I blinked, trying to clear the tears out of my eyes before Garrett caught me crying. It was silly to be getting emotional about the end of our stay. The week was over.
Folding my clothes, I thought through what needed to be done before opening the shop tomorrow. The refrigerator would need to be cleaned out, and the whole place would need to be scrubbed. I had my work cut out for me.
Garrett slipped up behind me and rested his chin on my shoulder. “Do we have time for a friendly hot tub soak?” Was he trying to delay our departure?
I wasn’t opposed to a delay. “We have to be out of here in less than two hours. So, we’d only have time for a short soak.”
“Good thing I already have my suit on.” He flopped onto the bed. “I’m feeling so much better. My bruises are nasty colors, but moving and breathing aren’t chores anymore.” He wiggled the fingers sticking out of the end of his brace. “And this brace lets me use my fingers. I hated that other one. I really missed using my fingers. It wasn’t that I didn’t like being fed, but it’s different.”
Laughing, I shoved the last few things into my bag. “I’m really glad you’re feeling better.” I sat down beside him and stared at his lips, imagining how they’d feel pressed to mine. What was I doing? Yanking myself back to reality, I jumped up and pulled my swimsuit—that I’d just packed—out of my bag. “Give me a second to change.”
“I’ll meet you out there.”
We’d gotten a lot of use out of that hot tub this week, especially considering that it was cold. There was a lot I’d miss about our little getaway, but the long conversations in the hot tub and on the roof were absolutely at the top of the list.
I’d enjoyed myself more than I thought possible, and it was because Garrett had let me decide what our friendship would look like. Not once during the week had he asked me to reconsider my promise. Around him, I could be myself. I didn’t have to risk anything.
A small part of me feared that leaving here would change our friendship.
I slipped on the robe and padded out to the hot tub, ready to eke as much friendship out of the week as I could get.
Easing into the water, I took one last opportunity to enjoy gazing at his chest. Even if it did have funny-colored bruises on it. “What kinds of cookies do you like? What kinds did your grandma make?” Selfishly, I stopped in front of him, knowing he’d wrap his arms around me.
He did. “My grandma made a mean snickerdoodle cookie. But I think my favorite is the good old fashioned chocolate chip cookie.”
“Soft or crunchy?”
He rubbed his whiskers on my neck. “Soft. That’s not even a question.”
For the next forty-five minutes, we covered a range of topics. Both of us were stalling. Neither of us wanted to leave.
I leaned back and kissed his cheek. “Thanks for a great week. If we don’t leave soon, they’ll charge you for another day, and it will mess up someone else’s schedule.” I walked to the stairs. “What time does your dad arrive?”
“They flew in last night. I had my dates wrong.” Garrett followed me into the house. “You can join us for dinner if you’d like. Ava always makes more than enough.”
“Not tonight because I have to get the shop ready, but I might take you up on that one night. Don’t say anything to them, but now that Delaney and Eli are engaged, I spend more evenings by myself. I know they don’t care if I hang out with them, but I don’t want to be in the way.”
“You are welcome on the ranch any time.”
Garrett tossed his bag into the truck, then turned to face me. Goodbye seemed like it would be easy when I said yes to this week, but now my chest tightened. I would not cry about this.
He brushed my cheek.
Okay, so maybe I’d cry a little.
“I’d like to cash in that raincheck for a hug now.” He opened his arms.
Instead of reminding him that I’d hugged him more than once during the week, I reminded myself not to squeeze him too hard. It was silly to be upset. He lived ten minutes away. With my face buried in the curve of his neck, I held him. “I’m glad I didn’t run over you on the side of the road.”
“You and me both.” With one hand on my back, he threaded his fingers into my hair with the other. “I’ve pelted you with thank yous all week, but I’ll say it again. Thank you for playing nurse, for closing your shop to take care of me, but mostly for being my friend. Texas feels a little more like home now.”
“You’re welcome.” I pulled back and wiped my eyes. “Usually I rotate my specialty flavors, but the pecan praline doughnuts will now be available every day.”
“I’ll remember that.” He cupped my cheek and smiled before letting me go and climbing into his truck. “See you later.”
It was good I had work to do at the shop. I desperately needed a distraction.
