“Mommy, flowers! For me!” She jumped up and down and held them up for me to smell.
I smiled and reached for her hand. “Let’s go put them in water, and then we can leave.”
Truitt stepped inside and shut the door, following me and Liliana into the kitchen.
Before I had a chance to say anything, his phone rang.
“Excuse me,” Truitt said. “This is Truitt. Hey, Shay.”
I paused when I heard the name. I had asked Natalie and Lucy for the name of the woman Truitt had danced with nearly all night at the dance hall. Natalie had told me her name was Shay. I hadn’t wanted to ask if she was a girlfriend since it might have looked weird to ask about Truitt while I had been shamelessly flirting with Luke.
“I would if I could, but I’m actually on my way to San Antonio,” he said. “Want me to call Paul, or Roger?”
With a quick look his way, I tried not to listen to his conversation, but it was hard not to when he was standing right there. I placed the little flowers in a Mason jar then turned and put them on our small table. Liliana climbed up on a chair and smelled them. The gesture truly had been a sweet one, and not anything her own father would have ever thought of.
“Are you sure? I might be able to swing by and help,” Truitt said into the phone.
That caught my attention. I felt like a silly fool, thinking Truitt had given Liliana the flowers as a means to get to me. He clearly was seeing this Shay.
“Call me later if you need anything, I should be back in a few hours.”
He looked at me and mouthed he was sorry. I waved it off.
“Listen, I’ve got to go. Okay, talk soon.”
Truitt ended the call and looked between me and Liliana. “Who’s ready to do some shopping?”
Liliana jumped and shouted, “Me! Me, pwease!”
Truitt chuckled and motioned for us to lead the way.
As we walked out to his truck, I grabbed Liliana’s car seat and Truitt took it from me. For a moment I was agitated, then quickly pushed it aside. I had no business feeling this way. Truitt didn’t owe me anything.
“Do you know how to put one of those in?” I asked.
Truitt laughed. “Yes. Lee has a daughter. She’s had to go a few times with us to pick up supplies or to run in on shopping trips. I’ve gotten really good at putting her car seat in my truck. She’s about a year older than Liliana. I need to have Lee introduce her to Liliana.”
“That would be nice. I’m planning on starting her in preschool next year.”
“Well, if she’s anything like Netty, she’ll love it.”
Truitt stepped back and put his hand out for me to inspect the seat. I did, and it passed with flying colors.
“Let’s hit the road,” Truitt said after we were all buckled up in the truck.
Liliana talked Truitt’s ear off for the first twenty minutes. Then silence filled the truck and I looked back to see she had talked herself right into a nap.
“Wow, I guess that wore her out.”
Truitt laughed. “Thank goodness you were here to help with half of what she said. I don’t have my little person language down pat yet.”
I giggled and looked over at him. He was rolling his window down. He spit out his gum and then cursed.
“Son of a…crap!”
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“The damn wind blew my gum back into the truck. Shit, it hit me in the eye, and I think it’s in my hair now! Not again.”
I covered my mouth with my hand. “Do you, um…need to pull over?”
“Dang, freaking, crap.”
It was obvious Truitt wasn’t used to keeping his words in check. He pulled over and put the truck into park. He pulled the visor down and looked in the small mirror.
“How in the heck did that come back and hit me right in the eye?”
I chewed on my lip to keep from laughing. When I was able to keep myself in check, I said, “Let me take a look at your eye.”
He turned and I lost it laughing.
“What? What’s so funny?”
“The gum, it’s in your hair. How did you get it in your hair?”
“How did it hit me in the eye is the better question!”
With a quick glance back, I saw Liliana was still sound asleep. I unbuckled and leaned over to try and get it out of his hair. “Don’t move or we might be cutting it out.”
“I refuse to cut it again.”
I looked at him and and asked, “Again? This has happened before?”
He nodded, and I covered my mouth to keep from waking up Liliana.
“What does my eye look like?” he asked.
I glanced down and was struck by how beautiful his eyes were. They were blue, but more of a deep dark blue. So dark they left me stunned for a moment.