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I stood there, unable to say anything.
“Why in the world is he stirring up trouble?” I finally asked.
Ryan lifted a brow. “Do you really need me to answer that?”
“Because she’s moved on without his ass?”
He nodded.
I glanced back at the house and saw Saryn making her way toward us. “Are you busy tomorrow morning?”
Ryan shook his head. “Nope. We’re not running any dude ranch stuff this month, and I can step away for a few hours in the morning.”
“Good. Come by tomorrow morning and pick me up, will you? I need to check on Liliana’s playhouse setup, and I think it’s time you and I paid a visit to Tim.”
A wide smile erupted across Ryan’s face. “I agree.”
“What do you agree on?” Saryn asked as she bent down and gave Rus some kisses and a gentle hug.
“That Truitt shouldn’t be driving with his knee.”
Saryn looked up at me. “No, you shouldn’t be at all, not until you go back next week for your follow-up.”
“I’m going to stop by tomorrow and pick him up so he can check on a few things at work.”
One very upset Saryn placed her hands on her hips and glared at me. “You had surgery yesterday on your knee, Truitt. You’ve been so overworked and exhausted that you slept nearly the whole day away.”
“And I feel so much better because of you. I promise I won’t be gone long. I only have two things I need to take care of.”
She sighed and then looked at her brother. “You’ll come get him and make sure he doesn’t do too much?”
Ryan crossed his heart with his finger. “I promise. I’ll be his wingman.”
Our eyes met, and a knowing smile passed over each of our faces.
“Come on, Rus, let’s get you inside and settled,” Saryn said. “You, too, Truitt.”
“Tomorrow morning, around what time?” I asked.
“I’ve got to ride the north fence line with Dad, but that won’t take us long, so I’ll come around eight?”
“Sounds good,” I said, reaching my hand out once more for Ryan’s. “Thanks for having my back.”
He nodded. “You know what I want in return,” he said as he motioned toward the house.
“I know. You have my word. I have no intentions of hurting either one of them.”
Truitt
AFTER RYAN LEFT, I made my way back into the house using the stupid cane. I hated to admit it, but it helped. I could hear Saryn in the kitchen, so I made my way there. She was heating up her mother’s roast.
“Where’s Rus?” I asked as I sat down on the barstool.
“He’s in my bedroom. I put his dog bed in there with a soft blanket on it. He laid right down and drifted off to sleep. Poor baby. I wish I could put the ice therapy machine on him.”
“You seriously thought about it, didn’t you?”
She chuckled. “Yes. If I had two, I would. Want some roast?”
“Roast sounds amazing. Need any help?”
“Nope, you just sit there and stay off your knee for a bit.”
I did as she said and watched as she moved about the kitchen. Ryan’s words replayed in my head. I wasn’t sure if I should bring up Tim or not. Saryn looked so happy, and the last thing I wanted to do was ruin the mood by bringing that dickhead into the conversation.
An hour later, I was sitting back on the sofa flipping through the TV while Saryn cleaned up the kitchen. She wouldn’t let me help at all. She nearly dragged me back into the living room to sit.
With a smile, I thought about how easy it was to talk to Saryn. During dinner we’d talked about everything from the process I go through to build a playhouse, to our favorite movies and where we saw our lives in ten years.
I felt the electricity in the air change the moment she walked into the room.
“Anything good on?” she asked as she sat on the sofa, tucked her feet under her, and snuggled up next to me.
God, I could really get used to this.
I didn’t want to say it felt like we were playing house, but I imagined that life would be pretty much like this if things worked out between us. I already knew I wanted to settle down and start a family.
“I was just flipping through, not really paying attention.”
“Oh! The History Channel, can we leave it on this?”
With a smile, I set the remote down and then kissed her on the forehead. “It’s your house, sweetheart, we can watch anything you want.”
She snuggled in closer, then pulled back some, as if the idea of simply relaxing was foreign to her. “Do you need a pain pill? Maybe we should put the ice back on your knee, you’ve had it off for a bit.”
The dull ache in my knee had been steadily growing, and the thought of ice numbing it sounded pretty damn good.
