Although…
Petula had been feeling a little bit guilty lately.No.If she were honest, she’d actually been feeling remorseful for quite some time. For all the things Statler had missed, and was still missing because of her.
It was her fault, Petula was sure, that her amazing sibling didn’t have any kind of social life. The man worked, he came home, he hung out with her and his work crew. They all had some great times together, of course, like fishing on weekends, and hiking the nearby mountains, but Stat didn’t have anything else going on for personal interactions because he wanted her to feel…normal. Occasionally, she’d insist he go do something, and he’d head out to a bar with a few of his work buddies, but… There were no women in his life.
That made Petula sad.
Statler was a handsome man, well-honed from his stint in the Army, and there was no excuse for him not to be dating. Sure,he’d undergone some of the same shit Petula had as a youngster, but not for nearly as long, and not at the same depths of…
Nope.There she went again. Down the rabbit-hole.
That only ever led to having a bad day, so Petula nipped her thoughts in the bud and forced her mind to more pleasant things…
…like Julian’s thick, dark hair. His kind eyes. His adorable shyness that didn’t seem to be put on.
Gah! What was happening to her? Normally she’d go through her day without any kind of disruption to her focus, checking off things she had to accomplish like a familiar grocery list. Every day she’d do her deliveries, pick up something to prepare for supper, drive back to the nice, quiet house where she lived with Statler, and cook while waiting for him to come home on the days he wasn’t working far away.
It was a good life. A regimented life. A safe life. At least for her.
So why was she suddenly letting thoughts of Julian intrude?
It couldn’t lead to anything. That was a given.
Best case scenario, any interest in him would only muck up her head, and probably his, too, once he caught wind of how fucked up she was. Worst case? Pursuing…what? A friendship? A relationship?Right.Those things could send her spiraling, which was the last thing she needed.
It was best to leave this alone.
And the way to do that…?
Maybe she’d ask her boss for a route change. A new itinerary would take her out of Julian’s sphere, and put her odd feelings to rest, for sure.
But…
Petula sighed.
Down deep, she knew she wasn’t going to do that.
The small part of her that wasn’t scared, wanted to see what might happen with Julian Sothard.
And wouldn’t that just blow her entire, carefully constructed life, into a gazillion pieces.
CHAPTER 3
Julian pondered Petula’svisit for the rest of the morning, alternating between despondency over her declaration that she didn’t socialize with customers, and elation that she’d admitted finding him cute. Well, himandhis brothers, which should have bugged Julian, but since those dickheads were all married men now, they weren’t actually competition, so he could ignore them as irrelevant.
Still, even without competition, it seemed like he’d have a tough road, getting Petula to agree to anything more than her purported “friendly hellos”. But Julian was stubborn. And strategic. Years in the Air Force had honed him into a tactical machine.
He might not have much experience with dating, and he might be clueless as to how the female mind worked, but he was determined to change that. He was about to give himself a cram course in all things “woman”, by reading every book he could get his hands on about the female sex, to see what made them tick. Add that to prying into the minds of his savvy sisters-in-law, and he’d have a solid base for his incursion.
Yeah. Julian was smart and a quick study, but he also acknowledged the need for first hand help from Tabbi andcompany. There was nothing quite as good as getting advice straight from the horses’ mouths, so to speak. The ladies were all that and more. Besides, they’d be thrilled. They’d already attempted a number fix-ups for him since he’d been local, and much to their disappointment, he’d refused them all without so much as attempting a single date.
Yeah. His interest in Petula would have the group over-the-moon, and one-hundred percent scheming to help him.
But first, he had to help himself.
Rounding the office desk and sitting in front of the computer that was almost considered Sheila’s private property, Julian logged in and went immediately to the site where the shop purchased all their new inventory. Since opening, Diver Downeast had sold a lot of gear, and right now they were running low on regulators. So…
Julian quickly put in an order. For exactly two.
