“She was probably looking at the bee stings.” He gestured to his arm.
“Trust me, she wasn’t lookin’ at that part of your arm.”
Joe stilled, remembering how he had caught her looking at him shortly after she arrived at the range. He’d kept in good shape since he’d stopped playing football, and he liked to lift. Still, the feeling he’d gotten when he saw she had noticed his biceps—
“Earth to Joe.” Claude clucked his tongue. “When was the last time you were on a date? Not counting tonight.”
“Tonight wasn’t a date—”
“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” He looked at the nozzle on the can. “The time before that?”
Joe paused. “Jenna. My ex-wife.”
Claude’s head snapped up. “You were married?”
“Don’t look so shocked.” Man, his ego was taking some hits tonight.
“I don’t mean it like that. I just never pegged you for being divorced.”
It’s not like Joe had wanted to be. Over the years he’d realized that even though it hurt and he’d been humiliated, Jenna’s divorcing him had been for the best. The marriage would have been miserable because he never would have been able to please her. He knew that now, thanks to hindsight.
“Let’s get back to the date thing. So, you haven’t been on a date since your divorce, which was . . .”
“A long time ago,” Joe muttered.
“Okay. Makes sense.” Claude gestured toward the clubhouse with a nod. “Let’s get the rest of that spray. I think I got them all, but I want to be sure.”
“You didn’t call an exterminator?”
“Oh I did, and she’s coming out in the morning. But I want those things dead dead.”
Joe couldn’t argue with that. He followed him, unsure about Claude’s earlier point. “What do you mean it makes sense?”
“That you wouldn’t see that—what’s her name?”
“Sophie.”
“Ah, Sophie. Lovely name for a lovely girl.” He gave Joe a side-look. “There it is.”
“What?”
“A little jealous spark.”
Joe laughed as they walked into the storeroom behind the clubhouse. “Me, jealous? Of you, old man?”
“Hey, at least I can see what’s right in front of my nose.” He opened the door. “Now where’s that bug spray?”
“Here.” Joe grabbed a can off the shelf nearest to the door. As he handed it to Claude, he thought about the man’s words. Was he right, that Sophie was interested, and Joe couldn’t see it? Nah, that couldn’t be it. Could it?
Claude took the can, then found two more and handed them to Joe. They went back to the tees, and he helped spray them down and look for more holes. After emptying the cans, Claude declared they’d done everything they could do for the night.
“Thanks for your help,” he said as he threw the cans away.
“No problem.”
“Now, what are you going to do about Sophie?”
Joe thought the old man had dropped the subject. “Nothing,” he said. “There’s nothing I can do.”
Shaking his head, Claude walked over to Joe and clapped him on the shoulder. “You’re going to ask her out again.”
“But—”
“What have you got to lose?”
A pause. “She could turn me down.”
“True. And would that be the worst thing in the world?”
Joe shook his head. What Jenna had done to him was. So why did the thought of Sophie rejecting him make him feel almost as bad? Less than two days ago, he’d been fine with asking her out. Because I didn’t know I cared for her then.
“Look, son. You can spend the rest of your life protectin’ yourself because of what happened in the past, or you can let all that go and find out what you’ve been missin’. I can see you like this girl. You’re not any better at hiding your feelings than she is. Problem is, you’re both afraid.”
“And you figured that out after seeing us together for a couple hours?”
Claude laughed. “You forget, I’ve been married over fifty years. I have six kids, and they’re all married too. I’ve learned a few things.”
Joe considered his words. “I’ll think about it,” was all he managed to say.
Clapping him on the shoulder again, Claude said, “That’s all I’m asking you to do.”
After Joe left the range, he headed straight home. He saw the bottle of calamine lotion on the kitchen counter, then thought about Claude’s words again. They had been all he could think about on the drive home.
* * *
The next day, which was strangely slow for a Saturday, Sophie let Hayley and MacKenzie off for the afternoon. The day was bright, sunny, and warm, and she was sure everyone was out enjoying the beautiful weather before summer bore down and made it too hot to do much of anything outside. She went to the back and straightened up the workroom. When she spied a daisy on the floor, she picked it up. The stem was bent but the petals were still in place. Even so, the flower couldn’t be used. She glanced around, as if worried someone might see her, then she started to pluck the petals.
He loves me . . .
He loves me not.
By the last petal, she not only felt stupid for playing such a dumb game, but she’d also landed on he loves me not. Frustrated, she tossed the empty stem into the trash. She hadn’t been able to get Joe off her mind all night or today. What he told her about Jenna and Landon had broken her heart. How could that woman be so callous to a kind man like Joe? She knew there were two sides to every story, but she couldn’t imagine Joe doing anything to cause Jenna to treat him so badly.
She didn’t doubt his version of what happened either. She could easily see Landon having an affair with a married woman and not caring about the consequences. She now despised him instead of merely thinking he was an egocentric bore. How many men out there were just like him, only concerned with themselves and not caring whether they hurt someone or not?
The idea of going out with anyone except Joe Johnson made her uneasy.
Meeting men she didn’t know beyond a picture and profile on the internet didn’t appeal to her either. She knew April would set her up with someone if she asked, or her mother would try to, but Sophie didn’t want that.
I want Joe. And she couldn’t have him. Maybe I’m not ready to date, after all.
The chime sounded over the entry door, and for once she didn’t rush to the front of the store. She sighed as she trudged out of the workroom, then gasped when she saw the man standing there.
“What are you doing here?”
Landon—looking like he’d just stepped out of a men’s style magazine with his perfect hair, perfect outfit, and perfectly fake smile—walked to the counter.
“Hello to you, too, Sophie.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “How can I help you?” she asked, fighting for a polite tone, but failing. All she could see was the man who had played a part in wrecking Joe’s marriage.
“We need to talk.”
“No, we don’t. And if you’re not here to buy flowers, you can show yourself out.” On second thought, she wasn’t sure if she would sell him so much as an empty stem after finding out about him and Jenna.