Page 75 of When We Were Young

“Do you want to try me?”

I’m trying my damnedest not to smirk, but it’s really hard because I can see the wheels turning in her head, and she’s trying to decipher if I’m serious or not.

“I don’t need you to take care of me.” Her voice is less confident than a few minutes ago.

“How about we just say it’s my way of saying I’m sorry for being such a dick your first day back?”

“You’ve already said you’re sorry for that.”

I sigh and roll up my sleeves.

“What are you doing?” The suspicion in her voice leaves no doubt that she doesn’t trust me, and right now, she shouldn’t.

“Getting ready to throw you over my shoulder and take you to the car.” Her eyes widen, and it’s almost like I can see the debate going on in her brain, deciding if she should come willingly or risk me following through.

“Fine. Let’s go,” she says. A minute or so later, we’re in my car and on our way.

Several minutes go by in silence as Lizette looks out her window.

“How are you liking it here so far in Aron Falls?” I ask.

“It’s okay. Nice. I’ve been really busy, as you know. But um, you don’t have to do this whole small talk thing. You don’t have to pretend to want to.”

“Why wouldn’t I want to talk to you?” I ask her.

“Sorry, forget I said it.”

I don’t say anything else for a few minutes, but then I can’t help it. The silence drives me mad. We used to talk so easily before everything happened.

“Did you get to see the progress the guys made today before the incident?” I ask.

“I did. I’m assuming you were here to check it out and make sure it was okay.”

“Yep. I’m giving them the go-ahead to take down the temporary supports tomorrow.”

“That’s great. I love how the beam work looks. As soon as I get the floor put in, I’ll have the tables delivered, get the countertop installed, and have the door dividing the two sides put up. Tad is going to do the countertop soon. Hopefully this week.”

“Who is Tad?”

“He’s my friend from where I used to live.”

“Really? A friend?” What is my problem?

This woman chose someone else over me all those years ago, so that green-eyed monster in me needs to check himself.

“Do you have something you want to ask me?”

“He’s just your friend?”

“I mean, we’re pretty good friends.” I hate the sparkle in her eye when she brings him up. We’ve pulled up to the emergency room, so it ends the conversation. It leaves me a bit annoyed, but it’s probably better that we don’t talk about Tad anymore. And what kind of name is Tad?

The ER is busy tonight, so we have to wait to see the doctor. When my stomach growls, she glances over at me and frowns.

“I’m sorry I kept you from your family dinner. If you want to go, I can hire a ride home.”

“Please stop. I’m not leaving you here. I’m fine. I wouldn’t have offered to bring you if I didn’t want to.”

She looks like she’s getting ready to pick a fight, but her face betrays her anxiety that maybe I’m telling the truth. I think that might frighten her more than anything else right now.