Second Look (A New Beginning Book 3)

by Connie Stephany

“Okay, I’ll be extra careful, Peter,” Cassandra said, humoring him as she finished shuffling and pretending to cut the deck in half twice before saying, “Okay, they’re pretty well shuffled.”

  “Perfect! Well done, Cassandra,” Peter told her. “Now, choose a card, any card, and turn it upside down in the deck and put the cards back in the box.”

  Cassandra just nodded, concentrating on taking an invisible card out of the center of the deck, looking at it and turning it upside down in the middle of the deck before putting it back in the box. She was extra careful not to let any fall on the ground, as Peter had suggested, but pretended to drop an invisible card and catch it, which drew another laugh from the crowd.

  “You’re the only one in this bar who knows what card you chose. Now tell everyone what it was.”

  “Seven of Spades.”

  “Okay, now, when I count to three, throw me the deck of cards, okay?”

  Peter waited for her to nod, and then started counting. By this time, there were even more people crowded around them.

  “One…two…three!”

  As he got to number three, Cassandra threw the invisible deck of cards and a real deck of cards magically appeared in Peter’s hands. That drew another gasp from the crowd, and Peter’s face held an amused, confident grin.

  “Now, here comes the best part.”

  He opened the deck of cards, and then spread them out in his hands. The crowd saw that only one card was flipped over in the deck and the rest were face up. He walked back over to Cassandra and had her pull out the card that was upside down.

  Jennifer watched as Cassandra turned over the card, and then she yelled, “Oh my gosh!!! It’s the seven of spades! How did you do that?”

  Mandi’s eyes were wide open. “Holy. Shit.”

  “Like I said, magic.”

  Peter took his top hat off and gave a bow.

  “I don’t believe it,” Jennifer told him. “You need to repeat that one for me.”

  “Oh good. I was really hoping for a doubting Tomas,” he told them, laughing. “Okay, I’m going to turn this card back over so they are all the same way. See?”

  He showed the group that all cards were all face up. He then put the cards behind his back and turned over one of the cards in the deck.

  “Now, Thomas, I mean Jennifer, name a card, the one you think I turned over.”

  “Hmm, how about four of hearts.”

  Jennifer gave him a knowing smile. There was no way that card was the one turned over in his hand.

  He took the cards from behind his back, showed them with the one card flipped over and walked over to Jennifer.

  “Go ahead, turn it over.”

  Peter’s voice held an air of confidence.

  Jennifer narrowed her eyes and teased him, “Alright. But if that’s my card, you’re the best magician in Zimmerman.”

  Jennifer turned over her card, looked up at Peter with wide eyes and screamed, “No waaaaay! The four of hearts! How did you do that?”

  Peter’s face transformed with a cocky grin and he said, “I believe you said if I got the right card, I was the best magician in Zimmerman?”

  “Yep. Hands down. That was awesome!”

  Mandi’s mouth was gaping. “How the hell did you do that?”

  Peter slyly looked to the left and then to the right, leaned down and whispered to the girls, “Can you keep a secret?”

  They all nodded their heads at the same time and leaned in close.

  Peter smirked and said, “So can I.”

  Then, he walked away after taking one last bow.

  “Holy shit, Kimberly, he’s amazing!” Mandi exclaimed. In a bit softer voice, she turned to Jennifer, cupped her mouth with her hand and said in an exaggerated voice, “Sorta makes me wonder what kind of tricks he does in bed.”

  Kimberly turned a brilliant shade of red and raised an eyebrow.

  Mandi’s started laughing, “Looks like we have our answer.”

  Cassandra shook her head. “Jeez, Mandi, really? Totally inappropriate.”

  “What? Like you weren’t wondering…”

  “Mandi, you’re bad. Control yourself.”

  “I won’t tell.” Kimberly laughed. “Now it’s time for another round of drinks before the losers have to sing. This round is on me.”

  Kimberly got up and headed towards the bar, ending that part of the conversation.

