Page 44 of Clean Sweep
“Oh, sorry, Les. I gotta take a call. It’s another client coming in. Let’s resume this later, all right? We aren’t done.”
His casual nickname sent the butterflies back into a whirl.
Were we there now?
“Oh. Right. Sure. Later.”
“I’ll call tomorrow.”
The call ended. Stunned, I pushed the phone into my pocket and stared out into the night, utterly at a loss for what the jumbled emotions in my chest really meant. Amidst all the chaos lingered the most unexpected emotion of all.
Giddiness.
MY PEN TAPPEDanother furious staccato on my notebook the next day.
My left leg jumped up and down, and I felt like I’d had three cups too much coffee, although I hadn’t even finished my first.
Unable to stop myself, I replayed how the conversation with Tanner ended over and over again.
I see someone totally different.
I’ll call tomorrow.
“Hey, boss lady!” Dahlia called, breaking into my reverie. “You’re required out here.”
While my brain remained on a spreadsheet of orders for our food supply company, I stepped out of the office and into the shop. Starla stood there, a tentative smile on a pale face.
All other thoughts fled.
“Starla?”
She fidgeted with the strap of her purse as she smiled. “Good morning. I wanted to stop by to see if you’re busy?”
“Ah, no. Not at all.”
“Do you have a minute to talk?”
A bump of hope welled up in my stomach and I had to hold back my shout ofyes please right now! There wasn’t a soul I wanted to talk to more than her, but I held onto my restraint.
Instead, I gave her my warmest smile to set her at ease. She seemed so colorless and fragile, her skin almost onion-paper white against the backdrop of snow behind her. A thick coat and scarf wrapped her body, but she still looked cold to me.
“Anything for you. Have a seat.” I gestured toward my usual booth in the corner. “Want something to drink?”
“Herbal tea would be great, thanks.”
Dahlia held up a hand, “Got it. And your usual is coming.”
Starla and I sat across from each other while Dahlia bustled in the background, humming a Christmas song. Starla didn’t remove her coat as she settled into the seat with a sheepish expression.
“Landon doesn’t know I came here today. I’m not hiding it from him,” she quickly added, “Just . . . I think he’d want to be here and I wanted to talk to you alone.”
My brow rose in silent encouragement.
Starla let out a long breath. “I know how uncomfortable it must have been for you to hear that we were engaged after only dating for four weeks. I wish I could paint a better picture for you. Maybe tell you that we’d known each other for a year before we actually began to date, but that wouldn’t be true either.”
Her bottom lip blanched under her teeth as she paused, then regarded me through her eyelashes.
“We are a classic love-at-first-sight situation, if you believe that’s possible.”
