Shane’s attention had been caught by a butterfly perching on a blade of tall grass by his feet. He took a photo of it, not remotely interested in her babbling on about her life. Why would he be? They were surrounded by this stunning scenery, and she’d already sucked up enough of his patience today.
She took her water bottle out of her bag and waited quietly for him to finish taking photos. If they were going to be spending the next week together, alone in the wilderness, it was important that she respect his privacy and boundaries. And knowing when to shut the hell up wasn’t one of Krista’s strong points.
“But sometimes...?”
“Eh?” Krista paused the bottle halfway to her lips.
“You were saying, you don’t mind looking out for your sister, but sometimes...?”
“Oh!” Shane really had been listening. “Um...well, sometimes, it’s hard to relax at home when she keeps bringing deadbeats back. It feels like it did living with Mom, so I took on more clients at the gym, but working longer hours—”
“—is exhausting too, eh?”
“Yes.”Yes, it was.“And these past few months, we’ve also been so busy dealing with my grandmother’s estate. She died in January.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Thanks, but it’s okay. Grandma had a very good life, but figuring out what to do with all her stuff was difficult.” These past few months had indeed been busy, unbalancing, and Krista was not only tired, but also stressed and tense. Was it any wonder that she’d gone so batshit when she’d caught Ryan and Zoey kissing? She’d had no energy reserves to deal with that kind of disappointment. “I guess I just need a break.”
“Well, here we are.” Shane put his phone away and smiled at her. “Take a holiday, Krista, and treat yourself. Sounds like you’ve had a rough few months. You work hard. You’re a good person. You need some time out.”
“Thanks.” She smiled back at him, his kind words smoothing the frayed edges of her sadness. They also confirmed her suspicions that he really had goaded her on purpose.
They continued to walk toward the teahouse. The sun was high and bright, so warm on her face.
Take a holiday.
That had been her plan all along. A couple-y vacation with Ryan, and when he’d asked their co-workers to come along too, she’d totally, idiotically, missed the big fat clue telling her couple-y wasn’t what Ryan wanted. Not with her, anyway.
And the irony? Everyone now thought Kristawason a couple-y vacation—with Shane, thanks to his Instagram post.
Speaking of which...
She couldn’t resist it any longer.
“Has anyone reacted to the photograph of us?” she asked, uncomfortable that by “anyone,” Shane would clearly know she meant Ryan.
“I haven’t checked.” And he seemed in no hurry to get his phone out to do so, either.
Then his quick dismissal of Zoey this morning came back to mind. “You didn’t post that picture solely on my behalf to make Ryan jealous, did you? You posted it as a bigscrew youto Zoey.”
Shane kicked a pebble as he walked. “Yeah, but in all honesty, although I was annoyed with Zoey this morning, I don’t much care now what she thinks or who she’s with.”
“Over her so soon?”
“Nothing to get over. I’m not losing sleep over one lunch date and a handful of flirty chats.”
“It was more than that with me and Ryan though,” Krista said. “I thought...”That he’d be the love of my life. That we’d be together and have babies and live happily ever after.“I thought he cared for me.”
“And I’m sure he does. Just not in the way you want him to.”
Krista considered this. She’d let her crush rule her life these past few months, often changing her plans to fit in with Ryan’s so she could be close to him. But that hadn’t been Ryan’s fault. Sure, he could’ve made up his mind about her sooner, and he certainly should’ve told her about Zoey, but Ryan was a nice guy—he wasn’t a Duane—and they did get on well as friends.
But could she ever be just friends with Ryan?
Now was the time to accept that possibility, and like Shane had said, it was time to move on.
She didn’t want to make Ryan jealous. She just wanted to have herholiday. She wanted to enjoy herself.
