Page 34 of The Wedding Driver
He’d responded with a thumbs-up about two hours ago. That was a typical response. However, things had changed, and his messages back to her should have too, so it would have been nice to have something a little more intimate and personal.
Tayla leaned forward and grabbed her hand. “What’s going on with you?”
Dropping her phone back into her pocketbook, she sighed. No reason to lie to her sister. “Foster is acting weird ever since he spent the night.”
“You and he slept together?” Tayla asked with a high-pitched voice. “When did that happen? Why are you just telling me this now? And what do you mean by weird, exactly? I can’t believe you’ve been holding out on me.”
“This isn’t our business,” Gael said. “But now that the cat is out of the bag, I’d like to know the answers too.”
“The only thing I’m going to say about it is that I feel like he’s avoiding spending any amount of time with me. Like he might regret it or something.” Tonya held back the gut-wrenching emotion that filled her heart. Foster had warned her that he wasn’t sure about his ability to do a relationship. Or that he could go the distance. So had her grandfather. She’d gone into this with the idea that life came with risks. That being passive was no way to live.
But she didn’t think she’d find out so quickly that Foster would cut and run.
“Have you talked to him about it?” Gael asked.
“We’ve barely spent any real time together this week. I stopped by the worksite and brought him lunch. That was nice, but it was twenty minutes before something happened and he had to go. And he acted distant. I don’t want to come off as needy and scare him away, but I might have already done that.”
“We don’t have to stay.” Tayla smiled sweetly. “We can come up with some work emergency that needs our attention.”
“That would be awkward. Besides, who knows if he’s even coming now.” It wouldn’t be the first time that Foster stood her up, only in the past, they hadn’t been bed partners. He always had a reason. It usually had something to do with Victoria. Sometimes it would be because he couldn’t find her and he wanted to continue the search. Or it would be she was in a bad way and he wanted to check on her, making sure she had food and water. Other times it was because she was drying out and he had some hope she would get clean and sober.
Of course, there were times that Foster just went dark. She’d gotten used to all these idiosyncrasies about the elusive man, but that had been before they’d become intimate. Before he’d told her he cared about her as if she could be his girlfriend.
Now that she’d had a taste, she wanted more and she knew he might not be capable. That was something she was going to have to live with. She just hadn’t expected it would end as abruptly as it began.
“He’s here,” Gael said.
Tonya sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. She glanced over her shoulder, wishing she hadn’t.
He waved, smiling that dashing grin as he strolled across the main floor of the restaurant. “So sorry I’m late.” He leaned in and kissed her cheek, giving her shoulder a good squeeze.
The physical contact should make her feel better.
But for some reason, it didn’t. Instead, it only served to grate on her nerves, making her want to take him aside and either end it or get past whatever the hell was going on in his mind.
He shook Gael’s hand before sitting down. “The owners of the Mason project showed up on-site today and had Doug and Jim going over every detail. They asked if I could stay. It was really cool to see them in action. It was a bit intimidating, but I also learned a lot.”
“No worries. We’re just glad you could make it.” Gael reached across the table and poured Foster a glass of wine. “How long have you worked for Sutter and Tanner Construction?”
“I started very part-time five years ago, but these past two years they’ve brought me on full-time for certain projects and I’m thinking I might want to make it a career. They are willing to let me work around my wedding driver gig,” Foster said. “It’s a far cry from my family business and a high-pressure sales job, but I really like it.”
Gael laughed. “I never thought I’d go from Wall Street to fashion, but look at me now.”
“You are far from a fashionista, my love.” Tayla patted Gael’s shoulder. “While he has good taste in clothing, he doesn’t understand the first thing about fabrics or what goes well together. But he gets anAfor effort.”
“You’d be lost without me, darling.” Gael winked.
“That is true.” Tayla laughed. “But not when it comes to the sewing room.”
Tonya loved seeing her sister so happy. Gael had come into her life when her career was ripping at the seams. He helped her see what was truly important. He gave her the ability to follow her dreams without compromising her goals and destroying her relationships with her family.
He was truly a knight in shining armor.
“I’m glad my days of needing to be dressed up are over,” Foster said. “Even on wedding boat ride days, it’s jeans and a nice button-down shirt.”
“Speaking of which, I have some shirts I want to give you,” Tayla said. “From my new line. If you don’t mind being a walking advertisement for me.”
“Not at all, considering you have a sign for my business in your store.” Foster lifted his glass and took a sip. “So, did I miss any interesting conversation?” He rested his arm around the back of the booth, his fingers toying with the strands of her long hair.
