by Debby Mayne
He was right. The instant he walked into the condo, his mother let him know she was worried. “You should have called,” she said.
Back when he was a younger man, her fussing annoyed him. Now, however, her concern touched him deeply. “Yes, I know, and I should have. Sorry. I’ll do better next time.”
She smiled at him. “You’re a good boy, Jeremy. I’m proud of who you’ve become.”
After dinner he went up to his room and placed a call to Cindi’s house phone. When she didn’t answer, he tried her cell phone. Still no answer.
❧
When Cindi heard the house phone ring, she sank lower into the tub of bubbles. Whoever it was could leave a message, and she’d get back to them when she was finished with her much-needed, relaxing bubble bath. Then her cell phone rang immediately afterward. Maybe it was an emergency.
Knowing she couldn’t get to it in time, she slowly rose from the tub, dried off, and wrapped her robe around her. She picked up her cell phone and checked the caller ID. It was Jeremy. She punched in the voice mail number and listened. He said she needed to call him back as soon as she got the message. What could he possibly want that was important enough to call her now?
She toyed with the thought of waiting until the next day to return his call. But what if it really was important?
She got into her pajamas then called his number. He picked up before the end of the first ring.
“Why are you selling the shop?” he asked. “I thought you decided to keep it.”
“Is that why you called, Jeremy?”
“Yes. I’m worried about you.”
“Do you want it or not?” she asked, trying to ignore how his voice made her feel inside.
“Before I answer that, we need to talk. I’m not about to take something away from you that you need to keep.”
Cindi sighed. “Look, Jeremy, it’s not up to you to decide what I need to keep. I just had a change of heart, and I’ve decided my first instinct to sell was what I should have stuck with.”
“What happened?”
She didn’t want to tell him the details. “I prayed for guidance, and let’s just say I got it.”
“So you had a setback, huh?”
“More than a setback.” Cindi felt herself growing impatient. “Look, Jeremy, I don’t want to have to explain every single decision I make. Do you want the shop or not?”
He paused long enough to rattle her. “I’m not sure now. I’ve been praying, too, and it’s not clear to me yet.”
Cindi couldn’t respond to that immediately. If they were both praying for guidance and they were getting different answers, what did that mean?
Finally, she knew she had to say something. “Then I’ll just put it back on the market and let things fall into place.”
“With prayer.”
“That goes without saying.”
She heard him sigh. “If you truly want to sell, I’d like to take you up on your offer and buy it. I’ll get with Fran and resubmit my offer.”
Cindi felt sick to her stomach. She mumbled a few words then told him she needed to go.
After she got off the phone, Cindi’s emotions swirled. She went from being confused to angry to remorseful. Although she was now fairly certain she wanted to sell, doubts still tugged at the back of her mind and heart.
❧
Even though Jeremy doubted Cindi really wanted to sell, all he could think about now was Cindi selling her shop to the wrong person. She’d been worried about him coming in and working the bottom line at the expense of her precious store’s integrity. What he did was nothing compared to what he’d seen out there in the business world.
He’d watched successful businesses get milked and then squeezed for the last dime of profit before the profiteer boarded the doors and sent employees scurrying to the unemployment line. Jeremy had never done that—not even once. In fact, in some cases he’d built businesses then sold them to the employees with a generous payback plan. It sickened him to watch others get taken advantage of.
He needed to figure out what had happened to change Cindi’s mind and send her back to the Realtor. Her passion for life—the same passion that had attracted him to her in the first place—was the exact same thing that put the spark in what she did with her clients.
Cindi had always been a Christian. Now her love for the Lord gave her a quiet confidence that came through in everything she did—except in one area: her confusion about what to do with her boutique. He had to find out what was going on to make her change her mind so quickly.
In the meantime he called Fran, who advised him not to submit an offer he didn’t want to go through with. “She’s a very motivated seller now,” Fran said. “I have to admit, I’ll be glad when she makes up her mind. The other folks in my office are advising me to pull out of the listing, but I’m afraid she’d be taken advantage of by someone else if I did that.”
As difficult as it was, Jeremy knew he couldn’t pursue this until he got to the heart of the matter. “Let’s just hold off for a few days. Hopefully she won’t get any more offers until she has time to decide what she really wants to do.”
Fran paused then said, “You’re quite a man, Jeremy. The Lord has blessed you, and you’ve honored your faith.”
❧
When Fran called Cindi and told her Jeremy was holding back his offer, she wasn’t surprised, but she was very annoyed. As soon as she got off the phone, she told Elizabeth what had happened.
Elizabeth shook her head. “I wonder what Jeremy’s game is. If he really wanted this place, you practically just handed it to him.”
“I don’t know. He seems to think I’m supposed to keep this place.”
“That’s one area where I agree with him,” Elizabeth said. “But I’m not so sure we have the same motives.”
“Does that really matter?”
“Yes, it absolutely does,” Elizabeth stated firmly. “And you know it, too. If he’s backing out because he truly feels you’re supposed to keep this shop, that’s one thing. However, if he’s trying to pull away from the sale to get you to lower your price, then he’s nothing but a. . .a. . .” She cleared her throat.
