Lucky in Love

by Kelly Elliott

  “It doesn’t matter, she wasn’t interested in me then.”

  This time he looked at me like I was an idiot. “Dude, you didn’t move fast enough in high school. If you hadn’t been afraid of Ryan, that might have been you married to Saryn.”

  Now my head was spinning. I laughed. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

  Jack pulled in a deep breath and then slowly let it out as he stepped closer to me, suddenly caring if anyone else heard his insane comments. “Why have you never dated anyone seriously, Truitt? I mean, seriously, like you thought maybe she was the one?”

  I gave him a half shrug. “Probably because I haven’t met the one yet.”

  That was a flat-out lie. I had already pictured what it would be like to marry Saryn. She and Liliana were the missing piece in my life, and deep down I knew that.

  He lifted one single brow. “Oh, I think you have met the one. When you were too young to know it was her. It took her leaving and marrying some dick and then coming back for you to see. Face it, Truitt, you’ve never let yourself get close to any other woman.”

  “That’s because all the women in this town are after my money, something you should know about, as well.”

  His head dropped back as he let out a round of laughter. “Ah, hell, I know it. Trust me.” Jack rubbed the back of his neck and leaned onto a table that had been set up for cutting. “Truitt, I’m talking to you as your friend, your longtime friend who happens to be your business partner, as well. I see the way y’all look at each other. I’m pretty damn sure she feels the same way about you.”

  I looked away for a moment before glancing back his way and saying, “She told me she had a crush on me in high school.”

  He shook his head. “Fucking Tim.”

  I nodded in agreement. “Yeah. Fucking Tim.”

  “Truitt! You’ve got a call! It’s Ms. Townsend.”

  The voice calling out to me belonged to Jack’s younger sister, the shop manager. She pretty much handled everything coming and going from the shop.

  “That can’t be good. Let me go see what she needs,” I said as I slapped Jack on the back. Before I walked away, I faced him again. “I don’t want to mess this up with her. She wants to go slow and I’ll go as slow as she wants, but I’m scared to death I’m going to screw this up like I do everything.”

  He smiled and then opened his arms and motioned around the shop. “Dude, you don’t screw up everything. Look at this. Look at what you built.”

  “We built,” I added.

  Jack shook his head. “No, dude, you built this. This was your dream and you saw it through. Go see what the true boss wants.”

  With another chuckle, I headed out to the small office area where Renee worked. She handed me my cell phone.

  “Hey, Ms. Townsend, what’s going on?”

  “I’ve been trying to reach you all morning, Truitt.”

  I had forgotten to charge my phone last night. Then I plugged it in this morning and forgot about it again.

  “I’m sorry, my phone has been in Renee’s office charging. What’s wrong?”

  “The trucking company is saying they can’t make the deadline to deliver the Nights’ playhouse.”

  It felt like a rock dropped straight into my stomach. “What do you mean? They’re obligated to show up. We have a contract. I’ve paid them already.”

  “They know that, but there’s been an accident. One of the rigs slid off the road in some winter weather up north and it’s beyond repair.”

  “Is the driver okay?” I instantly asked.

  “Yes. He was on his way back to Texas, was due to switch out with another driver in Oklahoma.”

  I let out a frustrated sigh.

  “They do have another company they can refer us to. They’re new, but Ricky says they’re good and he wouldn’t refer you over to them if he didn’t have the utmost confidence they could get the house moved safely.”

  “Lynn…” I softly said.

  “I know, Truitt. I know this one means something special to you. I’ve told Ricky and he gave me his word. I don’t think he would ever lead you wrong.”

  An instant headache throbbed in my temples while I pressed my fingertips to the bridge of my nose.

  “What’s the company?” I asked, trying not to sound as frustrated as I was. This playhouse was one of the biggest we’d built, and now my normal trucking company wasn’t going to be delivering it.

  “Stein Brother Haulers. They’re out of Austin.”

  “How many moves have they had?”

  Lynn remained silent for a moment too long.

  “Please tell me we’re not their first.”

