He nodded but he didn’t interrupt.
“And you know what? There’s no way to get past that. Every time I try to start the story, I end up deleting everything. Nothing sticks. I get too much into my head and…” She shrugged. “I don’t know what to do.”
Silence permeated the air around them. Even the critters seemed to be giving them a moment to digest her confession. Then she continued. “And don’t get me started on the fact that I worry my failed relationships will bleed into my stories andpeople will be able to tell that I have no idea what I’m talking about. Because you’re supposed to write about what you know, right? But what do I know? I’ve never had a really serious relationship.”
Then Tripp urged his horse forward. “I’m sorry.”
Her head whipped up and she frowned. “What do you have to be sorry about?”
“What I said about you being picky?—”
She sliced her hand through the air dismissively. “Don’t.”
“But—”
“Seriously. Honestly, you were probably right. Everything I’ve read has been romanticized for good reason. Those romance novels are fantasies. That’s why people love to escape into them. They want to believe there is a man out there who will love only them and once they get past the first hurdle, everything will be easy as pie. But that’s not how life goes. There will be several hard days. Over several hard years. Makes me wonder if that’s why divorce rates are up so high.”
He continued to listen to her. Just listen. It was exactly what she’d needed. The more time she spent with him, the more she realized that he might just be perfect for her. Was it possible that she could overlook the things that made her nervous to begin with?
Perhaps.
Because Tripp was showing her nothing but proof that he wasn’t exactly what she’d expected.
Far from it, actually.
She opened her mouth, tempted to ask him out on an official date even though she’d been so insistent that they couldn’t do anything more than be casual. But then that fear gripped her throat and she couldn’t find the words.
Tripp might have been showing her attention lately, but that didn’t mean he was a changed man. She’d told him that he could keep dating other people. It would allow him to scratch the itch he more than likely had.
He’d said himself that he was scared to settle down. Not once had he told her that he was brave enough to try with her.
Would it have even mattered?
She couldn’t say.
Wendy offered him a small smile. “Thank you for listening to me, Tripp. I really needed it.”
“Anytime,” he assured her. “Ready?” He motioned toward the trail. “We can head back, or we can keep going. Whatever you’re up for.”
She peered in the direction they’d been going. Then over her shoulder. Then back to him. “I want to see the lavender fields. They have to be close, right?”
He nodded. “Close enough.”
“Then let’s do it.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
The last severalweeks had been perfect.
Well, as perfect as Tripp could hope for. Wendy was still trying to maintain that wall between them. While she was content to spend time with him, flirt, and even kiss, she wasn’t inclined to go further than that.
Unfortunately, Tripp was quickly realizing that he was open to more. As terrifying as that was, he wanted Wendy to drop all her defenses and accept that they could be good together. Really good together.
To the outside observer, they likely looked like a couple. His brother and his cousins could see it. Serenity had given him more than one pointed look when he’d stop in at the antique shop.
It was just Wendy who hadn’t come to terms with the potential they had together.
Perhaps this was his comeuppance. All the years he’d kept women just outside of that relationship status had finally come back to bite him. Now that he was interested in a woman andwilling to risk his heart, the woman in question wasn’t willing to do the same.
