CHAPTER SIXTEEN SAWYER
C HAPTER S IXTEEN
SAWYER
“How does that look, Sully?” I ask. This is my sixth fixture of the day, and I know it looks good, but to keep him feeling involved, I ask anyway. If I never have to see another gooseneck, urban-barn-style sconce again, I will be a happy man.
“Crooked,” Sully grumbles. “I thought I told you to watch your angles. Where’s that level?”
Crooked my ass. There is nothing crooked about this godforsaken light fixture.
From the corner of my eye, I catch Fallon glancing toward us and taking in the light fixture that hangs over the nightstand.
There is no way it’s crooked, not even close, but I patiently pick up the level and set it on the edge of the fixture to appease Sully.
The bubbles in the tool state that it’s level, but being a good sport, I say, “You know, I was off just a bit. Good eye, Sully.”
I then pretend to adjust the light fixture, not moving it at all, just putting on one hell of a show until Sully gives me a nod of approval.
“Very well, well done. Shall we move on?” I hold back my smirk, because I don’t need a tongue-lashing from him for finding light fixtures humorous.
I learned very quickly after the first install that electricity is nothing to joke around about and, if I wasn’t extra careful and focused, that I could be shocked to death.
Yes, he used the phrase “shocked to death.”
He also smacked me in the back of the head at one point and told me to stop staring at his granddaughter’s legs.
I wasn’t—at the time—but Jesus Christ, I don’t think I’ve ever turned a deeper shade of red in my life, especially when Fallon glanced over at me.
“I think so,” Sully says. I gather my tools and place them in the red toolbox. I know I said I didn’t mind helping Fallon, and I really don’t, but the light fixtures are starting to get to me. “On to the next cabin.”
“Actually, I was thinking we go get something to eat,” Fallon chimes in. When our eyes connect, I see her silently convey that she wants to give Sully a break. Little does she know, I’m the one in desperate need of a break. This could not have come at a better time.
So, I place my hand on my stomach and make a grand show of it; all the while, my body is grumbling, begging for more than just a muffin. “Yes, food. I’d love some. Do you have any good suggestions of where to eat?” I ask Sully.
“Of course I do. I’ve lived here all my life.” He pushes me on the shoulder, shoving me toward the doorway of the cabin. For an old man, he still packs a good shove. “Let’s get on with it.”
“I have to get to the bar,” Jaz says, checking the time on her phone. “I have some food prep to help with before we open.”
“Cutting up extra tomatoes?” I ask.
“Nah, those are only for you, big boy.” She winks, gives Fallon a high five, and heads out the door.
Fallon turns to Sully and gently places her hand on his shoulder. “What do you want to do for lunch?”
“Let’s grab some wings, see what Phil here can handle in the spice department.”
I move my hand over my jaw. “Not much—just a heads-up. I’m likely to disappoint.”
“Can’t handle the spice, son?” Sully asks, rocking on his heels.
“Not really. Can you?” He quirks his old-man eyebrow at me as if I just insulted him. “I’m guessing you can.”
“Damn right I can. My stomach is made of steel.”
Fallon slowly shakes her head behind him.
“Well, I’m ready for you to school me,” I say, rubbing my hands together.
“Then wings it is. Meet me by my car—I’m going to change my shirt real quick,” Fallon says as she takes off toward the residence.
Sully and I head up the pathway toward the employee parking lot, walking side by side.
It’s odd, I’ve only been here for a few weeks, and yet it feels like this is home.
Walking next to Sully feels natural, and there’s a comfort in falling in step with him, like I’ve known him my whole life—like he is my grumpy grandpa I can’t help but love.
“You know, Sully, you never told me what you did to win Joan over. To steal her away from Earl.”
Sully pauses on the pathway and turns toward me. Confusion rocks his eyes, and though he masks it with a veil of pride as he puffs his chest, I know him well enough to see through the facade. “Remind me where we left off,” he says.
I match his confident strides toward the parking lot.
“You were telling a great story about how Joan was living down in Palm Springs, dating Earl, and how she was helping you with the cabins, but she wasn’t into you.
You were just friends. You left me hanging.