  “No, no, you’re not the first. The first large load haul, but not the first haul.”

  “Cause that makes me feel loads better,” I bit out.

  “Truitt, accidents happen. You know this, we get thrown obstacles in life all the time. You have an amazing crew there, Ricky tells me these guys are amazing. It will get there safely.”

  I nodded, even though she couldn’t see me. “You’re right. As usual, you’re right. Okay, is there anyway I can meet with them before the transport? Even if by video call.”

  “I’ve already scheduled a time for them to come by today. They’ll be here at five.”

  “Five? That’s not going to work for me, I have a date tonight.”

  I was met by silence on the phone and a shocked expression from Renee. Who then smiled and mouthed, a date?

  With a smile, I nodded.

  “Lynn?” I asked as Renee shook her head in wonder.

  “You done killed her with that kind of news,” Renee said with a chuckle.

  Lynn cleared her throat. “I’m not dead, I was simply caught off guard. You normally share your…um…appointments with me.”

  “This isn’t an appointment, Lynn. It’s personal.”

  “Well, your date is at a bad time. Can you change it?”

  I didn’t even have to think twice. I grew up with a father who constantly put work before his family. Hell, he still did. Sure, he loved us, and we knew it, but it would have been nice for him to show up to our games, class parties, and plays, things that meant something to us. But he felt that his work was more important. And my mother, hell, she was never even in town half the time. I was not about to start off my relationship with Saryn and Liliana by putting work first.

  “No, I can’t. Let’s just say from this point on, after five during the week I’ll be on call for emergencies only. No more meetings.”

  “I see. Well, do I know her?”

  “You know her momma. Evie Night.”

  “Saryn! You’ve got a date with Saryn!”

  I pulled my cell phone away from my ear. “Shout it out to the world, Ms. Townsend.”

  I heard her chuckle and watched as Renee leaned in a bit closer as if she couldn’t already hear the conversation.

  “Let me see if I can move it up by a few hours. I’ll call you back. Keep your phone on you.”

  “Thank you, Lynn, I appreciate it.”

  “You’re welcome, Truitt.”

  The phone went black as my secretary disconnected our call. Renee stood there with a shit-eating grin on her face.

  I pointed to her. “Not a word to anyone. We’re going slow. This is our first date and I don’t want the whole town gossiping about it.”

  She mocked surprise. “You’re worried ’bout me? You might have given that little speech to Ms. Townsend. She’s probably on her little Facebook group message board right now informing them all that Boerne’s most eligible bachelor is off the market.”

  I shook my head and walked away. It was going to be a long-ass day.

  Saryn

  I BUZZED AROUND the grocery store with my list in my hand. Liliana sat in the car, her eyes taking in the new book my mother had given her this morning.

  The morning had been spent frantically cleaning my house, which wasn’t even dirty. Or at least that was what Lucy had kept saying. I’d called
her last night on the way home to tell her about the date with Truitt. I didn’t know who else to call, and Lucy was the first person to pop up in my mind.

  Lucy was still back at the ranch helping my mother make some weird pie made of rhubarb. That didn’t even sound appealing, but if it kept my mother busy and out of my business I was okay with it.

  “Momma?”

  I glanced down to Liliana.

  “Can we goes to da park today?”

  “Oh, sweet girl, that sounds like fun, but Mommy has to buy food for dinner tonight.” I leaned down and whispered, “Mr. Truitt is coming over to have dinner with us.”

  My daughter’s eyes lit up like the Fourth of July. “Twuitt!”

  I nodded. “Yes, so we have to hurry and buy all the yummy food so we can go home and cook it for him.” And make sure I have at least three hours to figure out what I’m going to wear to a casual dinner at my house that is not going to lead to anything. No way was I going to sleep with Truitt with my daughter in the same house. At least I kept telling myself that. Lord knew what would happen when she went to bed, though.

  My phone buzzed, and I reached into my purse and answered it without even looking.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, how’s it going?”

  It felt like a buzz of energy raced straight from the phone and into my body. It was Truitt.

