Chapter 14 #2
Louise pondered the question; her pale cheeks flushed from several cocktails. “Oh, I don’t know…I was just sure a certain someone was supposed to be at the café tomorrow to see how things are run in the back in anticipation of her agreeing to add her delicious baked goods to our menu?”
Thanks to the alcohol taking more room in my veins than blood and the fact that I felt at home with these women, my lips were loose.
Too loose. Laughing, I confessed, “I completely forgot. Ty dragged me all over half of Georgia today searching for the right tile for the master bathroom, after we spent all of yesterday hunting for the right wainscoting. My brain is fried.” I delivered this as if it was the most natural thing in the world for Ty and me to be spending all day together.
It certainly felt that way, which was why I was so perturbed.
“Renovations are exhausting,” Helen commiserated. “Why don’t I talk to Jane tomorrow while you head to the café? I have to do some work, and my office is five minutes from the church.”
“Great,” I said happily, thinking about how awesome this would be. It felt good to be a part of this town in that moment, to contribute to it, and to help others.
“I hear you’ve been spending a lot of time with Ty lately.” Cady-Jo said this casually, but I was used to hearing what people didn’t say.
“I wouldn’t say a lot of time,” I hedged, sinking deeper into the love seat.
I adjusted the blanket I’d spread over my legs earlier.
“It’s been a lot of looking for the right material or whatnot for the house.
” That was true. “He’s mainly been spending extra time with Lock, trying to get him up to speed with playing ball.
Ty’s been really sweet teaching him when he can.
” All of it was also true, but was I suddenly apprehensive about what I thought I read on Cady-Jo’s face, my penchant for not wanting attention on me fully engaged? You-fucking-betcha.
Helen had to go and make things worse.
“Didn’t you two have lunch at Phaedon’s restaurant the other day?” She named the only seafood restaurant in a hundred-mile radius.
“We did.” Why deny something everyone already knew?
It would make me look guilty. Hell, I already felt guilty enough as it was for my desires and thoughts about Ty, even if I hadn’t done anything to make me truly guilty of anything.
Yet. “Honestly, I’m really grateful. I was so worried about Lock and how he’d settle in here, especially with Jeremy’s impromptu visits and inconsistency.
Ty’s been great talking to him and helping him work through it.
He took me out to lunch to thank me for feeding him and anyone else who came to work on the house. ”
There. That sounded okay. It was all true anyway. That lunch in particular, Ty had insisted on taking me out, claiming I worked so hard feeding him that it was only right he feed me in return.
Really, it had felt more like a date. The restaurant was small and intimate with linen tablecloths and a dress code…Ugh, time to get a grip, Phoebe. Wishful thinking doesn’t make it real.
Louise pursed her lips. “Wade said today we need to get you to add your Italian sandwiches to the café’s menu, too.”
I latched onto that for all I was worth.
“I’ve never seen a man eat so much in my life,” I said with a chuckle. Wade ate and ate…and ate.
“If you’re feeding him, it’s no wonder he’s been so willing to work on your renos, too.” Helen swiped the final churro and offered it to me. I took it, needing something in my hand.
Instead of rolling it between my fingers like I wanted to, I took a large bite.
“He’s been really sweet. He brought me a bouquet of lilies as a bribe for me to make him his work lunches yesterday.
You should have seen the look on his face when I started sneezing my head off.
Poor guy didn’t know I was allergic to them. He felt so bad.”
“I heard about that.” Cady-Jo finally spoke, returning to normal, seemingly mollified.
I didn’t know if it was because what I said made sense or if Wade being at my house made things less intimate.
“Dalton drops in too,” tumbled out of my mouth, as the guilt for everything—even though I’d did nothing, which was just the story of my life—triggered my verbal diarrhea. “Although he doesn’t try to eat me out of house and home.”
“You should have seen him in high school,” Louise reminisced. “He could outeat Wade.”
“Oh, yeah.” Cady-Jo sat back, relaxing into her chair. “That man could eat.”
I listened halfheartedly while the women regaled me with stories of Dalton and their antics as high school students, grateful there wasn’t much I could say.
I felt terrible. I felt like I’d just lied and betrayed my friend, that every thought I had about Ty was another betrayal.
It was irrational, but when had my brain ever thought rationally?
Listening to them talk about their history made me miss Alex all the more.
If anyone would know what to do in this situation, it would be her.
By the time midnight rolled around and Helen’s husband, Erik, was ready to drive us home, we’d consumed three pitchers of cocktails and so many tacos that I’d need stretchy pants for a few days.
Like every night for the last few weeks, I dreamt about Celtic tattoos and a set of amber eyes that seemed to haunt me whether I wanted them to or not.