His smile was gentle. “Well, it’s easier to give advice when you’re not in the middle of it.”
“But you’re going to armchair quarterback anyway?”
“Want me to?”
She wondered what he would say if she declined. But she was curious too what his opinion was. “Okay. What do you think?”
“The way I see it, you have a couple of options. You can keep staying with your friend Sheila, licking your wounds, coming to see me for updates every couple of weeks, which I’ve sort of started looking forward to. Not the tears. I never like to see a lady cry, but you know what I mean.”
She half chuckled at that. “What’s my other option?”
“Put it behind you. I promise I’m going to keep this on my radar, but the odds aren’t good that anything will turn up if you don’t go public.” He raised his hands in front of him. “I’m not judging. That is entirely your decision, but if that’s the way you’re going to go, I think you need to move on and live your life. You’re a nice lady. Smart. Pretty. Don’t let him do more damage than he’s already gotten away with.”
Is he flirting?“You make it all sound so simple.”
“It’s easier when you take the emotion out of it. Like I said, I’m not the one living it.”
“It feels like I’m giving up if Idomove on.”
His head bobbed thoughtfully. “I guess I can see how it would feel that way.”
“I’ve thought about going public more than once, but I’m not going to be the one to do it. I just can’t.”
“It’s your decision. I respect that.”
She took a sip of her coffee. “This is really good coffee. Thank you for bringing me here.”
“I thought you might like it.” He lifted his chin to the sun for a moment. “Sometimes you just need some fresh air to clear all the noise in your head.”
“Yeah. I definitely needed this.”
They sat quietly, which was nice—not feeling pressured to fill the space with small talk. Thoughts swirled in her mind. Yes, the problems piled up in front, but what he’d said was true. She was letting what happened take over her life. She’d been in a perpetual state of waiting ever since the day she’d returned from Cancún.
Finally things lined up like a checklist in her mind. “I need to concentrate on the assets I have left. Move out of Sheila’s and find a new place, and get back to work.”
“I thought you sold your art online. Note cards, right?”
“Yeah, but I used to have a real job. I was a geriatric nurse. When my husband died I really threw myself into it. Took on extra shifts and patients. I only started the online business to fill the time in between.”
“I didn’t know that. A nurse. I can see that in you. I bet your patients loved you.”
“And I loved them. That’s kind of why I ended up taking a break from it. I was grieving my husband, and then a few of my patients… well, they passed and I had trouble separating myself from the loss. They were old, had lived wonderful lives, and it wasn’t a surprise, but in my state of mind it hit me hard.”
“I can imagine. That would be a hard job on a good day.”
“Honestly, I haven’t done much but sell backstock since I met Marc and we started jetting off doing this and that. Then, after he left I haven’t created one new thing.”
“No new designs?”
“Nothing at all.” Her jaw tightened. “You’re right. He’s still stealing from me, and he’s not even around.”
“I want to find that guy so bad.”
“I hope you do, but you and I both know there probably won’t be any updates.” It was a harsh reality. One that Sheila reminded her of too. They’d even binge-watched a whole docuseries on Romeos who took advantage of women. Those cons were finding their prey through online dating, and that wasn’t the situation in her case, but just the same, they were nice ladies who had been conned. Even with six women pooling together to track down the guy, they hadn’t been successful. It was hard to catch a con. “I’m not going to be coming back and pushing you for updates.”
Randy nodded in acceptance. “Can I check on you?”
“That’s not necessary. I’ll be fine. You have bigger cases to work on. Solvable ones. You’re right. I can’t let this situation continue to drag me down.” She straightened, trying to feel as strong as the words flowing from her lips. “I gave this exact same advice to Sheila when she told me about her cheating husband years ago. It’s way easier to dole it out than to live it.”
