He heaved a sigh and accepted the call. “Hey, Mom.”
“Hi, honey. Hope I’m not interrupting anything.”
“Just got home from work and will be settling in to watch the game here soon.”
“Braves are having a good season so far.”
“They are.”
“Dad said you’ve had a full week.”
He communicated with his dad frequently via text and calls about the business. “We have a lot of customers on the island, and I did a few bids this week too.”
“That’s good. The business is having a good year. Dad was talking about hiring more help—nothing to do with your leave of absence, just steady business growth. Have you talked to Hayley lately? I think she misses you.”
“She called earlier this week and we text here and there.”
“By any chance, did she say anything about a boy?”
Aboy? “No, why? Is some guy sniffing around?” Hayley was a very pretty girl but a bit of a late bloomer. She’d been more interested in sports than boys so far, and that was just fine by Sam.
“No, but she’s hiding away in her room a lot. A few days ago I caught her on the phone in the pantry of all places.”
No boy then. Just avoiding wedding hoopla, but Sam wouldn’t out his sister. “Hmm.”
“Listen, honey, I hate to bring up the wedding again, and I’m not calling to pressure you. I just wanted to let you know that we’ve booked two rooms in your name just in case—just to hold them—for you and a plus one. The hotel block closed yesterday,so I went ahead and did it. If you don’t go, Dad and I will cover the rooms.”
Yeah, the affair was to be a destination wedding—Anna Maria Island, Florida. A whole weekend event for close family and friends. Wasn’t enough that he’d just have to endure a three-hour affair. “You didn’t have to do that, Mom.”
“We don’t mind. Needless to say the airline prices are going to go up the closer we get, but you could always drive instead. Anyway, I didn’t call to pressure you.”
Of course not. “Thanks for letting me know. I’m still thinking about it.”
“And that’s just fine. We understand. But if you need someone to take along, Marcee’s granddaughter would be more than—”
“No, Mom. Thanks, but no.” Marcee’s granddaughter had all but humped his leg the last time he’d seen her. She was an attractive woman in her midtwenties, but her aggressive manner put him off, if her nasal voice and banal conversation hadn’t already done the job.
“Well, all right then. I guess I should go get some work done on the books.”
His mom handled the accounting and billing part of the business. “Sure, Mom. I’ll call Hayley soon. Talk to you later.”
“Bye, honey.”
He set his phone down and tucked into his sandwich, his mind on the upcoming wedding and his mom’s efforts to get him there.
Oh, sure, he would go. He’d come to that decision slowly and painfully over the past several weeks. He just wasn’t quite ready to admit it out loud. That and having no date. He hadn’t been outwith anyone since Amanda, despite his sister’s efforts to get him onto a dating site. She’d even offered to set up his profile—God forbid—but he just wasn’t ready to dip his toe back into those waters.
He didn’t have a close female friend who’d help him out, and the only women his business put him in touch with were married or too old for him.
He took another bite. He didn’t want to think about the wedding anymore. It would be here soon enough. He’d rather think about anything else—including his pesky neighbor and this quest she’d taken up.
Much as he didn’t want to go to the church, he’d probably end up saying yes to that too. She was a little hard to turn down, to be honest, with her genuine delight and hopeful attitude. She had a sweet innocence about her that appealed to him. Maybe because it offset his new cynical nature.
A chair scraped on the back deck and music poured through the thin glass of the sliding door. Something peppy and loud. Her dog emitted a high-pitched bark. She was certainly distracting.
He had a thought.
It was a crazy one really, but... what if he asked her to the wedding? True, he hardly knew the woman. Maybe she was a little excitable and talkative, but she might be fun at a wedding. And there was that distraction factor she had going on—he’d need plenty of that for the event.