  Cassandra grabbed the song list that was abandoned earlier. Jennifer watched Cassandra scan each song, her stomach in knots because she wasn’t looking forward to singing. She finally wrote down three songs on three different sheets and didn’t even tell them what songs she chose before she walked them up to the front of the bar to hand them in.

  By the end of the night, Jennifer was tipsy and her cheeks were red from the drinks she consumed and from being booed off the stage.

  Jennifer would never forgive Cassandra for choosing the famous Madonna song, “Like a Virgin.”

  Someday, somehow, she vowed, she’d get Cass back for embarrassing the hell out of her.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Adam

  She’s the one

  Adam had never been to Boston. As he walked down the streets of the north end of the city on his second day, he was in awe as he took in the fall colors, the cobblestone streets and the historic landmarks. There were college kids everywhere, proudly wearing Boston University sweatshirts and hats.

  Adam arranged the trip to Boston for a weeklong class on a new system they were going to implement the following year. As the Director of the team implementing, he needed to everything about it. He flew in on Sunday afternoon and classes were set to start bright and early Monday morning.

  He checked into his beautiful hotel, which was right on the harbor. His hotel room overlooked the water, and he could see several very large ships docked right below. Two bridges could be seen in the distance and he learned that one of them lit up to be bright blue at night.

  He started the week off with a note from his instructor stating that instead of the 8:00 start time the next morning, the training wouldn’t start until 10:00. He convinced Greg to go with him to a nearby restaurant where they had a few beers and fish and chips for dinner. Greg was one of the network guys who worked under him and one of his several employees who came on the trip to learn right along side him.

  Today, he could hardly believe it when they were let out early. Adam started to believe the instructor didn’t want to be there, but he told them right after lunch the October weather was too beautiful to be stuck inside and let the students out early to explore. To make up for it, they’d be coming to class bright and early the next morning.

  He’d enjoy the freedom. As long as they got out of the class what they needed to know, he was just fine with a little downtime to explore the city.

  As Adam walked down the streets, he passed about a hundred restaurants, Mike’s Pastry Shop, a Tarot card reader and candy stores. His co-workers wanted to stop for lunch, but he wanted to continue walking, so he told them he’d meet up with them later.

  As he continued walking, he realized what really had him jealous of the Boston residents were how almost all of the bars and restaurants were so open. The entire wall that was facing the street was made up of a set of windows that retracted and it was like the restaurant had only three walls. In the summer, he could see how the breeze from the harbor would keep the patrons cool.

  The people in the bars were sitting at tables that were right next to people walking down the sidewalk. Adam could have reached out and touched some of them, or perhaps even grabbed one of their beers. He was tempted to do just that as he continued to walk by each restaurant.

  He’d never seen anything like it and they certainly didn’t have anything like it in Minnesota. The bugs would carry people away if they ever tried to have restaurants with open walls.

  Adam bypassed the restaurants and pastry shops. He wasn’t expecting to end up in a jewelry store, but once he was there, it
was the perfect place to be.

  Was he crazy? Probably. Did he care? Not one bit.

  Adam already knew without any doubt Jennifer was it for him. It took them a couple tries, but he was pretty damn sure this time around they had it right. He wasn’t going to walk away a third time.

  “Hello sir, may I help you find something special?” asked the older man who stood behind the glass case. “Are you looking at rings today?”

  Adam nodded his head, and pointed to a ring. “Could I see that one?”

  “Ah, great choice. It’s quite beautiful,” the salesman said as he unlocked the case and pulled out the ring. He placed it on a stand on top of a piece of black felt.

  “May I?” Adam asked him, gesturing towards the ring.

  “Of course,” he replied, “be my guest.”

  Adam picked up the ring and inspected it. It was perfect. He couldn’t believe he found something that looked so much like Jennifer immediately, but he had. It was fate; he was absolutely sure of it.

  “I’ll take it,” he told the man, who looked shocked at his quick decision.

  “Have you been looking a long time? Do you want to see others?” he asked Adam.

