Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 53349 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 267(@200wpm)___ 213(@250wpm)___ 178(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53349 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 267(@200wpm)___ 213(@250wpm)___ 178(@300wpm)
Tamara tried to smile. What Florentine was saying made perfect sense. But it wasn’t what worried Tamara. Her question went deeper—what if you’d already found the person you loved and it didn’t work out? What then? Tamara’s response was to shut down and not look for anything serious ever again. But all around her, she saw evidence of how other people had handled the same situation differently.
The room was full of people who had thought they’d found their one special person, only to later decide that they were wrong. And it hadn’t destroyed them, because here they were today with new partners and new loves. What’s more, it was all very amicable. Tamara was sure she could never be in the same room as her ex-fiancé. She couldn’t be in the same room as her former best friend either. The hurt would be too great. The pain would be…
But the thought stopped there. Tamara had never really put the idea to the test. She’d moved away. She hadn’t kept in touch. It had hurt after the breakup, of course, and that hurt had stayed with her for a long time. But now she had her whole life in Malibu, her shop, and her friends. Did it really matter so much? If she was honest with herself, these days she barely thought about that terrible time. And that had to be a good sign.
So why couldn’t she move on? That was the real question—and Tamara didn’t know the answer.
“Are you okay?” Florentine asked, breaking her out of her reverie. “You seem lost in thought.”
Again, Tamara forced a smile. “I’m sorry. I’m fine. I was just thinking about what you said, and you’re right about not feeling bad at having a second chance at love. That’s beautiful.” Tamara smiled again, but this time she meant it. “I’m so excited for you and Tim, and I can’t wait for the wedding.” She squeezed Florentine’s hand and then glanced across the room. “I was also thinking that I’d better get back to Nate. Tim seems to be monopolizing him a little. Good luck tomorrow!”
Florentine thanked her and then said, “I’m so glad to have met you. I guess we should probably both get back to the men we love.”
The men we love. Tamara liked the sound of that, even though she was only playing along with it for Nate’s sake. Still, it was a wonderful thing to hear, and it touched a part of her she’d thought was long buried.
When she approached him, Nate was deep in conversation with his brother about the way things were going in the marketing business, especially the online side of things. It sounded as though his brother was angling for details about what Married in Malibu was working on right now, all the while talking about the big marketing deal he’d just pushed through.
“I mean, this deal was for a big, multinational client this time,” Tim said. “And business is booming. Maybe you should come and work with us and do some of the SEO. It would be a better use of your talents than managing wedding lists for minor celebrities.”
Nate frowned. “I’m happy where I am, Tim.”
Of course he couldn’t say anything about what they were currently working on or that, from a computing point of view, it was a lot bigger than anything his brother could offer.
“But just think of all the things you could be doing with us,” Tim insisted. “I’m just saying maybe you should be working somewhere that really uses your talents.”
Tamara knew she had to save Nate and dove right in. “I can tell you that Nate enjoys the things he gets to do at Married in Malibu. Besides, if he worked here, he’d have to be away from me, wouldn’t he?”
“And you can’t break up such a lovely couple,” Florentine said, joining them. “Now, come on, Tim. Leave him alone. My mom wants to talk to you.”
“Thank you,” Nate said as soon as they were alone. Tamara slid into his arms briefly and gave him a squeeze. It was what a real couple would have done, after all. She was very aware of the attention Nate’s family was giving the two of them. Almost as aware as she was of Nate’s strong body next to hers. They didn’t play to the gallery, but she knew Nate wanted to kiss her as much as she wanted to kiss him. She could feel his energy.
All through dinner, they sat close enough that they could have been physically joined at the hip. It was just pretend, Tamara reminded herself, but the truth was that she craved the contact, the closeness to Nate. She felt a bubbling happiness while at the same time feeling more calm and centered than she had in years.
Nate’s parents were sitting with them at the same table, and his mom was eager to tell Tamara what Nate had been like as a little boy. The surprising thing was that Nate had already told her a few of these stories. She’d heard the one about him and his brother racing their bikes across a busy intersection and almost giving his mom a heart attack. And she loved the one about the time Nate had set up his own computer help desk as a teenager. The stories were charming, and it was clear that Nate’s parents adored him.