Tristan glanced over at Shayna’s shadowy form in the passenger seat. He hoped that she and Timothy had enjoyed the evening. He was so grateful to Maya and Hannah for welcoming Shayna the way they had. Even Sammi, though she’d been distracted most of the evening with the care of her twins, had been friendly with her.
There had been too many people there for her to speak with each of his siblings or their spouses, but of all of them, Maya and Hannah were a good place to start. He hoped that there might be a time in the future for her to meet the others.
For once, there was silence from the back seat. “Is Timothy asleep?”
Shayna shifted to look over the center of the seat. “I can’t really tell, but I’m going to assume he is since he’s not giving us a rundown on the time he spent with Benjie and Elliot.”
“Was tonight okay for you? Not too overwhelming?” Tristan asked, needing to be sure that she wasn’t upset by anything.
“No, not too overwhelming. It was nice to meet more members of your family.”
“But?” Tristan sensed there was more to what she was saying.
“I was surprised to see Erin and Noella,” she said, speaking slowly, as if afraid what he might think of her comment.
“I guess I didn’t think about them being there,” Tristan told her. “They’ve been friends of the family for several years. I remember them telling us about your…about Lorne’s death.”
“I’m afraid they’re not my biggest fans,” Shayna said.
He tried to read something in her tone, but there was nothing. “Why is that?” When she didn’t answer right away, Tristan figured she didn’t want him to know. “You don’t have to tell me.”
“They just felt that Lorne made bad decisions when I was involved in his life. That if I’d just stayed at home with my family, Lorne would have had a chance for a better future.”
“Why would they think that?”
Shayna’s sigh was loud in the cab of the truck. “Lorne was very protective of me. When I was on the street, he was right there beside me. Even though he had a safe, warm place to live, he gave that up to be with me.”
“And they felt that was wrong,” Tristan stated.
“Yes. They did. They said that I needed to go back home so that Lorne would stay in the foster home. They felt he’d be better off without me in his life.”
Tristan frowned as he looked out the windshield, making note, as he did, of the snow that was falling lightly on the highway. “That’s not really their call though, is it? I mean, that was Lorne’s choice.”
“They felt that while Lorne was busy protecting me, there was no one to protect him. That he gave up the protection of the foster home in order to protect me.”
“And how do you feel about that?”
“They weren’t wrong, but when I tried to get Lorne to go back to the foster home, he refused.” She hesitated. “But I guess he would have gone back if I had stayed off the streets.”
“You can’t live in the past, Shayna,” Tristan told her, glancing over at her and wishing he could see her face. “And they shouldn’t dwell on it either. Maybe it’s time to make peace with them.”
Again, she took her time replying. “And if I don’t? Is that a deal breaker for you?”
“What?” Tristan tightened his grip on the steering wheel. “No. Not at all. I just don’t want you to be weighed down by stuff like that. I only know Erin and Noella now, and they’ve always seemed to be very nice. Erin’s husband, James, helped Ethan gain custody of his sister, Sierra.”
“I don’t want to place you in a difficult position because of my past with Erin and Noella. Maybe there will be an opportunity to talk things through at some point, but I’m just not sure what good it would do.”
“I’m not going to force you to do anything, Shayna. Not at all. If you don’t want to deal with it, that’s your choice. It won’t impact our…uh…friendship. I’m not going to tell you that you have to deal with this or else. Never that.”
“Thank you,” Shayna said. “I’m just not sure it will make any difference, and I’m not interested in digging that all up right now.”
“Aside from that, you enjoyed the evening?” Tristan asked, eager to leave the subject of Lorne and the past behind.
“I did, and I think Timothy did too. It was definitely better than what we would have had at home. Especially this year with Lisa gone. Thank you for including us.”
Tristan hoped that her desire to be there that evening was more than just not wanting to be alone. If that was all it had been, especially after their dinner, then there really was no use in holding out hope for something more.
Shayna fell silent, and Tristan wasn’t sure what more to say. Instead, he let the music from the radio chase the silence from the truck as his thoughts focused in on the one thing at the forefront of his mind.
What was it about Shayna that drew him to her, and what was he going to do if she didn’t return those feelings of attraction?
Unfortunately, he still had no answers by the time he pulled into Shayna’s driveway.
“Why don’t you go open the door?” he said. “I’ll get Timothy out and carry him up to his room.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I know, but there’s no sense in waking him if we don’t have to. I know I’m not the strongest man around, but Timothy isn’t the biggest eight-year-old either. Let’s just say we’re evenly matched. Plus, I managed to get him up there once before.”
“True. I’ll go open the door.”
Tristan went around and opened her door to help her down. As she hurried to the front door of the townhouse, Tristan pulled open the back door of the truck to find Timothy sound asleep with his head tipped back against the seat. Tristan leaned in and unsnapped the seatbelt, carefully moving it to the side before sliding one arm under Timothy’s knees and the other around his shoulders. After closing the truck door with his shoulder, Tristan made his way to where Shayna waited.
Shayna held the door open as they approached. Tristan managed to slip off his boots without losing his balance then followed Shayna up both flights of stairs to the top floor. He noticed a few more things on this trip into Timothy’s room. Things like how, aside from a Spiderman bedspread, there was nothing décor-wise that really identified the room as belonging to a young boy.
There was a small bookcase that had several books on the top shelf. The middle shelf held what looked like a tub of Lego. Several board games sat on the lowest shelf. When he compared that to the large cupboards in the family room and rec room that had held their toys and books when he was younger, Tristan wasn’t sure whether to feel embarrassed that they’d had so much or sorry that Timothy had so little.
