Resorting to Romance

by Franky A Brown

  “I’m not dating the boss’s daughter.” The words were out before she could stop herself, and she gulped.

  “Ouch.”

  “Oh, Luke, I’m so sorry I said that.” She could see the pain in his eyes.

  “How long have you been waiting to say that?”

  “I should never have said that.”

  “But you’ve been thinking it for a while.”

  “It’s hard not to at least think it, Luke. Victoria handed you Bianca Fieldwell after she’d promised her to me. I have no idea how many other clients were.”

  “No.” Luke groaned in the back of his throat. “Fieldwell was the only client she pushed onto me. I tried to refuse to take her on, but Victoria…insisted.”

  Joselyn’s voice caught. “You…tried to turn her down?”

  “I don’t need special favors to get ahead, Josie. My sales were on top at my previous company and I did that on my own.”

  A pit formed in Joselyn’s stomach. She was saying all the wrong things and was mortified. “I don’t mean to sound petty.” She played with her cloth napkin in her lap.

  She had absolutely sounded petty and jealous. Yes, she’d been under a lot of stress, but how could she be at this point where she was blurting out her unkind thoughts?

  “I’ve been on Victoria’s list since you came on board. She’s been after me about my sales. I misjudged you again and I hope you can forgive me.”

  “Of course I can, Josie. I should have tried harder to turn Victoria down. It wasn’t right for her to play favorites. Getting Bianca Fieldwell’s house definitely put me ahead. You’re an excellent agent. I know you are if you’ve been with Victoria this long.”

  “Thank you.” Her voice was quiet as she studied her napkin. She felt terrible for giving him such a hard time about the sales she’d lost when he’d been working on taking such wonderful care of his grandmother. Joselyn’s grandmother had died years ago and she would have done anything Grandma asked at the end. “I haven’t been at my best lately. I hoped, in coming here, I would find some serenity.”

  “Serenity Shores is the perfect place for that, I hear.”

  Joselyn smiled.

  “Let’s see what we can do about this.” Luke jumped up and went out of the room, then came back in with a small radio. “Hey, I snagged this from the server.”

  The Kenny G music coming from over the speakers turned off.

  “They just let you have this?” She chuckled. “What did you say, we hate the romantic saxophone?”

  “Something like that. Go ahead, find something that brings you serenity.”

  Joselyn chuckled as he placed the radio on the table in front of her. She flipped it on and turned the knob till she found a good pop station playing another song she knew every word to. She started singing, feeling the tension drain from her muscles. Music spoke to her in ways nothing else did.

  Luke tried to follow along with the song, but he obviously didn’t know any of the lyrics. She laughed at his endearing attempt. He really had no reason to be so kind to her after how she’d treated him, but he was trying to help her relax.

  Her heartbeat quickened watching him sing so badly. She’d been so wrong about him.

  Luke had seen the pain in her eyes when Josie had spoken of needing her work to distract her from her personal life. He hoped she could find peace. Though he had no idea what she’d gone through, it was more painful than she wanted to relate to him.

  When they finished dinner, they returned out to the deck to see the sun setting in its orange and yellow glory, seeming to sink into the water.

  “Is rock your favorite music?” Luke leaned against the railing.

  “I love music in general, but classic rock is my jam.”

  “Let’s play more of it; it really seems to cheer you up.”

  Josie smiled and leaned her elbow on the steel rail. “Yeah, I’m sorry I’ve been a grump.”

  “If you ever want to talk about it…I figure surviving a shark attack together should make us friends.”

  “Yeah, you’re right about that. What a crazy experience.” She shook her head. “My sister, Samantha, got me talking about my issues right before I came here. I’m realizing how it affected my performance and my attitude in general. All because I couldn’t stand to actually face my emotions head on.”

  “I can understand that.” He had his fair share of things he couldn’t talk about for other reasons. “You faced some of your emotions, though, right?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I probably shouldn’t tell you I heard you crying in your office a few times.” She never wanted to talk to him or he would have offered to help. As if he could help. A crying woman was hardly something he felt he could solve, but the urge to try was there regardless.

  “Oh.” She cringed. “I hope no one else did.”

  “I shouldn’t have mentioned it. I’m concerned about you.”

  She met his eyes and for a moment the music behind them and the chatter of the other passengers walking by faded into the background. “I’m okay. I had a…bad breakup. With my fiancé.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Are you and Gina talking marriage?”

  “What?” The question surprised him.

  “Sorry, I was curious. Victoria mentioned how she’d love you as her son-in-law.”

  “Ah, yes. That was an insanely embarrassing speech.”

  “No, we are not talking about marriage. I’m waiting to hear back about the broker exam and then I’m planning on going out on my own.”

  It was risky to tell Josie anything, but since he couldn’t tell her he’d broken up with Gina without breaking his promise, he was dying to be honest with her about something.

  “You’re leaving Southern Homes? I thought you were going to be Victoria’s associate broker.”

  “Please keep this to yourself.”

  Josie nodded right away. “Of course.”

  “I can’t remain with Victoria. I neither want nor need any special treatment. I want a fair chance to earn my colleagues’ respect. What I really want is to start my own company.”

