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He shrugged. “Ryan never said anything, I figured you stayed away because she was his sister.”
It was true, that had been the main reason I kept myself away from Saryn back in high school.
“It doesn’t matter, she wasn’t interested in me then.”
This time he looked at me like I was an idiot. “Dude, you didn’t move fast enough in high school. If you hadn’t been afraid of Ryan, that might have been you married to Saryn.”
Now my head was spinning. I laughed. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
Jack pulled in a deep breath and then slowly let it out as he stepped closer to me, suddenly caring if anyone else heard his insane comments. “Why have you never dated anyone seriously, Truitt? I mean, seriously, like you thought maybe she was the one?”
I gave him a half shrug. “Probably because I haven’t met the one yet.”
That was a flat-out lie. I had already pictured what it would be like to marry Saryn. She and Liliana were the missing piece in my life, and deep down I knew that.
He lifted one single brow. “Oh, I think you have met the one. When you were too young to know it was her. It took her leaving and marrying some dick and then coming back for you to see. Face it, Truitt, you’ve never let yourself get close to any other woman.”
“That’s because all the women in this town are after my money, something you should know about, as well.”
His head dropped back as he let out a round of laughter. “Ah, hell, I know it. Trust me.” Jack rubbed the back of his neck and leaned onto a table that had been set up for cutting. “Truitt, I’m talking to you as your friend, your longtime friend who happens to be your business partner, as well. I see the way y’all look at each other. I’m pretty damn sure she feels the same way about you.”
I looked away for a moment before glancing back his way and saying, “She told me she had a crush on me in high school.”
He shook his head. “Fucking Tim.”
I nodded in agreement. “Yeah. Fucking Tim.”
“Truitt! You’ve got a call! It’s Ms. Townsend.”
The voice calling out to me belonged to Jack’s younger sister, the shop manager. She pretty much handled everything coming and going from the shop.
“That can’t be good. Let me go see what she needs,” I said as I slapped Jack on the back. Before I walked away, I faced him again. “I don’t want to mess this up with her. She wants to go slow and I’ll go as slow as she wants, but I’m scared to death I’m going to screw this up like I do everything.”
He smiled and then opened his arms and motioned around the shop. “Dude, you don’t screw up everything. Look at this. Look at what you built.”
“We built,” I added.
Jack shook his head. “No, dude, you built this. This was your dream and you saw it through. Go see what the true boss wants.”
With another chuckle, I headed out to the small office area where Renee worked. She handed me my cell phone.
“Hey, Ms. Townsend, what’s going on?”
“I’ve been trying to reach you all morning, Truitt.”
I had forgotten to charge my phone last night. Then I plugged it in this morning and forgot about it again.
“I’m sorry, my phone has been in Renee’s office charging. What’s wrong?”
“The trucking company is saying they can’t make the deadline to deliver the Nights’ playhouse.”
It felt like a rock dropped straight into my stomach. “What do you mean? They’re obligated to show up. We have a contract. I’ve paid them already.”
“They know that, but there’s been an accident. One of the rigs slid off the road in some winter weather up north and it’s beyond repair.”
“Is the driver okay?” I instantly asked.
“Yes. He was on his way back to Texas, was due to switch out with another driver in Oklahoma.”
I let out a frustrated sigh.
“They do have another company they can refer us to. They’re new, but Ricky says they’re good and he wouldn’t refer you over to them if he didn’t have the utmost confidence they could get the house moved safely.”
“Lynn…” I softly said.
“I know, Truitt. I know this one means something special to you. I’ve told Ricky and he gave me his word. I don’t think he would ever lead you wrong.”
An instant headache throbbed in my temples while I pressed my fingertips to the bridge of my nose.
“What’s the company?” I asked, trying not to sound as frustrated as I was. This playhouse was one of the biggest we’d built, and now my normal trucking company wasn’t going to be delivering it.
“Stein Brother Haulers. They’re out of Austin.”
“How many moves have they had?”
Lynn remained silent for a moment too long.
“Please tell me we’re not their first.”
