“A local company that builds custom playgrounds. Honey, you should see what they can do!” my mother gushed.
With a nod, I pressed for more. “Who’s the owner? If they’re local, I’m sure I know them.”
The woman never flinched; she even smiled brighter. “Of course you know him! He’s a friend of your brother. Y’all went to school together. Well, he was a year older, like Ryan.”
“You hired Truitt Carter to build Liliana’s playhouse?”
She widened her smile. It was a full-on grin, ear to ear.
My father cleared his throat and glanced over to my mother.
Momma nodded and then had the nerve to go on about like nothing in the world was wrong with this picture. “Yes. He’s very well-known and has won many awards. Not to mention, he does so many wonderful things for the community.”
“That is true,” Daddy added. “He built the community playground free of charge.”
My eyes bounced back and forth between the two of them. “Did you also know that he’s in the ER all the time because he’s accident prone! I don’t want that type of man building my daughter’s playhouse!” Not to mention that having Truitt build something damn near in my backyard, showing off those muscles, would make me go insane. I might lose my mind and jump him.
“You snob!” my mother said, folding her arms over her chest. “You’re going to judge the man’s work because he’s had a few…incidents? His work is top notch! I made sure.”
I already knew Truitt’s reputation at his job. It was exactly like my mother said. He was good. Very good. He’d even made a few playhouses for famous people. But there was more to this. I knew what my mother was up to. This wasn’t simply about the playhouse. She was butting her nose in already. “Fine, so he does good work. But why him? Why not just find some contractor to build a simple playhouse?”
My father chuckled. “Saryn, this is your mother we’re talking about and our only grandchild. You can’t blame her for wanting to give Liliana something amazing.”
I sighed. “I understand that. But look at this thing! It probably costs more than my car!”
Momma waved her hand at me, brushing off my comment. “It’s our money and this is what we want to do. Let us spoil her this one time! I promise to rein it in with all the other gifts we give her in the future.”
I looked down at the playhouse. I had to admit, my heart jumped at the sight at it. When I was Liliana’s age, I would have died to have a playhouse like this. It looked like a medieval castle with three turrets and bridges connecting them all to the main keep. Off one of the towers was a swing set. It looked adorable. And expensive. The drawbridge led to another small area that was set up like a little patio.
Before I had the chance to tell my mother I could be on board only if we scaled it back a bit, she spoke.
“Now, Truitt is a delight to work with. I knew you would want to meet with him to discuss the finer details. I didn’t want to be the deciding factor on the interior. No one knows your daughter better than you, sweetheart. So, I arranged for the two of you to meet for dinner tonight.”
And there it was, my mother meddling in my love life, or lack thereof. “Excuse me?”
My father rubbed the back of his neck. “Oh, hell. We were almost in the clear.”
“What? Would you rather I have the entire say?” Momma asked, acting as if she was truly giving me a say in any of this.
I forced myself to take in a slow, deep breath. After I exhaled and pushed the anger back down, I looked directly at my mother.
“You made dinner plans without consulting me?”
She smiled, and I had to keep my hands fisted at my side.
“You need a night out, sweetheart.”
Daddy shook his head and stepped closer to my mother. “Evie, wrong thing to say,” he said with a roll of his eyes.
“Now it’s a night out? Momma, I don’t need a night out, especially with Truitt Carter! I thought it was business. If it is business, I can speak with him over the phone, or he can come here.”
“Or, you could go to his office on Main Street,” my brother Ryan said as he walked in and made his way to my mother. After he kissed her on the cheek, he took the drawing out of my hands and whistled. “Wow, fancy AF.”
“A F?” my mother asked with a confused look.
Ryan whispered, “As fuck.”
Liliana was too busy playing with her toy dogs to be paying any attention to the adult conversation going on around her.
I pointed to my brother. “See, if Ryan thinks it’s too much…”