Page 82 of The Lies I've Told
“You put this bird in every piece you make. It’s your signature. I remember seeing it in the memorial in Ocracoke and the piece in your bedroom that you made for the elderly couple.”
A sad smile made its way across my face. “It is,” I answered. “He gave that bird to me and made me promise to do amazing things with my life.”
“And have you? Done amazing things?”
I looked at her, so beautiful under the rising light of the sun. Smiling, I answered, “I think I’m about to.”
“What is he doing?” Molly asked, having just come in through the front door to find me standing in the parlor with a glass of iced tea in my hand, watching Aiden like a creeper.
“I don’t know,” I answered as she joined me, a sleeping infant in her arms. “That giant chunk of granite arrived on the morning ferry today, and, wow, you should have seen the tow truck that had to lift that sucker into the backyard.”
“What? Through my garden?” My sister suddenly looked panic-stricken.
“Relax. I made sure they didn’t touch a single rose.”
“Oh, okay. Well then, carry on with your story.”
I smiled. “Well, since the shed hasn’t been used since Daddy lived here, Mama offered it up as a second workspace to Aiden—you know, to store his tools and stuff since, apparently, he can’t work in the shed. Too much dust or whatever. Too small. Anyway, he’s been out there ever since.”
“And you’ve been standing here for how long?” she asked, rocking back and forth next to me.
“Since I noticed his shirt on that chair about an hour ago,” I answered with a wicked grin. “Do you blame me?”
“He is…I mean…well, damn,” my sister stuttered out a response seconds before we heard a throat clear behind us. Molly jumped, her hands surrounding the infant in her arms as she turned to see her very jealous-looking husband standing in the entryway. “Oh, hello, dear husband of mine. There you are!” she said, turning five shades of red. She turned to give me a death stare before scurrying off into the kitchen.
Jake rolled his eyes before his focus moved to Aiden outside. “Could he at least put on a shirt?”
My eyes followed his, and I resisted the urge to sigh at the sight of all those burly muscles glistening under the summer sun.
Damn.
“Sorry, Jake, I simply can’t allow that.”
His brows furrowed as his arms folded tightly across his broad chest. “So this thing between you two, it’s serious?”
Taking a sip of my iced tea, I turned as he joined me at the window. I tried not to show my amusement as he put his back toward the glass to talk to me, thus avoiding the sexy, shirtless male altogether.
“It is,” I said. “Or at least, it’s going that way. I mean, we haven’t picked out china or discussed living arrangements, but what I feel for him is definitely serious.”
His gaze shifted, finding a huge interest in the wooden floor as he let out a deep sigh.
“What, Jake?”
“Nothing,” he answered.
“Nothing? Since when have you been one to beat around the bush?”
“I promised Molly I wouldn’t say anything,” he confessed.
“Molly?” I said, my gaze traveling to the kitchen. “You guys talked about me?”
His brows lifted. “We’re just worried, Mills. You’ve known this guy only a few days, and with the way he stormed out last night at dinner, you can’t blame us for being a little concerned.”
Stepping back, my fingers clutching the cold glass in my hands, I asked, “Do you all feel this way? Mom? Daddy?”
He shook his head. “Your mom believes in you—that you’ve made the right choice.”
I let out a breath, my lip quivering as the air escaped. “But the rest of you? You don’t?”