  “That sounds great, Luke. I hope it works out.”

  “Obviously, I don’t want Victoria to know about this just yet. If I don’t get my license, I’m going to be with her a little longer.”

  “How does Gina feel about it?”

  “She…she’ll be okay.”

  “She’s not currently okay?” Josie tilted her head.

  “She’s fine.” Luke didn’t want to say more. Time for a topic change. “Victoria may consider you for associate broker when I leave.”

  “Maybe…” Josie chewed on her lip, probably mulling over the possibilities before her with this new information. He found himself staring at her lips again, his hand itching to slide a stray hair out of her face.

  The sound of his heart’s steady beating was all he could hear as he watched her gray eyes sparkling in the dimming light of the sunset. His eyes went to her pink lips.

  He breathed in slowly, trying to slow his galloping heart. What could he do about this attraction for Josie? With all his might he wanted to tell her the truth. But even if he hadn’t promised Gina he wouldn’t say anything, what did he think would happen? Josie surely only saw him as competition before, but what were they now?

  Friends? Friendly colleagues? Perhaps more friendly since she now knew he was very likely leaving.

  He’d be better off getting his emotions in check.

  Chapter Eight

  Joselyn disembarked the ferry, still shocked at the news Luke was planning to start his own company. He had it made with Victoria, but it certainly was admirable that he didn’t want her favoritism. She wasn’t sure how many people would walk away from that. It was great news for her and she hoped it would make life at the office easier.

  As they walked down the pier in silence, she peeked over at him from the corner of her eye. She didn’t like the quiet. “Have you seen those reality sh
ows on house flipping?”

  “Once or twice. Aren’t there like fifty of them?”

  “Probably. They’re good inspiration if you need more ideas. Or, maybe it’ll scare you. They encounter quite a few obstacles. Have you come up with unexpected issues with your flip yet?”

  “Oh, yeah,” Luke said with a nod. “When I was first working on the place, about three days in, the contractor I was working with kept saying there were strange sounds in the attic. But we didn’t see anything up there. He was a bit superstitious and started telling some of the crew members the place may be haunted.”

  “Haunted? Do you believe in that sort of thing?” She definitely didn’t.

  “Not me, but I couldn’t convince him of that. I took a flashlight up to the attic a second time and found evidence of an animal making a nest up there, but no sign of it. I told the contractor it was some animal, probably a raccoon or opossum, he was hearing and called to set up pest control to come on Friday.” Luke gestured a finger in the air. “This was Tuesday. By Thursday there were chirping and squealing sounds coming from up there. The contractor called me and said the noise in the attic was getting louder.”

  “What was it?”

  A smile spread slowly across his lips. “A momma raccoon with six babies.”

  “Oh, how sweet.” Joselyn’s heart melted, but since she couldn’t seem to take her eyes from Luke’s smile, she wasn’t sure if she was reacting to him or the baby raccoons.

  “It was only cute for a half second. The mother went feral on me and chased me out. Then we needed animal control to get involved.”

  “Were the raccoons okay?”

  “Yes, the folks that came were very good at their job. They got them out safe and sound and relocated them. But while they were working on removing them from the house, the contractor quit. He said raccoons are bad omens.”

  “Really?” She had a sudden urge to look that one up, but laughter soon burst out.

  “He said something about them being signs of deception and thievery. Anyway, he was out.”

  “That is hilarious.” Joselyn laughed most of the way back down the dock and to the parking lot.

  “I haven’t heard that one before.” She wiped a tear from her eye as she reached her car.

  “Me either. From that day forward, I asked potential contractors if they were superstitious.”

  “Are you allowed to ask that in a job interview?”

  Luke shrugged. “I don’t know. But what can you do besides be transparent about the situation?” He held a hand to his ear with thumb and little finger extended, pretending it was a phone. “Ah, yes, I need a contractor for this project, and the attic was recently nested in by a mother raccoon…is that a problem for you?”

  Josie giggled. “Could that really have been the first time he ever found a raccoon in an attic? I wonder what he’d say if it’d been a snake?”

  “That’s probably even worse.”

  “I’ll readily agree it’s worse, but not because of anything supernatural. You’ll have to give me the name of who not to hire if I ever go into flipping.”

  “Have you thought about it?”

  “Some. It’s risky, as you know.” She glanced at him, then dug her keys out of her bag. “To be completely honest, my focus lately has been on trying to outsell you.”

  “I respect that.” He nodded. “That’s our job. But if you ever want to give flipping a try, or join with me on a project,” he said slowly, “I’d love to have you on board.”

  Joselyn’s heart did a flip when he shot her a playful grin.

  “Thanks for the offer, Luke. But I think I’m going to stick it out with Victoria. She still has a lot of clout in Atlanta and if I make broker, there’s a chance she’ll still consider me for associate broker.”

  “I hope everything works out, Josie.” Luke pulled his keys from his pocket and jingled them in his fingers.

  Joselyn clicked her car fob to unlock her door. “I hope it all works out for you too.”

  Luke reached around her and opened the door for her. “Thanks. We could get the exam results any day. If I don’t make it…”

  “Maybe you could go full-time with flipping and get a reality show.”

