Family Wanted (Willow's Haven Book 1) by Renee Andrews Page B

sorry.”
    “Actually, that’s why I’m here,” he said. “To tell you I’m sorry.”
    Isabella took a wobbly step and realized that it wasn’t merely her skirt that had caused her loss of footing and that he was probably right. Her knees felt like jelly, as though she was suffering from that adrenaline rush he mentioned. But she wasn’t certain whether it’d come from the near miss of the car or the near proximity of the man.
    He saw her falter and wrapped an arm around her again. “Here, let me help you to the deck. You spook kinda easily, don’t ya?”
    “I guess so.” How would she ever get a grip on her heart around him? Isabella couldn’t help but compare the way he treated her to the way Richard had. Richard would have seen her stumble as a sign of weakness, of something that she should work on and gain control of, but Titus saw it as an opportunity to offer her support.
    She could get used to being treated like this.
    He’d started leading her to one of the deck chairs, but then Isabella noticed the wood that had once been a neat stack beside a fire pit and now looked like someone had vandalized the place.
    “I need to clean that up before Savvy gets here,” she said. “And I should back the car up to the right spot.” She hadn’t even thought to put the thing in Reverse and get it away from the deck. Isabella was embarrassed that she’d been so preoccupied and certainly didn’t want to explain what had held her attention at the time.
    “I’ll pick it up,” he said, stepping toward the wayward wood. “I’m dressed for it. You’re not.” He indicated her skirt and heels.
    But she wasn’t about to let Titus clean this up on his own. “I can work in this.” To prove it, she lifted a log and placed it where the stack had been.
    He picked up two of them and put them beside her single one, then continued stacking them up two or three at a time, while Isabella focused on helping...instead of noticing how easily he handled the heavy logs. “I haven’t seen this side of you yet,” he said, putting three more logs on the pile.
    “What side?” she asked, adding another one.
    “The stubborn side.”
    She glanced up to see him smiling. “I’m not stubborn,” she clarified. “I just don’t expect someone else to clean up my mess.”
    They’d both ended up at the stack at the same time, and he resituated the logs to keep them steady, then paused. “There’s a reason for that, right? Something to do with your ex?”
    She showed him her palms, covered with wood bark that flaked away each time she picked up a log. “He wouldn’t have been willing to get his hands dirty.”
    One eyebrow lifted, and Titus smirked. “Some guys are like that,” he said. “Typically, it’s the ones with a lot of money in the bank.”
    “Money isn’t everything.” Richard’s money had never been important to her. She’d simply wanted him to love her the way she was, without feeling the need to change her into what he wanted her to be.
    “It isn’t everything,” he agreed, “but it does help.” Titus grabbed the last of the logs. “When Nan left, the construction industry had hit an all-time low. And I’d spent what cash we had on the truck because I had actually thought that business would be picking up when it headed south.” He put the logs on the top of the stack. “I didn’t know how we were going to make it through the year financially, and I’d told her that the week before.”
    Isabella didn’t know why Nan left, but she couldn’t believe it had anything to do with money. “You think that’s why she left?” she asked.
    He dusted the wood shavings from his hands and shrugged. “I’ll never know now.”
    Her heart ached for him, the sensitive man who still cared about why his wife had left him and his little girl. And recalling his sensitivity reminded her of what he’d said earlier. She also dusted the wood from her hands, then smoothed her palms over the top of her skirt and