Page 53 of Every Promise Broken

I gotta be smart about this.

Turning off my truck, I grab the sweater and toss a look over at my nana. “Where’re the shops you’re wanting to go to?”

“There’s one two doors down.”

“Okay, you go there, and I’ll run this into Whit, then meet you.”

The waiting room is packed as I walk in. Shit, he wasn’t kidding about his busy afternoon, I guess.

“Hi, Mr. Strauss,” Maddy greets cheerfully as I stop in front of the check-in desk. “Here to see Dr. B?”

Clearing my throat, I nod. “Yeah, he needed?—”

“Oh, thank god, you’re here,” Whit cuts in, rounding the corner. “You can come on back.”

Smiling at Maddy, I walk over to the door that leads to the back just as he’s pulling it open. “You okay?” I ask, even though he’s clearly not. As we walk back toward his office, I watch his hands fidget at his sides, and his steps are hurried but short.

“No,” he grumbles. “Today has been the day from hell, and the icing on top of it all is the dog that barfed all over me. My favorite cardigan!” I bite back the chuckle wanting to slip out as we enter his office. Closing the door behind us, he snatches the sweater from my hand. “Thank you for bringing this. I’m sure you were busy.”

“It was no trouble,” I offer. “I was in between tasks anyway. You caught me at a good time.”

It’s not lost on me that this is the first time Whit and I have been truly alone since the night in the barn three days ago. Aside from at night when we’re sleeping, Whit has done an exceptional job of avoiding me. I figured it would happen, but it’s still frustrating to witness, especially since all I want to do is talk about it, and maybe repeat it.

Okay, definitely repeat it.

Whit glances at me quickly before averting his gaze, slipping his arms through the sweater. “Well, uh, thank you anyway. I appreciate it.”

“You working late tonight?” I ask.

“Shouldn’t be.”

“Okay, well, I’ll see you at home, then.” I pause for a moment before adding, “I’m making steak fettucine for dinner.”His favorite.The twitch of his lips lets me know he’s thinking the same, but he just nods.

“What are you up to the rest of the afternoon? Going straight there?”

Huffing out a chuckle, I shake my head. “Nah. Nana is at a store down the street. She asked if we could go shopping.”

Whit’s brow quirks, a grin tugging on his lips. “You, shopping?”

I roll my eyes. “Yeah, according to her, it should be ‘so much fun.’”

He snorts. “I’ll bet.”

Sharing a look, moments pass, and the longer his eyes are on mine, the more I want to lean in and kiss him. How can something that I haven’t done in years still feel so natural? The air in the room shifts, and I clear my throat.

“Well, I’ll see you at home,” I mutter, and then I leave. There’s so much I want to say, to ask, but I need to find the right time. We’ve never been good at communicating, except it was usually me avoiding things.

Oh, how the tables have turned.

Walking down the street, it’s easy to find the store Nana was referring to. Strolling in, I spot her down one of the sections, looking at random knickknacks. She glances up as I approach. “What do you think about this?” she asks, holding up a coffee mug.

“I think we have plenty of mugs at home.”

Grumbling, she puts it back on the shelf. “What a typical man response.”

My chest rumbles with a laugh. “Well, what did you expect?”

“Whit feeling better?” she asks, changing the subject as she leads me farther down the aisle.

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