Page 45 of All I Feel

“I am, too.”

She sighed. “You’re my brother. And you know that Ilove you. But she’s my best friend. And she’s just been through something awful. You know it because you’ve been there for her. I want to know if this is you being a good guy, or if there’s something else here.”

I inhaled deeply. The moment Lark made it clear she was here to discuss Tessa, I knew this was where the conversation was heading. Knowing my sister as well as I did, there wasn’t a hope in the world of me brushing her off. “I don’t know what you’re looking for me to say.”

“I want you to tell me what your intentions are with her.” Lark grabbed a banana off the counter and opened the peel, her expectant eyes on me.

Even I could hear the disappointment in my voice when I said, “I’m embarrassed it’s taken me until now to realize she’s been here all along.”

“What exactly do you mean by that?”

“I don’t know if I can explain it in a way that’ll make sense, but I’ll try.” I pushed the plate toward my sister, offering her the eggs there. “That night we were all out for Harper’s birthday, something happened. I watched Tessa while she was on the phone, and I saw when her entire world was rocked. When I walked outside and held her while she cried, everything changed for me. Seeing her so upset, I just wanted to fix everything. And in all the time I’ve spent with her since that night, I’m realizing that she’s been the girl for me all these years.”

Lark appeared to be fighting against a smile. “So, you’re interested in her?”

I nodded. “Yes. I’m very interested in her.”

“You haven’t told her this, have you?”

“No. Do you think I’m crazy?”

Soft laughter spilled out of her. “I don’t know. I guess that depends on why you think it’d be crazy to tell her this.”

For several long moments, I stared at her. I didn’t doubt my sister knew it’d be insane to tell a woman who’d just suffered such betrayal what I was feeling. This was about far more than that, and Lark was going to pull it out of me, no matter how hard I tried to skirt around the issue.

“What I feel for Tessa is more than just interest,” I admitted.

She grinned. “I’m not hearing anything that upsets me just yet. Why don’t you want to tell her?”

“Because she needs time to heal. I thought that much would be obvious.”

Lark reached for another strawberry. “It is. But is that all?”

I shook my head. “No. I want her to have that time to heal, but I also want to have it to make certain I don’t become the rebound guy. What I feel for her is tremendous, Lark. I screwed this up by not realizing it sooner. I’m not going to screw it up a second time.”

After popping the last bite of the banana into her mouth, Lark stood. “I have to get to work.”

“What?”

“Is there a problem?”

My jaw fell open, my disbelief evident. “Um, don’t you have anything to say about what I just shared?”

She giggled. “It would thrill me for the two people who mean to me what you and Tessa do to wind up together. I had a sneaking suspicion, based on what Tessa had shared about what you’ve been doing, that you were serious about her. I wanted to be sure, because I don’t want either of you to get hurt. You don’t need me to say anything to you, Ace,because you’re already going about this the right way. Not that you need it, but you have my blessing. And my support.”

That was nice to hear. “Do you have any advice?”

A slow smile spread across her face. “Be the man she needs.”

Evidently, Lark trusted me to figure out who that man was. Or perhaps, she already believed I was that man. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Now, I need to get to work.”

I walked her to the door and said goodbye.

Twenty-five minutes later, I found myself at work. When I walked through the front door and into the office, I wasn’t shocked to see Phoenix standing there, talking with Faye.

“Morning.” I barely made eye contact as I beelined for the door that led out into the shop.