Chapter 4 #2
“The hard part,” Nate continued, “is that when they see me single and unattached… Well, it’s like sharks around a bait ball.
They’re always trying to get me married off.
I’ve lost count of the number of wedding receptions I’ve gone to where they’ve tried to set me up with somebody—usually a bridesmaid.
I get seated next to people I don’t know, and I get paired up with someone for every dance.
It doesn’t matter if we have anything in common or not.
I think it drives them a little crazy that I’ve never been married. ”
Tamara had to admit that she wouldn’t want to be in Nate’s shoes.
It was bad enough being single without people trying to set you up all the time.
Tamara couldn’t help feeling bad for him, yet it was obvious he would need to go to his brother’s wedding.
She tried to think of a possible solution to the problem, and only one thing came to mind.
“What if you took someone with you?” Tamara asked. “If you had someone there at the wedding, would they leave you alone?”
Nate shrugged. “I’ve thought about that before,” he admitted.
“It’s a big ask, but it would probably work.
They’d think I was taken or committed, and they certainly wouldn’t try to set me up with anyone else.
The only difficult part would be finding someone who’d agree to do it without it being weird. ”
“I’ll go with you.” The words were out before Tamara had even thought about them. What was she doing?
“You will?” Nate sounded a little stunned by the offer, but he recovered quickly.
Far too quickly for Tamara to even think about taking it back.
“That would be great, if you’re sure. It would take a lot of pressure off me, and I know they would be thrilled to meet you.
” He grinned. “And it would definitely mean fewer bridesmaids trying to hit on me.”
“Well, I’d hope so,” Tamara said. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t be doing a good job.”
Nate gave her a look as if to say he couldn’t conceive of a situation where Tamara would be a crummy girlfriend. It made her heart flutter a little.
“And it’s this coming weekend?” Tamara said. She had hired help for the summer, but they’d never been left alone before. The idea of a road trip to the beach sounded so fun, though, that the temptation to go with him was too much.
“Yes,” he said, looking at her earnestly.
“Okay, then, it’s a date.” Tamara blushed as she realized what she’d just said.
“Not a date date. A thing. An arrangement. You know what I mean.” Trying to ignore the restaurant’s romantic low lighting, and the couples everywhere, Tamara was doing all she could to make this feel not like a date, and yet, here she was talking about a date next weekend.
“I do,” Nate said, giving her a small smile. “But you’re sure you’d be okay with it? Coming down to the wedding? Staying at my brother’s beach house for the weekend?”
Tamara frowned slightly at that. “Your brother’s renting a beach house?” Did that mean they would have to play at being a couple the whole time?
“Actually, he bought the place. His marketing business has really taken off, and he’s got plenty of room, so I guess he wants to show off the place. Plus, he really loves the beach.”
“Who doesn’t love the beach?” Tamara said dreamily.
Maybe she shouldn’t have put it that way.
She should have said that maybe they should get their own place.
But too late now. She could do this. “It all sounds great. I haven’t been to San Diego in ages.
Just let me know if I need to bring anything special. ”
“Thanks so much, Tamara.” Nate took a sip of wine and seemed to disappear into his thoughts for a moment. When he looked at her again, he asked, “But what about you? Do you find yourself going to a lot of family weddings?”
“My family is the opposite of yours,” Tamara explained. “My parents have been married for more than fifty years now. They met in high school, fell for each other, and they’ve been together ever since.”
She normally didn’t talk much about her family, even with Nate, but he’d been open about his parents, so it was only fair. Besides, Tamara found that she actually wanted to talk about this, at least a little bit.
“It’s the same thing with my brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, and all my cousins,” Tamara said.
“It’s like they’re genetically programmed to find the perfect person as early as possible, marry them, and spend the rest of their lives together.
Maybe it is genetic, because it was like that for my grandparents too. ” She paused. “And then there’s me.”
“How so?” Nate asked. “What happened?
Tamara hesitated. She really wasn’t sure whether she should tell him this part of her story, but if she couldn’t tell Nate, who could she tell?
She took a deep breath. “In my family, you meet your one person, and that’s it. But it didn’t work out that way for me.”
“What do you mean?” Nate asked. He leaned forward slightly, and they could have been any of the couples in the room. Except those couples probably weren’t talking about how badly their love lives had turned out.
“Quite a while ago, not long after high school, I got engaged to this guy, Brad. We’d known each other pretty much all our lives.