He watched as Shayna quickly pulled off Timothy’s winter wear and then the clothes he’d worn for the evening. Once she’d covered him, Tristan left the room and waited in the hallway as she turned off the light.
They walked down the stairs, and while Tristan might have liked to linger for a talk, it was late. He could sleep in the next morning as long as he needed, but she’d have to be up whenever Timothy got up.
At the door, Tristan put his boots back on then straightened. With his hand on the doorknob, he smiled and said, “Happy New Year.”
Shayna returned his smile then, after what appeared to be a brief hesitation, she stepped closer to him. Her hand closed around his wrist as she leaned up to press a kiss to his cheek. “Happy New Year, Tristan.”
Well, maybe she hadn’t been there just so she and Timothy didn’t have to spend New Year’s Eve alone after all.
“I’ll give you a call.” He lifted his hand to touch her cheek then turned to open the door.
“Please drive safely,” Shayna said, her words following him out into the cold night air.
Tristan glanced back just to catch one last glimpse of her before she shut the door. He didn’t linger, and his steps were lighter as he made his way back to the truck. As he drove home, he began to think that maybe the year ahead was going to be wonderful in ways he hadn’t imagined.
Shayna stared at the car as she tugged the collar up around her ears. Even her scarf wasn’t doing much to keep the cold at bay. She shoved her hands into the pockets of her coat—the wonderfully warm coat Tristan had given her for Christmas—and turned to face him.
“What do you think?” he asked. “I can vouch that it runs well. Finn goes over each vehicle with a fine-tooth comb to make sure of that.”
“Noella’s Finn.”
Tristan nodded. “Yes. He’s married to Noella.”
“Does she know that he’s helping me get a car?” She reached out to touch the silver reflective surface of the vehicle. If Noella didn’t want her to have the car, Shayna wouldn’t take it.
“I would assume so. I told Finn that I wanted him to keep an eye out for a car for you. I’m sure that he shared that information with Noella. That’s what married couples usually do, isn’t it?” He paused then added, “You would know about that better than me.”
Shayna nodded as she turned back to the car. She really wanted it. It was an SUV crossover which meant it would be safer than the vehicle she’d had before the accident. And it was within her budget. She’d taken some of the money she’d been saving up and added it to the insurance payment so that she’d have enough.
Even so, she was pretty sure she was getting a break on the cost of the vehicle. Either Tristan or Finn were subsidizing the price. They had to be. But she wasn’t going to argue with them about it. If they were doing it out of compassion and generosity, she would accept it because this vehicle would help her keep Timothy safe.
She hadn’t been able to get him into the new school—yet—so buying this vehicle felt like she was at least doing something to better his life. Tristan had told her she could keep his car indefinitely, but she wasn’t comfortable doing that to him.
“Is the color okay? I know you said no red or yellow, but you didn’t say if silver would be okay.”
Shayna smiled as she turned to Tristan. “I don’t think I can be too picky about things like colors. And even if I could, this color would be perfect.”
“So do you want to get it then?” Tristan asked. “Or did you want to make sure that Noella knows that Finn is selling it to you?”
She considered his question, but something told her that even though Noella might not like her, she wouldn’t begrudge her a new vehicle. No matter what they thought of her, they had all loved Lorne and, by default, Timothy.
“I think it would be the perfect car for us.” She looked at him where he stood next to her, his breath coming in white puffs in the cold air. “Don’t you think?”
“I do think that,” Tristan said. “Let’s go inside and talk to Finn.”
When they approached the entrance to the building, Tristan pulled open the door and stood back to let her enter. She was immediately assaulted by the odor of oil and rubber, and the muffled sounds of machines whirring.
“Hey,” Finn said as he looked up from the desk he sat behind. He got to his feet and motioned to the chairs on the other side of the desk. “What did you think of the car?”
After they were all seated, Shayna waited for Tristan to relay their conversation from outside, but instead, both men just looked at her. “Oh. Well, I think the car is perfect.”
“Excellent!” Finn leaned back in his chair, his hands steepled in front of him. “So we just need to get the paperwork in order. Once we’ve done that, you can go to the insurance office—there’s one just down the street—and get your plates.”
Shayna couldn’t believe how smoothly everything went. She’d thought she would have to go to her bank to get a certified check, but Finn said he was happy to take a personal one from her. Obviously he was willing to place faith in her character that his wife was not.
After they had done all they could there, Tristan drove her to the insurance office where she got what she needed for the car, and then it was back to the garage. Finn had one of his guys put the new plates on while they waited in the office.
“I’ll follow you back to the townhouse,” Tristan said.
Sierra had come over with Tristan earlier and was there now with Timothy. She knew he would be excitedly waiting for her to return with the car.
“Would you like to stay for dinner?” Shayna asked. “We could order pizza or something.”
“Sure,” Tristan said with a smile. “We could do that.”
When she got behind the wheel and started the vehicle, Shayna felt a rush of satisfaction. During the test drive, she’d still been nervous and not quite sure, but now that the car was officially hers, all she felt was relief and gratitude.
All the way home, she only had to glance in her rear-view mirror to see Tristan’s truck behind her. It made her smile to see him there. Ever since New Year’s Eve three weeks earlier, they’d spent quite a bit of time together. And when they weren’t together, they were texting or talking on the phone.
Though this relationship was completely different from what she’d experienced with Lorne, she found she enjoyed their time together. Their friendship was growing stronger, although she knew Tristan viewed what they had as something more than friends. She did too, but she suspected it wasn’t to the same extent that Tristan did.
But there was always time.