I’d been thrilled when they broke up. Apparently, I wasn’t as nice a guy as everyone said.
Now there was something about Garrett that really rubbed me the wrong way. He was nice enough, and I knew he and Thayle were close. But to see them embracing like that, in her kitchen...
I slammed the trunk maybe a bit too hard as I realized what I didn’t like about him.
That he’d been touching Thayle.
I hopped into the pickup truck, with Thayle already inside waiting for me. She wore a sundress, her style what Min called boho, her wavy auburn hair as unruly as the woman herself, as usual. So many times, I’d wanted to reach out and tuck a strand of hair back where it belonged. Not because I didn’t love the way the errant curls stuck out here and there, but just because I really, really wanted to touch her.
Like fucking Garrett had. Such a typical name for a banker.
“Is that for me?” Thayle was already lifting the coffee to her lips, having plucked it out of the cupholder.
“Two donuts from Rich there too,” I say of the bag I’d left sitting atop the seat between us. “He seemed to be in high spirits this morning.”
Thayle replaced the coffee and opened the bag. “He’s thrilled to be back at work.” She took a bite and groaned. Lord help me. “How could I love these so much when I literally have them all the time? So good.”
“I can’t believe you won’t tell me the secret ingredient.”
Thayle pretended to zip her lips up. “No can do. The day he told me, I made a solemn oath not to share it with anyone. Even Min.”
I figured that talking about something more innocuous would help me tune out Thayle’s crossed legs and how much I’d love to reach over the center seat and inch my hand up her thigh. “It’s hard to believe you met Min in kindergarten.”
She finished chewing and said, “I wish I could remember it. I think I blocked out that whole time period because of my mom, but honestly, who remembers anything that happened when they were five?”
“I do.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Yes,” I argued, “I do. I remember Marco hitting me so hard with an umbrella on the way to school that it hurt all morning. The teacher finally asked why I was rubbing my head and inspected my hair for lice.”
“Eww,” she said, readjusting her dress to get more comfortable. I stared straight ahead, at the road. Where my gaze belonged. “You probably remember your mom telling you that happened andthinkyou have that memory.”
“Except I can actually remember my teacher doing it in the front of the class. I was mortified.”
“Nope, you don’t.”
I laughed. “So now you’re an expert on my memories?”
“I am,” she said definitively. “Ask me anything. Except about when you were away for college, of course.”
“Okay, what do I remember about the day before I left for senior year of college?”
This was dangerous territory. I’d already told myself a hundred times, I could not make a move on Thayle. Even before I became her employer, the last thing I’d ever wanted to do was to make her uncomfortable. She was like part of the family, and I wouldn’t ruin that for her. For Min. But for Christ’s sake, it was not getting any easier to keep that vow.
“You remember teaching me to water ski,” she said. “I’d been terrified to try before that, so you finally bribed me into it.”
“So far so good.” I stopped at the light and looked over at her. Thayle was grinning from ear to ear, and if she’d ever looked prettier than right at that moment, I couldn’t remember it. She was relaxed. Happy. And deserved to be. She’d been dealt a shitty hand, and suddenly, I was glad she came on this trip. Even if it would be hell for me, the time off would be good for her.
“I think green means go,” she teased, and I started driving again. “So you promised to bring me home a knick-knack from school. And I was like, ‘Do you really think I’m going to get up on skis for a sweatshirt?’ And you said, ‘I know you will.’”
“And I was right.”
“Only because you knew my sweatshirt collecting was out of control.”
“Was? I swear, I haven’t seen you wear the same one twice.”
She shrugged. “Some people collect mugs from everywhere they go. Some, knick-knacks. I collect cozy sweatshirts, which, to be honest, are more practical than mugs, or knick-knacks. You can wear them pretty much all year.”