Chapter 30
Saturday morning, Vi decided to take herself out for coffee and a doughnut at the Hastings where she and Carmie had met some weeks earlier. Of course, it was packed, and she placed her order to go. But the noise and bustle appealed to her more than being alone, and she decided to stay. All the tables were taken.
“There’s a seat here,” an attractive male about her age offered, gesturing at the lone empty chair in the room.
“Thanks,” she said and sat.
They introduced themselves—his name was Max—and shared where they worked. A short time later, he opened up to her. “You might be able to help me out,” he said, and launched into a long story about a fight with his girlfriend and his worries that she was cheating on him.
Wondering what she’d gotten herself into, Vi listened and sympathized.
“What should I do?” he said.
The whole thing was beyond her expertise. Not that she had much to begin with. She wanted to tell him about Blake and her own pain, but Max’s situation was worse than hers. Besides, he needed to talk. She consoled him as best she could, even squeezed his forearm. “What you’re going through is no fun,” she said. “I wish I could help, but I don’t have an answer. I do happen to know from experience that loving yourself goes a long way to feeling better. Good luck with whatever you decide.”
“Thanks for listening. There’s a guy on his way out looking at you.”
She glanced toward the exit and saw Ross staring at her. She gave him a wan smile. He nodded and exited.
Strange. When she left a few minutes later, she forgot all about that.
As a rule,Blake took weekends off, but Grandpop had invited him to Saturday lunch, just the two of them. Figuring he wanted to talk about business and see printouts of recent sales, he headed for the new store to get copies. Ross and Joanie were working today, and he looked forward to seeing them. Anything to blunt the pain of life without Vi. He felt lost and missed her something awful, but refused to be pushed into a corner by her ultimatum.
Ross greeted him with surprise. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to pick up printouts of our recent numbers to share with my grandpa. Have we been busy this morning?”
“So far.” Joanie left the room to print them out.
When she returned, Blake noted the somber look on Ross’s face. “Why are you so serious? What’s wrong?”
“You won’t like this.”
Blake hoped he wasn’t going to give notice. He seemed happy here, but you never knew.
“I stopped for coffee earlier and saw Vi. She was with a guy.”
Hadn’t expected that. “Who was it?” he asked, gripping the pages of data.
“No idea, but he was good-looking.”
Oh, man. Blake scrubbed his hand over his face. “Good to know. Gotta take off or I’ll be late for lunch.”
He met his grandfather in the dining room. “Where’s Caroline?”
“Having lunch out with a few girlfriends. Sit down.”
“I know you’re interested in how the second store is doing. I brought a printout for the past two weeks.”
“Forget that. What’s with you and Vi?”
May as well tell him. “We’re not seeing each other right now.”
“And why is that?”
“She expects me to do what she wants.”
“I can’t read your mind, Blake. Spell it out.”
“She wants a commitment about the future.”
“Why the devil don’t you give it to her?”
“Maybe I don’t want to fall in love.” Which was the truth.
Grandpop snorted. “You already have. You’re scared, is that it?”
“I call it smart. I’m no fool. When a serious relationship ends, it hurts.”
“Ah, it all comes clear. You lost your father and your mother pulled away from you. Two losses at once, terrible times.” Grandpop narrowed his eyes. “Are you saying you’d rather be alone and protect your feelings than be with the woman who’s crazy about you, makes you happy and could give you a lifetime of joy?” He shook his head. “You can be a real thick-headed idiot. Vi is the best thing to happen to you since I don’t know when. If you’re not careful, you’ll lose her. Now, get out of here and do something about it.”