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I never tired of taking in our surroundings; it was as serene as our name indicated. White walls with whitewashed wood floors, accented with natural wood furniture and plants of every kind. In the background there was always some sort of meditative instrumental music playing. And it smelled like eucalyptus and peppermint. It was a place I was proud to be a part of.
Once in the bathroom, I shimmied out of the peach sundress I had worn for my date. I liked this dress because it showed off my toned legs, as white as they were. But when you had skin as fair as mine, tanning wasn’t an option. I had to wear SPF 150 just to go outside and withstand the Texas sun. I got back into my green scrubs and threw my hair up into a messy bun. Heavy on the messy—my long hair had some serious curls. I did a quick brush of my teeth while looking in the mirror and begging God to hold off on the crow’s-feet a little longer. I dabbed some pink lip gloss on and popped in a mint, just in case my next client really was the one.
I was beginning to wonder if I was being too picky. Should I just take hobbit, high-arch man? I mean, he at least chewed with his mouth closed. Except he had put his foot on the table. Still, he was polite, and he had gorgeous azure eyes. Unfortunately, I didn’t hear the voice. Not sure why I kept putting stock into the voice. It was obviously so wrong. Plus, I was only fourteen when it first spoke to me. Who gets told at fourteen who they should marry? Yet I couldn’t forget that feeling I’d had the first time I saw Brooks Hamilton. I was sitting in my new backyard, picking grass and feeling sorry for myself. We had just moved to Pecan Orchard from Oklahoma so my momma could be closer to the hospital in Fort Worth that dealt with her special heart condition. Not only had I been missing my friends, but I was afraid to lose Momma. That’s when Brooks had popped his head over the fence and asked if I was okay. I remember locking eyes with his deep chocolate ones, and then I’d heard a piercing voice say: You’re going to marry that boy someday. Too bad Brooks only ever saw me as his and his twin sister’s friend. And it was more than unfortunate that he’d ended up being the jerk who left me crying on our senior prom night when he stood me up. I’d finally thought he had feelings for me, like the overwhelming ones I had for him. That was wishful thinking. Not only did he stand me up, but he then ignored me all the way until we graduated. Then he had left Pecan Orchard forever. I couldn’t exactly blame him for the reason he’d never returned, but that was another story.
I hadn’t seen him in twenty years. It’s not like I had been pining for him all this time. I just needed the voice to come to me again and tell me who the right man was. I prayed that whoever he was, he had normal feet.
I scooted over to the treatment room, smiling at each guest clothed in one of our white robes, walking between treatments. The look of pure contentment on their faces had me feeling renewed and hopeful. I was going to find the right man to take me to my reunion and hopefully share my life with. With a relaxing exhale, I grabbed my client’s paperwork hanging outside of the door, and without looking at it like I should have, I knocked on the door. “May I enter?”
“Yes,” a deep masculine voice responded.
I opened the door to find a very familiar, half-naked man staring at me. The sight of him made me swallow my mint whole, which made me cough and splutter it back up so I didn’t choke to death. Though dying might have been better for me in the moment.
Brooks—who should have been lying down on the treatment table under the blanket that had been provided for him—was sitting up, bare chested, his long legs dangling and covered in charcoal dress pants. He was totally ripped, I might add. Sun kissed and as perfect as he had always been, with tousled golden-brown hair that had the right amount of curl to it. The last twenty years had been more than kind to him.
He looked at his pricey watch. “You’re late.” No, Hi, how are you? Sorry I stood you up and ruined the day you had dreamed of all your adolescent life.
“I think your watch is fast.” I knew for a fact I was right on time, as I had checked my phone before I left the bathroom and it was 1:59. It didn’t take me a minute to walk over here.
