Page 48 of Never Really Over

She looks at me out of the corner of her eyes and swallows hard. “Good. Dalton’s fiancée Bridget is with her today.”

Tim laughs. “Who woulda thought Dalton would be a dad and husband.”

“Even he’s surprised,” Layla says. “Anyway, I think she can be alone, my mom, I mean, but it still makes me nervous. She’s still recovering, but she’ll be okay. She’ll be okay.”

It gets quiet for a bit. Her mom will be okay, but my sister and her husband aren’t. It’s unspoken, and it’s not Maureen’s fault, but it’s something I can’t help but think about. I hold Poppy a little tighter, thanking God that she wasn’t in the car with them when they got into the accident.

“Hey there, Poppy girl,” Brian coos. She giggles at the face he makes and reaches over, grabbing his beard and tugging. He laughs and leans in, blowing a raspberry on her neck. She squirms and keeps giggling. The sound is music to my ears, not only because I always love the sound of her giggles but right now because it tells me she’s feeling at least a little better.

“I put some meals in the freezer from all the ladies and Missy sent over supper for you guys for tonight. It’s nothing fancy, her words not mine because I don’t have a death wish, but Poppy should like the macaroni and cheese and the peaches are some that she canned herself. There’s sloppy joes and buns, too.”

“Sounds amazing,” I say.

“Put the peaches on vanilla ice cream,” he suggests. “Poppy deserves it for teething.” Tim smiles then sobers slightly. “You got this, man. I know it’s hard and things will come up that make you wonder how this is your life, but it’ll be okay. Just promise all of us that you’ll stop trying to do it all on your own.”

“He hasn’t changed much, huh?” Layla says, rubbing Poppy’s back. She looks up at me and continues, “You were always so stubborn and hated to ask for help.”

I roll my eyes and look over in time to see the guys all grinning, trying to hide it, though. They do a piss poor job of it. While the women had a hard time with Layla leaving, the guys literally welcomed her with open arms.

“What else do you need?” Drew asks, thankfully changing the subject.

“I’m good for tonight. Chores are done and I’ll work out here tomorrow again while Poppy naps.”

Brian groans. “You ain’t listening, man. What. Do. You. Need?”

I sigh, hating that everyone is right but hating to ask for help just as much. “I have to get the combine ready for harvest and the front-wheel assist tractor needs the oil changed. Nothing major.”

“We’ll be over this weekend, then. Get a list together and we’ll get all the equipment ready. Are your grain carts ready? The corn and bean head for the combine?”

I swallow and nod. “Was able to get those ready before Nat died,” I whisper. “Nothing major needs done, it’s just maintenance, ya know?”

“We know. But it’ll go quick if we all work on it. If you need parts for anything, let me know and I’ll grab them before coming home from work,” Tim says. He works at a John Deere Implement store as a sales manager only about thirty minutes from Hollow Grove, but still lives here, driving back and forth.

“Thanks. The guys came out a couple weeks ago and stocked a few things but I’ll take a look and give you a call if there’s anything else I need.”

“We’ll leave you all to it. Enjoy your supper,” Drew says.

We say our goodbyes and they leave Layla, Poppy, and me alone.

Now what?

Do I ask her to stay for dinner? It would be the nice thing to do since she helped me all afternoon. But is that sending both of us the wrong message? I don’t think either of us want to rekindle anything, but it’s still a little… odd. Or something. Maybe I’m feeling too much of everything today because Poppy was hurting and I suddenly felt like I was a failure. Or maybe I’m just a mess and will never stop thinking of Layla and me as Layla and me which goes against my thoughts of being single for the rest of my life.

Being around Layla is making me confused, that much is obvious.

She doesn’t want me. She wants someone who wears a suit and enjoys sushi on date nights. Not someone who eats macaroni and cheese out of a box and considers sitting in the back of a truck on a starry night the best kind of date night.

It’s Dalton’s fault for putting that damn idea in my head of us never being over.

Now it’s time for me to get my feelings under control. This can’t happen and I need to stop thinking it could.

Chapter Nine

Layla

Different ‘Round Here

Now what?Am I supposed to stay around a while? Play house and eat supper with Poppy and Colt? As much as I’d like to deny it, I’d like to.

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