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She nodded, then turned and headed back toward her house through the grassy meadow. She took a breath. The O’Connell boys were cute in high school. Now they were full-blown hunks.
Sawyer grinned at J.T. who scowled at him. “Shut up.”
Sawyer laughed. “She looks pretty good.”
“It doesn’t matter. She’s a pain in my ass.”
“Okay.” He took a drink of his beer. “Did you ask her to come see the house?”
“No. She just showed up. Like a bad penny. Or the plague.”
Sawyer sat in the framed in doorway. “So, what happened between you two?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Come on, man. You wouldn’t talk about it back then. But it’s been six years now, and she’s back in town. Just tell me what happened.”
J.T. sighed and drank some more beer. “When her parents broke up and her mom split, it was rough on her. But I couldn’t really feel too sympathetic, because of what we went through with our mom. At least her mother was still alive. She could pick up the phone and call her. Or go visit her. My loss was too fresh but I could’ve been a little more understanding.”
“So your inability to understand what she was going through was the problem?”
“That was only part of it. She started talking about wanting to go to college. Which of course I got. But she didn’t quite get why I didn’t want to go. Why I wouldn’t leave home and go with her.She didn’t even want to stay in Montana. She wanted to go to Boise State so she could be near her mother.”
“And that was a deal breaker for you.”
“Yeah. Damn. It was asking too much. Our whole senior year, she went back and forth on wanting to go to school and wanting to stay here with me.” He shrugged. “In the end, she chose college over me. We had a giant fight at the graduation party. Said horrible things to each other. And that was that. It was over. No room for reconciliation. Done and done.”
“Shit. Sorry man.”
J.T. slid off the stack of lumber and put his empty bottle into the ice chest. “Let’s get to work.”
Sawyer drained his bottle, then returned it to the ice chest and followed J.T. into the house. “So, what are we going to do to celebrate your birthday?”
J.T. blew out a breath. “Same thing we always do, I guess.”
“No way. You’re going to be a quarter of a century old. It’s a milestone.”
“What do you suggest?”
“I don’t know. I’ll think of something.”
“Why does that worry me?”
Sawyer patted him on the shoulder. “Trust me. I’ve got this.”
They spent the afternoon working on the house and got quite a bit done, but J.T. was distracted. He couldn’t stop thinking about Joey. Sawyer was right. She looked good. Damn good. But that didn’t change the fact she’d left him. He spent three years thinking they’d be spending the rest of their lives together. Then she left him. There’s no coming back from that. And there was no forgiving her for it. The fact he’d never quite gotten over her was just something he’d have to live with.
When Sawyer saw him looking toward Joey’s house, he patted him on the back. “Are you ready to call it a day?”
“Yeah. Sorry I haven’t been much company today. Thank you for your help.”
“Anytime. Let’s go see what Granddad has cooked up for dinner.”
“I’m going to shower first. I’ll be along soon.”
Sawyer nodded. “Okay.” He put on the shirt he’d taken off a few hours ago. “Maybe you and she should talk it out. Clear the air a little.”
J.T. shook his head. “No. There’s nothing left to talk about.”
