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Meeting went great! I hope everything is okay with you over there. Renovations are starting next week, May 1st as planned. They’re doing it in the order you suggested: Condos first, then upper floors before the main level and lobby, pool and hot tubs last.
I start to text more and then pause. We might have come a long way and I feel more and more secure sharing how I’m feeling, but I don’t think I’ll ever be someone who texts a bunch when no one is responding. Okay, two texts aren’t a bunch, but for me, it is. I included a lot of sentences in those two texts.
I get a call half an hour later and am disappointed when it’s not him. It’s from a number I don’t recognize, but I always answer anyway since it could be related to the lodge.
“Hello, is this Scarlett Landmark?” a woman asks.
“Yes, it is.”
“My name is Annette Tremblay.” She has a slight accent and pauses frequently between her words. “I got your number from Jamison Ledger…” She leaves me hanging there, and my stomach dives to the floor while also feeling like it might have jumped into my throat.
“Is Jamison okay?” I ask, my voice rushed and higher than normal.
“Oh, yes,” she laughs, “at least as far as I know. I’m sorry if I worried you. Jamison wanted me to reach out—he said he’d let you know I was calling, but it sounds…uh, maybe it was a surprise? Jamison found me through Summer and Liam…I met them at a dinner party here in LA…and uh, Jamison and I…we had a Zoom meeting…about you.”
I have to sit down. Jamison contacted Summer and Liam—Autumn’s famous director sister and movie star brother-in-law—aboutme?
Annette is still talking and I try to focus. “—friends,” she’s saying.
Shit, what did I miss?
“I am the owner of Belle Lace Textile, a wholesale lace and fine fabric company, and Jamison says you are a very talented seamstress.”
Belle Lace Textile—I’ve only lusted after the lace on their website for the past two years. I fan my face with the new brochures we just got of our alpine slides and coaster.
“Again, I’m sorry for catching you…unaware. I will have…words with Jamison.” Her laugh catches me off guard but not as much as her next words. “He is just too…deliciousto stay mad at.”
My eyebrows lift and a little zip of possessiveness rushes through me.
It’s like she can read my thoughts. “Never fear, I have been happily married to my wife for ten years, and Jamison seems…uh, he is quite taken withyou, but between you and me, if I, uh—how do you say it—if Iswungthat way, and Idon’t, he would catch my eye.” She laughs and I join in this time. “Charmant.” She sighs.
I quickly Googlecharmantin various spellings to be sure what it means and grin when it’s what I thought—charming.
When it feels like she’s waiting for me to say something, I throw in, “Heis…pretty charming and delicious.”
My face flames—I don’t really use delicious, or charming for that matter, to describe how hot a man is, but with Jamison, both do apply. But then I realize she was probably waiting for me to say something about her company, not Jamison.
“Mm-hmm,” she says.
No, I think she’d be happy just talking about Jamison.
Fan, fan, fan.The thin layer of sweat forming on my forehead chills as I fan my face.
“If you would like to see my swatches, I will send our latest collection. Or even better, come visit my showroom. Recently I have been more exclusive to luxury bridal designers and a few costume designers, but just give me a few days’ notice and I will have everything ready for your visit.”
“This is—thank you so much,” I say, still shocked that Jamison did this for me. “I’ve wished I could order from Belle Lace for a long time. But you should know that I don’t have a shop or anything yet.”
“Jamison told me you are just starting out…we all have to start somewhere, do we not? Let’s just say he wasvery…compelling.” She laughs again, and I so wish I knew what Jamison told her about me.
“I’d love to see your swatches,” I say. “As much as I wish I could, I’m not able to get to LA right now, but I’m so excited to see what you have…totouchall of it.”
“You are going to fall in love,” she says. “Well, something tells me you already are in love with our Jamison!” Her voice lilts up at the end with what sounds like excitement and I have to pinch myself. “I am a hopeless romantic, you see. But you will fall in love with these laces and fabrics too.”
“Oh, I’m sure I will. I can’t wait.”
“Tell me your information and your shipment will be sent today…most likely a Tuesday delivery.”
I give her my address and thank her again and before she hangs up, she says, “Tell Jamison hello for me, and between you and me, that man needs anénormethank you—“ She bursts into a long sentence in French. “I wish I knew how to fully express it in English. Big, big adoration for his thoughtfulness. This is not something I have ever done. He was—what is that expression? He wasthatconvincing.”
