As much as he wanted the movers to hurry so he could get back to Shawna, he didn’t want them rushing and causing any damage to his product. He was proud of the pieces. He’d worked on them himself and they were some of his best work.
For the attorneys, money had been no object, so he’d imported genuine mahogany wood from South America through an importer with a reputable supplier. He’d polished the reddish-brown surface of each piece to a high gleam and expected nothing except satisfaction—and hopefully referrals that would help grow his business.
Fifteen minutes later, Ryan leaned against his truck and dialed Shawna’s number. He looked forward to hearing her voice and spending more time with her today. Except when he called, she didn’t have the level of enthusiasm he expected when he suggested they meet up.
“I have a million things to do,” she said. “I have to find a car. It turns out mine is kaput. My mechanic said he’d love to keep taking my money, but he doesn’t advise putting any more into the car, so I’ve got to start car shopping today.”
“I can help you with that. I can take you around.”
“There’s no need,” she responded. “Months ago I created a spreadsheet with the different car options, and I pretty much know which one I need to get. I’ve avoided going, but I’ll visit a few dealerships today to see what they have in stock and test drive the cars I’m interested in. It’s nothing I can’t do myself.”
Her words disappointed him, but he tried not to let it bother him. He thought about how he’d left her that morning, sound asleep after a bout of passionate lovemaking. “I could come by tonight and we could take up where we left off. I—”
“I’ll probably be tired from car shopping, so tonight’s not a good night.”
He tried to come up with another reason to see her, but he suspected she’d have an excuse for why he couldn’t. “What’s going on, Shawna?”
The other end of the line remained silent. Finally, she let out a small breath. “Everything is moving so fast.”
She was scared, which was understandable. Hell, the way he felt about her scared him, too. “What do you want to do?”
“Slow down.”
His mind rejected that answer, and he swallowed the bitterness of it. “What does that mean?”
“I need a little bit of space. It’s too much too soon.”
Ryan stepped away from the truck and paced the gravel yard.
“Are you there?”
He stopped the restless movement. “Yeah, I’m here.”
“You understand, don’t you?”
Her voice sounded hesitant, and he could almost see the uncertainty in her eyes. “No, I don’t, but I don’t want to crowd you.”
More silence, which he didn’t know how to fill with any meaningful words to convince her to change her mind. Nothing would be gained by slowing down their relationship. Whatever she feared wouldn’t disappear because they didn’t see each other today or tomorrow.
They were moving fast, and he recognized the unnaturalness of it for her. She planned everything and felt most comfortable doing things by the book. Ever since high school when she’d fallen in love with fashion, she’d been determined to own a boutique and had taken the necessary steps to make sure that she not only achieved that goal, but that she succeeded at it.
He, on the other, lived life by the seat of his pants. He’d vacillated in college, changing his major several times before settling on information systems, and then dropped out when he finally figured out where his passion lay. One minute he was in college, the next he was building furniture. One minute he lived in Oklahoma, the next he’d moved to Georgia to buy a business and start over.
“Thank you for understanding,” Shawna said.
“I’m leaving town next Friday to go home to Oklahoma,” he said. He wanted to invite her to come with him, but she’d probably freak. “My baby sister’s coming home for spring break and since I haven’t been home for a while, I thought this would be a good time to go.”
“How long will you be gone?”
“A full week plus a couple of days.”