Page 73 of Sweet Trouble
Tag nodded, his normally grumpy expression lightening. Zane smiled gently and nodded too.
“It was the best,” Tripp declared.
“That’s why you never grew up, right, Tripp?” Tag teased him.
Instead of laughing, Tripp shook his head, took a handful of popcorn, and shoveled it in his mouth.
“Hey,” Zane said. “That’s for the birds.”
“This conversation’s for the birds,” Tripp said with his mouth full. “I’m going to find West real quick. I’ll be right back.”
He patted Jillian’s shoulder as he got up, reassuring her that things weren’t quite as awkward as she feared.
“You don’t always have to treat him like a little kid,” Charlotte said to Tag, giving her husband a tiny shove, as if to drive home her point.
“Well, look at him,” Tag grumbled.
“I think I like the direction he’s going in,” Charlotte said, winking at Jillian.
Daniel set the plate of zucchini bread on the table. It was hard to tell if he was changing the subject on purpose, but it definitely livened the mood.
“Mmmm,” Zane hummed appreciatively over a bite.
“Oh, Jillian,” Dulcie said. “This is delicious.”
“Alonso loves it,” Charlotte said fondly, watching her little one gobble up the slice she had broken up for him on her plate. “I’ll definitely need this recipe.”
“You know what,” Jillian said, getting up. “Gram actually sent the recipe along with me, but I think I left it in my coat pocket. I’ll be right back.”
“Oh, how nice,” Daniel said.
She hurried down the hall and saw that Tripp was chatting with another of his older brothers, probably West, in the living room as she passed.
When she reached the front door, she pulled her coat from the peg and felt around in the pockets for the little slip of paper.
“Are you sure she’s okay with it?” West was asking Tripp in the other room.
I’m not here to listen,Jillian thought to herself, focusing on finding the recipe as quickly as possible and getting back to the kitchen.They might not even be talking about me.
“Yeah, definitely,” Tripp replied. “We’re just going to keep it casual.”
The words hit her like a sledgehammer.
Here she was in his family home, falling in love with the farmhouse and everyone inside it. She had brought herchildrenhere.
And Tripp wanted tokeep it casual.
She was slipping her feet into her shoes before she even knew what was happening. She headed out the front door, pulling it closed behind her as quietly as she could.
She just stood there on the porch for a minute, looking out over the snowy fields, wondering how she could feel so awful in such a beautiful place.
Because I’m a fool,she thought to herself.And I’ve always been a fool when it comes to romance.
The cold breeze felt good on her burning cheeks and she sucked in a deep breath, willing herself to calm down and praying for the knot in her stomachto untangle.
Sure, she might have broken her own heart with her foolishness, but she wasn’t going to let it impact the girls if she could help it. She just needed to find a way out of here quickly, so she could pull herself together.
As if in answer to her prayers, the sound of children’s laughter met her ears, followed by the sight of Maggie and the kids coming down the hillside toward the house.
