“I hate eggplant parmesan,” Truitt replied, causing me to stop walking and stare down at all the ingredients in my cart for eggplant parmesan.
I had two choices: tell him tough cookies, that’s what I was making, or quickly come up with another menu. Then he laughed.
“Saryn, I’m kidding. My mother is Italian, if she ever heard me utter those words, she would slap me from here to the border. Don’t ever tell her I said that, it was a joke.”
The breath I had been holding quickly whooshed out. “Truitt Carter! That was not funny. That was just plain mean!”
I couldn’t hold back my smile, and I was positive he heard it in my voice.
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist. Hey, do you mind if I bring Rus along? He’s been stuck back at my place all day. It’s been a crazy day at work.”
“Please, bring him. Liliana will love playing with him.”
“You’re sure you don’t mind?”
“Positive. I love dogs, so does Liliana.”
“Goggy!” Liliana cried out with a huge smile.
Truitt laughed. “She sounds on board with this plan.”
“Oh, trust me, she is. When I told her you were coming over, her face lit up. You have two Night women thrilled to see you and Rus, Mr. Carter.”
“Well, a guy could certainly get used to that. Listen, I’ve got to run into a meeting, the guys drove here from Austin. I’ll see you soon?”
“Okay, see you soon.”
“Bye, sweetheart.”
My heart fluttered in my chest and I hardly got my words out. “Bye, Truitt.”
I hit End and looked at Liliana. I nearly swooned right there in the store. “Oh, Liliana, this man. This man is going to be dangerous, but oh so fun!”
She giggled, her little blue eyes dancing with excitement.
“I have a feeling it’s going to be the kind of dangerous your mommy could get used to.”
“Saryn! It’s so good to see you!”
I spun around to see Tim’s older cousin, LouAnne, standing there. Her eyes bounced from me to Liliana. “My goodness, I haven’t seen y’all in forever! Tim told me you moved back to town and I kept meaning to call on y’all to say hi.”
Forcing a smile, I replied, “Oh, no worries at all. We’ve been busy getting settled back in.”
She looked me up and down. “So I’ve heard.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
With a half shrug, she said, “Nothin’. It don’t mean nothin’. I’m sure you heard the family news.”
“No, I’m afraid I don’t know anything about Tim’s family. They’ve pretty much decided to not have anything to do with Liliana.”
That wiped the smile off her freaking face. Why hadn’t I remembered LouAnne being such a…bitch? She glanced down to Liliana and sent her a wave before she focused back on me.
“Granddaddy died and we all inherited a little money, Tim, of course, got the brunt of it all, him being the only boy in the family on his momma’s side.”
The fact that she showed no grief over losing her grandfather made me question why I ever married into this family.
“I’m so sorry for your loss.”
She sighed. “Yes, of course, it was hard losin’ him. But he made sure we were all taken care of. You know he was in the oil business.”
I wanted to roll my eyes hard. “Yes, I knew that. If you’ll excuse me, LouAnne, I’ve got to get going. It was nice seeing you again.”
“Oh, you, too. Maybe you’ll even run into Tim while he’s in town.”
That made me freeze. Tim was in town? How long had he been in Boerne? Evenn though he had signed over his rights to Liliana, how could he not even want to see his daughter? Of course, I knew the answer to that, and I shouldn’t have been surprised.
“I doubt it, I’ll see you around.”
“Twuitt!” Liliana said as she looked past LouAnne. My heart stopped, but it was another guy in a cowboy hat, and when he turned around, Liliana nearly sighed. Apparently my daughter had it just as bad as I did…
LouAnne looked back at me and raised a brow. “Did she say Truitt? As in Truitt Carter?”
“I’m late, LouAnne. It was nice seeing you.”
With that, I dashed down an aisle and moved away from the woman as quickly as I could. Everything about that family was toxic.
“Come on, baby girl, let’s get some stuff to make cookies tonight with Truitt.”
Liliana smiled wide, and I knew exactly how she was feeling as the excitement of seeing Truitt kicked up another level.
The doorbell rang at four thirty, an hour earlier than Truitt was supposed to arrive. Thank goodness I had gotten ready while Liliana took a nap. I made my way to the door and opened it, a wide smile on my face, only to have it instantly fall.
“Tim. What are you doing here?”
He smiled, then looked past me. “Is that anyway to greet your husband?”