“I know. So that’s how we ended up sitting there, and then finally I asked if she wanted a muffin, because that would get us standing up and get her fingers off me.”
“All right, so beware if the man asks me if I want a muffin. He might possibly be wanting to get away from me.”
“No. Not true.” He reached a hand out like he was going to touch her cheek, and then it dropped, and he smiled a little guiltily. “I want to touch you, but we made those rules, and I kind of insisted on them.”
“Yeah. I…thought about the rules and then thought about how unfair it was that Darla got to touch you and I wasn’t allowed.”
“Trust me. It wasn’t because I wanted her to.”
“Hey, you guys, why don’t you take a muffin? Seems like you had a pretty big morning, and… Summer, what I said before? He’s a good man,” Sunny said, handing them both a blueberry muffin.
“Thank you,” they said together as they each took a muffin out of her hands.
Gilbert waited until she left before he said, “What did she say earlier?”
“She was playing devil’s advocate with me. Because I told her about you and me kissing and how we had decided to slow down and make sure that we were building a foundation that didn’t necessarily include all the physical stuff right away.”
“And how did she take that?”
“She warned me that you might be saying whatever you needed to in order to get what you wanted. And that I didn’t know for sure that I could trust you, when I told her that I could.”
She said it so simply, like she did just trust him without him needing to do anything to earn it.
“And then I sat down with Darla and her grippy hands, and made it look like your friend was right,” he said as they opened their muffins and walked slowly along the street.
“Yeah. She did kind of hit me with that, but you came in, and I think when you talked to me in front of Darla, it convinced her that maybe I was right. Or she just thought about your reputation in town and realized that you didn’t get that reputation by not being the kind of man you are.”
“Well, whatever it was, I appreciate it.” He nodded at his truck. “I really did want to take a ride with you. I figured if I’m driving and sitting on one side and you’re over on the other side, it will be a little easier to just talk.”
“I’m down for that. Although, I have horses that are supposed to be here this evening. I got that text just a little bit ago, but with all the other things… I was jealous. I’m sorry.” She slowed down and then stopped, getting serious all of a sudden.
“I told you. I would have been jealous too. And probably a little violent. Unless I was able to get a hold of myself. I will work to try to make sure that never happens again.”
“And I will work to make sure that I can be nice even when my heart hurts a little bit.”
“I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“I know. I know that. You know how you have head knowledge, but sometimes you just can’t get your body’s reactions to go along with what you know?”
“You have head knowledge that your feelings don’t follow?” he said with a little smile.
“Yeah. Exactly.” They both thought about the discussion thatthey’d had earlier about how they needed to acknowledge their feelings but not necessarily live by them.
He walked over to her side of the truck and opened the door.
He held out his hand so he could hold her muffin while she got in.
“Thank you.”
“Sure,” he said, having already finished his muffin. He’d lost his appetite a little bit while he was leading Darla around.
He walked around the front of the truck, after closing her door, and got in.
“That was about the worst morning I’ve had in a really long time,” he said as he started his truck.
“It wasn’t my favorite morning either, but I think we can put that behind us. I’m looking forward to the horses coming, and I know the kids are going to be excited about it.”
“Can I thank you again for being so nice to my kids?” he asked as he looked in the rearview mirror. He turned his signal on and pulled out.
