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“Roger.” I held my hand out for him to shake.
“Thomas, how are we today?” He gripped my hand and then went to pet my dogs. “Hello, you two, you keeping him in check?”
I walked over to the wood pile and started stacking the fresh pieces that I had cut.
“So…” Roger started, and this was why I appreciated him so much. He didn’t waste time with bullshit; he wouldn’t skirt the issue for half an hour, working his way up to telling me something—he’d always just come right out with it. I knew why he’d come up, though, so it was nice that we could just get to it. Cut it off, and then hopefully we could move on.
“I wanted to check on you after yesterday…you left rather abruptly.” He paused, looking up toward the top of the trees surrounding us. “And wearing my shirt….”
“Had to get back.”
He clicked his tongue, which made my dogs lift their heads. “We don’t lie to one another. You’ve always been free to speak, no matter how blunt. Don’t start keeping things from me now.”
Fuck. How did I talk about Rae with him?
Letting out a sigh, I gestured toward the house. “Want some coffee?”
“Always.” Roger followed, until we crested the porch steps and pushed through the screen door.
Roger knew the way to the coffee mugs and began filling his. I took a seat at the table, needing to rest after cutting almost an entire cord of wood.
Once his coffee was done, he joined me, and waited.
I toyed with the edge of a stray napkin, letting the silence stretch, until too much time had passed and half of Roger’s cup had been emptied.
With an annoyed clip, I finally conceded. “She hates me. I just wasn’t expecting that.”
Roger sipped his coffee, patient as always.
“Rae has always struggled with expressing her feelings.”
I scoffed, shaking my head. “She expressed them perfectly fine.”
Leaning forward, Roger set his cup aside. “Herrealfeelings. Whatever she said to you last night was just fear, maybe a little insecurity…but don’t give up on her. You of all people know better than to give up on someone so easily.”
Because of my brother.
Fuck, the reminder still twisted inside my chest like a butterfly knife.
I didn’t want to give up on Rae, but Roger might have a different opinion if he knew about the developing crush I had on his daughter. Then again, maybe those feelings were just superficial after fantasizing about this idea for so long. Maybe if I got to know her, I’d lose interest, and then her anger toward me wouldn’t matter.
“So, it’s settled. You’ll place another order…and I’ll have Rae deliver it.”
“Here?” My voice was pitched too high, but in my defense, I didn’t have people in my space, ever.
Roger laughed, “Yes, here. You two need to try again, and she feels useful helping with the deliveries. Let her pick up your order that you forgot to grab and bring it to you.”
Shaking my head, I looked outside at the yard and animal pens that needed repair. Just a few tweaks here and there, tightening of the wired fences and cleaning out the straw and muck.
“She won’t want to deliver if she knows it’s going to me,” I muttered rather pathetically, looking down at the floor.
I wondered if the real reason Roger was here pushing the two of us together was because he had an inkling that I had secretly harbored a flimsy crush. Anyone else and I’d tell them to get their nose out of my business, but Roger had earned the right to pry, even to play matchmaker if he wanted to. I trusted him and Millie implicitly, and if I played along, then they couldn’t blame me when it inevitably fell apart.
My friend’s smile was broad as he leaned closer. “Then we don’t tell her. Let it take place naturally. I know she felt something toward you, because she wouldn’t have been so uncomfortable last night or so snarky. She’s likely threatened by your connection to us, but I think there might be more to it than that.”
He shifted in his seat as a small grimace broke his features apart like one of Millie’s puzzles. He had a thousand stories in that sad expression, a thousand unspoken truths, and maybe a decent number of regrets.
“Truth be told, although she’s home, I don’t really feel like I have her back. Something in her is broken, and I don’t know how to fix it. She won’t open up to us. She’s always been independent, but after hearing how she was living in New York, it really hit hard that we don’t know her at all. But, typical Rae…she’s our little burst of sunlight, never dulling anyone’s moment with her own problems or issues. We don’t want to press too firmly, but we want to be there for her as she works through being home again.”
