Lucky in Love

by Kelly Elliott

  “Does Will feel the same as you about me being here?” I watched her grab a sofa pillow and motion for me to rest my foot on it while she moved the ice therapy machine.

  “The only thing Will and I want is for Saryn to be happy. And we both knew she wasn’t with…he who will not ever be named again.”

  I laughed as I looked down at Liliana, then back up to Evie.

  “You know we just started dating.”

  She nodded. “And she’s practically moved you in! I think that’s a good sign.”

  I sighed and then focused back on Liliana. “What do you have there, darlin’?”

  Liliana climbed up onto the sofa next to me and looked at my knee. “Does it hurwt?”

  “Not really, your mommy is taking care of me.”

  She smiled a brilliant smile that nearly stole the air from my lungs.

  “I take care of you, too!”

  Liliana handed me a book, and I promptly opened it and started reading. I caught a glimpse of Saryn standing out on the back porch talking on the phone. As I read to Liliana, Evie put up the Yahtzee game.

  “I made roast for dinner and left some in the kitchen for the two of you. Liliana insisted we come over to see you before she went to bed.”

  “Nothing makes me happier than seeing my favorite girl,” I said. Liliana gazed up at me with nothing but love and trust in her eyes. That look reaffirmed my feeling: there wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do for her or her mother. Moving slow had officially been taken off the shelf, and I was going to spend as much time with the two of them as I could. I went back to reading as Evie headed out of the living room.

  The door to the back porch opened and Saryn walked in. Liliana looked up and gave her mother a grin. “Hi, Mommy!”

  “Hey, baby girl.”

  “Liliana wanted to come say goodnight and have a book read to her,” I said.

  “Where is Wus?” Liliana asked.

  “Uncle Ryan is going to bring Rus over so he can stay here and heal with his daddy.”

  There was no denying that news made me feel even happier. “He is?”

  Saryn nodded. “I told him it would be good for both you and Rus to rest together. You two can lie around on the sofa and watch TV all day.”

  I laughed. “That is never going to happen.”

  “Twuitt! Wead the book, pwease!”

  God, I loved how she made her r and l’s sound like w’s. “Yes, ma’am.”

  After reading two books, I walked with Evie, Liliana, and Saryn to the front door.

  Before Saryn walked out, she turned to face me. “I’m going to go tuck her in, and then I’ll be back. Please don’t go running or anything.”

  I glanced down at my right knee. It felt good not to have anything strapped around it and to be walking again. Saryn insisted I use a cane at least for the first few days, though.

  “I’ll try not to.”

  As Saryn, her mother, and Liliana made their way to the main house, I saw Ryan’s truck coming down the drive.

  I waited on the porch as he walked around to the back passenger side of his truck. He opened the door and lifted Rus out, then gently placed him onto the ground. He had a leash on so that he wouldn’t attempt to run. To be honest, he didn’t look like he even wanted to walk.

  “How is he?” I asked while they made their way to us.

  “He’s a bit loopy. I gave him a pain pill so he would be a bit more chill when I brought him over.”

  Rus managed to hop up the few steps and make his way over to me. I took the leash and gave him a good petting.

  “Hey, buddy. Looks like we’re two peas in a pod.”

  My dog simply gave me a small whine.

  “I’ve got his dog bed and stopped and bought a water and food bowl. I also bought him some food since I couldn’t get into your place.”

  “Roger should have let you in,” I stated.

  Ryan shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal. “No worries. I think Rus is just glad to be back around you. I’ve got a crate as well, if you want it.”

  “Nah, I think he’ll be okay,” I said as I extended my hand. “Thank you so much for taking care of him, Ryan. I really appreciate it.”

  He gave me a firm, quick handshake. “That’s what friends are for. You need help getting back in?” he asked with a quick glance over my shoulder and into the house.

  “I think we can manage, can’t we, boy?”

  Ryan nodded then stared at me for a long moment.

  “What is it? What’s wrong?”

