“Well, anyway, are we good with this new spot?” I asked.
Evie nodded, then turned to Saryn. “Don’t you think this will be a good spot? I think it actually works out better because we can see the playhouse from the kitchen.”
Saryn wrapped her arms around her body, almost as if she was self-conscious about something. Finally, she answered her mother. “Yes, I think it works great, Momma.”
A loud shriek had everyone turning to see Liliana rushing out and running toward her mother.
“Mommy!”
The smile that erupted on Saryn’s face made me smile, as well. “Hey, baby girl!”
She bent down and scooped up the little girl, giving her a hug and then peppering her with kisses. Liliana turned and saw me, then promptly asked to be put down. She quickly made her way over to me and I bent down to greet her. What I wasn’t expecting was for her to hug me.
“Twuitt! Pwayhouse!”
Everyone laughed, but when my gaze caught Saryn’s, she was simply staring, a blank expression on her face.
“Hey there, Liliana. What do you think about this spot for your playhouse?” I asked, picking her up with one arm and turning her to look at the open area.
“Yes, pwease!” she said in the sweetest voice. My heart fell a little more for this girl.
Evie clapped her hands. “Then the whole tree debacle has been avoided. Come on, Liliana, let’s go get your things.”
As Evie reached for her granddaughter, I was caught off guard again when Liliana framed my face with her little hands and looked me directly in the eyes. She smiled and my goddamn knees went weak. She didn’t even utter a word to me, but in that moment, that little girl wrapped me around her finger and I knew there wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do to make her happy.
“Twuitt.”
“Liliana,” I said in a serious reply, because I didn’t know what else to say.
“Well, it appears you’ve made a friend, Truitt,” Evie said.
I smiled back at Liliana. “Well, I hope I’m invited to the first tea party in her castle.”
Liliana nodded happily, then let her grandmother take her from my arms.
As they walked off, I watched them go before swinging my gaze to Saryn. Her blank expression had disappeared, only to be replaced by another I couldn’t read at all.
I faced Will. “We’ll be back out tomorrow to survey everything and mark it all out. I’ll give you a call before we head over.”
He nodded, reached for my hand and shook it, then did the same with Jack. “Damn nosy people. Marker tree, my ass.”
I attempted not to laugh as I watched Will stomp away toward his house.
Once he left, Jack and I both laughed, then faced Saryn. “Well, enjoy your Sunday, Saryn,” I said.
“Um, thank you. Y’all, too.”
Jack and I started toward my truck when Saryn called out my name. “Truitt, might I have a word with you, please?”
I stopped and walked back toward her. “Sure. Do you not like the new location?”
Her eyes swung over to the new spot, then to Jack’s retreating back, then to her folks’ house before finally settling back on me.
She looked down for a moment before piercing me with her brown eyes. “I don’t want you to think I go out on the weekends and stay out all night. I realize how this looks, me coming home clearly after being out all night.”
I held up my hand. “Saryn, you’re a grown woman, you don’t owe anyone, especially me, an explanation.”
She chewed on her lip. “I know that, but I also know how it must look to you. I saw you last night and…”
“What you do in your private life is just that. Private. You won’t be getting any judgment from me.”
With a forced smile, and an uneasiness in her eyes, she nodded. “Thank you, but I know how people talk and…well…I’m not usually a one-night-stand kind of woman. It’s just, I needed it, if that makes any sense whatsoever.”
The fact that she had admitted to sleeping with Luke felt strangely like someone had stabbed a knife in my chest. Her eyes filled with something, not regret, but something foreign to me. Something that said she might have wished she hadn’t stayed with Luke. Maybe if I had asked her to dance, it would have been me she spent the night with. Or maybe that was simply my wishful thinking.
I shook my head to clear my thoughts.
“Like I said, no judgment. I’m far from being innocent myself. If you’ll excuse me, I need to get going.” I pointed toward my truck where Jack was now waiting in the passenger seat. This conversation was turning more awkward as the seconds ticked on.
Her cheeks turned red with embarrassment. “Yes, of course. Right. Have, um, have a good Sunday, Truitt.”
I tipped my cowboy hat to her and said, “You, too.”