I tossed my bag inside the apartment, then drove to the shop. After my normal closing time, I’d take down my handwritten sign, but for now, I’d stay closed and clean up. Four was going to feel really early tomorrow morning. I hadn’t exactly stayed on my normal schedule this week.
The rest of the afternoon, I replenished ingredients and cleaned. I guessed that once word spread that I was open again, doughnut-craving locals would swarm to the shop. That would help make up for the lost revenue.
Not surprisingly, five minutes after Delaney’s store closed, she knocked on the front door.
“Hey there. I was hoping you’d stop by.” I was glad I could finally tell her why I’d been gone for a week.
She crossed her arms. “I want to hear about your week. This has to be a good story.”
“I am now at liberty to tell you what happened.” I went back to sweeping as I talked. “When I was driving home from my parents’ house on Thanksgiving, I spilled coffee on myself and pulled over to clean it up. I found Garrett beat up on the side of the road. At the time, I didn’t know it was Garrett because his face was really messed up and it was dark. You might want to leave out the part about how I didn’t know it was Garrett because if Eli thinks I picked up a stranger—which I totally did—he will give me grief about it.”
Delaney didn’t say anything, and when I turned to look at her, I laughed.
Her jaw hung open. “You aren’t lying. This is really what happened. That’s crazy!”
“It was wild. But then when I was trying to help him fill out paperwork at the hospital because he didn’t have any ID on him, I figured out who he was. He didn’t want anyone at the ranch to know what kind of shape he was in because he didn’t want his dad to cut his honeymoon short. They’ve waited like a year or more to go someplace.” I set the broom aside and grabbed the dustpan. “Anyway, I took Garrett back to my apartment, but someone was bound to see him. And Eli wasn’t going to leave me alone. He showed up just because I’d closed the shop.”
“He was concerned.” Delaney made a face. “Really worried because you hadn’t closed the shop since . . . you know.”
“Yeah. Well, Garrett rented a house for the week. I made sure he got his meds on time and made us food. We had a nice time.”
“And?” She grinned.
“That’s it. I don’t know what else you want me to say.” I didn’t give Delaney all the details about the rooftop porch and the private hot tub because I knew that my definition of friendship and hers weren’t even in the same dictionary.
Delaney’s eyes rolled so far up into her head it looked like it hurt. “We’re talking about the tall, muscular Garrett who has those blue eyes, right? Any sparks? Did you kiss him?”
I’d thought about kissing him a lot, but I wasn’t going to say that to Delaney. “No, I didn’t kiss him. We’re friends.” I sighed. “You know I don’t date. That hasn’t changed.”
“You haven’t dated for seven years. Whatever you were trying to prove to yourself, I think you’ve accomplished that. I think you need to leave the past behind and see what’s right in front of you.” She opened her arms to give me a hug. “The two of y’all would be adorable together. But I’ll be quiet about it.”
I couldn’t tell Delaney that I saw what was in front of me, wanted it more than words could express, but was terrified that I’d be a disappointment. Being heartbroken by a cheater was one thing, but being told I wasn’t good enough was rejection on a whole other level. I couldn’t handle that twice.
“Thanks. Besides Eli, I haven’t really had a guy friend. I thought it would be weird spending a week with Garrett, but it wasn’t. Not at all.”
“Sometimes you start talking to someone, and it feels like you’ve been friends for a long time even though it’s only been a short time.” She smiled. “I get it.”
“It is like that. Or at least it was like that this week. Now that we’re back to regular life, I probably won’t see much of him. He has a life.”
“This is a small town. I bet you’ll see him.” Delaney looked down at her phone. “Eli is on his way to the house. We’re going to watch a movie. Want to come?”
“No thanks. I’m going to finish up here and tuck in early. Have fun.” The last thing I wanted to do tonight was watch my very happy friends cuddle.
She left, and once again, I was alone with my thoughts. Tonight there would be no evening hot tub soak or late-night stargazing. It would just be me alone in my apartment. I’d never minded that before.
That night as I crawled in bed early enough that Garrett would laugh if he had any idea, my phone buzzed. After settling in and getting my covers smoothed out, I picked up the phone.
Garrett texted: I wanted to catch you before you went lights out. I’ve kind of gotten used to telling you good night, so good night, Tessa.
I tapped out a reply and hit send. What a nice surprise! Good night to you too. I just tucked in bed so I can be awake early to make the doughnuts.
See you soon.
His reply had me smiling.