surely make the playoffs.”
“Shit, I hope you’re right. That would be amazing.”
“Just keep the faith, Lars. Never give up.”
“Oh, I won’t,” I assure her, meeting and holding her gaze. “Not in football… or in any other areas of my life.”
I mean her, and she knows it.
Quickly, she looks away.
But even as she does, I detect the tiniest hint of a smile.
Things continue to go well, but we eventually leave the pizza place.
As Becca drives me back to the restaurant parking lot so I can fetch my car, the subject of her work comes up. She tells me how she’s hoping to straighten up and organize the wedding consultant bridal shop that she shares with Jodi.
“It’s such a mess,” she says. “It has been for a while. Our desks are piled high with papers, and the whole space is just so damn unorganized. We recently started carrying wedding dresses, so there are boxes all over the place.”
“Sounds like you’re expanding,” I remark.
“We kind of are. We never planned to get so busy so fast. But business is great.”
Chuckling, I say, “That’s a good problem to have.”
“It sure is. That’s why we figured why not strike while the iron’s hot and add a product line.”
I like that she’s not just pretty, she’s smart and business-minded.
We arrive at the Italian restaurant and pull into the lot. I direct Becca over to where my SUV, a black Lincoln Navigator I usually refer to as “the Nav,” is parked.
When she pulls in next to my vehicle, I come up with an idea on how I can help Becca and be supportive of her business.
As she’s placing her car in Park, I ask, “Do you and Jodi plan to get things in the shop organized anytime soon?”
Becca sighs. “I’d love to, but I don’t think it’ll happen as quickly as I’d like.”
“Yeah, why’s that?”
“Well, we’ve been talking about organizing since the fall, yet we still haven’t made a move. Jodi was supposed to get Caleb to help, but I don’t think she ever asked him.”
Quickly, I say, “I’ll help.”
She looks over at me, her eyes lighting up. “Would you really, Lars? That’d be great.”
“Yeah, sure,” I reply. “In fact, I’d love to help.”
Apart from wanting to be a good “friend,” I’m up for any opportunity to spend more time with Becca.
She looks super happy, but then her face falls.
“What’s up?” I ask.
Sighing, she tells me, “I can’t ask you to help with organizing. It’ll take hours, maybe even a whole day.”
“That’s not a problem,” I assure her. “My days aren’t exactly packed at the moment.”
“Ah, right, it’s the off-season. I forgot.”
“Yeah,” I go on, “so you should definitely take me up on my offer while I’m still free.”
She cocks her head, smiling. “You really want to help?”
“I do.”
“Okay, then let’s do it.”
“It’ll be good,” I say. “We’ll make it fun.”
Before we call it a night, we make a plan for me to meet her at her shop on Sunday morning.
Becca says, “We’re closed that day, so that’ll work out perfectly.”
“Great. I’ll see you then,” I reply.
I keep it to myself that I’ll be counting down the days till Sunday.
Shit, I have to laugh.
Who’d ever expect I’d be this pumped to clean up a bridal shop?
Missing Out
Lars is fantastic. I’m glad we’re going to be friends. Grabbing pizza last night with him was so much fun. And now I’m really pumped we’ll be spending Sunday together straightening up the shop.
Yay!
It needs to be done, and there’s no one else I’d rather do it with.
Come to think of it, there are a lot of things I’d like to do with Lars.
Too bad I can’t.
Since I should clear the plan to straighten up the shop with Jodi first, I bring it up to her the next day. We’re at our business, seated on the floor in the back by the dressing rooms, unboxing a new line of designer wedding gowns that just came in.
Jodi is one step ahead of me, though, when it comes to Lars.
Seems she wants to talk about nothing but him.
“So where did you guys go last night after you left the restaurant?” she asks as she’s opening a huge box of dresses. “When Caleb and I took off, we noticed your car was gone, but Lars’s SUV was still there.”
“Yeah…” I shrug. “…I drove.”
“Where did you go?” Jodi presses. “Did you guys grab something to eat somewhere else?”
“We actually did,” I confirm. “We got pizza.”
She nods approvingly. “Ahh, something casual. Good thinking. That’s less stress