Page 88 of Playing With Love

That was how this was going to end.

A phone ringing broke the spell.

I was surprised when I saw disappointment sweep over Liza’s face. While all that was coming at her, I figured she’d be relieved for a reprieve.

Progress.

“Sorry,” she mumbled. “That’s mine.”

I let her go so she could grab her phone from her purse to stop the ringing.

It wasn’t only our moment that was shattered, the two crying women had broken apart. Allyson’s friend turned her wide-eyed gaze to me, then it slid to Liza like she’d just realized we were in the room. And she probably did, the way she’d barged in to get to Allyson.

“Colleen, these are my friends from back home, Tucker and Liza Michaels,” Allyson introduced.

Liza frowned at her phone, silenced it, then lifted her gaze to Colleen.

“Nice to meet you, Colleen, and we’re really sorry for your loss.”

“Thanks,” Colleen muttered. It took less time than I thought it would, seeing as there was a heavy pall over the room, but Colleen picked up on it right away. “Back home in Georgia?”

We’d planned for this. After Colleen met Allyson in college, she’d frequently visited Georgia with Allyson and had met a lot of her friends. My gut tightened and only loosened when Allyson didn’t miss a beat.

“Yeah. Liza and Jessy were besties in high school. After she married Tucker, they moved to Atlanta. But her and Jess are still tight. I was the annoying little sister that always hung around.” Allyson paused and smiled. “And they were the two older sisters that liked to torture me.”

“Stop. We didn’t torture you…too much,” Liza deftly put in.

Allyson picked back up, “And you know Jess, always overprotective. She thought since Liza and Tucker were coming this way to look at some properties to buy, they could follow me back and make sure I made it.”

“Here in Rogersville?”

This, too, had been practiced, since the area was not thriving and wouldn’t necessarily be a desirable place to relocate.

Liza fielded the question before Allyson could.

“Actually, we were looking in Bristol but Ally loves this place so much we thought we’d take a look around. I’m tired of the city.” Liza paused and glanced at me. “We both are and thankfully we can work from anywhere. So we thought we’d look around, see if we could find something we like or a piece of property to build on. That way, we’d be close to Ally and get the peace and quiet we want.”

Liza’s phone rang again.

With a shake of her head, she glanced back down at it while mumbling, “Sorry, I should’ve turned off the ringer.”

Two calls.

If it was Dylan or someone from her team, she would’ve politely found a way to excuse herself and answer.

Two calls. Two frowns.

Hell fucking no.

Before Liza could decline the call, I gently took her phone and looked at the screen.

Father.

“It’s our realtor,” I lied. “Sorry. I need to take this.”

Liza gave me startled eyes.

I ignored the look and made my way to the front door, skirting around the women as I went with the screen facing down.