  “She really likes you, Truitt. A lot.”

  I smiled. “I more than like her, Ryan.”

  “So I heard,” he said with a smirk. “Don’t you think it’s a little early to declare your love after the first date?”

  With a chuckle, I answered, “It was the drugs. But I am falling in love with her and Liliana.”

  “They’re easy to love.”

  His face went blank, and he looked at his folks’ house, then back to me. He looked conflicted about something and exhaled loudly. “Listen, Tim is still in town. Guess he was at the Rusty Nail last night talking shit. He’s telling people you and Saryn have been hooking up since high school.”

  “What!” I nearly shouted.

  “Yeah. I was hoping he would get his money and leave town, but it doesn’t look like that. I’m glad you’re here, because I have a feeling he might be trying to stop back by. I told Dad he needs to change the gate code, but he said too many folks have it and it would be a hassle. So, just a heads up.”

  “What’s wrong with this guy? He cheated on her, gave up Liliana. Why can’t he leave them alone?”

  Ryan rubbed the back of his neck and glanced toward the main house, obviously to make sure Saryn wasn’t on her way back.

  “Tim had a thing against you in high school, I’m not sure if you knew that or not.”

  “I’m beginning to see that, but no, I had no idea back then.”

  “Apparently, last night he got a little too drunk and started spewing out all this shit about you to Shay, who happened to be at the bar. How you were the high school football star. How you had any girl you wanted, but the one you wanted most was out of reach. He told Shay that you swore you were going to take Saryn’s virginity and would stop at nothing to do it.”

  “I never told that fucker that,” I quickly said.

  “Dude, I know you didn’t. Anyway, he went on to tell Shay that he felt it was his duty to protect Saryn. That he never really loved her, just wanted to keep her from you.”

  “This isn’t new information, Ryan.”

  “Yeah, well this next bit is. He also told her that Liliana is your kid, not his.”

  I nearly stumbled back and lost my balance. Ryan reached out and steadied me again.

  “He said what! Why in the hell would he say that?”

  “Because he’s an asshole, and I think he’s trying to stir up shit about Saryn. Get people talking about y’all, because he’s not happy Saryn has adjusted to life without him. Of course, Shay didn’t believe him. He doesn’t know that you and Shay have…”

  “Had,” I clarified.

  “Right, had. He doesn’t know y’all had a friends-with-benefits thing going on. Shay called me this morning to tell me what Tim was saying. She thought you’d want to know.”

  My hand scrubbed down my face. “What in the fuck is wrong with this guy?”

  “Saryn also told me earlier that she left her job because they were moving her back to the ER. That’s not true. I called Pete and asked him. Tim showed up at her job today and caused a scene. Saryn was so embarrassed, she simply apologized and stepped down from her position when her boss called her into her office. Pete asked me not to let Saryn know that he told me the truth.”

  I stood there, unable to say anything.

  “Why in the world is he stirring up trouble?” I finally asked.

  Ryan lifted a brow. “Do you really need me to answer that?”

  “Because she’s move
d on without his ass?”

  He nodded.

  I glanced back at the house and saw Saryn making her way toward us. “Are you busy tomorrow morning?”

  Ryan shook his head. “Nope. We’re not running any dude ranch stuff this month, and I can step away for a few hours in the morning.”

  “Good. Come by tomorrow morning and pick me up, will you? I need to check on Liliana’s playhouse setup, and I think it’s time you and I paid a visit to Tim.”

  A wide smile erupted across Ryan’s face. “I agree.”

  “What do you agree on?” Saryn asked as she bent down and gave Rus some kisses and a gentle hug.

  “That Truitt shouldn’t be driving with his knee.”

  Saryn looked up at me. “No, you shouldn’t be at all, not until you go back next week for your follow-up.”

  “I’m going to stop by tomorrow and pick him up so he can check on a few things at work.”

  One very upset Saryn placed her hands on her hips and glared at me. “You had surgery yesterday on your knee, Truitt. You’ve been so overworked and exhausted that you slept nearly the whole day away.”

