6. Sutton
Sutton
Istep out of my car in front of the Ground Up café, and ominous clouds catch my attention. Normally, I’m a big fan of rainy, overcast days, but today is not one of those days.
“Are you serious?” I yell at the clouds, pulling out my yellow raincoat and sliding it over my black pantsuit. “You know I’ve got to show that property by the lake today. How am I supposed to do that if it’s raining?”
“Mommy, why is she talking to herself?” Navy’s son, Rowan tugs on Navy’s arm.
“Maybe Sutton’s lost her marbles today?” Navy says.
I snatch my bag and close the door, keeping my eye roll to myself. “Hey now, I’ve got all my marbles perfectly contained.” I give Rowan a wink. “Hi, buddy. How’s my favorite guy today?”
He runs forward and wraps his little arms around my waist. My heart bursts out of my chest.
“Great!” he says. “We’re going to the museum today, and Mommy is shap-a-rooning.”
“You mean chaperoning?” I laugh, and he nods quickly with a huge grin spreading across his face. I say, “I’m so jealous! I’d love to go to the museum with you today. I bet you’re going to have so much fun.”
“Oh yes,” Navy grumbles, “going to a museum with twenty-five preschoolers should be glorious fun.” This woman could give these storm clouds a run for their money.
But I know the truth: she’s a squishy marshmallow inside and would do anything for the people she loves.
Navy recently took over Ground Up, at least as co-owner until she can find a financial backer to help her buy out the current owner.
“Are you on your way to school now?” I ask Rowan.
“We gots to get snackies first.” Rowan sits on a nearby bench. “Mommy says she can’t surbibe the day without them.”
Navy shrugs her shoulders. “Snacks are life. What can I say?”
I wrap my arms around her. “You’re an amazing mom. Have I told you that lately?”
“Only all the time.”
I can feel her smiling against my shoulder. She pulls away and asks, “What are you doing out this early?”
“I’m headed to Ground Up for food before showing a property. Care to join me?” I step toward the entrance.
“Let us run to the corner store, and we’ll meet you there.” She grabs Rowan’s hand, and they head down the block.
It’s gloriously quiet inside the café, with only a few people in line.
I slip out of my jacket and leave it at a table near the window and hop in line.
I notice Navy’s changed out a few of the paintings that adorn the dark blue walls to fall-colored floral pieces, and she’s added even more plants.
There’s a new reading nook with cognac-colored leather chairs.
It’s as romantic and classic in style as she is.
“Hey, Sutton,” James says from behind the register. “What can I get you?”
“I’ll have a hot lavender latte and a breakfast burrito.”
“Alright.” He reads the total, and I pay and step to the side.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith catch my eye, and we wave at each other. I sold them their ranch house years ago, a perfect fit for their growing family. I like knowing I can find my clients exactly what they want.
“So, uh, how’s your morning, Sutton?” James asks, pulling my attention back to him.
“It’s great. Well, except the rain. I’m showing the Johnson property at the lake today, and the rain is not going to agree with these shoes.” I lift my leg to the side to show off my black patent leather pumps.
“News said it’s supposed to storm pretty much all day.”
“Great.” I suck in a deep breath in my greatest attempt to control my bubbling frustration.
“I don’t mean to overstep,” James says, “but I saw your profile and wanted to see if you’d like to go to dinner this weekend?”
It takes a second for my brain to comprehend what he said. “My profile?”
“Yeah, your Find Love profile . . .” He looks down at the espresso shot he’s pulling and brings his gaze back to me.
What is he talking about?
“The dating app?” James says. “I could have sworn that was your picture.”
I open my mouth, close it, and open it again. “I know what Find Love is, James,” I manage to say. “And I can promise you I don’t have a profile.”
Moist air floods the café as the door swings open. Rowan rushes to my side while his mom sets their bags of snacks and backpacks on a nearby table.
“We’re back, Sutton,” Rowan says. “Mommy says I can have hot chocolate!”
“Coming right up,” James answers while giving me the side-eye.
“You okay?” Navy approaches me at the bar.
I open and close my mouth again, not sure how to answer.
Navy looks at James then back to me. “James, what did you do to Sutton?”
“I mentioned her Find Love profile and was asking her on a date, but it’s not looking promising.”
Navy’s face turns hot red. She abruptly turns her back to me and walks to her table.
“Naaavyy.” I draw out her name. “Would you know anything about a certain Find Love profile I supposedly have but had no idea I had?”
