“She used to always have control over the remote,” he went on. “I never really cared what we watched, so I’d let her pick. Now that I have the TV all to myself most nights, I find it near impossible to pick a channel and stick with it. It’s like, without her here to tell me what to watch, I’m overwhelmed by all the choices, and I end up shutting the whole thing off and grabbing a book instead.”
“That’s cute,” I said.
He raised a brow but said nothing.
“So—how does your daughter feel about you starting to date again?”
He choked a little on his coffee, but once he pulled himself together, he was laughing. “See, like I said, you’re not afraid to speak your mind. Most people would wait until I’d at least had my coffee to ask me a question like that.”
“Sorry,” I said, wincing a little. “I know I can be blunt. I was just curious, so I asked. You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”
“No, it’s fine. It’s not like it’s that sensitive of a subject or anything. Vic has been really supportive of the whole thing, although she called me out on not taking any of my dates very seriously the other night.”
“What do you mean by that? Or, what didshemean by that?”
“She thinks I’m just waiting around for another Erin.” He shrugged. “And she’s right. Well, shewasright.”
“Was?”
“I’m not waiting around for another Erin, not anymore. I’ve accepted the situation as it is; I’m just sorry it took me so long to figure out what was going on.”
I made a face. “What situation is that exactly? What have you accepted?”
“That I already found my soulmate,” he said, so nonchalant it was as if he was ordering at a drive-thru window instead of talking about his doomed love life. “I met my soulmate, her name was Erin, and she was my entire world. I knew from the moment I saw her that she was the woman of my dreams, and now that she’s gone, I might as well give up hope on finding another woman of my dreams. You only get one soulmate, you know? And she was mine.”
“Who says you only get one?”
He grinned. “Isn’t that the whole point of a soulmate, that you only have one?”
He was looking to me for validation, but I couldn’t give it to him. “I don’t believe in soulmates at all,” I said. “So, you’re probably asking the wrong gal. But, since you did already ask me, I’ll tell you this—I don’t think Erin would want you to give up on finding love.” I looked down at my mug. “I think she would want you to hold onto hope.”
I wasn’t even talking about me at that point, I was just saying what I would say to any friend in that situation. Jonah deserved to find someone who made him happy, someone he could grow old with. That person wouldn’t be me, since all I was looking for was a little bit of fun, but there was another woman out there for him. There had to be.
When I looked up at him, I saw that he was staring intently at me. There was a charged moment where our eyes met, and I considered putting my cup down and reaching for his hand, but I fought that urge. We really did need to be getting on the road, and I was acutely aware of the fact that Vic was upstairs and could come down and catch us at any second.Thatwas the exact sort of drama I wanted to avoid.
“We should probably leave soon,” I said.
“Yes, of course. I’ll go make sure Vic is ready to go and finish getting dressed. You can wait in here if you’d like or wait in the car. The garage is just through that door. Feel free to grab the keys off the hook and you can get the seat warmers fired up.”
He walked out of the kitchen and disappeared down the hall, leaving me alone in the kitchen, surrounded by dishes and backsplashes and appliances that had all been chosen by his soulmate, the one and only Erin.
* * *
The car ride didn’t go as well as I had hoped for, with Jonah putting on a podcast and only speaking up when we got close to the location, and he wanted to talk strategy. The meeting, on the other hand, went even better than I had expected, and when he, Vince, and I were walking back to our cars having just made a deal,in writing, with two of the three businesses we met with; we were thrilled. The third business, Lolli, had clearly liked my pitch, but they were playing hardball and didn’t want to say yes right away. I knew they would eventually, however, so I wasn’t worried.
“That was amazing,” Jonah said. The three of us were standing on the curb next to the vacant lot where the new mall would be built. We had opted to hold the meetings there, even though it was less professional, that way we could walk around and try to give our future clients a real sense of where their stores would be. It was a risky move, but I think it worked in our favor. Set us apart from all the other meetings they were used to having in stuffy office buildings with horrible carpet designs. “I think we have earned ourselves some lunch, don’t you?”
“I could eat,” I said.
“I think I might just head back to the office,” said Vince.
Yes!I thought, but hoped my excitement wasn’t too obvious on my face.
“You sure?” Jonah asked. “The company is buying.”
“Nah, I’m good. My wife is making dinner tonight and she’ll be really disappointed if I’m late.”
“Understood,” Jonah said. He clapped Vince on the shoulder. “Nice work today. I am so looking forward to seeing the designs you work up for the project in Japan.”