“Friendship means a lot,” she reminded herself. Ignoring the sadness she felt for what might’ve been at last, she finished booking the internet reservations that had come in over the past couple of days.
* * *
Since his divorce, Joe hadn’t been eager to jump back into the dating pool. Bumping into the person he suspected to be the father of his youngest daughter, just as he was starting to feel that secret was safe, hadn’t helped. It’d reminded him why he’d sworn off women to begin with, how complicated and painful romantic relationships could get, especially when there were children involved.
But spending the rest of his life alone wouldn’t be much of an improvement. And Chey seemed like a woman he could trust. The telephone call he’d just had with her confirmed it. Suzie would’ve put herself above her friend without thinking twice. He had no doubt of that. Suzie believed she was the only one who had a right to be happy.
“Hey!”
Joe turned to see his father holding open the door between the minimart, where Martin had been working the register, and the auto-repair bays, where Joe had been overseeing the automotive end.
“We’ve hit a lull in here,” Martin said. “Can you watch the store while I grab us a sandwich at Stacked?”
“Sure.”
“What do you want?”
“Hot pastrami.”
“You got it.”
Grateful to know he had a few minutes to himself, without worrying about being interrupted or overheard by his father, Joe called his sister in L.A. Since he was interested in one of her friends, he figured he should probably get her permission and maybe a little advice.
“Don’t tell me this is my big brother, whom I rarely hear from unless I call,” Gail said when she came on the line.
Slightly embarrassed, he passed into the store. She was right; she was better at staying in touch. “I hope you’re not holding a grudge.”
“And I hope that one day you’ll start doing your part. What’s up? I might hear from you occasionally, but never in the middle of the day, which makes this call a bit suspect.”
“I must want something, huh?”
“Exactly. Is everything okay? Is it Dad? Are you two getting along?”
“Everything’s fine. How’s Simon?”
“Simon’s a handful. But I knew he’d be a handful when I married him.”
She sounded happy, and that made him feel optimistic, as if some marriages, even a high-risk marriage, could work. “I bet he’s busy.”
“Actually, he’s so excited about the baby he hardly leaves my side.”
Joe reorganized the candy near the register and threw away an empty box. “What’s the latest?”
“We still don’t know whether we’re having a boy or girl and we don’t want to find out until the baby’s born.”
“Only two more months to wait. What does Ty think of having a brother or sister?”
“He’s as excited as his daddy. He wants to name the baby Elmo.”
“Yikes.”
“Nothing could be worse.”
“Hard to believe you’re almost at the naming point. You were barely showing when I saw you last.”
She laughed. “I’m definitely poking out now.”
He asked about her PR company. She said it was thriving. He asked about Simon’s latest film. She said he’d insisted on a hiatus until their Lamaze classes ended. He asked when they might come to Whiskey Creek. She said they were hoping to visit soon. Then the conversation slowed, and her tone took on a playful note. “Okay, enough chitchat. You had a reason for calling me. What is it?”
Dexter Jones, a locksmith who lived in town, pulled up to get gas. Joe kept an eye out in case he needed help, but Dexter was paying at the pump.
“There’s a woman,” Joe said.
“A woman,” she repeated.
“Yes.”
“Someone you like?”
“I think so.”
“I’ve been waiting a long time for this,” she said gleefully. “Where’d you meet her?”
“Right here in Whiskey Creek.” He wiped down the coffee area. “You know her, too. Quite well.”
“I know almost everyone in Whiskey Creek. Who is she?”
He stopped cleaning up. “One of your closest friends.”
Her silence seemed to come from surprise more than anything else. “Which one? You’ve never shown much interest in my friends, not romantically.”
“Because they were too young for me.”
“They haven’t closed the gap, Joe,” she said with a laugh.
“You know how it is. Now that we’re older…somehow those years don’t matter like they used to.”
“I see.” She sounded excited. “So are you going to tell me who we’re talking about?”
He was about to, but she cut him off before he could.
“Wait—let me can guess. You like Eve, right? Callie mentioned that she’s been talking about you lately—”
“It’s not Eve. But you’re getting close.”
“Callie?”
He watched Dexter fiddle with his phone while waiting for the pump to fill his tank. “Cheyenne.”
“That’s wonderful! There’s no one better than Chey. She’s more reserved than the others, which is why I didn’t think of her right away. She’s definitely different from your ex.”
“That might be the attraction,” he said dryly.
“I approve. Wholeheartedly.”
“You don’t mind?”
“Not at all.”
He waved to Dexter, who returned the wave and drove off. “Then maybe you can talk her into going out with me.”
“Why would I need to talk her into that? You’ve already asked—and she turned you down?”
“It’s a little more complicated than you might expect.” He told her about Eve’s invitation to dinner, and how often she’d been coming by the station.
“Cheyenne’s a very loyal person, Joe. I don’t think she’ll relent, not if there’s a chance of hurting Eve.”
“But I’m not interested in Eve. And I’ve never led her to believe otherwise. I accepted her dinner invitation but knew almost immediately that she wasn’t my type. I didn’t kiss her or touch her. It doesn’t seem fair that she’s standing in the way.”
“I get that, but…” She made a clicking sound with her tongue. “It’s a tough situation. You’re asking Chey to risk losing her best friend. I don’t have to tell you what her life was like growing up, or why she feels so bonded to Eve.”