“Nah. I just thought we could enjoy a cold brewskie, sit on the porch, and talk about old times.”
“You always got a little frisky after a few beers. You used to be all over me after your third.”
“So I’ll only drink two.”
We both laughed.
* * *
A few minutes later, we were sitting on the porch, listening to the babbling creek in front of us.
“I never woulda thought I’d be staying the night at the bottom of the Grand Canyon—least of all with you,” I said, laughing.
He grinned at me. “Yeah, if somebody woulda told me a month ago that I’d be here, doing this, I woulda had them committed.”
“Cheers to that,” I said, and we clinked beer bottles. “So…tell me, have you been dating anyone special?” I asked after taking a swig.
“Not really. Nothing ever lasted because no woman I’ve met could ever compare to you. You were the love of my life, Ashly.”
Ignoring the compliment and the disappointed look on his face, I asked, “Which relationship lasted the longest? The curious side of me is dying to know.”
“Hmm. I dated this blonde nurse, Sherry, for about t
wo years. She didn’t trust me and didn’t give me one inch of freedom. After a while, I got tired of her paranoia and accusations, so I called it quits.”
“My mother never liked my boyfriends,” I said.
“So it wasn’t just me?”
“No. She found something wrong with any boy who gave me the time of day. Whenever things got serious, it only exacerbated my mother’s behavior. I sure remember what a nutcase she could be about my love life.”
He nodded.
I continued, “I haven’t dated much over the last couple of years. I guess I was too busy being heartbroken and working and taking care of my dying mom.”
“How’d you ever convince her to let you go to fashion school?” he asked, having known my mother well.
“I told her if she didn’t let me live my life dream, I was moving out. Then my dad threatened to move out too. He was really fed up with her. She was so upset about the possibility of losing both of us that she consented and paid for me to go. I swear, that was the only time she ever let me do what I wanted. She knew I was going to go, with or without her consent, and then she would’ve lost total control of me.”
“Well, whatever the reason, I’m glad she let you pursue your dream.”
“I haven’t dated much at all. My love life has been pretty much nonexistent. But I did date this guy named Robert Matary once. He owned a successful chain of stores. We lasted about two years. His company suddenly went bankrupt, and I stood by him faithfully when they took the unexpected hit. Then one day, out of the blue, he just dumped me without even giving me an explanation.” I glanced down as tears glimmered in my eyes. “It hurt like hell. All the other men in my life were sporadic, nothing serious.”
Dumped. I’d always hated that word, and I didn’t know how I’d ever overcome all the rejection I’d been through. Because of it, my love life had reached the point where it was virtually nonexistent. My relationships never worked, no matter how hard I tried, so I’d just been throwing myself into my work, trying to keep myself too busy to feel the pain. I was pretty happy being a workaholic, and my career flourished. I’d won awards and titles, and with the money I’d earn by traveling with Jake, I would be able to keep my boutique and eventually start my own fashion line. Nadia was always trying to set me up with men, but I wanted to take a break from relationships and pour all my time, energy, and focus into my business. That was the only reason I was sitting at the bottom of the Grand Canyon with Jake, because I needed the money for my passion.
“Isn’t it funny that after all these years, neither one of us have ever found our soulmate?” Jake asked.
I took a long drink of my beer. “I doubt I’ll ever find mine. When it comes to the game of love, I’m not exactly an MVP. Heck, I’m lucky if I get to sit on the bench.”
“Hmm. Well, I’m not gonna give up on love that easily,” he said.
“Wow, Jake. A true romantic, aren’t ya?”
He shrugged, blushed a little, then took another sip from his second bottle.
“I hope you find the girl who’ll make all your dreams come true.”
“Maybe I’m sitting right next to her.”