Chapter 23 #2
“Isn’t it early? I thought you said you’d be staying another day or two,” he said, curiosity in his tone.
I didn’t remember telling him when I’d be back, but I nodded. “Yeah, there’s a big snowstorm heading to middle Tennessee today, so I wanted to get ahead of the weather.”
He nodded. “I heard about that storm. Unusual.”
“And you? Flying home early too?”
“No, I’d only booked a short trip because work has been so busy.” He looked over at me. “Do you want to share a ride home?”
I looked into his rich hazel eyes. “Uh, OK?”
He chuckled. “That sounds like a question, not an answer.”
“I mean, yes, we can ride home together. I guess.”
He raised an eyebrow but looked back to the carousel. “Finally,” he said as the suitcases began rolling onto the carousel. His was one of the first, so he grabbed it on the first pass.
“I’m surprised you bothered to check luggage for such a short trip.”
He shrugged. “I brought a lot of gifts for my sister and my mom. And they have gifts for me to give to Lila, of course. They wouldn’t have fit in a carry-on.”
“Ah, I don’t have that excuse. I’m just a heavy packer. Just call me Madam Heavy Packer,” I said with a self-deprecating laugh.
His eyes traveled over my face, searching for … I don’t know what. “I’ll call you Roxy,” he said quietly.
I sucked in my cheeks. “I noticed you’d started calling me that a while ago. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” he said, his eyes still roaming over my face.
Trying to ignore the butterflies making a ruckus in my stomach, I put on a smile. “So, how was your family thing?”
His expression darkened. “It was fine.”
“Really? Your face says otherwise.”
I clamped my mouth tightly, thinking I’d gone too far, but he just sighed. “Some parts were fine. Others, not so much.”
“Care to vent a little?”
“No,” he said sharply.
I turned away then, looking for my own luggage on the other carousel next to us. Of course he wouldn’t want to share personal things with me. Why would he? I felt my cheeks heat up as I considered how he must see me.
He sighed behind me, and I could feel his breath on the side of my face. “It’s not you.”
I nodded and tried to smile. I’d heard that more times than I could count.
The ride home was quiet and awkward for the first twenty minutes as he drove our rented car.
“If it helps at all, I had a rough time with my family too,” I finally said quietly.
He frowned. “It doesn’t help.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” I said, averting my eyes to look out the passenger window.
“It’s almost as though you’re trying to misunderstand me sometimes. I meant that I don’t like that you had a rough time,” he said, staring straight ahead.
Before I could process that, my phone buzzed in my pocket.
Hazel: Hey, I saw a big storm over Nashville. Are you OK??
Roxy: I’m fine. Came home early .
Hazel: I don’t remember if I ever told you this, but I’m really sorry I didn’t call you during that epic snowstorm in February. It was a rough time being stuck with Peter when we were not getting along at all, and I had no reception.
Hazel: Still, not an excuse though.
Roxy: It’s fine! Don’t worry about it, seriously.
Hazel: I want to do better.
Roxy: Thanks, but it’s all good! :)
“That was Hazel,” I said as I put my phone down. “Just checking to see if I was stuck in the snowstorm.” I didn’t mention the part where Hazel still didn’t even remember I wasn’t from Nashville. I was fairly sure I’d corrected her before, but it wasn’t worth doing again.
I saw him nod briefly and then grimace.“My deadbeat father called at Christmas.”
My eyebrows shot up my forehead. “Oh?”
“Yeah. And my mother actually let him.” His frown deepened. “So that’s why I had a bad holiday. You?”
“I’m sorry to hear that. I guess you don’t like your father, eh?”
“Not liking him is an understatement. He destroyed our family when I was young.”
“That’s … I wish I could help.” I reached out with my free hand and rubbed his upper right arm gently.
For a moment, I thought he was going to shake off my hand, but instead, he briefly placed his left hand over mine before returning it to the steering wheel. I pulled my hand back as though burned … because I was.
Heat swept over me, and I wished I could open the window. But he’d wonder what was going on with me, given that it was wintertime.
I wondered myself, actually. Touching him was completely spontaneous. Bold. Risky, even. All the things that I never was.
He cleared his throat. “I’m really looking forward to New Year’s. The party, I mean.”
This statement did nothing to calm the swirling emotions threatening to overtake me. I tried to laugh a bit. “I didn’t see you as a party animal.”
“I’m not.” He eyed me briefly before turning back to the road.
I swallowed hard. “Oh. Me neither. But I guess I’m looking forward to it.”
He glanced over at me again, his eyes somehow piercing my skin, before once again looking straight ahead. “Good.”
Good? What did that mean?
And what was I going to do? Never in my life would I have imagined being torn between two men. Granted, I didn’t even know if either of them felt that way about me.
But what if they both did?