Page 66 of Code of Heart

When they finally parted for air, he rested his forehead to hers.

“Day two and I have to say that I’mreallystarting to enjoy how wise you are, dear wife,” Levi murmured. He trailed featherlight kisses along her neck, and Aurelia laughed.

“Alright, Casanova, let's finish putting the groceries away before they begin to rot and have some lunch. Meanwhile, I want you to tell me everything about dyslexia.”

She stood, despite his half-hearted protest, and tugged him up with her.

Together, they walked back to the kitchen, not only as husband and wife, but slowly, steadily, something stronger.

CHAPTER 33

Levi

The rest of the afternoon passed in a haze of sun and serenity.

They lounged on the back porch, tucked into matching coral Adirondack chairs, basking in the kind of quiet that only came with real comfort and presence. Levi couldn’t remember the last time he had been able to justbe. Not multitasking. Not thinking ten steps ahead.

He drank one of his favorite beers they had picked up earlier, while Aurelia enjoyed a tall glass of iced tea. When he asked her what she liked to drink, she surprised him.

“I never really saw a need nor acquired a taste for it,” she had said. “I engage socially here and there with champagne or something mild like that, but it's simply not something that I use to unwind or have fun. So, I'll always be your designated driver,” she added with a wink.

He hadn’t verbalized it then, but Levi admired that kind of decision to resist the pressures or distractions that others so easily succumbed to.

With the breeze coming in from the lagoon and the warmth of the sun casting long shadows across the porch, Levi opened up about himself in a way he had not expected to do so early in their relationship.

“There are different types, and it varies from person to person. It’s how the brain identifies speech, sounds, and how letters and words represent them. I have visual dyslexia, which feels like my brain isn't getting the entire picture of what my eyes are seeing. Text blurs or feels like it goes in and out of focus; kind of like it doubles. Following a line of text or keeping my place within it is hard.”

Aurelia didn’t interrupt, didn’t try to fix or soften it. Shelistened, her attention wholly on him, and Levi felt it, like a tether grounding him.

Looking back, he didn’t understand why he had been so afraid to tell her. Hindsight reallywastwenty-twenty.

“That's why the menu change at dinner was so stressful. Then all the different items and labels of the extremely specific ingredients you needed…it would have taken hours, and I’d end up with an epic migraine.”

He took a sip of his beer, engrossed in the calming ripple of the water.

“Growing up was rough. I couldn't remember what I saw on a page, no matter how long I stared at it. Learning to spell and write was a nightmare. I fell asleep in class so many times because it was so fatiguing. My teachers thought I was lying about the constant headaches and dry eyes.” He gripped his beer tightly. “That I waslazy. I excelled in everything else academically except reading and writing.”

Aurelia carefully asked, “What about your parents?”

He gave a humorless laugh. “My drunk and useless father didn't give two shits about his 'stupid son' while my mother was too involved in herself to bother. The only person who cared was my grandfather—my dad’s dad—but that lasted only so long, too. He passed away when I was thirteen. My mother soon followed a year later at the hands of my father…”

Aurelia gasped, almost knocking over her glass of iced tea, visibly stricken.

“…and thankfully, my father drank himself to death when I was nineteen. I’ve known Owen since we were kids. He took the role of kicking anyone’s ass who made fun of me in school very seriously.”

When Levi looked over at her, she was blinking hard, trying not to cry. The sight of it unraveled another piece of him.

“When you see him tomorrow, and only after you make himgrovelfor his transgressions, ask him how many times he was in detention or suspended for fighting because of me,” he added with a faint grin.

“Will that make him upset?”

“Quite the opposite; he’ll proudly share his war stories like a badge of honor. He’s been threatening for years to get a tattoo tallying the numbers on his ass.”

Aurelia snorted and shook her head gently. “I’m glad you had someone in your corner like that. But I’m sorry you had to experience any of this.” She lit up with recognition. “Is that what the tattoo on your back is about?”

My wife is gorgeous and more intelligent than I am, he thought proudly.

“It sure is…meant to show how strong it has made me, although I obviously don’t always feel that way. A phoenix seemed too cliché, and it was better than the options Isaac and Owen were pushing on me.” He took a purposely long sip of his beer.