  “Hi. It’s going good. Liliana and I are at the grocery store getting everything for dinner tonight. I hope you like eggplant parmesan with homemade pasta and my grandmother’s secret breading.”

  “I hate eggplant parmesan,” Truitt replied, causing me to stop walking and stare down at all the ingredients in my cart for eggplant parmesan.

  I had two choices: tell him tough cookies, that’s what I was making, or quickly come up with another menu. Then he laughed.

  “Saryn, I’m kidding. My mother is Italian, if she ever heard me utter those words, she would slap me from here to the border. Don’t ever tell her I said that, it was a joke.”

  The breath I had been holding quickly whooshed out. “Truitt Carter! That was not funny. That was just plain mean!”

  I couldn’t hold back my smile, and I was positive he heard it in my voice.

  “I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist. Hey, do you mind if I bring Rus along? He’s been stuck back at my place all day. It’s been a crazy day at work.”

  “Please, bring him. Liliana will love playing with him.”

  “You’re sure you don’t mind?”

  “Positive. I love dogs, so does Liliana.”

  “Goggy!” Liliana cried out with a huge smile.

  Truitt laughed. “She sounds on board with this plan.”

  “Oh, trust me, she is. When I told her you were coming over, her face lit up. You have two Night women thrilled to see you and Rus, Mr. Carter.”

  “Well, a guy could certainly get used to that. Listen, I’ve got to run into a meeting, the guys drove here from Austin. I’ll see you soon?”

  “Okay, see you soon.”

  “Bye, sweetheart.”

  My heart fluttered in my chest and I hardly got my words out. “Bye, Truitt.”

  I hit End and looked at Liliana. I nearly swooned right there in the store. “Oh, Liliana, this man. This man is going to be dangerous, but oh so fun!”

  She giggled, her little blue eyes dancing with excitement.

  “I have a feeling it’s going to be the kind of dangerous your mommy could get used to.”

  “Saryn! It’s so good to see you!”

  I spun around to see Tim’s older cousin, LouAnne, standing there. Her eyes bounced from me to Liliana. “My goodness, I haven’t seen y’all in forever! Tim told me you moved back to town and I kept meaning to call on y’all to say hi.”

  Forcing a smile, I replied, “Oh, no worries at all. We’ve been busy getting settled back in.”

  She looked me up and down. “So I’ve heard.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  With a half shrug, she said, “Nothin’. It don’t mean nothin’. I’m sure you heard the family news.”

  “No, I’m afraid I don’t know anything about Tim’s family. They’ve pretty much decided to not have anything to do with Liliana.”

  That wiped the smile off her freaking face. Why hadn’t I remembered LouAnne being such a…bitch? She glanced down to Liliana and sent her a wave before she focused back on me.

  “Granddaddy died and we all inherited a little money, Tim, of course, got the brunt of it all, him being the only boy in the family on his momma’s side.”

  The fact that she showed no grief over losing her grandfather made me question why I ever married into this family.

  “I’m so sorry for your loss.”

  She sighed. “Yes, of course, it was hard losin’ him. But he made sure we were all taken care of. You know he was in the oil business.”

  I wanted to roll my eyes hard. “Yes, I knew that. If you’ll excuse me, LouAnne, I’ve got to get going. It was nice seeing you again.”

  “Oh, you, too. Maybe you’ll even run into Tim while he’s in town.”

  That made me freeze. Tim was in town? How long had he been in Boerne? Evenn though he had signed over his rights to Liliana, how could he not even want to see his daughter? Of course, I knew the answer to that, and I shouldn’t have been surprised.

  “I doubt it, I’ll see you around.”

  “Twuitt!” Liliana said as she looked past LouAnne. My heart stopped, but it was another guy in a cowboy hat, and when he turned around, Liliana nearly sighed. Apparently my daughter had it just as bad as I did...

  LouAnne looked back at me and raised a brow. “Did she say Truitt? As in Truitt Carter?”

  “I’m late, LouAnne. It was nice seeing you.”

  With that, I dashed down an aisle and moved away from the woman as quickly as I could. Everything about that family was toxic.

