel. A car is pulling up into the driveway.
My first thought is that some reporter has found us. I freeze in my seat. This place is supposed to be safe, the perfect hiding spot. They can’t take it away.
Levi is up on his feet before I can even react. He pulls open the screen door and rushes into the cabin. A moment later, I hear voices from the front of the house.
“Daisy?”
That’s not a reporter.
“Dad?”
He comes striding out the back door, Levi following. He spots me sitting on the deck, and his face seems to crumple, a combination of relief and anger washing over it. “There you are.”