Tim lay in bed that night unable to get Lyla out of his head. Once upon a time he'd loved her. If he was completely honest with himself, she was probably to only girl he had ever truly loved. That, however, was one prison term, and a long time ago. He really hadn't ever expected to see her in Dillon again. He'd imagined once or twice what it would be like if she were to return, but he had never imagined it would be like this. He had never imagined that she'd return to Dillon to pick up the pieces of her broken life. He'd imagined she'd return for a holiday sometime in the future. To see Buddy. She'd be married, have 2.5 children, 1 puppy, and a perfect life. She'd see him from far away, and maybe smile at him and they'd share a silent moment, and then she'd be gone again. He'd told himself a long time ago that she would move on, and she did move on, but he was never quite able to.
He'd tried. Tried when Tyra had come back. It had been nice for awhile too, but in the end, he had only been pretending. He may have had this devil may care persona on the outside, but he was lonely. Tyra had come around when he was feeling vulnerable. Hell, he'd just gotten out of prison. It had been awhile since he'd known the touch of a woman, and Tyra was there, and Tyra was willing. They'd tried to make it work. He had felt obligated after she'd told him she'd been in love with him since she was five, but in the end, he couldn't pretend. Tyra knew Tyra was a smart girl. She knew that she'd never be what Lyla had been to him, and they eventually just drifted apart. They still saw each other most holidays, and the kids birthdays, but now they were family. Nothing more, nothing less.
And now…now Lyla was here, back in Dillon. In his house, in the bedroom across the hall. The situation wasn't ideal. He could hear her crying through his door. Crying over some jerk who'd broken her heart and betrayed her trust. He wanted to go to her, to comfort her, because when she was hurting, he was hurting, but he knew that at this point, at this time, he should stay out of it. She'd been brief when she'd told him what happened. She'd open up when and if she was ready, so now, even though his heart was breaking listening to her sob in the next room, all he could do was stay in bed. So no, the situation wasn't ideal, but he'd be her friend. Being friends with Lyla Garrity would be better than scaring her away and never seeing her again. And if being her friend was the only way to keep her in his life, then he'd be her friend until the day he died.
Morning came too soon to Lyla. She had cried herself to sleep, and when sleep had finally come, it had been restless at best. When she was finally coherent enough to get out of bed, it took her a minute to remember where she was. Tim's house. As glad as she was to have a friend right now, she had never in a millon years pictured that that friend would be Timothy Riggins.
She gave herself a quick once over in the mirror before leaving the bedroom. She had dark circles under her eyes, but otherwise was surprised she didn't look worse.
Seeing the house in the daytime was a different experience. In the main room, there were floor to ceiling windows on two of the four walls. The sunlight lit up the place making it look even more warm and inviting than it was. She wasn't sure if Tim was up, but was sure he wouldn't mind her nosing around a little bit. He had pictures framed all over the place. His nieces, and nephew. Billy and Mindy. He had never had much of a family when he was younger, so it seemed only appropriate that he'd take full advantage of having one now. No regrets, after all. She ran her finger over a picture of Tim and Jason. It was after Jason's accident. They were in Mexico. She'd taken the picture their last night there. That was one of the last times the three of them had all been together. "Morning," she heard from behind her. She jumped.
"Morning, Tim," she smiled.
He was in the kitchen, pouring himself a cup of coffee. He held out a mug to her, "Want some?"
She nodded, walking over to him and taking the mug from his hand. "Thanks." She took a sip. "It's perfect, cream and sugar, just how I like it."
He smiled, "I remembered." He paused, taking a sip of his own coffee, before continuing, "How'd you sleep?"
She sighed. "Not well, but better than I've slept in a few days, so I guess that's something…"
He just gave her a knowing look and dropped it. "Hungry?"
"Not really."
"Well, you have to eat. So why don't you go sit on the porch and I'll bring you some breakfast," he said, head already in the refrigerator.
"Tim," she chided. "That's really not necessary."
He looked up from the fridge at her, "Go sit down, Garrity."
She did as she was told. The morning was warm already, and the view from Tim's porch was amazing. He really had done a nice job with this place, he couldn't have picked a better piece of property. She sat down in one of the two big wooden rocking chairs and spent a few minutes lost in thought before Tim came outside, carrying two plates. Fruit, toast, and eggs. All the essential food groups. "It looks good, Tim. Thanks."
He sat down next to her. "You're welcome." They were silent for a moment. "I spend almost every morning out here. I go for a run, eat breakfast. It's perfect."
"It is, Tim. You're very lucky. You have everything you ever wanted."
He just looked at her and smiled, but it never reached his eyes as he thought, 'not everything. Not everything at all."
An hour later she was doing the dishes in the kitchen. She couldn't not contribute even though Tim had resisted letting her do anything at first. He'd finally given up and headed to take a shower. She was just finishing up when he came padding back into the kitchen. "So, what's your plan for the day, Garrity?"
She pursed her lips, "I don't know. I hadn't really thought about it…What are you up to today?"
He wiggled his eyebrows at her and grinned one of his equally goofy, yet endearing grins. "Oh, you have no idea. Saturday mornings, those are babysitting mornings. I go hang out with the runts for a few hours every week so Billy and Mindy can go get some alone time. It's great."
She laughed. "Sounds like fun."
"You know," he said casually, "You could come with if you wanted. I'd love to have you. I bet the kids would love to have you."
"The kids don't even know me, Tim."
"Yeah, but you're a teacher. Kids have to love you, Lyla," he said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Besides, you have nothing else to do."
She hit him in the arm, "Thanks for reminding me, Tim. Just when I was starting to feel better."
He turned and started heading back to his room, "Just get ready, Lyla. Train leaves in an hour."
An hour later, she was doing a final touch up when there was a knock at the bedroom door. "You ready?" Tim asked her as soon as she opened it.
She had managed to shower, and fix her hair, and even apply some mascara. She was more put together than she'd been since Carter broke up with her. And even the minimal primping she had done seemed like the hardest thing in the world. "As I'll ever be."
The ride to Billy's was a quiet one. They took Tim's truck, and Lyla found herself inwardly laughing that he'd gone and built himself a beautiful home, and still drove his beat up Chevy pick-up. She just stared out the window the whole way to Billy's.
Tim patted her leg with his hand, "Hey, everything okay?"
She nodded, "Fine. Everything's fine. I'm just…did you tell Billy and Mindy I was coming with you?"
"Why would I need to tell them?"
"I don't know. It's just…I don't feel like they were ever my biggest fans."
Tim just shook his head, "Look, whatever they may have thought about you was a long time ago. Things change, people change. We aren't who we were at nineteen, Lyla. But Billy and Mindy like you just fine."
She just turned her head back to the window where she stared until they reached their destination. She could see the curtains moving in the front window and two little heads peering out as Tim helped her from the truck. "You ready, Garrity? Because it's go time!" he smiled at her.