“Julian.” Petula tried to say the man’s name casually.
“Let me think.” Stat chewed and swallowed, clearly going through some mental gymnastics. “It goes, Trask, Vincent, Kyle, Mason…then Julian?”
“That sounds about right. Julian just got out of the Air Force after twenty-five years in.”
“Wow.” Stat nodded appreciably. “Those Sothards sure know how to serve. If it’s not a branch of the armed forces, it’s police work or SWAT teams. I have to give them props.”
“Yeah. But hey, you’re no slouch, yourself,” Petula countered. “You were ten years in.”
And he would have served more if it hadn’t been for her. But that was water under the bridge. Stat didn’t hold his change of career against her at all, and often even lauded his separation from the Army as leading him toward doing something he loved.
“Yeah. But I’m only one person. There’s seven of them.”
“Actually, eight,” Petula corrected.
“Eight?” Stat’s mouth dropped open comically.
Petula giggled. “Uh, huh. I just learned today that there’s a younger one, Seifer, who’s still in school or something. Julian was kind of vague about it.”
“I’ve never heard of Seifer, and… Julian again, huh? It sounds like you had an actual conversation with this guy.”
Petula drew in a deep breath. “I did. And… This is going to sound strange, but I…kind of like him.”
Statler, in the middle of lifting another forkful of mashed potatoes to his mouth, slowly lowered his utensil, his look growing cautious.
“You like him, or you…likehim, like him?” he questioned deliberately.
“I…” Petula blew out a gust of air. “I’m not sure, exactly. I notice him, Stat. Like, actuallynoticehim. I mean, it’s not like I haven’t thought that all the Sothard men are good looking. I’d be blind not to. But that’s just a fact that can’t be ignored. There’s something about Julian that, well, draws me in. In a different kind of way than what I’m used to.”
Stat would know how conflicted she was when he heard the rest.
“I…actually shook his hand, and…liked it.”
Statler sat up straight, his food now completely forgotten. “You…touched him?” He shook his handsome, blond head. “This is big, Petti. I mean, it could be. Because you’re not actually freaked right now. How are youreallyseeing this?”
It said a lot that Stat, knowing what he knew, hadn’t simply shut her down and told her to walk away. God bless him, he always analyzed every fact before he made up his mind as to whether something was good or bad, orevengave his opinion.
“A little skeeved.” Petula had to be honest. “I’ve been…curious about him, however, for the last couple weeks; since the first time I saw him.” She explained why this was the first time she was mentioning things. “You know about Diver Downeast’s office since you helped them with the reno there a few months back. It’s always busy; full of Julian’s brothers and sisters-in-law, so I couldn’t exactly have a one-on-one conversation with him before he was alone.”
“And he was today? Alone?” Stat questioned. “And you had an actual discussion?”
“Uh, huh.” Petula nodded, her face screwing up in consternation. “I, uh, even told him he was handsome. Well, him and his brothers because I didn’t want him to think I was hitting on him.”
She might as well have smacked her brother in the head for how shocked he looked.
“Geeze, Petti. I’m…at a loss for words, here.” Statler’s jaw tightened. “What did he do when you said he was good looking? How did he react?”
She felt herself blush.
“He asked me out for coffee. Sort of. He actually phrased it by questioning whether or not I ever did coffee or lunch with a customer.”
“And you told him…?” Stat trailed off.
“I told him no. I don’t. And he didn’t press the issue.” Petula scowled. “But I think… Maybe I want to try the coffee thing.” she rushed out.
Statler regarded her seriously, and his words emerged in a careful, modulated cadence. “I think that if you’re going to takea chance on dating, you couldn’t find a guy from a nicer family. The Sothards are all good, salt-of-the-earth people, and I have no doubt that Julian is cut from the same cloth as the ones I know. But Petti, how would you move forward with it? What will you tell him?”
Now that she basically had her brother’s stamp of approval, Petula finally spit out a strategy that had been dancing around in her head all day.
