by Debby Mayne
“They’re fine. I just heard from your woman.”
“My woman? Which one?” Jeremy was used to his brother, so he played along.
“Seriously, dude, I’m talking about Cindi. She just called here.”
“What did she say?”
“She wanted to know when you’d be back. I asked her if it was an emergency, and she said it wasn’t, so don’t worry. I just think you need to know she wants to talk to you.”
“Okay, I’ll call her. Thanks for letting me know.”
“One more thing. . .”
“What’s that?”
“Don’t let her get away again. And you know what I’m talkin’ about.”
Jeremy didn’t even try to pretend. “Yes, I do know. Thanks.”
He told the manager of the store he’d be back soon before stepping outside. Tourists passed him as they headed toward the shopping district on River Street a block away. He’d seen the unrealized potential of this menswear store a couple of years earlier, so he’d walked in, made an offer, and owned the business a month later. With a strong Web presence and referrals from the Chamber of Commerce and River Street Association, he’d tripled the profits. And now it was time to sell so he could focus on his move back to Atlanta.
He opened his flip phone, found Cindi’s number, and pressed Send. She answered immediately.
“You didn’t have to call me right back,” she said. “I told Jacob it wasn’t an emergency.”
“Did you need something?”
There was a long pause before she finally said, “Yeah, I wanted to know what was going on with you. Even after you said you didn’t want to buy my place, I thought you were just changing your game.” She cleared her throat before adding, “And that part about caring for me more now than before. . . well, never mind.”
He was a little surprised she came right out and said that. “I meant it.”
“It doesn’t matter. What we had as kids was just a high school crush anyway.”
“Not for me,” he said quickly. Should he have admitted that? Maybe not, but it was done now, and he didn’t regret it. “I was hoping you’d feel. . .well, you know.”
“I’m not sure of anything anymore.”
“I. . .” What was the right thing to say now? He glanced around at the people strolling past him and decided it would be best to take up this conversation again in person. “Tell you what, Cindi. I’d like to talk some more so we can get this thing resolved. Why don’t we get together when I get back and lay everything on the table?”
“Okay, that’s fine with me.”
After they hung up, Jeremy sucked in a deep breath and slowly let it out before going back inside to finish his discussion with the manager. He loved Savannah, but he loved being home in the Atlanta area even more. However, now that he was here, he planned to enjoy a few of his favorite things.
Jeremy was hungry as usual, so he decided to stop off atone of his favorite eating places—a well-known former boarding-house that had turned into a country-style restaurant—where he could get his fill of some of the finest Southern cooking he’d ever tasted. One of the servers, Bonnie, told him he looked anxious.
“I’m not anxious. Just eager to get home.”
She offered a wide grin. “Must be a pretty girl.”
No point in arguing. “Absolutely. What else could it be?”
“You’d better let her know how you feel, ’cause from what I’ve seen, if a girl can make you want to run back to see her, there’s other fellas wantin’ to do the same thing.”
“Thanks, Bonnie. I’ll try to remember that.”
“After she says yes, bring her back here so I can see what got my favorite customer so in a flutter.”
“Says yes?”
She planted her fist on her hip and shook her head. “Some men can be so dense. Don’t let her get away. Get to know her real good, find out what’s in her heart. See if she loves Jesus, and if you still feel this way, you’d better walk that girl down the aisle.”
He nearly choked on his corn bread. “Got any more sweet tea?”
“Sure thing.” Bonnie walked away from the table laughing.
He paid his tab and left, feeling a mixture of confusion and anticipation. His conversation with Bonnie had made him think.
As he drove past rows of Victorian houses and antique stores, Jeremy thought about what a fabulous honeymoon destination Savannah would be. He passed one of the historic squares where a couple sat on a bench laughing and snuggling. A warm feeling traveled from his head to his toes, and he knew he wanted more out of life than what he currently had.
Lord, if it’s Your will, give me the strength to share my feelings with Cindi. And give me even more strength to deal with her response.
The drive home seemed to take forever, but he finally arrived in his parents’ driveway at dinnertime. When he walked inside, his mother said dinner was being served in a few minutes.
“Thanks, Mom, but I’m going to see if Cindi wants to go out.”
She grinned. “I would tell you to invite her over, but I think the two of you need to be alone.”
Am I that obvious? He guessed so.
Cindi was still at the shop when he called, and she said she still had quite a bit to do. “Elizabeth just had pizza delivered so we can finish up here. Why don’t we talk later? Can you come to my place around eight?”
At least she wasn’t pushing him away. “I’ll be there at eight on the dot.”
He told his mother, so she handed him a plate. “Set yourself a place, and we’ll eat together as a family—just like old times.”
When they sat down, Jeremy was happy his father bowed his head, then looked up and told everyone else to do the same. His brother winked and bowed his head. Their father finished the very short blessing, thanking the Lord for the meal. This gave Jeremy hope for even more great things to come.
At exactly seven forty-five, he left for Cindi’s place. She opened the door before he had a chance to knock.
“So what did you want to talk about?” she asked.
No point in beating around the bush. “Us.”
She blinked, and her face turned red. “Okay, come on in and have a seat.”
