Page 40 of Sweet Trouble
“I’ll think about it,” she heard herself say instead.
“Hot dog,” he exclaimed, hopping up from the chair and looking so happy she could only laugh. “I’ll take it.”
“Okay,” she said, rising and trying not to blush at the happy sparkle in his eyes.
“I’m gonna get out of here before I mess things up,” he told her, winking.
“I guess you have to be up pretty early for the cows,” she said.
“You guess right,” he told her. “And I know you do for the school. But if I have your permission, I’ll text you about getting together when the time is right for us both.”
“Okay,” she said, suddenlyfeeling shy.
Tripp was so tall, his shoulders were so broad, and he smelled enchanting, like a walk in the woods on a fall day. In that moment, she was sure she had never seen anyone so handsome in her entire life. It suddenly hit her that they were alone in the little sitting room, with only a small table lamp glowing in the darkness between them.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Jillian,” Tripp said, his voice a little deeper than usual.
“See you then,” she said, watching him pull on his boots and jacket again and head out into the snow.
She stood by the front window for a long time, gazing out at the snowy lawn and thinking. If what she thought was true about her past could change, then what did that mean about her plans for the future?
11
TRIPP
Tripp parked his truck a block from the elementary school and headed for the entrance quickly, hoping he wouldn’t run into anyone who wanted to chew the fat.
He and Jillian had been texting a little bit over the past week. And when he was at the house removing wallpaper from the living room on Thursday afternoon, she had come in to help. She told him that the girls were both at a birthday party, and claimed that she hadnothing to do.
He was pretty sure that someone as busy as Jillian could have found plenty to keep her occupied, but he was grateful for her help and even more so for her company.
They had spent the late afternoon and early evening laughing while they worked, having so much fun that he had eventually dared to ask her if she and the girls would like to go with him to the elementary school’s Fun Festival today.
He could still see the surprise and pleasure in her eyes as she said yes.
That doesn’t make this a date,he reminded himself.We’re just spending a little time together…
He tried not to mentally add the wordsas a family.But it was hard. The more time he spent with Posey and Marigold, the more he liked them both. Posey was easy to connect with from the start, while Mari was more introverted, but he got the sense that she was opening up a little with him.
He strode quickly down the sidewalk, past homes adorned with lights and evergreen wreaths. He was grateful that all of the nearby neighbors had shoveled the walkways, making it easy for everyone, young and old, to make their way to the school.
Sugarville Grove was good that way. They were all used to the snow, and also used to pitching in for each other the way that he helped out the Johnsons. Tripp was sure there were neighbors shoveling for each other in town too, which meant a safer walkway for everyone.
When he reached the school, he scanned the festival crowd out front and was relieved when he didn’t see Jillian and her girls already waiting for him.
Tripp was determined to show her that he was a man she could rely on. And silly as it seemed, getting here early so she didn’t have to wait or worry because of him felt important.
Being on time for a date never had been on his mind before. In fact, Tripp was pretty famously careless about timing. Mostly because it was hard to predict the end of a workday when you worked on a farm.
But if he was honest with himself, he’d never been this eager to impress a date before.
It’s not a date,he reminded himself.
But it felt like an audition, or an interview, at least. And as much fun as they’d been having, he knew Jillian was still deciding whether or not to get more serious with him, and he wasn’t taking anything for granted. Tripp was going to have to earn every morsel of her trust after what she had been through—both what her husband had actually done, and what she thought Tripp himself had tried to do.
He’d been hurt and angry when Allie explained to him why Jillian ran from him all those years ago, and if he was being honest, it still stung.
Sure, he was kind of a troublemaker back then. He had skipped class to wrap Mrs. Hamilton’s entire car in Santa Claus wrapping paper the day before winter break his junior year. He’d come to a sports award ceremony the following spring dressed head to toe as the Cat in the Hat, with a pretty spectacular makeup job, thanks to Allie. He’d even let a cow loose in the school once as a senior prank.
