“Yeah, actually I…um…I met someone,” she whispers.
“Wow, who’s the lucky guy?” I’m happy for her.
“His name is Antonio. We met at a shoot about four months ago. He was the photographer. We’ve been texting and calling. We don’t see much of each other, but I really like him, Blaise.”
“I’m happy for you. So when do I get to meet him?” I ask her.
Heather laughs into the phone. I feel absolutely no jealousy or heartache over her revelation. As one of my closest friends, I want her to be happy.
“Not sure. I’m actually flying to London to spend two weeks with him. I’m nervous as hell. I’ve only seen him one other time in the last four months and we were at a shoot. It’s weird though. I feel like I already know him. Talking and texting all the time, it helped,” she tells me.
Heather is beautiful, and once you get to know her, she is one of the nicest people that you will ever meet. However, she is very standoffish to those who don’t know her. Her upbringing was rough and she’s lived some hard times. She’s worked her ass off to be where she is, and I couldn’t be more proud of her. I consider what she’s telling me. The way she’s forced, due to their distance, to communicate and get to know Antonio, may be what she needs. This might just be it for her, the one.
“Just relax and be yourself. You’re amazing, but I’m sure Antonio already knows this.”
“So what about you? Anyone new in your life?” she asks.
My mind immediately travels to the dark haired beauty from Mom’s office this morning. “Nope. Asher and Grace are pretty serious. I think he’s going to propose,” I tell her.
“Wow. Good for him.” I hear voices in the background. “Listen, Blaise, I have to go; they’re calling for me. I’ll call you in a few weeks and let you know how London goes,” she says.
“Sounds good. Be safe and have fun. Just be yourself,” I tell her.
Hitting end on my phone, I slide it back into my pocket. I push off the wall to go back into the shop. As I pull on the door, Asher comes tumbling out.
“Shit!” we say at the same time.
“Hey, how’s Heather,” he asks.
“Good, she met someone,” I tell him.
Asher studies me. “You don’t seem bothered by that,” he says matter of factly.
I shrug my shoulders. “Why would I be? We tried the dating thing; it didn’t work for us. She’s a great girl and I want her to be happy,” I tell him.
Asher seems to accept my answer and drops it. “Hey, Ember left to grab a pizza. You got a minute?” he asks.
“Sure.” I don’t hesitate.
Asher tilts his head and motions toward the door. I follow him back into the shop and down the hall, back to our office. He walks over to the safe we have hidden in the wall for the deposits. I watch as he enters the combination and opens the door. He reaches inside and pulls out a small, black, velvet box. My mouth drops open.
Holy shit!
Asher hands me the box. “Open it,” he says. I don’t need to look at him to know he’s smiling. I can hear it in his voice.
I open the velvet box and inside is an engagement ring. I don’t know much about engagement rings, nothing really. But this one is big and there are a lot of diamonds that encase a larger one in the center.
“Congratulations, man,” I say as I reach out and hug him. Handing the ring back to him I ask. “So when are you gonna ask her?”
“I have to talk to her dad first. After that, as soon as possible.”
“Shit!” I do not need this today. I steer my car to the shoulder of the road, barely making it before I lose all power. “Shit, shit, shit!” I say, beating my hands against the steering wheel. Why me? This is only my second week on the job and it looks like I’m going to be late. I have no power at all. My car didn’t want to start this morning; l should have known something was wrong. Releasing a sigh, I reach for my phone in the cup holder and call Nancy.
“Good morning, Mayor Hamilton’s office,” she says in greeting.
“Hey, Nancy, it’s Tatum. I’m going to be late,” I say, my voice defeated.
“Oh my, what’s wrong? Are you all right?” she asks. I can hear the concern in her voice. This woman is just too sweet.
“Yeah, my car died. I was able to steer it off the road, thankfully. Do you know of a tow agency I can call?” I ask her. “This happened a few years ago and it was the alternator.”
“Oh, dear. That does sounds like your alternator. That happened to me a few years back. Where are you?”
I tell her where I am as best I can. I am still new to the area.
“All right, let me take care of it. You just hang tight and lock your doors.”
“Nancy, you don’t have to do that, really. Brent is already at the hospital and he’s on call so I can’t call him, and Leah is taking her boards for her Tennessee license today, but I can call a tow truck. ”
“Nonsense. Just hang tight and I’ll take care of it,” she says, hanging up.
I throw my phone back in my cup holder. I swear I couldn’t draw good luck with a pencil these days.
The car has no power, so listening to the radio is not an option. I don’t want to use my cell battery just in case. You really never know. I reach for my purse and pull out my Kindle. I’m reading Let Me Love by Michelle Lynn and a little bit of Trey is exactly what I need.
I reach over and lock my doors, just like Nancy asked and settle in with Trey. I don’t know how long it’ll take the tow truck to arrive. I’m thankful it’s early morning, otherwise I would be roasting by now.
Completely engrossed in my reading, I scream when there is a knock on my window. Sheesh. I look in my rearview mirror and see a big truck. Who is that? I can feel my heart racing, kick started from the adrenaline of window knock. I reach for the door and hit the lock button to reassure myself that I did indeed lock my doors. I take a deep breath before turning to look out my window at my visitor.
My mouth drops open in shock…Blaise.
He leans down, smiles and waves before standing back up. I take the opportunity to look my fill. He’s wearing faded blue jeans that hang on his hips just right. How do I know this? His black fitted t-shirt conforms to his muscles, all of them including the V at his hips. Yeah, the jeans are looking good.
I’m startled when Blaise bends down and peers into the window. I’m caught; he knows it and I know it. His cocky smile is confirmation.
Deciding to act like I didn’t just get busted, I open the door and stand with him on the side of the road. The next thing I know, there is a huge gust of wind and I’m up against the side of my car with Blaise’s masterful body molded against mine. I feel his arms around me. He gently lifts my chin with his free hand. “You okay?” he asks, concerned. “That guy was driving way too fast,” he says as he studies my reaction.
Ah, that explains the blast of wind. Thoughts of my parents’ accident flash in my mind. I feel my body become rigid and my hands are starting to shake. Will I ever be able to get past this? Will I ever be able to hear about a car accident or potential accident in this case, and not turn into a basket case? I miss them so much, and the visions of how I lost them float through my mind. I still have nightmares; I’m just better at hiding them from Leah and Brent.
Blaise assumes it’s our current predicament that has me shaking. In a way, it is, but it was really just a trigger of the painful memory of the loss of my family. He pulls me tight against him. One hand placed on the small of my back, the other holding the back of my head against his chest. “I got you,” he whispers softly.