  Adam shook his head, trying to answer both questions at once. “This is the one I want.”

  “Did you want to know the price first, sir?”

  Uh, he didn’t even ask the guy how much the ring was. What was he thinking? He was thinking it was perfect, that’s what. “Well, yes, but I want it. How much is it?”

  The salesman cleared his throat and said, “It’s ten thousand dollars, but today, it’s on sale for 15% off.”

  He nodded at the clerk and said, “I’ll take it.”

  The clerk smiled. “Very good, sir. She’s one lucky lady.”

  Adam shook his head. “I’m the lucky one.”

  When he left the jewelry store that afternoon, he knew he chose the perfect ring to signify their relationship. It was a brilliant cut diamond in a platinum band. What set it apart from other rings were the small emeralds on either side. Emerald was Amber’s birthstone. The ring was designed in such a way that more stones could be added as their family grew, but he believed the ring would be a perfect display of how much he loved not only Jennifer but Amber. He wasn’t sure when he’d pop the question, but he wanted to do it soon and he could hardly wait to get home.

  Adam stopped at a bar on the way back to his hotel room; he walked right into the restaurant from the sidewalk and sat at a table. He was going to celebrate.

  He had the ring box in his jacket pocket, hand curled around the little box to keep the expensive piece of jewelry safe, and he’d keep it that way until he got up the nerve to ask Jennifer to be his wife.

  As he sat at the bar, waiting for dinner, he thought back to when he’d given Jennifer a ring for her birthday one year. She’d just gotten to California, and at that time he wasn’t quite ready to ask her to marry him, but he decided to give her something to show he was committed.

  Ten years earlier…

  “Come on, Adam! What is it?”

  Jennifer’s giggle warmed his heart and made him happy that he’d flown out to visit for her birthday.

  Adam shook his head and laughed. “I told you. It’s a surprise! Let’s keep walking.”

  “I hate surprises.”

  “You’ll survive.” He paused to kiss her. “Wow! Look at those flowers over there. Have you ever seen so many vibrant colors?”

  “Nice change of subject,” Jennifer replied, laughing. “They’re amazing, Adam. I love this! How’d you ever find this place?”

  “I started researching until I found a place I knew you’d like.”

  “Good job. What an amazing surprise.”

  As they walked along the path, Adam could tell Jennifer was in awe of the flowers. Adam was pretty impressed, too, he had to admit. He’d never seen so many flowers in his life.

  Still, he found it funny that she couldn’t wait for her birthday surprise, which he was carrying in a small gift bag, waiting for the right time to give to her.

  Since they didn’t get to see each other often enough with her going to nursing school in California, Adam wanted to make Jennifer’s birthday special. She’d be gone for two long years.

  When she got back home, he was planning to ask her to marry him. In the meantime, he wanted to give her something so she wouldn’t forget that he was waiting for her back home.

  He hoped the gift he’d chosen would signify his commitment to her while he saved up for the perfect engagement ring. Two years would easily give him time to save for a very nice one.

  Adam researched before he even flew to California and had found a place called The Flower Fields in Carlsbad, California. He figured it would be a great place to give her the special gift he’d chosen for her.

  As they continued along the path, they took pictures of the flowers that went as far as the eye could see. It was a virtual sea of flowers in every color imaginable. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and every single color in between.

  They finally reached the spot where people could buy lunch and have a picnic. He brought a blanket along as he’d read reviews and people suggested bringing one along.

  They bought lunch and got settled on their blanket, enjoying each other’s company while they ate their food.

  After they were done eating, Adam decided to give Jennifer her gift and found that he was a little nervous. What if she thought it was stupid? He shrugged his shoulders and figured it was too late now.

  “Ready for your gift?”

  Jennifer’s eyes lit up and she nodded. “Yes! Give it here!”

  Adam grinned. “I guess you’ve been patient long enough.”

  He handed her the gift bag and she tore right into it.

