The saleswoman walked back up with the tuxes. I knew damn well that I could have found an attractive, sophisticated woman to bring to his wedding. God knows I had plenty of numbers saved in my phone. I could probably dial any one of them, and whoever answered would adjust their schedule to attend. But it wasn't what I wanted.
"I don't need a date to enjoy your big day," I said.
"You should ask Annie," Jake replied matter-of-factly. "She's also going without a plus one."
I let out a sigh. "Annie isn't interested in me like that. I asked her out about a year ago, and she declined, which is cool, man. We're still good friends and…well, neighbors since River Valley is our home town, and she lives just a few miles from my house. I'm sure we'll talk to each other at your wedding."
"Define 'good friends,'" he said with a smirk.
I shrugged. "I don't know. We text, laugh, talk, just as good neighbors do.”
"Mhmm," Jake replied, looking over the tuxes before he turned to the sales consultant. "These are great, thanks."
I pulled out my black card and handed it over, putting my hand up before Jake could fight me on it. "Don't mhmm me. Focus on your own love life. Just because you found yourself a happy ending doesn't mean you can start becoming a matchmaker."
Jake gave me a sideways glance as I signed the receipt and nodded at the clerk. Turning toward the door, I followed Jake out to his car. He put the tuxedos in the vehicle. "Meet you at the diner?"
I nodded. "Gotcha."
We got into our cars and drove over to one of the local diners. Dozens of people were at the restaurant that afternoon, and the hostess quickly sat us down at a booth before having to start a waitlist.
"If Annie wasn't interested in you," he said as we read over the menus, "then she wouldn't be texting you in the first place. I know this for sure. She and Julianna are very much alike in many ways.”
With a deep sigh, I glanced over my menu at him. Still, I thought about what Jake was saying. On some level, I really could see myself dating someone like Annie. She was sweet, sophisticated, and had what seemed to be a successful business. Plus, she always looked so pretty in those flowery, floral tops that she loved to wear.
I couldn't admit that out loud, though, not yet. "You know me, Jake. I'm not a relationship type of guy."
"Neither was I until I met Julianna," he pointed out. "You're almost 45 years old, man. It's not too late to at least date and get to know a woman for more than a few days."
I swallowed my pride at his age remark. Deep down, I was concerned about getting older, not settling down.
"Even if I did decide to date instead of just sleep with a woman," I said, "Annie already turned me down. I'll consider what you're saying about my lifestyle, though. I won't be able to bed women as easily once I hit 50."
"Did you have to put that image in my mind before we eat?"
I playfully punched him in the shoulder.
He groaned, rubbing his arm. "Besides, things change. They have changed. I mean, look at me, for example. I'm getting married. And for all you know, Annie changed too."
"That doesn't mean we'd make a good couple," I pointed out.
"Are you kidding me? I see the way you two interact with each other. You're like peanut butter and jelly. Look, I'll drop it if you promise me that you'll at least think about it."
I nodded just to appease Jake. "Moving on. You'll never guess who I got a voicemail from the other day." I watched Jake as he looked at me quizzically before finally telling him. "Heather."
"Heather? Jesus, man. Between the thought of her and the image of my brother hooking up with women at 50, I've entirely lost my appetite."
They say that playboys are the way they are for one of two reasons. They either never want to settle down for fear of vanilla sex for the rest of their life, or they had their heart crushed by a woman. In my case, it was the latter.
Once, Heather had been the woman I saw myself marrying, except eventually she didn't like that I was following in my father’s footsteps. She moved to River Valley after college and stayed here for five years and learned to hate small-town life. To everyone else, they saw her dramatic exit coming, but I didn't see it. It was sudden to me at the time. One day she decided that she didn't want to be with a man who lived in his father's shadow.
I was proud of myself for not only learning everything that I knew from my dad but that he trusted me enough to help him run the company. I couldn't think of anything else that I wanted to do with my life. So when she told me that, it was a done deal.
Jake had even offered to help her pack.
"I've never deleted a message so fast in my life," I replied.
"Are you going to call her back? What could she possibly want after all these years?”