“Don’t say it,” Cindi said. “I know what you’re thinking.”
“Well, I suspect his motives aren’t as pure and holy as he’d like you to believe. Going to church doesn’t make him a good guy.”
“True, but after he explained things, I don’t think he was ever a bad guy.”
Elizabeth lifted her hands in a gesture of exasperation. “How can you be so nice after what he did to you? I remember you cried for days.”
Cindi nodded. “Yeah, the breakup hurt me pretty badly.”
“And if I remember correctly, he didn’t exactly let you down easy. What he said was harsh.” Elizabeth tilted her head forward and looked at Cindi from beneath hooded eyes. “What he did then is similar to now, only then it was his love he pulled back. Now it’s the offer to buy this place.”
Looking down at the floor, Cindi mentally rehashed the scene that had played over and over in her mind for months. Back in high school, Jeremy had told her he loved her every time they were together, and then one day, out of the blue, he said he didn’t love her anymore and he wanted his ring back. She begged him to tell her what she’d done, but he never came out and gave her any specifics. He just said they weren’t meant to be together. She asked if he’d found another girl, and he shrugged, saying there were lots of other girls. His comment made her sick to her stomach, so she’d run away. Even his explanation about giving her up so she could have the freedom to pursue her dream and go to college seemed lame now.
With a deep sigh, Cindi nodded. “You’re right, it was harsh. But we were kids then.”
“You know that old saying about a leopard’s spots.”
Cindi nodded. “There’s some merit to that, unless a person has truly accepted Christ. In that case, the saying doesn’t count.”
“But why take chances with so
mething as important to you as this shop? Maybe Jeremy has changed, and he’s a wonderful Christian guy with the best of intentions. But then again, maybe he’s the same old person who takes advantage of other people. An opportunist.” She paused before adding, “How would you feel if you sold it to him and then a year later he closed the doors after draining all the profit?”
She’d feel as though someone had twisted a knife inside her. “You’ve thought about this a lot, haven’t you?”
Elizabeth nodded. “Yes, I’m afraid so. It not only affects you; it matters to me.”
“I’m sure you can find another job.”
“Of course I can, but it won’t be the same. However, it’s not the job I’m talking about. It’s more that I’ll have to watch you suffer.”
The more Cindi listened to Elizabeth, the more convicted she was to wait just a little while—at least until she had a clearer idea of what she needed to do, or Jeremy decided to move on to something else.
“It does seem a little strange that he spent so much time trying to woo me. I assumed he was still interested in the business—especially after what you heard in Fran’s office. But immediately after I offer to let him buy it, he reminds me that he’s changed his mind,” Cindi admitted.
“Yeah, it doesn’t sound right to me.”
“I don’t understand what he’ll gain from this, and I don’t want to think he’s playing games, but still. . .” She lifted one shoulder then let it drop. “I have to admit, I’m a little confused. He just needs to be straight up about what he wants.”
“That’s right. You have too much self-respect for that, and you’re too smart to let him keep pulling stunts to get what he wants.”
A bride and her mother came in, so they turned all their attention to their customers. They were almost finished when the phone rang. Elizabeth answered it, so Cindi scheduled the next appointment for the bridesmaids to come in for their fittings. Elizabeth didn’t rejoin them, which aroused Cindi’s curiosity.
After the customers left, Cindi went directly to where Elizabeth stood. “Who called?”
Elizabeth looked at her and shook her head. “Jeremy. He said he needed to talk to you, and I told him to quit bothering you. This is taking up way too much of your time and energy.”
“Yeah, but—”
“Don’t go soft on him,” Elizabeth warned. “He knows how to get what he wants, and if he’s playing the game we think he’s playing, we need to let him know we’re not falling into it.”
“Exactly what did he say?” Cindi asked.
“He asked if you were in. That’s when I told him to back off.”
“That’s all he said?”
“Yup. I wasn’t about to give him a chance—”
Elizabeth was interrupted by the door opening, and they both looked up.
“Jeremy,” Cindi said softly.
He wasn’t looking at her. Instead, his gaze fixed on Elizabeth. “Why did you hang up on me?” he asked.
Cindi snapped around to see Elizabeth’s reaction. Elizabeth shrugged as she played with the rubber band in her hands. “We don’t have time for games,” she mumbled.
Jeremy turned to Cindi. “Do you think I’m playing games?”
His direct question caught Cindi off guard. In fact, this whole situation made her want to run and hide. But she had to face him and admit her thoughts, or this kind of encounter would never end.
“I don’t know what to think,” Cindi replied. She could see Elizabeth glaring at her from the corner of her eye, but she ignored it. “I thought you’d want to buy the place if I agreed to it. It doesn’t seem right.”
Jeremy rested an elbow on the counter and turned to Elizabeth, who’d remained in the same position, scowling, since he arrived. “So tell me what you think I’m up to.”
Elizabeth took a step toward them. “In sales it’s called the takeaway close. People want what they can’t have.”
Cindi turned to Jeremy, who looked perplexed. “Have you ever heard of that?”
