Page 44 of Organized Chaos

He guided her toward the door. “You’re able to find humor in the toughest situations. When we were stuck in that house together, I freaked out. But not you.”

“Trust me, I was scared.” She shuddered. “Stuck in the dark with spiders and a potential serial killer. Worst nightmare.”

“I don’t doubt that.” Phillip’s grin remained in place. He swung their arms lightly between them and contemplated theceiling. “At first, I thought you were incapable of being serious. Then I discovered you have a keen mind and you’re serious about a lot of things.”

“Just not all the time.” She let the night air tease the hair away from her face and draw goosebumps up her arms. “Just when I’m trapped in a box. Or stuck underground.”

He chuckled and paused on the sidewalk that wrapped around the church building. “You’ve taught me to roll with the punches. I’m not quite to the point where I can toss my calendar or go exploring in abandoned houses. But I have learned that my fastidiousness is its own sort of prison.”

“I’m great at jail breaks.” She jingled the keys in her pocket. “I’m so good that I have to break into my own house.”

Her comment had the desired effect. Phillip’s eyes widened and his laughter burst out in a great guffaw. He put a hand over his stomach and shook his head. “That doesn’t surprise me.” He sobered after several minutes and wiped tears from his eyes. “We’re so different that you scared me. I said I didn’t know what to do about you, about this.”

“I’m scared too, Phillip.” The words burst from her. She followed the thought all the way through. “I’m the type of person who will take a day off work to go to the lake. I’m a procrastinator and day-planners give me hives. But I like you. A lot.” There. She’d said what she wanted to say.

Phillip stood silent. Thinking. She could almost see the wheels turning as he ran her words through. “I don’t want to give this up. You make me better. Our ability to laugh together is too special.”

The words were everything she’d wanted to hear from him. She wanted to trust that he meant them, but she read the exhaustion wearing him down and remembered that Phillip said a lot of things when fatigue like this hit him.

She guided him toward Tim and the others. “I agree. What we have is special. And what we need to do now is sleep and see how we feel in the morning.”

Once he was in Dwight’s truck and they left the parking lot, she let her shoulders slump forward.

Tonight was supposed to make her feel better, not worse. She’d thought that talking to Phillip would help clear things up between them. Now she was more confused than ever.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

After a long night of tossing and turning, Sarah made her way to the garage for a few hours of work. She picked at the flecks of paint dotting her fingernails and examined the toy box with a critical eye. It looked good. Bright and cheerful enough to make a statement and excite the kids while offering a safe place for toys. And it would no longer stick and trap a child inside, thanks to Sarah’s experiment followed by changing out the hinges for a new and improved set.

She paced around the garage in search of a new project. Nothing called to her today. The toy box was waiting to be picked up. The hutch and chair were finished. Maybe she should drive the chair out and deliver it to Rosie.

Then she’d have an excuse to see Phillip. They could finally have that conversation they’d put off.

She blew a strand of hair away from her forehead and tossed her braids behind her back.

The garage door rattled. “Sarah, you in there?”

She jumped back at the sound, hit the backs of her knees on the toy box, and tumbled onto her backside.

“Yep. You’re there. Everything okay?” Phillip’s voice cut through the space. He knocked on the metal door again. “Can I come in?”

“Just a minute.” She scrambled to her feet and brushed her hands down her rear and over her legs to dislodge any bits of dirt or paint. Not that it mattered. Phillip had seen her in every state of disarray. He never minded the paint or that she never looked pristine.

Settling a hand over her heart in the hope of steadying the erratic beat, she unlocked the garage door and heaved it open. Bright sunlight spilled into the space and made her eyes water. She blinked quickly to clear them.

Phillip held out a bouquet of pansies and irises. “These are for you.”

“Oh. Thanks.” She took the flowers and leaned in to sniff them. “You know, someone sent me flowers. In a pair of boots.” She watched him from under her lashes. “With an apology for running over our relationship.”

Phillip mouthed the words, his brows shooting straight up. He palmed his face and cackled. “No wonder I didn’t hear from you. The woman at the flower shop must have messed up my note.”

So itwashim. She’d suspected but didn’t want to disappoint herself.

A van pulled into her driveway and parked behind Phillip’s truck.

She shielded her eyes from the glare on the windshield and moved past Phillip. “They must be lost. I’m not expecting any pickups or deliveries today.”

“They’re not lost.” Phillip hooked her elbow in a loose grip and led her into the garage. He grabbed two chairs from the back of his truck and shook them open. “Sit.”

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