She was too good a friend to lose. I hoped if I was patient enough, one day she would be ready to move on. And when she was, I would be ready.
Yet, seeing her everyday caused an odd ache in my chest that never fully went away.
I shook my head at my strange thoughts and pushed my glasses back up on my face. I picked up my pen, ready to attack the next set of paperwork when Van Morrison, our resident genius of the hammer, strolled in. He unloaded a huge pile of tools in the corner, then made me frown as he shut the door to the hall and sat at his desk.
Van never shut the door unless there was a problem.
“What’s up?” I asked.
He scrubbed his face and regarded me seriously. “I know we don’t get overly personal here, Jordan, but Liv told me something last night, and I’ve been thinking it over all day.”
“Damn it,” I cursed. “Is there a problem? Is she thinking of leaving?”
He laughed. “No. She’s good. We’re good,” he emphasized.
He and Liv were in a relationship that worked well for them. They were a great couple and were getting married soon. Van adored her daughter, and together, they fit. I relaxed. “Okay. So, what is this news?”
He inhaled. “I need to ask you something, and I need you to be honest.”
I frowned. “Always.”
“Sandy,” he said flatly. “You like her.”
“Doesn’t everyone?” I asked, unsure where this was leading.
“Yes. But you like her as more than a coworker.”
I blew out a long breath. “That obvious, am I?”
He shook his head. “No. But you forget how well I know you.” He lifted an eyebrow in a silent question, still waiting for my answer.
“Yes, I like her. Very much so.”
“I thought so.”
“So your news has to do with Sandy?” A flash of panic hit me. “Oh god. Is she seeing someone?”
Had I waited too long?
“Not yet,” he said slowly.
“Not yet? What does that mean?” I asked, confused.
Van leaned forward. “It means, if you truly have feelings for her, now is the time for you to speak up.”Van’s words replayed in my head. Over and again.
Sandy had signed up on a dating site.
Sandy.
Dating site.
Somehow the words did not compute.
Sandy was too elegant. Too amazing to put herself out there that way. My son used dating apps a lot. Some of his stories made me shudder. The thought of Sandy being subjected to strange men didn’t sit well with me.
The thought of her liking someone else besides me in that fashion didn’t sit well either.
I sat at my desk long after Van had left. He didn’t have a lot to tell me except the name of the dating site and the amusing reaction the partners had when they discovered that their Sandy was putting herself out there.
“It was as if she was a child.” He chuckled. “They surrounded her, lecturing and pointing out every bad thing they could think of when it came to dating sites. All of them—even Bentley—were freaked out.”
“I don’t imagine that went over well with Sandy.”
Van shook his head, his eyes crinkling in laughter. “She told them all off in perfect Sandy fashion. One second they were all talking, the next they were all shuffling their feet and looking embarrassed. She put them in their place fast.” He paused. “But you could feel her love for them. She knew they were doing this out of concern. But she pointed out it was her life and she had to choose how to live it. She also reminded them they all had spouses or girlfriends to go home to each night.” He fell silent. “Even I heard the pain in her voice then. They backed off but made her promise to be very careful.”
I shook my head to clear my thoughts. I could see Sandy, drawing herself up, straightening her shoulders as she faced off with “her boys.” She loved them all fiercely, and they returned that love. They were very good to her, and she was much more than an assistant to them. But she never hesitated to call them out when she felt they were wrong, and I knew she wouldn’t be happy being told what to do.
But I agreed with them.
I turned to the computer and downloaded the app Van told me she had joined. I checked the rules, figured out how it worked, and created an account. A picture was optional—you could have a description only if you preferred, then choose to share a picture with any matches if you decided you wanted to connect. I chose that option, adding a fast bio and a password.
Then I scanned the pages, looking over the profiles.
I stopped scrolling when I came to Sandy’s picture. I glanced at the stats, my eyebrows shooting up in shock when I saw how many stars she had beside her profile. There was a tremendous amount of interest in her.