his shoulder and then frowned. “Okay, I missed some. Can't say my family had much of a yard to take care of growing up. I'm hoping to leave an expert.”
“You will be,” she said. As she was turning to go back inside, Bryce called after her again.
“I'm going to ask about this later, too.”
She wanted to know what he meant by that, but before she could get the question out, he'd already started up the lawnmower again.
Chapter Seven
Bryce liked living at the Henderlite residence. Mr. and Mrs. Henderlite reminded him so much of what his parents were like back when his mother had been healthy. They were older, but they had the affection and devotion of a young couple just discovering love. Many small kisses were shared in his presence, along with tender touches. He'd always wanted a relationship like that. Where no matter how much time had passed, the love never ever lessened. With Katie, if the gesture hadn't been grand, she hadn't seen it. Bryce, however, was a firm believer that the smallest moments were often the ones that counted the most.
He watched Mr. and Mrs. Henderlite wash the dishes together at the sink. The radio was playing smooth jazz, and Bryce felt an awful lot like a third wheel. It was a good thing he was on his way out the door to meet up with Arial. Usually at around eight every night he went to his bedroom to unwind before going to sleep. Getting himself up before dawn and working during the early hours took a lot out of him. Rather than take a nap in the afternoon, he spent it with Arial or her brother. By the time the sun went down, he was also ready for bed.
Even though he was exhausted, he was determined to go over to Arial's house. He craved time with her. It didn't matter what they were doing together; he wanted to make sure they were in fact together. He'd scooped out the stable for her sister's horse just because she had been within twenty feet of him. When they weren't together, Bryce noticed how much he was thinking about her anyway. He wondered what she was doing and how she was feeling. She was so close to him that he could easily check in on her any time he wanted to, but fear kept him from pestering her constantly. Hopefully she didn't think of their time together as annoying. Part of what made it so great was she seemed to be more relaxed and calm. They didn't have to say a word or do anything together. Being in her presence was more than enough to satisfy him.
I'm getting it bad for her. The more I try to stop myself from feeling so deeply for her, the more difficult it is, he realized. How was it possible for him to have missed his soul mate when she was right under his nose the whole time? Why did he have to let himself be so blindly devoted to a woman he knew was bad for him? Being stubborn might have destroyed his chances at having real happiness. Love was much more complicated than any movie or story depicted. Everywhere he looked, it seemed easier than it actually was. Easy would be a lot more preferable. His mom had always told him that anything worth having was something that needed to be earned through work. Love must have fallen into that category.
Bryce knew how to be patient. With Katie, he had been nothing but patient while he waited to see if she would ever want to settle down. With Arial, however, he would have to wait for the right moment to open her eyes to the possibility of them ever being more than friends. The thought still scared him, because if she didn't feel the same way, he would not only have to start from scratch, but he would also lose his best friend. She'd been so angry with him for doing her chores, which surprised him, since he'd done far more offensive things to her in the past that had been glossed over.
I'll find out tonight. Because what he was looking forward to most about the evening was finally getting a chance to talk. There were so many questions he had about her family and her new attitude. Ohio made them both different people. He could tell he had changed over the past handful of days, though his changes were more