  “And I feel so much better because of you. I promise I won’t be gone long. I only have two things I need to take care of.”

  She sighed and then looked at her brother. “You’ll come get him and make sure he doesn’t do too much?”

  Ryan crossed his heart with his finger. “I promise. I’ll be his wingman.”

  Our eyes met, and a knowing smile passed over each of our faces.

  “Come on, Rus, let’s get you inside and settled,” Saryn said. “You, too, Truitt.”

  “Tomorrow morning, around what time?” I asked.

  “I’ve got to ride the north fence line with Dad, but that won’t take us long, so I’ll come around eight?”

  “Sounds good,” I said, reaching my hand out once more for Ryan’s. “Thanks for having my back.”

  He nodded. “You know what I want in return,” he said as he motioned toward the house.

  “I know. You have my word. I have no intentions of hurting either one of them.”

  Truitt

  AFTER RYAN LEFT, I made my way back into the house using the stupid cane. I hated to admit it, but it helped. I could hear Saryn in the kitchen, so I made my way there. She was heating up her mother’s roast.

  “Where’s Rus?” I asked as I sat down on the barstool.

  “He’s in my bedroom. I put his dog bed in there with a soft blanket on it. He laid right down and drifted off to sleep. Poor baby. I wish I could put the ice therapy machine on him.”

  “You seriously thought about it, didn’t you?”

  She chuckled. “Yes. If I had two, I would. Want some roast?”

  “Roast sounds amazing. Need any help?”

  “Nope, you just sit there and stay off your knee for a bit.”

  I did as she said and watched as she moved about the kitchen. Ryan’s words replayed in my head. I wasn’t sure if I should bring up Tim or not. Saryn looked so happy, and the last thing I wanted to do was ruin the mood by bringing that dickhead into the conversation.

  An hour later, I was sitting back on the sofa flipping through the TV while Saryn cleaned up the kitchen. She wouldn’t let me help at all. She nearly dragged me back into the living room to sit.

  With a smile, I thought about how easy it was to talk to Saryn. During dinner we’d talked about everything from the process I go through to build a playhouse, to our favorite movies and where we saw our lives in ten years.

  I felt the electricity in the air change the moment she walked into the room.

  “Anything good on?” she asked as she sat on the sofa, tucked her feet under her, and snuggled up next to me.

  God, I could really get used to this.

  I didn’t want to say it felt like we were playing house, but I imagined that life would be pretty much like this if things worked out between us. I already knew I wanted to settle down and start a family.

  “I was just flipping through, not really paying attention.”

  “Oh! The History Channel, can we leave it on this?”

  With a smile, I set the remote down and then kissed her on the forehead. “It’s your house, sweetheart, we can watch anything you want.”

  She snuggled in closer, then pulled back some, as if the idea of simply relaxing was foreign to her. “Do you need a pain pill? Maybe we should put the ice back on your knee, you’ve had it off for a bit.”

  The dull ache in my knee had been steadily growing, and the thought of ice numbing it sounded pretty damn good.

  “No pain pill, but maybe the ice.”

  Saryn jumped into action, grabbing the ice therapy machine to dump out the melted ice and refill it with fresh ice and water.

  “I’m going to check on Rus while I’m up!” she called out.

  “Don’t let him talk you into a treat with his sad puppy dog eyes!” I cried out.

  I was soon sucked into a show about the pharaohs’ tombs in Egypt. I hadn’t noticed Saryn wasn’t back yet until a sharp pain in my knee caused me to stand up and move it about a bit. The last thing I wanted was for my knee to get stiff from not using it.

  “Sorry, Rus needed some extra love,” she said, coming back into the room.

  I snarled my lip at her. “What?”

  She attempted to hide her smile and failed. “Poor baby, he can’t say when the pain is too much. I gave him some of the roast and then a pain pill and told him to rest for a bit. We need to be sure and take him out before we go to bed.”