He followed her into the living room that had been tastefully decorated with what he remembered were her favorite colors: peach and green. She had a couple of live plants flanking a small entertainment center across from a tan sectional sofa with peach and green pillows in various patterns and prints. “Your place looks really nice, Cindi.”
“Thanks.” She sat down and looked around the room. He could tell she was nervous.
“I don’t want to play games anymore, Cindi,” he began, “so I might as well get straight to the point. I fell in love with you back in high school, and the feeling never went away. I couldn’t hold you back in good conscience. There were so many things you wanted that I couldn’t give you at the time.”
“But I didn’t want anything,” she said softly, “except you.”
“We’ve been down that road before. You know I was a confused, broken kid with no idea what was in my future.”
“I never cared about money,” she said. “I thought you knew that about me.”
He could hear the pain in her voice. “I didn’t want to hurt you, Cindi, but it was the only way I knew to make going away to college easy for you.”
She didn’t say a word. Instead, she looked away, shaking her head.
“But things have changed now, and I have quite a bit more to offer—namely, my faith. I just hope it isn’t too late.”
She slowly turned to face him. “I’m not sure, Jeremy. I was hurt very badly, and it’ll take a long time for me to learn to completely trust you again.” She fidgeted with the edge of the cushion. “I have to admit, I still have feelings, and I believe you when you say you have faith in God. It’s just that, well, I don’t want to put myself in a vulnerable position.”
“I understand that. All I ask is that you give me time.
I’ll do whatever it takes. I’ve even sold all my out-of-town businesses so I can focus all my energy on establishing myself here in Atlanta.”
“Let me think about this, okay?” she said.
He stood and walked toward the door. “Thanks, Cindi.” She walked toward him, so he instinctively reached for her hand.
She paused then took his hand in hers. He squeezed, and she offered a small grin, which gave him a flicker of hope.
All the way to his parents’ house, he thought about ways to win her over. He knew she wouldn’t be impressed by fancy restaurants, but he wanted to take her to the finest places. She’d come out and said she wasn’t motivated by money, but he wanted to buy her the world. The guys at the tire store had pooled their resources and offered to buy him out. He was glad to help them get started. And now he was in the final stages of selling the men’s clothing store. All he had to do was go back for the closing, and then he could turn all his attention toward what was really important.
As difficult as it was, he decided to stay away from her shop for a few days and give her time to think. On Thursday night he got a call from Brad in Savannah. “I finished all the paperwork, and I’ve been approved. The bank said we can sign off on the paperwork tomorrow morning. We can handle it by mail and I’ll be the owner by the end of next week, or if you can be here tomorrow, we can be done with it.”
“I’ll be there first thing in the morning,” Jeremy said. There was no reason to put it off.
❧
Friday morning after she got to the shop, Cindi decided to call Jeremy and see if he could come over that night. She’d thought about what she wanted, and it was clear after not seeing him since their heart-to-heart talk that she wanted the same thing he said he wanted. She tried his cell phone first, but he didn’t answer, so she called his parents’ house.
Again, Jacob answered the phone. “Seems like every time you call, my brother’s in Savannah at his store.”
His store? Had he lied when he told her he’d sold all his businesses?
“Want me to give him a message?” Jacob asked.
“N–no, that’s okay.”
After she hung up, she saw Elizabeth watching her from across the room. She tried to busy herself with some papers, but she knew she couldn’t fool her best friend.
“Okay, what gives?” Elizabeth asked. “What did Jeremy do this time?”
Cindi fought the tears as she shrugged. “He’s back in Savannah at his shop.”
Elizabeth lifted one eyebrow. “His shop, huh? Well, that pretty much lets you know how much you can trust him, doesn’t it?”
The tears suddenly took control and streamed down Cindi’s cheeks. She couldn’t stop them. Elizabeth wasted no time in coming over to her and pulling her into an embrace.
“How could I have been so wrong to trust him?” Cindi asked. “Why did he tell me he’d sold everything when he still had a place in Savannah?”
“Who knows why Jeremy Hayden does anything?” Elizabeth said.
“He said he wanted to settle down in Atlanta, and that was just a few days ago.”
“Something still doesn’t seem right.”
The phone rang. When Elizabeth hesitated, Cindi nodded for her to answer it.
Based on Elizabeth’s side of the conversation, she gathered there had been a mix-up of some dress measurements, which would require some last-minute scrambling on their part. After Elizabeth got off the phone, both of them sprang into action.
Her tears dried as she managed to deal with the distraction. As much of a hassle as it was, she was glad it happened. This disaster turned out to be a blessing to keep her busy.
However, the rest of the day only grew worse. Another of her former customers stopped by to say hi and to let her know the marriage didn’t even last a year. Her mother later called and said her father was so wrapped up in his job that he’d missed a counseling session. By closing time, Cindi wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out.
“Wanna go see a movie?” Elizabeth asked. “There’s a new action flick playing, and I figure it’ll get your mind off everything else.”
“No, that’s okay.”
“I don’t want you to be alone when you’re this upset. Want me to come over to your place for a little while?”
“I appreciate your concern, but this is one time I probably need to be alone. I have to sort out some of my thoughts.”
