Her palms went damp, and her throat dried up. Nothing about this proposal seemed right. “Walter, let’s not rush into anything. Maybe—”
“Rush? Annie, I’ve been waiting my whole life for this.”
“Oh. I had no idea, I mean—”
“Can you believe it? I’ve only been with the firm seven years. Which, in some places, is plenty of time, but Hank didn’t make partner until he’d been there almost ten.” He pulled his shoulders back. “Walter Tillman,” he said, referring to himself in third person, “is about to become Carter, Helling and Robinson’s youngest partner ever.”
“Partner?” Annie asked, dazed.
“I know it’s not in our timeline, babe, but I just can’t turn this down. You understand, don’t you?”
Of course, she understood. Walter had talked of nothing else this past year. Making partner was important to him. And to their future. “Walter, this is fantastic. Congratulations!”
“You really think so?”
“Sure. Why wouldn’t it be great news?”
“You understand that making partner means I’m going to have to put even more hours in than before.” He hesitated. “That could be a good thing for you too.”
Annie wasn’t sure how Walter spending more time at work was a good thing for her, but she’d bite. “What do you mean?”
“Since we won’t be seeing so much of each other, you don’t have the pressure of having to leave your desk by six to meet me for dinner. You can stay at work as long as you want. Isn’t that great? Think of all you can accomplish at the dealership.”
She’d already accomplished everything she’d set out to do four years ago when she’d taken the job. The accounts, the inventory, the day-to-day workings of the dealership all ran smoother than ever. But maybe she could think of something to keep her busy. If she put her mind to it.
“And I’ll have to buy into the firm,” Walter continued. “It’ll take up most of my savings, but it’s an investment in our future. Of course, it does mean putting off other things too,” he emphasized.
Other things.
Like their engagement. He didn’t have to say it out loud, but it was clearly implied.
A week ago, Annie might have been upset by that. But tonight, all she could feel was—
“Wait. Is this what Connie was congratulating you for? Because you made partner? You told her before you told me?”
Walter’s cheeks went pink. “If you hadn’t been late for dinner, then you’d have been the first to know. C’mon, Annie, this is the most exciting thing that’s ever happened to me. I mean, to us. I had to tell someone.”
Walter was right. This was exciting news. She was happy for him. For them. Making partner at the firm was an essential step in their relationship timeline. The fact that it had come sooner than expected was something to be celebrated. It shouldn’t matter that he’d shared the news with someone else first.
But shouldn’t she feel more disappointed that this meant putting off their engagement for another, what, couple of years?
Something here wasn’t right. She should definitely be upset about that. But the truth was, all she could feel was a dizzying sense of relief.
6
Annie stared at the numbers in front of her, willing them to come together on their own. Here it was, eleven o’clock on a Wednesday morning, and she’d barely gotten any work done. Add that to yesterday’s time suck on YouTube, and this week was turning out to be a bust.
She took a big breath and tried to concentrate, but her mind wasn’t on work. It wasn’t on Walter either. It was on that ridiculous show she’d watched the other night at her parents’ home and on this Sam character and the pretty little speech he’d given on the morning show.
I want to feel that zing you get when you meet the woman you know you were meant to spend the rest of your life with. That’s what I want.
If only there was some way to get those words out of her head. This obsession with Sam DeLuca was taking over her life. Which was ridiculous. She didn’t do celebrity crushes. Not even when she was a teenager and all her friends had posters of the Jonas Brothers up on their bedroom walls.
In the past whenever something weighed on Annie’s mind, she’d write out her dilemma on paper, going through all the pros and cons until she found the perfect solution to the problem. Maybe a similar technique could work here. If she wrote all her thoughts down, then maybe she could get it all out of her system and she could move on.
Bridget wanted her to get in contact with this Gas Station Sam character.
Perhaps if she wrote him a letter (one that she’d never ever mail), then she could get back to normal life. She closed the monthly financial report on her computer screen and opened a new word file.
Dear Sam,
No. Scratch that. “Dear” sounded old-fashioned. She deleted the salutation and started over.
Hey, Sam!
Double scratch that. Much too laid back.
She leaned back in her chair and stared at the screen again. Then it hit her. She never wrote Gram’s letters on the computer. Or any of her lists, either. She always hand-wrote those. Annie pulled a sheet of stationery paper from her desk drawer, picked up the Cross pen her parents had given her when she’d graduated college, and started her letter.
Sam,
First off, I’m not some crazy person or an unhinged fan. Honest. I’m a normal twenty-nine-year-old woman with no history of mental health issues. I’m writing you this letter that I know you’ll never see in an attempt to get back to my regularly scheduled life. Which, by the way, is pretty terrific. I’m a C.P.A. (no accountant jokes please) and the chief financial officer for my family’s business, Esposito’s Used Cars in Old Explorer’s Bay, Florida, where I also grew up.
Old Explorer’s Bay is exactly how it sounds. It’s a sleepy little town of about ten thousand people on the east coast of Florida, just south of St. Augustine. Most historians will tell you that the Spanish conquistadors landed in St. Augustine, making it the country’s oldest continually established European settlement, but the people in town believe a bit differently. You see, we think the Spanish landed here first (as a matter of fact, most folks in Old Explorer’s Bay are a bit fanatical about that). But I digress. Not trying to bore you or anything.
My entire family lives here, including my grandparents, parents, my baby brother Frank Jr., and an assortment of uncles, aunts, cousins and all their spouses and babies. I live a simple life. I work hard every day, try to exercise (but usually give up after twenty minutes), love to read, and, oh yes, I also do the crossword puzzle every morning. In ink. Because let’s face it, people who do the daily crossword in pencil aren’t taking any real risks, you know?
Besides crossword puzzles and reading, I love my mother’s chocolate chip cookies and watching reruns of The Office. It’s a shame that there’s no good sitcoms anymore. And like you, I’m also not a morning person. Coffee, please!
At this point, I should probably tell you that I’m somewhat of an object of pity here in town. You see, six years ago when I finished grad school, I followed my boyfriend, Russell, to Miami, where he got this great job. I got a great job too, and we moved in together. Everything was going awesome (or at least I thought it was). We talked about getting married all the time, and then Russell got this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a big promotion with his company. Only it meant moving to London. Naturally, I urged him to take it. London! I mean, who in their right mind would turn that down? So I did what any good girlfriend would. I quit my job and followed him out there, and then two weeks later, he dumped me. Since I didn’t have a job in London and no work visa, I had to go back to Miami, where, you guessed it, my job had already been filled.