“Whew, boy…he sure is giving you the eyeball…and he’s giving it to you hard,” Susie rolled her eyes in the direction of a muscular, bald man two tables over.
“Who is?” I asked, feigning innocence. Of course, I knew exactly who she was referring to.
“He looks hotter than ever today...those tats…mmm.”
I took a generous bite of my tuna fish sandwich. “This sandwich sure is tasty.”
Susie poked my shoulder lightly. “Um, hello, that hot man at ten o’clock looks tasty—and he’s staring at you! You know, the one that’s been here every day for the last two weeks the same time we’re here.”
“Oh? I didn’t notice.”
“Uh huh, right,” Susie smirked. “Don’t try pretending you haven’t noticed, Ms. Samantha Courtland! I’ve seen the little looks you’ve been flashing each other—today, and every other day.”
I shook my head. “I’m not interested. You know how I feel about that.” Yeah, I had to admit I’d noticed the guy looking at me. I mean, what woman wouldn’t notice a man that sexy? And, okay, maybe I had looked back a time or two—but it really didn’t matter.
Susie’s face softened and she put her hand lightly over my arm. “Sam, it’s been six years. Don’t you think it’s time you opened yourself up to the possibilities? You haven’t had a relationship since Jon died. You haven’t even gone on a date.”
“No, I can’t,” tears welled in my eyes. Jon and I had only been married five years when a heart condition took him from me. I was left with our two beautiful children, Jasmine and Jimmy, and the family business, Courtland’s Gems. His passing had left a huge hole in my life. I missed him so much.
“Why, Sam?” she asked softly.
“I’m just not ready yet. And with business the way it is, the last thing I need is some silly man to fret about.”
Susie winced. “I’m so sorry about Eldon’s moving in next door. It sucks.”
“I know,” I muttered glumly. Eldon’s was a major jewelry retailer. They offered a vast selection, from diamonds to pearls—a lot more inventory than Courtland’s could stock. And their prices were hard to beat.
“You would think they would have selected another location,” Susie twisted her lips, “not a spot right next to another jewelry store.”
“I’m sure they think Courtland’s Gems is easy pickings. They want to run me out of business.”
“Ugh,” Susie swallowed.
“It will be hard for Courtland’s to compete,” I steeled my shoulders, “but we can do it.” Despite my strong words to Susie, inwardly, I wasn’t so sure. The business was struggling, and had been for a while. Though a good friend had invested in the jewelry store, with the economy the way it was and consumers buying jewelry online from discount websites, times were tough—very tough. I had cut the store’s expenses as much as I could and paid myself just enough to get by. I was not sure how long the store could stay afloat. Now, with the added competition of Eldon’s right next door, well…
“I love working for you, Sam, and so does Anne. If there’s anything we can do…”
“Anne needs to get her butt back to work full time,” I joked, trying to lighten the mood, “just kidding. I’m just glad she’s able to work part time.”
“Yeah, and Heather is really nice, though her boyfriend can be annoying,” Susie grimaced.
“She is,” I pursed my lips. I’d hired Heather to work in the store part-time till Anne was ready to return to being full time. Heather was a sweet, young woman, but she was a bit of a ditz, and her boyfriend, Barry Kramer, was a pain in the ass. When Heather had started working at the store he’d come in constantly to visit her, but I’d soon put a stop to that. It was too bad I’d had to hire anyone, but Anne deserved time off to be with her baby, Billy. “Gosh, it’s hard to believe that little Billy is almost a year old now.”
“I know!” Susie squealed. “He’s so adorable. Zane and Anne are so lucky,” she added wistfully.
“He’s a cutie for sure. Your time will come, Susie. You never know when Mr. Right will come walking around the corner, sweep you off your feet, and give you a dozen kids!”
Susie punched me in the arm. “What—only a dozen?”
As I laughed, I glanced over at the stranger. He caught my eye and flashed me a dimpled smile. I looked away quickly. Don’t even think about it, Sam, I told myself. I already had two rambunctious kids and a business with employees that depended on me. I had no time or desire for a man. But I had to admit, sometimes my heart ached. I wanted to feel Jon’s arms around me again so much. But of course, that would never happen. So for now, I had to do my best to give our children all the love they deserved, and work as hard as I could to support us.
“Are you ready to get back to work?” I asked Susie as I stood up.
“Ready as I’ll ever be. But that noise going on next door is driving me crazy.”
“I know, I know. My head just throbs some days.” It was bad enough that a competing jewelry store was going in next door, but the construction going on as they got the store ready was awful—banging, loud machinery… It gave me a headache and was driving potential customers away.
“Do you want to get a drink refill?”
“I’m good,” Susie said.
I stood up, picked up my iced tea and took the last sip. “Let’s go then.” As we walked out of the coffee shop, I couldn’t resist glancing back at Mr. Tall, Bald and Handsome. He met my gaze with a broad smile and I glanced quickly away. There was no sense letting him think I was interested because I definitely wasn’t!