“Are you sure?”
Cindi nodded. “Positive. I’ll be fine.”
She headed home and dropped her purse in the kitchen. Then she grabbed her Bible and sat on the couch in the living room, where she flipped to some places she’d marked over the past several weeks during church. A quiet peace came over her as she realized she’d been neglecting this very important part of her life and trying to make things go the way she thought they should.
When her phone rang, she got up to answer it. When she saw it was Jeremy, she backed away. Now wasn’t a good time to talk to him—not when she was still reeling over his lies.
After more than an hour of reading her Bible, she bowed her head in prayer. She asked for guidance in her decision about not only Jeremy but also her shop. It was time to stop worrying about selling the business and focus more on her walk with the Lord.
Thirteen
“You totally won’t believe this,” Elizabeth said as she stormed out of the fitting room where a bride was being fitted. “They sent the wrong size.”
Cindi tilted her head to one side. “Can’t you fix it?”
Elizabeth’s eyes widened, and she held out her hands, palms up. “Not this time. The dress is, like, two sizes too small.”
Cindi groaned. “This is the same vendor we’ve been having all the problems with. Well, I guess this will be the last time we use them.”
“In the meantime, we have to get this girl a dress.”
“Okay, tell her I’ll be right there. Let me make a quick phone call.”
As soon as Elizabeth went back into the fitting room, Cindi called all the vendors she knew would work with her. Armed with half a dozen brochures and a few more samples, she knocked on the fitting room door. The bride, Marisa, was sitting hunched over on a chair, a blanket wrapped around her, looking stunned and on the verge of tears.
It was time to pull out all the stops. “I have some dresses you’ll like even more,” Cindi said. “This one retails for about 20 percent more than the other one sells for, and I’ll let you have it for the same price.”
Marisa looked at the dress. “Will you be able to get it for me in time for the wedding?”
“Absolutely,” Cindi said. “In case you don’t like that one, I have others. I’ll see to it that you have the wedding dress of your dreams.”
She tried on all the dresses Cindi brought into the room, and she chose one that she liked even more than her original one. It was quite a bit more expensive, but Cindi wasn’t about to let that be a deal breaker. “Like I told you, I’m not charging a dime more. They can overnight it, and you can be fitted tomorrow.” Cindi saw the look of panic in her eyes. “Or if you don’t mind taking a sample, I’ll let you have this dress with an extra 10 percent discount.”
“You’ll do that?” Marisa said with a smile.
Cindi and Elizabeth exchanged a glance and nodded. “It’s my job to help make your wedding day be one of the best days of your life.”
As soon as Marisa left, Cindi called the vendor, thanked the woman for her willingness to work with them, then told her she’d sold the sample to the bride. Afterward she flopped onto the love seat by the front desk. “That was a nightmare.”
Elizabeth sat down across from her. “Ya know, I sort of enjoyed being part of fixing the problem. Not everyone in our position would have helped her like we did.”
Cindi thought about it, nodded, and smiled. “Yeah, you’re right. It feels really good to be a problem solver in the eleventh hour.”
Elizabeth held up one hand. “High five?”
Cindi sl
apped her friend’s hand. “Okay, now it’s time to get back to work. We have another appointment in an hour, and you need to start the alterations on that dress. I’ll straighten up the fitting room.”
“What do you plan to do with the dress she ordered?” Elizabeth asked as they stood up. “The one that didn’t fit.”
Cindi shrugged. “I guess I’ll send it back.”
“It’s a gorgeous dress.”
“I agree. Too bad it was the wrong size.”
Elizabeth stood there as though she wanted to say something, but she didn’t say a word. Cindi wasn’t sure what her friend was thinking, so she decided to break the silence.
“Why don’t you try it on?”
Elizabeth’s eyes lit up. “Great idea!” She glanced up at the clock. “We still have awhile before our next appointment. Mind if I do it now?”
Cindi gestured toward the fitting room. “Be my guest.”
“I’ll need you to zip it for me.”
“Just holler when you’re ready.”
A few minutes later when Cindi didn’t hear a peep out of the fitting room, she edged a little closer. She heard the swishing sound of a dress.
“Is it on yet?”
“It doesn’t fit,” Elizabeth called back. “I’m too bony for a dress like this.”
“Bummer. I was looking forward to seeing it on you. It’s one of the prettiest dresses I’ve ever seen.”
“Then why don’t you try it on?” Elizabeth said.
“No way.”
“And why not?” Elizabeth said. “Afraid?”
“No, I’m not afraid,” Cindi said as she tried to laugh it off. “I just don’t see any point in trying on a dress I’ll never wear.”
“So what? It’s pretty. What’s the harm in trying it on?”
Elizabeth stood at the door of the fitting room straightening her top. She pointed to the dress she’d hung on the rack behind her.
“I think it’ll look great on you. The bodice is fitted, but the skirt has a graceful flare, just like what you always said you liked.”
Cindi looked at the dress on the hanger. It was truly one of the prettiest dresses she’d ever seen, with simple but elegant lines, the high scoop neck just low enough to wear a necklace without being self-conscious, a cascade of pearl beading down the front, and off-shoulder sleeves.