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“Big foyer,” he said once he got the front door open. “Look at the height in the ceilings.” Also something she’d commented on but left off her survey. “And this house has plenty of natural light…”
He walked Katherine through every room in the home, where most of the time, he let his clients look at the house without him. Then they could be honest with whoever they’d brought with them, and they found him back in the kitchen to ask any questions.
Forty-five minutes later, he led her back toward his car. Once they’d both gotten in, he said, “Well? Tell me what you’re thinking.” He’d really like to find something for Katherine, because she was one of his neediest clients, and he stood to make a lot of money if he could find her the right house.
She turned toward him, and her eyes shone. “I really like that house, Ty. The chandelier over the dining room table isexquisite.”
He smiled though a certain measure of exhaustion pulled through him. A chandelier. She’d never mentioned one of those before. He made mental notes as he drove her back to her place and dropped her off.
Back in the office, he jotted down what she’d said so he didn’t have to remember, and then he leaned back in his chair. A sigh bled from his mouth. He looked up to the ceiling, wondering what to do next.
A Saturday at the beginning of June usually found Ty working, and while he’d done a showing and made some notes, he didn’t have to stay in his office. All the times he had in the past had been by choice.
So what did he want to do with his weekend afternoon? Sage worked Saturdays, and Ty reached up and ran his hands through his hair. He could use a trim, and he pulled out his phone and texted Sage.
As he watched the message pop up on his phone, he re-read it. Apparently, he couldn’t even stay mad at her for twenty-four hours, and he wasn’t sure if that made him pathetic or if he was falling in love with her.
Probably both.
24
Sage finished up her client and headed into the break room to get off her feet. She pulled her phone out of her pocket before she sat, because her shorts today were just a bit too tight. Probably from all of Bessie’s bread she’d been eating in the past year.
She didn’t care one whit about her weight, a fact only enunciated by the fact that she pulled out a bag of Doritos and was about to call it lunch. She saw her missed messages and notifications from the video app.
A sigh moved through her, because she was tired of always feeling behind. Always feeling left out. All of her friends worked too, but they seemed to be able to text at any time, day or night, and Sage simply couldn’t keep up.
She found one message from Ty, and she tapped on that one first, her eyebrows going up with every word she read.
Hey, I’m wondering if I can get you to cut my hair tonight. Just me and you. My place. I’ll order in, and we’ll talk.
Going to his house for dinner and to cut his hair sounded nice. Relaxing, even. If she could bring Gypsy, she wouldn’t even have a curfew. She closed her eyes, thinking about sleeping in Ty’s embrace. That actually sounded really nice, and she let the feelings of peace and contentment move through her.
Then the door to the break room opened, and the sound of hair dryers, women talking, and the bell on the entrance to the salon ringing shattered her safe haven.
“He wants to talk,” she muttered to herself as a co-worker got out a bottle of water and left the room again. Talking could be good, but since she’d missed Shelby’s graduation party, the conversations between her and Ty had been more reserved.
Stilted. Slow, if they spoke at all. She’d still seen him a few times this week, but she had to initiate everything, and she could admit she hadn’t done it every day. She wanted some time to herself too, and she suspected he might break up with her if they ever truly got a chance to talk.
And he was creating that tonight.
So tell him no.
Realistically, she knew that all that would do was prolong the inevitable. No, if he was going to break up with her, she might as well let him get it over with.
To her surprise, tears pricked her eyes and her nose started to run. She couldn’t lose her composure, because she still had two clients today, both with complex coloring needs, and she wouldn’t be done here until at least five.
She also didn’t want to lose Ty. She wasn’t sure what that meant, but she had the sudden idea that she wasn’t above begging. If he tried to break up with her tonight, perhaps she could beg him to just give her a little more time to figure things out.
What those “things” were, she wasn’t sure, but she knew she needed more time to move into the next phase of her life. She’d just started living on her own again. She needed lots of reassurance that she could be loved, and—
Her mind stopped right there. “I need a lot of reassurance right now.”
She started tapping out a message to Ty, her fingers almost flying as fast as her thoughts.I’d love to,she started.I know we need to talk, and I’m going to start right now, right here. I need a lot of reassurance right now that I’m likable. Jerry didn’t love me, and I lived for twenty-six years thinking he did. When I found out he didn’t, it—
She cut off again, because she didn’t want to admit what had happened. Thoughts of Thelma entered her mind, and she heard what her younger sister had said.
You’ve told me that I can’t hold onto the past and move into the future, but you won’t let go.