  As soon as she opened the small box contained inside the gift box, she gasped. Inside sat a pair of platinum rings, one for him and one for her. They had an inscription on them that said “Forever Yours” and the “o” in yours in her ring had a diamond replacing it.

  “Oh my gosh! They’re gorgeous!” She paused and asked, “Is one for you and one for me?”

  Adam smiled and nodded. “They’re promise rings.”

  She was grinning up at him while he slipped her ring on her ring finger.

  He knew his face was turning red, but he continued anyway. “As soon as you get back to Minnesota, which will be right after you graduate, I hope, I promise I am going to ask you to marry me. Until then, we can wear these rings to show the world we belong to one another. I want no one else and I never will.”

  Jennifer looked up at him and she had tears in her eyes. “I love them! I don’t want anyone else, either, Adam. And I never will.”

  *****

  Adam had to hand it to Sarah. Asking Jennifer to give him the urgent message was brilliant.

  What she could possibly want, he had no idea, but it couldn’t be good. He decided to call and get the conversation over with. She answered on the first ring.

  “Hi, babe.”

  He ignored her greeting. She was delusional. “Got your urgent message. What’s up?”

  “Well, actually, it’s not urgent anymore.” Sarah giggled and gave an exaggerated sigh of relief. “False alarm!”

  Before he even thought about it, Adam asked, “False alarm?”

  “Yeah,” she giggled. “Thought I was pregnant. False alarm, thank God.”

  What the hell could he even say to that? This was a new level of manipulation.

  “But now that I have you, I wondered if I could see you.” She let out a little pout. “I miss you.”

  “Sarah, I’m going to say this one last time.” Adam paused, trying to be calm but firm. “I’m seeing Jennifer. You need to stop trying to contact me and leave Jennifer alone.”

  “You can’t possibly mean that.”

  “Oh, but I do.”

  There was silence for a couple seconds and then she sighed. “What’s she got that I don’t have?”


  Adam shook his head and sighed. “We have a lot of history. I love her.”

  “Oh,” Sarah replied softly.

  “This really has to end, Sarah. No more stalking me.”

  “Okay. I won’t contact you again. I just wanted you to give me a chance.”

  He almost felt bad, but needed to be firm and make sure she really did understand. “Please lose my number and just leave us alone.”

  He didn’t wait for a reply before hanging up. He promptly blocked Sarah’s number from his phone. He didn’t know why the hell he hadn’t done it earlier and avoided all of her crap.

  This time, he was pretty sure he wouldn’t see or hear from Sarah again.

  Jennifer had teased him when she gave him the message earlier, but he also heard a catch to her voice that he didn’t like.

  It felt good to be able to tell her that Sarah was just being manipulative and that she wouldn’t be bothering them again.

  Especially since he’d be bringing home an engagement ring.

  *****

  When Adam made it back home to Minnesota, they had plans with his mom and sister. It was the first time his mom would celebrate her birthday without her husband. He could only imagine how hard the day would be on her and wanted to be there for her.

  As the three of them walked into his mom’s house, Jennifer said, “Hi Gina.”

  She greeted them each with a hug. “My favorite people are here today!”

  Gina looked down at Amber and said, “You, little miss Amber, get to stay with me after dinner while your mommy goes out to a scary haunted trail with Adam.” Gina tapped Amber’s little nose with her finger.

  “I know! I’m so excited to spend time with Roxie!” Amber told her, and then turned to her mom. “Mommy, when are you and Adam leaving?”

  Jennifer laughed and said, “Are you ready for us to leave already?”

  “Well, no, but you can leave when you want. I’ll be fine.” Amber didn’t wait for her to reply as she ran into the living room where Roxie was sitting obediently on her dog bed. She was very well behaved and knew exactly why Amber loved her so much.

  “Good to know, sweetie,” Jennifer told her, laughing.

  Mandi walked in the front door just as they were heading into the kitchen. Adam stayed behind to help her with the food she brought while Jennifer went with Gina and Amber.