Page 31 of It Happened Back Then (Nilsson Family #3)

T he wood is heavier than it looks. Sweat beads at my hairline as I help Dad haul the last beam into place. We’re redoing the old shed out back, his idea, not mine, but I agreed because I’ve been feeling useless lately. There’s nothing like physical labor to drown out overthinking.

He grunts as he drops his end onto the sawhorses. “You’ve gotten soft, city boy.”

I roll my eyes, wiping my hands on my jeans. “I still lift twice what you do, old man.”

He chuckles, then falls quiet, which is always a warning sign, and I brace myself before he even speaks.

“You know, Savannah would’ve been out here with you. Making sure you have water while you’re working.”

I don’t take the bait. Not yet.

“She was always good at being supportive,” he continues, hammering like the words don’t sting. “Not like that other one. What’s she doing these days? Still working at that little boutique? ”

I slam my hammer down harder than necessary, sending a crack through the board. “Don’t.”

“What? I’m just saying,” he shrugs. “Savannah stopped by here the other day to visit with me and your mother. Was nice to see her.”

“She what?” My voice is dangerously low.

Dad doesn’t even look at me, just keeps talking. “I don’t get why you’re still tangled up in something that’s clearly never going anywhere. Savannah? She has direction. Drive. She didn’t drag you down with her drama. If anything, she was looking to take you further.”

“She also didn’t know me,” I snap, straightening up. “Not really. She liked the version of me that fit into her plan. And I didn’t need her to take me anywhere, I can get places on my own, thank you.”

Dad wipes his brow with the back of his arm, watching me with that look, that disappointed, snap out of it look.

“I just think that you’ve wasted a little too much time where Blossom is concerned.

From where I stand, you’ve spent too much time waiting for something to happen.

I know she had a tough time when her father died, and you were there for her, but that’s years in the past now. She’s got to get over things.”

“You don’t ever get over losing a parent, Dad! What the fuck!”

He holds his hands up and it only makes me madder. “You’re a good man, Bennett, but you and her can’t be stuck living like you’re in high school. You need someone who’s going to choose you, to move forward and build something together.”

That one hits because it’s true, in ways I don’t want to admit. But I’ve also been down this road too many times to let it twist me up again .

I toss the hammer onto the workbench and face him. “Know what, Dad? You’re right. I’m not waiting anymore.”

He lifts a brow. “No?”

“No,” I say. “She’s had years to make a move. And I’ve given enough of myself to someone who never asked me to stay but didn’t want me to go either.”

He nods, satisfied. But not for the reasons he thinks. I’m not coming around to the idea that Savannah is the one for me, and I’m not done with Blossom because she’s had a rough life.

I’m done because I refuse to keep chasing someone who won’t notice me.

And it hits me harder than if I slammed my finger with the hammer I was holding.

It hurts like hell, but I have to let it all go.