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“Christmas Eve is in two weeks,” I said more to myself than anyone else.
“It’s all going to be fine,” Ryan said this time. “I’m pretty sure my mother’s main objective with this playhouse was to get you and Saryn together. Mission accomplished.”
I smiled. “She had me fooled in the beginning, until your sister stormed into my office ready to fire me.”
Ryan and Jack both laughed.
“I’m just glad your mother had already signed the contract and put a deposit down,” I mused.
With a smirk, Ryan said, “The woman is smart, I’m telling you.”
I looked back over the pieces. “I just want Liliana to love this playhouse and for it to be a good Christmas for both of them back home in Boerne.”
Ryan placed his hand on my shoulder and squeezed it. “Liliana is going to be over the moon, but I’m pretty sure that’s not going to be her best gift.”
Facing, him, I lifted a brow. “What will be?”
He let out a soft chuckle. “You, Truitt.”
“Me?” I asked in a surprised voice.
“Dude, if you can’t see the way my niece and sister look at you, then you aren’t paying enough attention.”
A loud bang had the three of us turning and looking at the last playhouse piece.
“Shit!” Jack and I said at the same time as we made our way over to the piece.
“Well, that can’t be good,” Ryan mumbled from behind us.
“It’s okay! It’s just a piece of wood that was leaning against the wall. It dropped!” Jack said.
I let out a sigh of relief.
“Truitt, we need to take off if you don’t want to miss your opportunity,” Ryan quietly said when he walked up next to me.
“Right, let’s do this. Jack, you’re in charge.”
He rolled his eyes and then saluted me. “Just get out of here and take it easy, will you?”
“I have one more thing to take care of, and then I plan to take it easy the rest of the day.”
Ryan and I barely spoke two words as we drove to the Bevy Hotel to pay a visit to Tim. I finally broke the silence.
“Why is he staying at a hotel and not his folks’ place?” I asked.
With a shrug, Ryan replied, “Probably because he’s been keeping late hours, getting drunk out of his mind, and spending a lot of that newfound money he came into.”
I shook my head in disgust. “Asshole.”
“Always thought he was.”
“What in the hell did your sister see in him?”
When Ryan didn’t answer for a while, I looked at him and asked, “What’s wrong?”
He gripped the steering wheel. “It’s my fault she ended up with him.”
“What do you mean?”
“If I had just been open with you and told you I knew you liked her and that I was okay with you asking her out, she would have never ended up with him. It’s just, I wasn’t sure at the time if I really was okay with you asking her out. She’s my sister and I worried that she’d get hurt when you left for college, or that she’d follow you and not do her own thing. It turns out she ended up following an asshole who lied to her from day one.”
“The past is the past, Ryan. If she hadn’t married him, Liliana wouldn’t be here.”
He let out an exasperated sigh. “I know and I’m thankful for her. I am.”
We pulled up to the hotel and parked. “I hate this motherfucker; I’m going to be upfront with you. It’s not good enough that he cheated on my sister, gave up his daughter, and is trying to make Saryn’s life miserable, but now he won’t go the fuck away.”
“I’m not a fan of him either. What room is he in?”
“Third floor, Room 2020.”
I opened the door to the truck and got out. I left the cane behind, even though my knee had started to ache pretty good. But I wasn’t about to show any signs of weakness.
Ryan knocked on the door. When it opened and Tim saw us, he went to shut it again. Ryan’s boot kept him from doing that. I grabbed Tim by the shirt and pushed him back into his room.
“What in the hell are you two doing? Get out of my room,” Tim shouted.
I gave him a good push that caused him to stumble back and then sit on the end of his bed.
“You’re telling stories, Tim,” I said as I pulled the desk chair out, spun it around, and sat down.
He looked down at my knees.
“Aww, don’t worry about me, I’m healing up just fine. I’ve got a personal nurse looking after me.”
Tim looked over to Ryan, almost expecting him to go after me for my comment.
“Listen, I don’t know what you think you’re doing,” Tim said, “but you don’t scare me, Truitt. You never have.”
I raised a brow. “I didn’t realize you thought I was trying to scare you. I’m not trying to do anything. I’m simply here to tell you that if you don’t stop spreading rumors around about Saryn and Liliana, I will hurt you so bad that you won’t be able to walk or talk for weeks.”
