“We can’t do this,” Ty said, shutting me out all over again. “You and me.”
“Why not?”
He seemed to pick and choose his words. “Someone would get hurt.”
“Someone. Are you talking about me, or Bret?”
In his hesitation, I willed him to say his brother’s name. I didn’t give a flying flip about Bret’s hurt feelings, but I did not want Ty to saymyfeelings were on the line. I did not want to be the only one in this with something to lose.
Finally, he said, “You.”
The word seemed to suck the air from the room. My pride shattered, and I paused a beat to gather up the shards. We weren’t together, we weren’t dating, we weren’t anything to each other. This rejection should be a little bump compared to Bret’s big reveal last year.
But my heart rocked like a boat taking on water.
I held myself together, but only just. “You want to pretend that kiss didn’t happen?”
He paused, leaving me one last glimmer of hope before he snuffed it out again. “That’s probably for the best.”
I wasn’t sure I could pretend. That kiss had felt like cracking open a door I wanted to throw wide and run through. But if his interest in me was purely superficial, as Bret’s had been, I wouldn’t rush headlong into fresh heartache. At least Ty had the decency to be up front about it.
“I guess I should go, then,” I said, steeling myself against the mess of emotions churning and roiling in my stomach. I would take this hit like a champ, even if I already felt down for the count. “You’ve got things pretty well in hand here.”
Ty walked me through the house, a silent storm cloud at my side, and opened the door onto black night. It felt like a lifetime since I’d walked across the threshold tonight, casserole dish in hand.
“Oh.” I turned back to him but didn’t quite meet his eye. “When you’re ready for the lasagna, heat it up for twenty minutes at three-fifty.”
“You can take it with you if you—”
“Don’t be a complete ass, Ty.” His mouth twitched, but he didn’t quite smile. Of course he didn’t. “I’ll see you around.”
His answering nod seemed to pain him, but I refused to read anything into it. I’d done that plenty with Bret, and had gotten everything exactly wrong. This time around, I would take Ty at face value.
No matter how much it hurt.
* * *
Pop lounged in his recliner, watching television with a glass of iced tea in his hand when I walked in. I gave a half-hearted wave, and he muted the sound.
“Ty like the lasagna?”
I bit my lip, not wanting to recap my night. “He’d already ordered pizza, so I left it for tomorrow.”
“That’s real sweet of you. It’s a shame William and Rebecca aren’t around. You know his mother’s gonna lose her mind when she finds out he got hurt and she wasn’t here to baby him.”
“I can’t imagine Ty would like that any more than he liked me hanging around trying to make sure he’s taking care of himself.” All my foolish efforts on his behalf paraded through my mind, driving the point home.
“Some men don’t like to be tended.” Pop squinted up at me, the lines around his eyes showing all the weather and age of decades working outside. “Then again, it probably depends on who’s doing the tending.”
“Well, he’s given me notice. I’m off the clock.” I did my best to pretend my heart hadn’t been bruised by Ty’s rejection.
Pop didn’t look surprised. If anything, this news amused him. “I think he’ll come around.”
“‘He’ll come around’? We’re talking about the same Ty Hardy, right? He’s the most bullheaded man I’ve ever met.”
“Is that right?” Pop’s eyes twinkled up at me like I’d said something else entirely.
I shook my head at his innocent act. He knew exactly what Ty was like, but I wasn’t in a mood to argue over just how infuriating Ty Hardy could be. I moved through the living room into the kitchen, where I found Jed leaning over the sink, eating a slice of pie held in his fingers.