  “What?” Luke’s eyes widened. “Am I reality show material?”

  “Sure. Why not?” Joselyn tossed her bag in the front seat and sent him a goofy smile. “It’s always a good, believable mix of some of the craziest people in this world. You’ll fit right in.”

  “Thanks.” Luke chuckled.

  “Thank you.” Joselyn got into her car.

  “I’ll see you around tomorrow.”

  “Sure. See you then. Have a good night.” Joselyn started her car as Luke closed the door, then turned to walk to his own car.

  She headed back to the resort and thought about him the entire way. When was the last time a man had opened the car door for her? Sadly, it’d been a while. Not even her ex went to the trouble. Cameron had respected her independence and that was great…except it went to the point where he’d talked her into buying her own birthday presents. And paying for her own dinner. Thinking back on it had Joselyn wanting to bang her head against the steering wheel. How on earth had she thought marrying him was a good idea? She’d let too many snide remarks and little criticisms slide.

  For the first time in a long time, she felt she was getting closer to the serenity she craved. She needed this time and space from being in a relationship. She could feel her true self resurfacing and she was surprised by how much fun it was. Or was it the guy she was with?

  Couldn’t be. They probably were only getting along well now because they were away from their daily competition. Getting close to another guy was beyond a bad idea right now.

  Besides, he was taken.

  Luke checked his email again. Still no word about the broker exam. He groaned in the back of his throat as he headed down the hallway toward his next class. The longer he had to keep from telling Josie about Gina, the more tortuous it would be. Once he was secure in leaving Southern Homes, he’d let Gina know it was time to let their secret go public.

  “Hey, are you going to this seminar?” Josie tapped him on the shoulder and he looked up.

  She was in a teal dress that fell to her knees. The color made her eyes look bluer than their usual gray, accented further by bright red lipstick. Her hair fell in waves around her shoulders.

  “Uh…” His breathing seemed to be a struggle. He held on to his phone and notebook more tightly, afraid to drop them.

  “You okay, Luke?” She patted him on the back.

  “Oh, yes. I was just distracted with checking my email.” He held up his phone as evidence.

  “I’m headed this way.” She jerked a thumb at the door behind her, then turned around to go in.

  Chairs were set up in neat rows facing a large table pushed against one wall.

  “Me too.” He followed her, wanting to take the seat right beside her, but thinking better of that idea, he sat directly behind her instead.

  The room steadily filled up and a middle-aged man walked to the front carrying a large folder. “Welcome, everyone. I’m Danny McElroy and we’re going to talk about motivation and how to grow in your career.” He set the folder down on a podium facing the audience and gripped both sides in his large hands. “Now, I’ve been in the real estate business for twenty-five years, and here is the quote I find will help you the most in your lives.” He pulled a stack of paper from the folder, then handed it to a woman on the first row, who took one and passed the stack. As the handout went around the room, he read aloud from the one he kept for himself. “I can. I will. End of story.”

  Those three sentences were all that was on the handout. Luke attempted to withhold a chuckle, but not very well. Josie glanced back at him and he clamped a hand over his lips. Pulling out his pencil and notepad, he tore a little section off the end and scribbled: I was expecting a little more there.

  He folded it in half and tapped Josie
on the shoulder. She looked back at him with furrowed eyebrows but took the note and read it.

  Danny McElroy went on to tell an allegorical tale about his dog and a rat that never gave up, despite being dragged off by the dog. It was more disturbing than inspiring.

  Josie wrote something on the paper he’d passed her, then passed it back over her shoulder. You don’t feel motivated yet? Imagine the shark is chasing you. You can. You will. Just keep rowing!

  He clamped his lips together to keep from laughing too loud. He tore off another section of his paper as quietly as he could, but the ripping sound still earned a sneer from the woman beside him. “Sorry,” he whispered.

  He wrote: You said my rowing attracted sharks.

  She passed it back with a little drawing of a shark. No, just one.

  “Success won’t come knocking at your door,” Danny said. “You have to go out and grab him. You can. You will.”

  Luke wrote down the word kidnapping and P.S. Success is a man? then passed it to Josie.

  She laughed out loud, then slapped both hands over her mouth.

  “Did I make a joke?” He tilted his glasses down his nose and read her badge. “Ms. Bell?”

  Josie crumpled up the note in her hands and shook her head. “Oh, no, I’m sorry about that. I was reading something. It won’t happen again.”

  Danny scowled at her a moment, then turned around to go through his folder. “I have another quote to share with you.”

  Josie spun around and threw the balled-up paper at Luke, then faced the front again before Danny turned back in their direction. “Becoming successful is a marathon. Not a sprint. But remember, you can. You will. Say it with me.”

  The room chanted along with him, “You can. You will.”

  Danny read out ten more inspirational quotes, then started another allegory about a snake that climbed his apple tree to eat a bird. Also disturbing, though semi-inspiring.

  Luke scribbled on his notepad, dying to write Josie another note with a comment on Danny’s story. Somehow the dog from the first story was in this one too, and the tale branched out into a fifteen-minute backstory of how the dog came into his life. It was the weirdest class he’d been to so far.