Page 28 of The One

“What do they do or make?”

“A variety of software in the medical field. All sorts of things.”

“I wonder if we use it,” she said, smiling. “I don’t know the name of what we have. I’ll have to check and you can let me know.”

He grinned. “I’m a project manager at this point. Something else I haven’t done before. I learned that I can get sucked in too much looking at the end game that might never happen. I decided to try a new position along with a new company. It’s working out. I’ve got a knack for keeping people organized and in line and on time.”

“I’m glad it’s working out for you,” she said. “I’m glad I’m getting to know the person you are now too.”

“You might not have liked the one before,” he said. “More like you wouldn’t have gotten to know him. He was boring and only focused on one thing. I never used to be that way. It’s time to not be again.”

“Talk about good advice,” she said. “That’s why I left Mike. My ex. I lost who I was and didn’t know it was happening. It took Trey finding out he was going to be a father for me to realize everything I thought I’d have never happened. Time passed me by and I wasn’t going to let it again.”

“As I said before,” he said, reaching for her. “Good for you. We’re two people starting over.”

“We are. I’m determined to make the best of it.”

“Knowing what you do, are you willing to try for date number two?”

“More than willing,” she said, smiling and reaching for him the same time he leaned toward her.

11

Some Worries

“How did it go?” Whitney asked her a few days later. “You never told me. I started to wonder if it flopped.”

Gillian hadn’t called her sister-in-law on Sunday because she knew Trey would be home and she didn’t want to talk about it with him around. She wasn’t sure why when it was nothing but good news.

“It was great,” she said. “Is Ben in bed?”

“He is,” Whitney said. “And I talked to Trey at work. Now it’s time to get the details of your date. More so since you said it went well. I was ready to console you.”

“Nope,” she said. “Rick is wonderful. We cooked dinner at his house. Cooked together.”

“That’s nice and cozy. It gives you time to talk without worrying about interruptions. Of course if it’s not going well you have to figure out how to get out of there too.”

“Surprisingly, I wasn’t worried, which is why I agreed to go there.”

“I told you you were nervous because it was like you knew it could be more. Come on, don’t leave me in suspense.”

“We cooked. We talked. We kissed.”

“The good stuff,” Whitney said. “Did you do more than a kiss?”

“No. Lots of kissing. He’s good at it. I found out more about him too.”

“Anything you want to share?”

She didn’t think it was that big of a deal to say some of it. “You won’t say anything. It’s nothing bad, but when I tell it to you you’ll understand. More than most I think. I do have some worries.”

The money part and his wealth did concern her. Would he think she only wanted to be with him because of that? She didn’t know it until he told her. So maybe not. It’s not like she targeted him or anything.

“Tell me what you know and your worries,” Whitney said.

She explained what Rick told her. “He doesn’t need to work. I didn’t ask the amount the company sold for. I didn’t ask details on names or anything like that. I don’t want him to think I’d snoop because I wouldn’t.”

“That makes sense,” Whitney said. “I did ask Ruby a few things. Rick paid cash for that house. Not that it matters. I mean the housing market in California is nuts compared to here so he could have just owned a house and sold it and made a ton to come back here and buy something for cash.”

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