We grew up in the same town, a few houses away.
We went to the same school, hung out together all the time, and knew all the same people.
It just seemed so obvious that things were going to work out for us in the long term.
My family knew Brad and his family, and they all got along just great, and…
” Tamara was trying to laugh about it, but even after all this time, it still hurt.
Was it the sting of what had happened, or wondering if it would still impact the rest of her life?
“What happened?” Nate asked, his voice quiet and soft.
Tamara tried to calm her breathing. “It turned out that Brad had been seeing my best friend, Stacy, behind my back.” She stared out at the ocean, avoiding Nate’s gaze. “They eloped, and I haven’t seen them since.”
She turned back to Nate and saw that he looked grim and serious.
“You’re kidding,” he said.
Tamara shook her head. “Trust me, Nate, I’m definitely not kidding. I wish I were.”
“Tamara, I’m so sorry. No one deserves that.” It was evident by the sincerity in his voice that he was stunned by the story, and he was unsure of what to say next.
Just the thought of that was enough to make Tamara feel uncomfortable. She’d shared too much. Personal stuff could be dangerous, and it could take people unawares. She tried to switch things back to business, where the world was safer.
“It was a long time ago,” she said, as if sweeping the whole subject under the carpet. She put a smile on her face, even though she felt about as far away from smiling as possible. “So, tell me about this client of yours. You said that he’s looking for something special in terms of coffee?”
“Yes, that’s right,” he said, and Tamara was relieved that he was letting her change the subject so rapidly.
He continued, “The groom and his fiancée are coffee aficionados. They want to serve the highest-quality coffee at all the wedding events—the rehearsal, the reception, and anything else that comes up. Since you’re the coffee expert, Liz and I wondered if you would be willing to help us out. ”
This was something that Tamara could deal with easily. She was back on solid ground. She might not understand why Brad had run off, or why the memory could still provoke such sadness in her, but she knew coffee, and she knew the best importers and roasters in the city.
“The thing is,” Nate said, “I want to go further and find a way to make it really unique to them as a couple.”
“I could put together a specialized blend for them,” Tamara suggested. “The best beans, personalized flavors. It would be something no one else would have.”
“That sounds perfect,” Nate said, grinning.
As they talked about suppliers and roasters and time frames, Tamara got excited—this was her jam. She was still tossing out ideas when their waiter came over to the table.
“Would you like to order dessert this evening?”
Nate at Tamara, who hesitated only a moment before nodding and ordering sorbet.
“Are you celebrating a special occasion?” the waiter asked. “An anniversary perhaps? Or an engagement?”
“No, no, nothing like that,” Tamara said, probably a little too quickly.
“Just two friends having a night out,” Nate said smoothly.
“Certainly, sir,” the waiter said, and Tamara thought she saw him wink. “I’ll be right back with your dessert.”
Tamara watched him go. He probably thought she and Nate were having some kind of affair or something. That wasn’t a great thought, given what her best friend had done.
“I hope all this isn’t making you too uncomfortable,” Nate said, also glancing at the waiter’s retreating form. “All the romantic references here… If I’d known, I’d have picked another place to have dinner.”
“Don’t worry. It was lovely,” Tamara said. “I’m just glad you’re someone I can be open and honest with. I haven’t really shared my story with other people.”
Nate nodded. “I know it must be hard to talk about, or even think about. But if you don’t mind me saying, Brad was a complete jerk, and he was an idiot for not recognizing what an amazing woman you are.
Thanks for trusting me, Tamara. I will never discuss this with anyone,” Nate said sincerely as he looked her in the eyes.
The talk turned to other things, but the realization of what a special person Nate was didn’t leave Tamara. Brad couldn’t begin to hold a candle to him.
Eventually, they headed out to their cars, and Tamara had to admit she’d had a good time… actually a really good time.
“Well, I guess this is good night,” she said.
“I guess so,” Nate agreed.
On instinct, Tamara hugged him, enjoying the warmth of his arms wrapped around her.
Their hug lingered, because neither of them seemed to want to be the first to let go.
Tamara knew the embrace had a momentum of its own, and she could guess where it would lead.
Another kiss. Probably another great kiss.
And, oh, how badly she wanted to kiss Nate again. Which was exactly why she forced herself to disengage, step back, and get into her car.
She drove away before she could change her mind, hoping that, as they began to work together more closely, things with Nate would get easier than this.