“I like that.” Tabitha mulled the words, and decided they rang true. Every time she’d simply jumped; taken a chance, life had moved forward in a satisfactory—but undoubtedly adventurous—manner. When she overthought things, shetended to tie her own hands and miss out on what might be interesting opportunities.
“It isn’t just me I’m worried about, though,” she mulled.
Because he’d asked, she’d share. Tabitha hated to keep bringing Sheila up, but her sister’s presence had been a relationship-killer for Tabitha, before. If Spencer was going to take a chance on something here, he had to know that she and Sheels were a package deal.
“It’s Sheila,” he replied before she could even clarify. “And I totally understand that the world moves differently for her. Even at our age—ancient in our thirties,” he quipped, “if we take a leap of faith with a new job or a new partner, we have the wherewithal to eventually regroup and move on if things don’t work out. Am I right in saying that it takes a lot longer for Sheila to adapt when situations go awry?”
Tabitha snorted. “You don’t know the half of it. Getting the wrong meal fordinnerhas sent her into a spiral in the past, and her mood can sometime last for days.”
Spencer squeezed her thigh again. “Then we have to be very careful how we move ahead. First, we’ll make sure that what’s going on between us is real.”
To hear him repeat her thoughts out loud gave Tabitha some much-needed breathing room. Thank God he wasn’t thinking of the situation they were contemplating as a slam-dunk.
Spencer sent her a side eye. “So far so good?”
She gave his arm a playful punch. “Do you always know just what to say?”
He let out a loud, “hah” and rolled his eyes.
Thathad her giggling.
“Irarelyhave the right words,” he admitted. “But with you, it’s strangely not that hard. I feel that we already have a…connection. Like if we’re not yet on the same page, we’re at least trying to read the identical script together.”
Tabitha nodded, because she felt exactly the same way. “Continue,” she urged, wondering where his thoughts would take him, next.
“Okay. Say we figure out in the next few days that we can’t live without each other.” He brought his hand up from her thigh to her curls, and tugged one. “I’ve already told you my next priority will be Sheila. I’ll meet her. My parents will meet her. We’ll bring her for a visit. We’ll take things as slowly as she needs before we uproot her to a new location.”
Tabitha appreciated his reiteration, as well his thoughtful take on the situation. More than he could possibly know. She’d been handling all-things-Sheila, by herself since their parents died, and having another grown-up involved would shift her burden. But…
“What if Sheels decides she can’t move?”
There it was. She’d thrown out the question that had been weighing most heavily on her.
Spencer didn’t hesitate. “Then I’ll move to Florida.”
Tabitha was speechless. Spencer’s whole life was here; his family, the seeds of a new business. And he’d throw that all away for…
“What would you do in Florida?” she asked reflexively. “You just came home.”
“True. But home is where the people you love, reside. Those individuals can be family, they can be friends, or they can be one very special someone.” His hand dropped back to her knee. “If you turn out to be that person, nothing would stop me from being with you.”
Frick.If Tabitha hadn’t been half in love with Spencer already, that sentiment would have her teetering on the precipice.
“Same,” she told him in a voice that sounded huskier than her norm. “Ifwe decide that what we’ve got is long-term-special,I’ll do my best to convince Sheila that Maine is where we need to be.”
“See,” he said brightly, pulling into a supermarket parking lot. “We’re already working together better than a lot of couples I know.”
Tabitha chuckled. “Yeah, well, don’t get ahead of yourself. You’ve heard of honeymoon periods, right?”
“I have,” he returned, using both hands now to park the truck. “But if we’re keeping things honest…”
“Yes, please,” Tabitha prompted.
“Then I don’t see anything coming between us that will be a deal breaker.”
Once he switched off the key, he held one hand up and counted down on his fingers. “You’re smart, you’re ambitious, you’re thoughtful about other people and their feelings.” Three fingers had gone down, and Tabitha wondered what the other two would do.
“You’re not afraid to stand up to me when I’m an ass, and,” he folded down his final finger, “you’re sexy as fuck.”
