It took ten minutes and a silent pep talk for courage before she finally opened her mouth again. “It seemed like you wanted to speak with me about something when I first came into the shop.”
“Now’s not really a good time.” Fiddling with the paper wrapper, Lance folded it in half, and then in half once more before chucking it into the open brown paper bag.
“Okay.” She could take the hint and wasn’t about to push. “We’ll get out of your hair then. I need to drop Laney off at my parents’ place before I head back to the Inn, anyway.”
“Sarah.” Lance’s hand shot out and closed around her forearm when she stood from the table. “Wait.”
The unexpected touch made her freeze, tension building in the air.
“I’m not sure what I’m waiting for,” she said, even as she took her seat again. “You haven’t said a word to me all lunch.”
“I’m not upset with you.”
Sarah wasn’t so confident she could say the same. Because shewasa little upset with Lance, if she could be completely truthful. She hadn’t appreciated the silent treatment, especially when all she’d been trying to do was help.
“I’m just frustrated with myself,” he admitted. “And with the situation.”
“By situation, do you mean us?” she asked pointblank. “Or the situation with your knee.”
“My knee.” Something a lot like panic flashed in his eyes. “Why would I be frustrated with our relationship?”
“I don’t know. It just seems like you want to be together, but you won’t let me do the things a normal girlfriend would do. Like taking care of you when you’re hurt, for starters.”
Lance speared his fingers through his hair, grabbing onto the short ends in frustration. “I don’t want to be a burden, Sarah.”
That was a phrase she was all too familiar with, as it was one that routinely came out of her own mouth. And in this moment, now on the receiving end of it, she finally realized how absurd it sounded.
“You’re not a burden any more than Laney and I are a burden to you.”
“I understand what you’re trying to get at.” His hands dropped to his lap. “I do. This is just…this is just different.”
“How is this different?”
“I’m not even thirty, and I’ve got a knee injury that more often than not keeps me from doing the things I want to do. It’d be one thing if I’d been hurt in the line of duty while heroically serving our country. Heck, I’d even take a sports injury. Something to give this ailment a little more meaning and context.”
“Itwasa sports injury.”
“Not really. I didn’t score some winning point on the football field. I fell into a hole. I was reckless, clumsy, and stupid. And now my livelihood is on the line because of it.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Sarah saw a dollop of bright red ketchup on her daughter’s lip, so she grabbed a nearby napkin and wiped it clean. Laney giggled, blissfully unaware of the tenseconversation between the adults and the heavy feeling in the room. Oh, to be a carefree child again without a worry in the world. What Sarah wouldn’t give.
“You can still run this place without doing all of the risky stuff,” she suggested.
“But I’m not sure that’s something I even want to do anymore.”
“Whatisit that you want to do, then?” This conversation was becoming a circular one.
“I want one last big adventure.”
She didn’t know what he meant by that broad statement, or where his train of thought was going. She just sat back in her chair, awaiting his next words.
“I spoke with Hector for a little bit the other night.”
“Hector from the retreat?” She bristled.
“Yeah.” Lance nodded. “He has a pretty epic trip planned to the Alps, and he’s looking for someone to go with him. Someone with the kind of winter sports experience I have.”
Sarah took a moment to collect her thoughts. She shut her eyes. Pulled in a deep breath. “Let me get this straight.” She opened them up again. “You want to go with Hector—a travel writer—all the way across the world and do what, exactly?”