He nodded. “I’m familiar with the takeaway close, but I can assure you that’s not what I was doing.”
“Then what were you doing?” Elizabeth asked, fist planted firmly on her hip.
Cindi turned to her. “Thanks, Elizabeth, but I can handle this.”
Elizabeth backed away and held up her hands in surrender. “Okay, okay, I’ll be in the sewing room if you need me.”
After she left, Jeremy turned back to Cindi. “She really cares about you. It’s nice to have a friend who’s willing to stick up for you like that.”
“Yes, I know.”
“But I’m afraid she has it all wrong. Cindi, I know I’ve been a jerk in the past, but I’ve completely changed. I’d never want to hurt you in any way, which is why I’m backing off.” When he paused, Cindi thought he looked like a tortured man. “I’ve prayed about the right thing to do, and I think it’s obvious you’re exactly where you should be with this shop. I need to go find something else to buy.”
“Go buy whatever you want,” Cindi said. “Just don’t try to tell me what I should or shouldn’t do.”
Jeremy closed his eyes for a few seconds. Cindi wondered if he was praying; he certainly looked as though he was.
When he opened his eyes, they focused directly on her. “I would never tell you what you should do. What I’m saying is I don’t want to get involved in something that would ever hurt you or upset you in any way. . .again. I thought you understood that.”
Cindi’s mouth went dry. She felt that old aching sensation in her chest—the one that had faded since he’d broken her heart.
“Ever since I put my faith in the Lord, my business practices have changed.” He paused and cleared his throat. “Everything about me has changed. I pray for guidance when I first wake up. I end my days in prayer, and I fill in every moment possible with prayer. The Lord has been good to me, even when I was hardheaded.”
There was no mistaking the conviction in Jeremy’s voice as he spoke of his faith. She’d been wrong to jump to conclusions. Her pain shifted to an emotion she’d never felt before. It was a connection to the man standing before her, but it was much deeper than the attraction that was there years ago.
“I’ve grown in many ways because of my faith,” he continued. “Emotionally, mentally, and even physically. I never want to forget my blessings, and I honor all He’s given me.” As he took a step closer, Cindi’s heart hammered in her chest. “And I want with all my heart for you to believe me. I care about you more than I ever did.”
Twelve
After Jeremy left, Elizabeth appeared in the showroom. “So what all did he say to get you to sell him your shop?”
Cindi moved toward the door and looked out to avoid squaring off with Elizabeth. “He didn’t even try.”
“Ooh, he’s smooth.”
“He really doesn’t want to buy it now,” Cindi said as she turned around and faced Elizabeth.
“And you believe him?”
Cindi nodded. “Yes, I do.”
Elizabeth looked frustrated, but she quickly recovered. “Then why don’t you tell me what happened, and we can try to figure it out.”
“No, I really don’t want to try to figure anything out—at least not what concerns Jeremy. I just want to know what I should do about this place.”
“You know how I feel,” Elizabeth said. “This bridal shop is the perfect fit for you.”
“It goes much deeper than that,” Cindi said. “But I don’t want to discuss it anymore. Let’s get back to work.”
As the day wore on, Cindi’s mind kept drifting back to her conversation with Jeremy. His last sentence kept playing through her mind until she knew she had to find out exactly what he meant by that. She’d never completely gotten over the breakup, but until now she’d figured she’d just have to live with him in her past. But he said he cared about her more than ever.
About an hour before closing time, Elizabeth approached her at the desk. “You’ve been
distracted all day, and after your conversation with Jeremy, I can understand. Why don’t you go on home? I can close up.”
Cindi nodded. “I think I will. Thanks.” She gathered her belongings and headed home.
Being alone only escalated her thoughts, so finally she decided she needed to call and ask Jeremy exactly what he meant. If he was sincere about his faith, he wouldn’t mind. And if he wasn’t sincere, what did she care about what he thought?
She called his cell phone, but he didn’t answer. Maybe he was at his parents’ house. After a brief hesitation, she looked up their number and called.
“He’s in Savannah.” It wasn’t Jeremy or his dad. “Who’s this?”
“Cindi Clark,” she replied. “Is this Jacob?”
His voice instantly softened. “Hey, Cindi. Yeah, this is Jacob.”
“Um. . .do you know when Jeremy will be back?”
“He had some business to take care of in Savannah, and it might take awhile. Is this an emergency?”
“No, it’s not an emergency, but would you mind letting him know I called?”
“I’ll be glad to,” Jacob said. “Jeremy hasn’t stopped talking about you since I’ve been here.”
“Um. . .” She had no idea how to respond.
“I’ll have Jeremy call you when I hear from him.”
“Thanks.”
“It was nice talking to you, Cindi.”
After she hung up, Cindi found herself reading between the lines and wondering what all had been said about her.
❧
The cell phone went off in Jeremy’s pocket, so he pulled it out to see who it was. The call was from his parents’ house, so he excused himself and answered it.
“Hey, bro. You might want to wrap things up quickly and head on back.”
Jeremy took another step back from the counter of the men’s clothing store where he’d been talking to Brad, the manager, about buying the place. “Why? What happened? Are Mom and Dad okay?”
