No maybe. I for sure liked her, but she wasn’t interested in me that way.
“Truitt, like I said a minute ago, I know you. I see the way you look at my sister, and I’ve never seen you smile at anyone like you smile at her.”
I shook my head. “You’ve got it wrong, Ryan.”
“Do I? Really? Because she’s been moping around just like you are ever since the two of you went on that little shopping trip. You don’t think I notice you come around when you know she’s not there? Or that she nearly punched me in the gut when she found out I’d accidentally hurt you?
I lifted a brow.
“Dude, you tried to grab the gun from my hand!”
“You had your finger on the trigger!”
Ryan rolled his eyes, then shook his head. “Listen, I don’t know what’s going on in my sister’s head. She claims she isn’t interested in dating anyone, and believe me when I say I was less than pleased when she hooked up with that cop after she came back to town. Maybe that’s what she thought she wanted, or maybe she needed it to move on from Tim. I don’t know. But I see the way she lights up when someone mentions your name. All I’m saying is, if you’re worried about me, dude, I’m not going to be a problem. I wouldn’t stand in your way. You know my folks wouldn’t either. Hell, this has been my mother’s plan all along, you know that, right?”
I looked out into the dark night and chuckled. “Honestly, Ryan, I’m not really sure about much of anything right now, least of all my feelings.”
He didn’t say anything for a few minutes before he spoke again. “I don’t know if my sister ever really loved Tim. As a matter of fact, she told me she was going to leave him before they even got married. She wasn’t happy with him. Then he asked her to marry him. She gave it a try, and when things weren’t working, she told him she wanted a divorce. Then she found out she was pregnant, so she stayed. I think she hoped Liliana would bring them closer, when all it really did was push them further apart. He hurt her, I do know that, and she seems so happy to be out of the marriage. She claims she doesn’t want to date, but the way she reacted at the hospital when you got hurt? I know my sister, and she has feelings for you. Maybe she’s a bit confused like you are? I don’t know. I don’t want to see her hurt, and I sure as hell don’t want to see her push someone away simply because she thinks all guys suck.”
My gaze met his. I nodded, not really sure what to say. He clapped me on the back and laughed. “Women, they totally fuck with our heads, don’t they?”
“Yeah,” I said with a slight laugh. “They sure do.”
Ryan stood and went to walk back into the cabin before he turned and spoke again.
“If there’s anything I learned from my relationship with Miranda, it’s that communication has to be there. Maybe Saryn isn’t ready for a relationship. If not, you need to decide if being her friend is going to be enough for you, Truitt. If it’s not, you need to tell her how you feel. Don’t let her slip away like she did in high school. Especially since my niece has already fallen head over heels for you.”
I pulled in a deep breath. “I would never want to hurt either one of them.”
He nodded. “I know, dude. I know.”
Truitt
ANOTHER MONTH PASSED by, and I had hardly seen Saryn at all. Since most of the work on the playhouse was done at my workshop, I didn’t really need to be onsite that much. We’d worked double time to get the playhouse finished before the cold weather really kicked in. It was the beginning of December, and even for Texas it was colder than normal. Evie had begged me to get it finished by Christmas, and a part of me truly did want Liliana to have it by then. The only problem was that Christmas was three weeks away. There wouldn’t be any rest for any of us. We had a huge playhouse project for a client in Austin that had just come in a few days ago, one we were trying to finish up, as well as Liliana’s.
“What do you think?” Jack asked, a look of pure happiness etched on his face.
“I think we performed a fucking miracle, but it’s not finished yet.”
He nodded and I swore. He puffed out his chest some.
“We’re right on schedule, so maybe now you can stop riding everyone’s ass. I had to talk two people into not quitting because of the iron hand you’ve been giving lately,” he said.