Page 44 of Bursting With Love
“Invasive.” He met her serious gaze with his own.
“Yes and embarrassing. Demeaning.”
“Demeaning? Really?”
“Treat, stop it. You know what I mean. I’m an adult, and you’re checking up on me makes me feel like a child.” She paced in front of the windows, not even sure herself where she was going with the conversation or why she was saying these things.
“Savannah, I didn’t check up on you. I checked up on him. You’re my sister. My attractive, well-off sister, and there are a lot of creeps out there. I’m just protecting you.” Treat stood and came to her side. “What’s going on? What’s changed?”
She leaned against the windowsill and covered her face with her hands. “Oh, Treat, my life is such a fucking mess. I know you meant well, but Jack’s a nice guy, really.”
“Yes, I know.”
She looked up at him. “You know? I thought you just checked up on him, you know, his background, not if he’s a nice guy or not.”
“I did.” He leaned on the windowsill beside Savannah. “It turns out that his brother Rush is a competitive skier, so I called Blake. He knows Rush well, and…” He shrugged. “Jack’s a good guy. He was even awarded a Congressional Medal of Honor when he was in the Special Forces.”
“Of course he was.” Savannah sighed. “And Connor’s the hottest country singer around.”
“Vanny, what’s the parallel? Clue me in.”
Savannah pressed her lips into a tight line and narrowed her eyes, then shook her head, but she couldn’t keep her eyes from filling with tears.
“Oh, Savannah. You and Jack?” He laughed.
She swatted his arm. “It’s not funny.”
“No, it’s not. I just should have known. You’re the most bullheaded, competitive woman I know, and from what Blake said, Jack’s as stubborn as a mule. Of course you were attracted to each other.” He clapped his hands together. “Tell me what I can do? I assume from your pout that it was a tryst gone bad?”
“I don’t know what it was, but I know that I can’t get him out of my head,” Savannah admitted.
He looked into Savannah’s eyes with a serious face. “Then you know about his wife?” Treat spoke with the same paternal tone her father did.
She lowered her eyes. “Yeah. Just that she died. I don’t know how or any of that, and I know that the last thing I need is a guy who’s still living with the ghost of his dead wife. But, Treat, why can’t I get him out of my head? I mean, with most guys, I’m strong. I make them work to date me. Well, maybe not Connor. God only knows how messed up I am to have let him mess with my head for so long. But you know me. I’m not a pushover, and from the minute I saw Jack, I was….” She covered her face with her hands again and shook her head with a groan. “He’s this weird dichotomy of hard-ass and tenderness, and it’s frustrating and scary, and I don’t know if I should run away or run toward him.”
“You know when I met Max she was the same way.” His voice softened. “She wore a coat of armor so thick, I never thought I’d break through. But in those moments when we were close, I saw hints of her softness, and I knew I had to try.” Treat looked away, as if he were watching a memory unfold.
“I’m not sure it’s the same as the harshness that he has. He lost his wife, and I think he feels like he doesn’t deserve to be happy or something.”
Treat took her hand in his. “Savannah, pain comes from all different sources. We build up walls that seem like they’ll protect us, and we stay behind them, safe from the world. Or from our fears, or whatever shit we have going through our minds. And then someone comes along that causes a tiny crack in the wall, and suddenly there’s a stream of light breaking through. Pain is pain. It doesn’t matter where it comes from. It all hurts. And until the right person’s light shines through, there’s no impetus for change.” He placed his arm over her shoulder.
“So then what? We just never change?”
“Then we hide in our hole some more. But when the right person breaks through, anything is possible.”
“You could make dog poop sound romantic.” She rested her head against him.
“Blaming yourself for your spouse’s death is a big hurt, Savannah. He probably needs time.” Treat put his arm around her shoulder as she sat up.
Blaming yourself? “What do you mean, blaming yourself?”
“I thought you knew. According to Rush, Jack blames himself for his wife’s death. Apparently, there was a storm. He’d just come back from an extended tour and was exhausted. He let her go out in the car alone, and shortly after she left, the storm picked up and…”
