Judah wasn’t prepared for his visceral dislike of a man he’d never met. “Excuse my language, but he sounds like a jerk.”
A tearful laugh escaped Maegan. “He was. I’m thankful I found out before the wedding, but the betrayal still stings. I’m over him completely, but not the damage he inflicted, if that makes sense?”
“It makes perfect sense.”
“Do you know what I hate the most? The pity. I hate it, hate it, hate it.” She shook her head. “For months after it happened, everywhere I went people would look at me with pity. Poor, pitiful, Maegan, left by her fiancé in a sordid affair.”
He wished he could tell her she misread the expressions and comments, but he knew firsthand how real the experience was. Even knowing that most spoke out of the best of hearts, their words and glances only made the situation worse. “For what it’s worth, I don’t pity you, but I am sorry for what you went through.”
“Thank you.” She wiped the few stray tears from her eyes and stood up, smoothed her skirt. “I don’t mean to cut this short, but I need to get back to work. There are several online orders I still have to process before closing.”
“Of course.” He stood up and gave her space. Whether she really did have urgent work or simply needed time alone to process emotions didn’t matter. He understood either way. Crossing the store to the counter, he grabbed a pen and a business card and wrote his number on the back. “If you still want to go to dinner tonight, give me a call. If you don’t, no pressure.”
Chapter Five
Maegan’s head pounded from an emotional hangover. She took two Tylenol and swallowed them with a hearty gulp of water. After two years, shouldn’t she be able to tell what happened without emotions overcoming her?
The conversation with Judah replayed in her mind while she packed orders. Was she really going to go along with his plan to fake a relationship? If she was going to have a pretend boyfriend, she could think of worse men. Not only was Judah gorgeous, he had a unique personality that intrigued her. He made her laugh and while he came off as carefree, there was a deeper side to him he’d let peek through in their few conversations. To her surprise, she looked forward to knowing him better.
She printed the final labels off a thermal printer, peeled the backing off, and attached them to the respective packages. Finishing in the nick of time, she sealed the last bag as the courier walked in to collect her packages.
“Online sales picking up?” Mark, the delivery driver asked.
“They have. As much as I love my in person customers, I’m thankful I can offer this service.”
“Me too. Not that I know anything about yarn, but I love seeing the small businesses thrive. Local stores are my favorite stops along the route.” Mark collected the packages and placed him in the oversized canvas bag.
His words encouraged her. “We couldn’t do it without our favorite delivery teams.”
“Don’t forget there won’t be any deliveries or pickups on Monday, but if you have to have a package go out, you can drop it off yourself at the store. Otherwise, we’ll resume normal times on Tuesday.”
“Thanks for the heads up.” She reached under the counter for the treat bowl she kept for customers with kids. She handed two stickers and two lollipops to Mark. “Take these home for the kids.”
“They’ll love them. Thank you.” He tipped his head. “You have a good weekend.”
“You too.”
The Tylenol began to kick in, and the throbbing subsided. She locked her storefront a few minutes early so she could close out the register and perform the other end of day tasks. Afterall, she had adateto get ready for.
This week had taken a turn she never saw coming, and she wished she had someone to confide in. Her mother wasn’t an option because she would read into the situation, even if Maegan told her the full story. Katelyn, her best friend, was in Honduras for a three-month mission trip with her husband so telling her wasn’t an option either.
“Am I doing the right thing, Gran?” she asked out loud, knowing she wouldn’t get an answer, If Gran were still alive, she’d have the perfect advice, but pretending to talk to her was the best she could do.
She pulled out the business card with Judah’s number. Only an hour had passed since he’d left, but it felt like longer. Likely due to the barrage of thoughts fighting for space in her brain. Her heart drummed against her chest as the phonedialed painfully slow. Once she made this call, that it. She was committed to this charade.
“Deputy Langford,” Judah answered.
The professional greeting threw her off guard. “Um, hi. It’s Maegan.”
“Hey.” His voice adopted a casual tone. “Sorry. I know so few people here that when I see a local number, I assume it’s for work. I’ll save your number, so I have it.”
“No worries.” She paused and wrapped her finger around a spare piece of register tape on the counter. “Did you still want to go out tonight?”
“I’m up for it if you are.” His tone sounded infinitely more confident than she felt.
“Should we meet there or do you want to pick me up?”
He scoffed. “My mother, rest her soul, would have my hide if I didn’t pick you up. Besides, even if it’s not a real date, it has to look like one.”