I’ve been wondering how the story ended between you and your sweetheart. ”
“Ah yes.” The sweetest smile passes over his lips. “She wasn’t into me; at least that’s what I thought. We would work on the cabins together, decorating, setting up furniture, and at the end of the day, she’d walk away, completely indifferent to me.”
“Bet that didn’t settle well with you.”
“It didn’t,” he says softly. “Because when she walked away, I felt that a little piece of me walked away with her. It was painful knowing she was going straight into another man’s arms.” He adjusts his glasses on his nose.
God, does this feel so real right about now.
“But it was the stolen moments with her that I clung on to. It was the teasing jokes we shared, the secret glances, the innocent touches when we accidentally bumped into each other. When she was here, I made sure to never put any moves on her out of respect for her relationship with Earl, but it didn’t stop me from developing a friendship.
And I grew that friendship to the point that she’d call me when she was upset or excited about a piece of furniture she’d sold to another customer.
When she was here helping me, it felt like we were in our own little bubble, where no one else mattered—it was just me and her, and then.
.. right before we opened, she brought Earl up here for a weekend getaway. ”
My heart drops from the sheer thought of that bubble bursting.
I wince. “Hell, I can’t imagine the way you must have felt seeing him here, in your territory, where you developed such a bond with Joan. How did you handle it?”
“Not great,” he answers with a shake of his head, as if it just happened yesterday.
“Jealousy got the better of me. Seeing them hold hands, walking around the lake like I always dreamed of doing with her—it was like a punch to the gut. That night jealousy reared its ugly head, and I started an argument with Joan when she was checking into one of the cabins as a test run.”
“Did you think she was going to test it on her own?”
“Yes,” Sully answers as we reach the parking lot.
Since there’s only one car there, a dark-blue Jeep Wrangler, we walk over to it and lean against the doors.
“I’d originally invited her up for the weekend test run, hoping that maybe something could spark between us.
It was my chance to find out if she perhaps felt the same way I did about her.
But then she brought Earl, and the only thing that sparked was a fight.
It was not my finest moment, and the next morning, she and Earl left. ”
“You must have been heartbroken,” I say softly.
“I was.” Sully adjusts the glasses on his nose. “A lesser man would have thrown in the towel that night, but not me. I was determined. I knew how I acted was wrong. I knew what I said to her that night wasn’t justified, and I owed her an apology.”
“What did you do?” I can feel my pulse pick up as the image of a younger Sully chasing after his true love sparks a vivid story in my head.
A story of true, unrequited devotion shining through the innocence of love at first sight.
The type of love that makes your heart burn and your veins light on fire.
A love that lasts a lifetime, that lasts until death do they part and beyond.
It’s Sully’s story, pure and simple, but I wonder if I’ll ever have one like it.
Sully drags his hand over his wrinkled cheek, over the smallest of nicks from shaving this morning.
“Drove down to Palm Springs and stood outside of her apartment with a single flower. I told her I was a jealous fool, and I was sorry for speaking to her so poorly when she didn’t deserve it.
I confessed my feelings and told her it was incredibly difficult for me to see her with Earl.
But despite my bruised and battered heart, I promised to be the friend I always was to her, and that was never going to change. ”
“Were you the friend again?” I ask.
He nods. “I made a promise to her. I kept it.”
“Wow.” I shake my head. “That must have been hard, seeing her with Earl and only being her friend.”
“One of the hardest things I’ve ever done.”
Just then, Fallon pops out of the back door of the residence, wearing a large smile on her face as her ponytail swooshes behind her.
As she approaches, my eyes fixate on her, and my heart skips a beat with every step she takes.
A lonesome feeling hits me straight in the chest as I realize.
.. my story with Fallon isn’t very different from Sully and Joan’s.
And I’m cast in the role of the friend, the one she needs to rely on, not be involved with romantically.
The pain I was feeling for Sully transfers to myself, settling over my heart.
One of the hardest things I’ve ever done.
I wish I could say I couldn’t relate to the feeling, but when Fallon shoots me a wink, I realize just how real that pain is.
I want her, just like Sully wanted Joan.
And yet here I am, stuck in a role I don’t want.
Sully places his hand on my shoulder, pulling my attention away from Fallon. When I glance down and meet his gaze, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen his eyes so clear or heard his voice so sincere as he says, “But sometimes, son, the best things are worth waiting for.”
Fuck...