  “Come on, baby girl, let’s get some stuff to make cookies tonight with Truitt.”

  Liliana smiled wide, and I knew exactly how she was feeling as the excitement of seeing Truitt kicked up another level.

  The doorbell rang at four thirty, an hour earlier than Truitt was supposed to arrive. Thank goodness I had gotten ready while Liliana took a nap. I made my way to the door and opened it, a wide smile on my face, only to have it instantly fall.

  “Tim. What are you doing here?”

  He smiled, then looked past me. “Is that anyway to greet your husband?”

  “Ex-husband. Who cheated on me. Signed his parental rights to his daughter away. The man who only cares about himself. You’re that guy, nothing else.”

  His cocky smile faded. “Rumors are going around town, saying you’re dating someone.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I don’t believe that would be any of your concern.”

  “It is when you’re raising my kid.”

  “Oh, she’s your kid now? Should I expect child support checks to be coming in soon, then? I heard you just had a windfall.”

  Tim took a step back, a look of pure horror on his face. The thought that he might actually have to pay for his child seemed to be a painful thought. What a prick.

  “What do you want, Tim?”

  “Are you seeing Truitt Carter?”

  My eyes widened in shock. Holy hells bells.

  Boerne wasn’t exactly a small town anymore, but clearly the rumor mill still worked like it had in the good ol’ days.

  “Excuse me?”

  “You know he’s a player, right? He wanted you back in high school. Bragged that he could get you to fuck him.”

  I glanced back into the house to make sure Liliana was still playing with Lucy. Then I stepped out onto the porch and shut the door.

  “My daughter is inside, and I don’t want her hearing the filth that comes out of your mouth.”

  He smirked. “It’s true. Why do you think I even asked you out in the first place? I thought you were a nice girl. I was saving you from that manwhore.”


  My mouth nearly dropped to the ground. “What? You saved me? From Truitt?”

  With a scoff, he said, “Yes, I did. Heard he was starting to sniff around you like the dog he is, so I moved in on you instead. I’m sure your brother was happy about that, saved you from his best friend who likes pussy too much.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. That was when I smelled the alcohol on his breath. He’d been drinking. Tim only had a mouth on him when he was two sheets to the wind.

  “Why don’t you take your drunk ass and get off my property,” I said, folding my arms across my chest. His eyes moved down to my breasts and caused me to drop my arms to my side. How had I ever been married to this guy? He made my skin crawl.

  Tim lifted his hands up in defense. “I’m only trying to save you from making a mistake, that’s all.”

  “The only mistake I ever made, Tim, was marrying you to try and get over Truitt in the first place.”

  That gave him a shot to his ego. “So you are dating him?”

  “It’s none of your business.”

  “Heard he’s making our daughter one of his fancy overpriced playgrounds. How are you paying for it? By sleeping with him?”

  Anger rumbled up inside of me, to the point where I really wanted to kick him in the balls. “She is my daughter, and yes, he is. My parents are giving it to her as a Christmas gift, if it’s any of your business. Now, I’m going to ask you one more time, get off of my property before I call the cops.”

  From the corner of my eye I saw my daddy walking over. Oh, Lord, please don’t have a rifle.

  “I don’t want him around you,” Tim said, taking a step closer to me. I didn’t move. Tim wasn’t a threat to me, drunk or not. I could probably punch him right now and he’d run home crying to his momma.

  “You don’t get to have a say in who I date and who I don’t date. Leave, Tim, now. Before something happens that you’ll regret.”

  “You heard her, Tim. It’s time for you to get on outta here,” my father said. He didn’t have a rifle, but he was holding a stick. I shook my head at him, and he gave me one nod, as if he knew as well as I did that Tim was mostly harmless.

  “Mr. Night. Good seeing you, sir.”

  My father gave Tim a once-over before he spoke. “I wish I could same the same. Son, I’m giving you thirty seconds to get your ass back in that truck and get the hell off of my property before I give you the beating I’ve wanted to give you since the day you picked my daughter up for that first date.”