What’s this guy’s name? Maybe I know him.”
“Jack Sawyer.”
“Hmm…not ringing any bells.” Julia sipped her coffee and Rachel couldn’t tell what she was thinking. Probably that it wasn’t wise to hire a guy who just walks in off the street, from out the blue. Even if he does have good ideas. “Is he from around here?”
“I’m not sure,” Rachel said honestly. “I mean, I didn’t ask. His letterhead has a local P.O. Box. But his references were all from Connecticut and New York.”
Julia glanced at her, but didn’t say anything. They both knew that could mean anything. Anyone could get a post office box.
She reached for a roll, unwrapped it and then broke off a small bite. Julia was a few years older and sometimes took on a protective attitude. Not in a bad way, though. It was just that Julia had lived in Blue Lake all her life, except for college, and was totally familiar with small-town ways. Which were mostly friendly and helpful…but sometimes not. Especially to someone considered an outsider.
“Can I see his card? Maybe I’ll recognize the name of his company,” Julia said.
“He didn’t have a card handy.” Rachel forced a small smile. That didn’t sound very good either, did it? “But all of his paper work looked in order—the estimate, the contract. He gave me some references, too.”
“Did you call them?”
Rachel nodded. “They all checked out fine. Glowing reports. Said he was reliable. Neat. Creative.”
Julia shrugged. “Sounds like you caught a good one, Rachel.”
“Right, let’s hope.”
She nearly blurted out that he was absolute eye candy. Though she didn’t know yet if that was a plus or a minus.
Rachel had finished her salad, but hesitated reaching for the bakery bag of cookies. Wasn’t she supposed to start a diet today, to take off the rest of her baby weight?
Funny how a few friendly smiles from a handsome guy could get you motivated about your appearance again. Rachel knew she’d even gone to a little more trouble getting dressed this morning. Jack Sawyer had caught her yesterday looking like a total mess.
She sighed and reached for the cookie bag. “How did it go with Gary? Did you have a good time?”
Julia fiddled with her fork, then tucked a strand of her golden hair behind her ear. “It was fine. We had very nice time. It was…nice.”
“That bad, huh? I’m sorry,” she said sincerely.
“Gary can be very funny. He makes me laugh. I mean, that’s why I agreed to go out with him in the first place, you know?”
Rachel nodded. She knew Julia certainly had not starting seeing Gary Kramer because of his looks. He wasn’t awful looking. Maybe even cute, in a geeky way. Just not the type of man she’d match with Julia, who was more than pretty. Gary looked every inch an accountant, which was still at least an inch or two shorter than her tall, leggy friend who was over five feet ten in heels. It wasn’t just his looks. Rachel wasn’t so superficial to judge people on those terms.
There was just something lacking about Gary, a passive quality maybe that didn’t seem a match to Julia’s vibrant personality.
It was a mystery to Rachel as to why Julia couldn’t meet the right man and find a serious relationship. She was a tall, lithe blonde with a big blue eyes, intelligent, successful and the sweetest, most loyal soul in the world. If that wasn’t enough, she was a great cook, too.
But just like so many single women their age, Julia was stuck on the dating treadmill, putting in a lot of time and effort, but getting nowhere. Julia had been married once, right after college to her high school sweetheart. If not for that choice, she may have never returned to Blue Lake. But now she was settled here, with a successful business, not to mention her sweet but flighty mother who needed Julia’s level-headed supervision.
Julia thought she’d kissed just about every frog in this very small pond and still hadn’t found her prince. All she wanted was to meet a nice man, get married and have a baby. Why was that so hard? Rachel thought it was so unfair that the happiness so many women found so easily seemed to constantly elude her friend. She never lacked for dates. But nothing ever lasted.
Rachel knew the feeling. She’d been through it all herself the last few years. Then she’d met Eric Rowland at a party and it seemed she’d finally met the perfect man. They’d gotten very serious very quickly and soon made plans to marry. But Eric had called off their wedding at the very last minute. Rachel was devastated and disillusioned.
After Eric, she didn’t have the heart to start dating again and she’d lost all her trust in the opposite sex.
Rachel mourned the new life she had hoped to start with Eric. But one night, she decided she’d make a new life herself—rich, fulfilling, meaningful life with everything she ever wanted. Her own home, her own business and her own children. Without the help of any man.
She knew that Julia hadn’t reached that point yet. But sometimes it seemed she was getting close.
“Are you going to see Gary again?” Rachel asked.
“Oh…I don’t know. He said he would call. I usually have a three date rule. In Gary’s case, I might reduce it to two.” Julia sighed. “Maybe I should just do what you did, Rachel. Skip the husband all together and go straight for the baby.”
Rachel would have laughed but Julia sounded so glum. She reached over and patted her friend’s hand. “I’m not sure, Jules. Only you can answer that one. I will say that I just have this feeling the perfect guy is still out there waiting for you. I don’t know why…I just do.”
Julia smiled and rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. Now you sound like my mother!”
“Well, maybe for once, your mother is right.” Rachel laughed and Julia rolled her eyes again. “What’s Lucy up to? I haven’t seen her in a few days. Has she married anyone this week?”
“Not that I know of. But I haven’t checked my phone messages this morning.”
Rachel loved Julia’s mother; she was fun and full of life. She’d accepted and befriended Rachel and Charlie with no questions asked, and had even become Charlie’s surrogate grandma.
But Lucy had this funny little habit of getting married. It had become the talk of the town.
In the small social circles of Blue Lake, Lucy Martinelli was known as “The Merry Widow.” Though, technically speaking, only two of Lucy’s four husbands had died. Husbands number two and four had been divorced. Which didn’t bode well for Number Five. It seemed to Rachel the odd-numbered husbands had a very high mortality rate.
Julia seemed to be used to her mother’s reputation, even found it amusing. But Rachel knew her mother’s funny little habit worried Julia. They joked about Number Five, but Rachel wondered how Julia would really react if he ever materialized.
Knowing Lucy, it was more a question of when, rather than if.
“She
