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“I don’t want to clip your wings. But I want you to come back to me, and well, it feels like you’re not.”
She nodded instead of disagreeing with him. “I’ll do better.”
“I want you to do what you want,” he said. “But you just need to tell me if what you want still includes me.”
“It does,” she said firmly. “Absolutely, Ty, it does.”
He nodded too, and he squeezed the steering wheel to try to release the last of his nerves and adrenaline. The dark beach would be welcome about now, with the dull roar of the waves to lull him back into a place where he wasn’t terrified and worried all knotted into one horrible emotion.
They didn’t talk the rest of the way back, and Sage held his hand from the parking lot to where Grant and Bea had set up their party. They had lanterns to light their area, and with a group as large as they were, Ty could hear them as he and Sage approached still in the shadows.
“Sage,” Bea said, jumping to her feet, and that was that. All the conversations stopped, and Sage got whisked away by her friends. Ty returned to the chair he’d been sitting in before he left, and he took the bottle of beer from Harry.
“She seems okay,” he commented.
“She forgot,” Ty said, trying—and failing—to keep the bitterness out of his voice. “Left her phone in the car and just…ate dinner on the deck.”
“Sounds like a simple mistake,” Harry said.
Ty caught the surprise in his voice. “Doesn’t erase the fact that she left us all high and dry.”
“She leftyouhigh and dry,” Scott said, and yeah, that was the real rub.
“I’m not…sure about us,” he said, because he didn’t need to get into the intricate details of his love life.
“Maybe you just need to be more patient,” Blake said. “Lauren needed some time to come around.”
“Cass’s kids didn’t like me at all,” Harry said, lifting his bottle to his lips.
“Joy wouldn’t even go out with me,” Scott said with a chuckle. “What did Sage say when you got there?”
“She said I’m still part of her plan.” Ty stared straight ahead, because he didn’t want to give away too much with his expression. He was good friends with Grant, Harry, Blake, Scott, and Oliver, but he’d always held some part of himself apart from them. That was partly because of his work schedule and partly because he didn’t make friends easily.
Then, they wanted to know everything about him, and he had to tell them things about his life. Meaningful things, like how scared he’d been driving across town to Sage’s house, wondering what he’d find there.
He took another long drink of his beer and then set it aside. He still had a lot of driving to do tonight, and he couldn’t be irresponsible.
“I’m glad she’s okay,” Grant said as he returned from the group of women. He sighed as he sank to the ground.
Ty was too, and he didn’t want to talk about Sage tonight. Thankfully, his friends seemed to pick up on that fact, and none of them asked him any more questions about her.
* * *
“All right,”Ty said as he brought his SUV to a stop. “I think this is going to be the place, Katherine.” He gave her a bright smile and got out of the car to go get her door. No, he didn’t normally drive his clients to their home showings, but Katherine Tallison wasn’t an ordinary client.
“I like this staircase,” she said as she turned her legs to keep her knees together. She stood from the car and looked at the house, really drinking it in. It wasn’t just a house, either, but a mansion.
Ty had been searching for the perfect property for her for months now, and he’d shown her several places. She’d like something different about each of them, and trying to piece together the perfect house for her was like trying to rebuild Frankenstein.
“Wait until you see the backyard,” he told her. Apparently, an outdoor entertainment space was an absolute must, though Katherine hadn’t put that on her Perfect Property Survey.
He kept his hand on her lower back as they walked up the sidewalk, and he pointed out the trees, bushes, and shrubs on the meticulously cared for property. The shutters matched the garage door color, and that reminded him of something Sage had said about his house.
He hadn’t spoken to her since dropping her off last night, and they’d barely spoken then. He’d walked her to the door and hugged her.Huggedher. No kiss.
She’d been crying at the party, and he’d left her a little sniffly at her house too. She knew he had a full day of showings for Katherine, and they had no plans to get together. Of course, Ty hadn’t had to make specific plans with her for several weeks now. They spoke every day, and he did end up seeing her most days, despite their busy schedules.
At least until she’d moved into her new house. He’d seen her less, but not an alarming amount. But with last night’s forgetful episode, and Ty could see all the nights she’d stayed home, alone, when they could’ve been together.
