Page 11 of Until We Weren't

“I’m sorry she hurt you,” Amy said.

Faith stopped at the back door. “Me too,” she said sadly.

She hooked the trailer up to her truck and drove through North Austin and into the suburb of Hutto. Lush Fields had won the contract to do the landscaping for the model homes in this subdivision. The builder was pleased and as the homes were built then sold, they continued the landscaping. It had become one of Faith’s best accounts.

As she weaved through traffic she couldn’t keep from thinking about what Amy said about anger and the emotions that caused it. Faith was definitely hurt by Destiny’s actions, but she knew fear was what fueled her anger.

It had been months since she’d run into Destiny and this always happened whenever she did. A jumble of feelings resurfaced and the hurt came back just as intense.

It had been a little over five years since she’d first laid eyes on Destiny Green. Her dark brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail with little curly wisps framing her face. Those warm brown eyes held a sense of wonder and fascination, but also passion for what she was doing. Faith thought she was the most beautiful woman she’d ever seen.

When Destiny smiled at her, Faith’s heart would speed up in her chest and her stomach would do flips. There was something about Destiny that made her so easy to talk to. Faith slowly told her about her past and Destiny seemed to understand why Faith was cautious and slow to trust. She never pushed Faith, she simply reassured her with her words and mainly with her actions.

When they moved in together Faith thought she’d spend the rest of her life with Destiny Green. They were so happy and in love, until they weren’t.

She parked and hopped out of the truck with hot tears pooling in her eyes. It was time to plant these shrubs and bury these feelings once again.

It had been a long, hot day. Destiny was ready to be home and couldn’t wait to get in the shower to wash the day away. There had been problems at two sites today and with the added heat it made them seem even worse.

She had taken a back road home to avoid the traffic on the main highways in hopes of stripping off these dirty, sweaty clothes sooner rather than later. Several cars slowed in front of her and she noticed a pickup with a trailer pulled over on the side of the road. They were out of the way, but it still slowed the flow of cars that apparently had the same idea Destiny had of missing the evening traffic.

Destiny thought about stopping, but surely someone was coming to the truck’s aid. As she got closer, she recognized the woman standing at the back of the trailer staring at one of the tires.

She sighed loudly. “Well, fuck,” she murmured.

Destiny pulled her truck behind the trailer and watched in her side mirror for an opportunity to get out. When the flow of cars cleared she opened her door and walked over to help.

“Hey,” she said.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” Faith groaned.

“Yep, it’s your favorite person,” Destiny replied.

“I’ve already called Mark,” Faith said. “He’s on the way.”

Destiny nodded. “It’s not safe to stand out here where these people not paying attention can run over you.”

“I know that,” Faith replied.

“Call Mark back and tell him you have help. I’ve got an air compressor in the back of my truck and we can air the tire up. I’ll follow you to your shop. It’s not that far away.”

Faith sighed and to both of their surprise, she pulled her phone out and called Mark.

Destiny got the air compressor out of her truck and began to inflate the flat tire. “Hopefully it’ll hold enough air to get to your shop.”

“I saw a nail in it,” Faith said. “I was at a construction site today and must have picked it up there.”

Destiny nodded. “Were you at the housing development in Hutto?”

Faith nodded warily.

“You’ve done a really nice job over there,” Destiny said as she kept her eyes on the tire. “It’s beautiful.”

“Thanks,” Faith said. “What are you doing in this area?”

“Oh.” Destiny sighed. “Everything that could go wrong did today. We’re doing an apartment building right at the border of Hutto and Round Rock.”

“You didn’t have to stop,” Faith said.

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