She avoids my gaze and rifles through her bag. She looks guilty as hell, and if she has anything to do with this dating profile, she’s probably contemplating how much trouble she’s in now that I’ve found out.
“I might know a thing or two about it.” She folds her arms over her chest.
“Miss Sutton, why do you need to find love?” Rowan squeezes me around the waist, melting my heart for the second time this morning. “I love you already.” He grabs his hot chocolate and skips back to the table.
I give Navy my best I’ll deal with you in a minute face and turn back to James.
He hands my latte over and slides my food across the counter.
He’s a handsome guy, slightly young for me but also very kind and generous.
Any woman would be lucky to go on a date with him, but I don’t date. At least I haven’t in many, many years.
“James,” I say, “that might be my photo on that profile, but I did not sign up on Find Love. I’m really sorry for the misunderstanding. I think you’re a great guy. It’s just that I’m not really dating anyone at the moment. I’m flattered though.”
“No problem, Sutton. But when you do start dating, if I’m still single, I’d love to take you out.” He smiles a roguish smile and wipes down the counter.
“Of course.” My cheeks flame under his intense gaze. I whirl around and march toward our table.
Navy holds her hands in surrender, looking to the left to make sure her son is distracted enough for the coming conversation. He’s oblivious to what’s going on, focused on his snacks and coloring a picture.
“Don’t give me that look,” Navy says.
“I’ll give you whatever look I want.” I practically throw my items on the table and sit down. “Did you make a dating profile for me?”
“That sounds like something I might have done the other night in a moment of weakness,” she says through clenched-teeth.
“Why would you do that? You know I don’t date.” I dig into my food, biding my time to get my emotions under control. Navy lets me stew and heads to make a drink.
I’ve never been huge into dating. In fact, I can count on one hand the number of boyfriends I’ve had since high school—Lincoln, Markus, Ross, and Brandon. Each relationship lasted a few months, but nothing beyond that. Except Brandon. We dated nearly six years.
I could blame the failed relationships on a number of things, but, mostly, it truly was me not them. I wasn’t ever all in, always holding out hope that maybe someday time might finally be on Hunter’s and my side.
When Hunter went off to college, I accepted that us being together was probably never going to happen.
I was just a high school girl with a crush on a boy who lived six hours away from their hometown.
When he shocked everyone by coming home after his junior year of college to help his parents, I thought maybe, just maybe we could try.
I wasn’t some immature high school girl anymore.
Now, I was a woman making a name for myself in the real estate world.
There’s nothing quite like the heartache you get when the guy you’ve been pining over for years comes home with a serious girlfriend. Eventually, they broke it off, but by then I was with someone else. For years and years after that, it became a constant labyrinth of missed timings.
But everything changed when Brandon came into my life.
I fell hard and fast with him. We were wildly in love, and he pushed me outside of my carefully curated comfort zone. When I was with him, I let go of wanting to be with Hunter.
“Hear me out,” Navy says as she scoots back into her chair.
Rowan looks up from his coloring page and wrinkles his nose at his mom. She leans forward and touches hers to his. My heart flops over at the sweetness of their relationship.
“You and I have been saying for months . . . months . . . that we want what Greer and Luke have, right?”
“Sure, we’ve said that a time or twenty. Who wouldn’t want what they have?”
“Well, the other night, I was watching The Holiday, and it got me thinking about Colorado again.”
I suck in a breath, my mind pulling up the highlight reel of that trip instantaneously. “What about Colorado?”
“Well, there was that day you were like ‘someday someone’s going to find me, and my heart is going to grow three times its size.’” She raises her eyebrows in question.
“I remember. What does Colorado have to do with my new dating profile that I most definitely did not set up?” I sit back in my chair, holding my coffee against my chest with both hands.
“It got me thinking that we both say we want love, but neither of us actively tries to find it. What better way to do that than through a dating app focused on finding love?”
“Mommy.” Rowan takes a drink, a hot chocolate mustache on his upper lip. “I love you, and you didn’t have to find me.”
Navy’s body melts into her chair, and she smooths her hand over his cheek. “You’re right, my sweet boy.”
He smiles and turns back to his artwork.
“Please don’t be mad at me,” she says. “I thought it could be something we do together, you know? I needed a push and thought you could do with one too.”
I purse my lips. “What happened to your ‘the people who are meant to find you will’ bullsh—”