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I stared at her, not sure where it was all going.
“She informed me this morning that she contacted someone from the state to come out and see if this was a trail marker tree. If it is, we can’t cut it down.”
“Is it a law?” I asked, never having heard of such a thing.
“I don’t know. It could be just this woman attempting to throw some weight around, or it could be something real.”
My hand scrubbed along my jawline. “I think the easiest thing to do is move the playhouse to another location, so we don’t even have to worry about this.”
“Not worry about this! Some woman is trying to tell me which trees I can and cannot cut down on a ranch that has been in my family for generations. Who in the hell does she think she is?” Will practically shouted.
I glanced over to Jack, who raised his brows and gave me that look that said, See what I mean. We have a problem.
“Will, Evie, if I can give my advice to you both.”
The couple stopped arguing and turned to face me. Both wore looks that said they would start this up again the moment Jack and I left.
“You have plenty of options for where to put the playhouse. If we’re gong to move it, now is the time to do it. I say, let’s just take the tree out of the equation and move the playhouse.”
Evie nodded. “I agree. Where would you suggest, Truitt?”
I looked around, trying to find a spot where we wouldn’t really need to clear a lot of trees out. I hated cutting them down anyway and always tried to find the spots on folks’ property where we would have to cut down as few trees as possible.
“Well, since Saryn and Liliana are staying in the guest cottage for the foreseeable future, I suggest putting it between the two buildings. What about in that little clearing right there?”
“Oh, that was where Grandma cleared years ago for a garden. I don’t think we would have to cut any trees down if we put it there,” Evie stated.
“Well, what happens when Saryn moves out of the guest house? Then the playhouse is farther away from our house,” Will added.
“Will does have a point.” Evie sighed.
Jack cleared his throat. “You could put it more toward the side of your house, rather than the back. If we went to the right side of the house, I think you’d only need to clear out that one cedar tree and the one live oak.”
Everyone looked over to where Jack had suggested. The sound of a car pulling down the drive caused all eyes to swing over toward the guest house. Saryn pulled up and stopped. She got out of the car and paused as she realized everyone was looking at her.
She was clearly arriving home from her night out. She started toward us and I took a long drink of my now cold-as-ice coffee. Evie headed toward her and started to grumble.
“Oh, Lord. This ought to be good,” Will said.
Before Saryn could say anything, Evie spoke first and didn’t even attempt to keep her voice down.
“Really, Saryn? I was worried sick about you, out all night and coming home in the clothes you went out in.”
Jack and I both turned and started to make our way over to the newly proposed building site.
As we got farther away, I glanced back over my shoulder to see the two women arguing.
“Looks like Saryn didn’t waste any time moving on from the douche ex of hers,” Jack said with a chuckle.
I took another drink of my coffee and tried to ignore the strange ache in my chest. Saryn had most likely spent the night with Luke and that bothered the fuck out of me. Hell, who was I to judge? I’d gone back to Shay’s place last night. Still, the idea of her sleeping with Luke, him touching her, made a strange feeling rush through me.
“Guess not,” I finally said before coming to a stop.
“Wonder who the lucky bastard was?”
“It’s none of our business,” I stated, harsher than I had intended.
Jack simply nodded and put his hands in his pockets as we waited for the three of them to walk our way. I had to admit, I was surprised Saryn hadn’t turned and walked back to her place.
Evie cleared her throat. “I’ve filled Saryn in on what was happening and told her that we are going to relocate the playhouse.”
Will kept walking and made his way toward the house. I glanced his way and Evie spoke again.
“Liliana spent the night with us last night and is watching a movie with Rose. Our housekeeper.”
“Momma, I don’t think they need to know all of that,” Saryn snapped.
The two women exchanged a look I couldn’t read, nor did I want to. Saryn avoided looking directly at me and kept her eyes on her mother, the ground, or occasionally, Jack.