  It wasn’t lost on me how normal this all sounded. As if the three of us had lived together for months now.

  “I can’t believe I’m jealous of my dog right now,” I said with a slight pout.

  A sexy smile grew across her face. “Do you need some extra special attention, too?”

  Even though every ounce of me wanted to be inside her, I also just wanted her to sit down next to me so we could watch The History Channel together.

  “How about you snuggle up next to me again and we learn about dead pharaohs?”

  “That sounds amazing.” Once she was settled next to me and her head was against my arm, I found myself relaxing like I had never relaxed before.

  “This is something I could really get used to,” she whispered.

  I took her hand in mine and laced our fingers together. “I thought the same exact thing a few minutes ago.”

  She looked up at me as I gazed down at her. Something in her eyes changed and she suddenly looked sad.

  After a deep, steady inhale of air, she started to speak. “Tim is causing problems and I’m not even sure where to begin with telling you the lies he’s made up about both of us.”

  I placed my finger on her chin and brought her eyes back up to look into mine. “I don’t care what he’s said or who he’s said it to. If people want to believe the rumors, let them. Liliana is still young enough that it won’t affect her, and who knows, maybe someday she actually will be my daughter.”

  Her eyes grew wide. “You know about what he’s been saying?”

  With a nod, I leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. “He’s an idiot who doesn’t deserve to even be called a father to Liliana. Let him get it all out of his system. He’s bound to head back to Dallas any day now.”

  “But, Truitt, if parents hear rumors about you that aren’t true, they won’t hire you to build their kids’ playhouses.”

  “If people want to act like that, then I don’t want to build for them. Saryn, everyone knows you’ve been in Dallas this whole time and I’ve been here. When in the hell would we have time to have an affair?”

  “I know it’s so stupid, but there was a nurse at work who asked me if Liliana was really your baby. She heard it from Tim himself at a mutual friend’s holiday party. Why would he tell people such a lie?”

  “Attention? Maybe he’s upset you’ve moved on, especially with me.”

  She nodded and then frowned. “It doesn’
t make any sense, though. He didn’t want to be married to me any more than I wanted to be married to him. Why is he doing this all of a sudden?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe his single life isn’t all he thought it would be.”

  “Well, I’m just really sorry he’s saying all of this. He’s already cost me my job. I sort of lied to Ryan about why I left my job. Tim came in and caused a huge scene. I was devastated, and the way the other employees were looking at me, I couldn’t stand the thought of staying there. It just feels like I left Dallas to get away from him, and all the drama seems to have followed me here. If we hadn’t gone out…”

  “Don’t say what you’re about to say. Don’t make what’s happening between us seem like a mistake. He’s already robbed us of enough time together, he won’t get anymore.”

  She gave me a weak smile. “I don’t think it’s a mistake at all. I don’t know how to explain how I know this so soon, but I know it with all my heart. You’re the person I’ve been searching for this whole time, Truitt.”

  Moving her body so that she straddled mine, I cupped her face. “Then let’s not worry about he whose name shall not be spoken. And maybe we should kiss. A lot.”

  Her nose crinkled up in the most adorable way. “What happens when we get tired of kissing?”

  “Let’s see,” I said, lifting my eyes up as if in thought. “We could either watch the dead pharaohs, or we take ourselves to your bedroom and get creative with lovemaking.”

  “I think I have an even better idea. Let’s give your knee a few minutes on the ice, then let me take you to bed where I can kiss and make love to you.”

  A small bark came from the living room entrance. We both turned to see Rus standing there, barely putting any weight on his back right leg.

  Saryn nearly threw her body off of me and rushed over to him. “Oh, baby boy! Do you need to go potty?”

  Rus’s tail wagged slightly, and Saryn rushed to go get his collar.

  “Dude, are you trying to cockblock me?” I asked as I gave him a stern look. He whined and looked away.

  “Wow. Okay. Next time you’re at doggy daycare I’m going to tell them to keep you in the restricted area.”