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God. She was beautiful. Her long dark hair was pulled up into a ponytail, and I let my eyes move down her body in one quick sweep, taking in the jeans and off-white sweater she had on. Brown cowboy boots finished it all off.
What in the hell was she doing here? Pete didn’t normally invite people he worked with. Maybe some of the other doctors, only for the formal dinners. But something casual like this was reserved for friends only.
“I just got the call from Mark. Sorry, Pete, I need to take off.”
“I’ll go,” Jack said.
“No!” I shouted, causing everyone to give me their full attention once again. “I mean, stay, you’re already here. Have a drink. I’ve got it.”
Turning, I headed for the door and quickly made my way out. I was almost to the safety of my truck and my new plan to get in, drive home, and crack open a six-pack, when I heard her call my name.
“Truitt? Truitt, wait!”
I paused before opening my truck door.
“Saryn, good to see you.”
My voice sounded cold and distant. She frowned slightly, then gave me a soft smile.
“How are you? I mean, how is your foot and ankle, and all of that.”
With a quick glance down toward my feet, I looked back at her. “I’m good. Thanks for asking.”
She nodded, then wrung her hands together. “I got your email about the playhouse nearly being finished. Liliana will love getting it for Christmas.”
“It turned out great, I think y’all will be happy with it. Listen, I’ve got to run.”
Saryn stepped closer to me. “You’re not leaving on my account, are you?”
“Why are you even here?” I asked, hating the way it sounded so harsh and realizing I hadn’t answered her question.
Her brows lifted and she opened her mouth, then closed it. It looked like she was attempting to get her emotions in check. I had acted like a dick and I needed to stop.
“I was…um…invited by Wendy. We were friends in high school and she asked if I would come.”
With a quick look back at the house, I saw the guy she had been talking to in the doorway.
“Saryn? Is everything okay?” the dickhead called out.
The way her whole body tensed was hard to ignore. I looked from her to the guy. I’d never seen him before, so I had no clue who he was.
“Your date is waiting for you.”
Without waiting for her to reply, I climbed into the truck. Before I shut it, I looked back at her, hoping like hell she’d tell me that wasn’t her date. Instead, she stood there and watched me go. This was starting to become all too familiar.
“I’ll be in touch in the next few days to let you know when we expect to deliver the playhouse,” I said.
“Okay, sounds good.”
After I shut the truck door, I let out a rush of air, started my truck, and drove off. I only looked in the mirror once. Long enough to see Saryn walking back over to her date who wore a wide smile on his face.
Focusing back on the road, I decided home wasn’t my destination after all.
Saryn
WHY IN THE world had my heart dropped when I watched Truitt walk out of Pete’s house? Maybe it was because when he saw me, he looked so taken aback. Or the fact that I hadn’t seen him in a number of weeks and realized how much I had missed him when I looked over and saw him standing there.
My mind raced as I tried to think back to anything I might have said or done to have angered him. It was in the ER when Pete had removed the nail my brother had shot into Truitt’s foot. He hadn’t wanted me there, that had been clear. Then, I hadn’t heard anything from him other than a couple of emails updating us on the progress of the playhouse. Even then he had copied my mother on them. It took everything out of me not to text and ask if we needed another shopping day, or ask him if he needed help decorating the playhouse. It had become clear to me over the last few weeks…I longed for something more with Truitt.
“You okay?” Abram asked.
With a forced smile, I made my way back into the house. When Truitt had assumed Abram was my date, I was conflicted if I should have corrected him or not. In the end, I stood there not saying a word, which seemed to be the wrong thing to do.
Truitt had looked upset. Not angry, but almost defeated. Maybe he had been tired. Jack said Truitt had been working non-stop to get the playhouse finished in time for Christmas. Jack had also mentioned Truitt never made promises to clients on delivery dates. He’d mentioned that this project had seemed to be more special to Truitt than his past projects. That little bit of information Jack had dropped only thirty minutes ago had been processing in my brain when I forced myself to laugh at one of Abram’s stupid jokes.
