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“Are you going to bring a date with you?” Markus asks.
I shake my head. “No, not this year,” I reply.
Last year, I brought the girl I was dating at the time, but that relationship was short-lived.
“Are you dating anyone right now?” Amber asks.
I shake my head again. “Nope. Not right now.”
My beautiful blond shop owner neighbor pops in my head. Heidi’s the type of woman I’d date. After I have the chance to apologize to her, maybe she’ll agree to go out with me someday.
I wonder if Markus and Amber know Heidi very well. After all, they’re her shop neighbors on the other side, so they must know each other. Maybe she’ll even be at their holiday party. That might be a good opportunity for me to apologize and get to know her better.
“Hey, do you guys know the owner of the craft store between us?” I ask, curious what they’ll have to say about her.
Amber cocks an eyebrow. “Heidi? Yeah––”
“She’s my cousin,” Markus butts in, taking me by surprise.
Great. Hopefully she hasn’t told Markus what an ass I was to her yesterday.
“She is?” I ask, wondering how I didn’t know this. I’ve known Markus for years, not to mention he never told me that his cousin owns the shop located between us in the strip mall.
“Yeah. Her mom is my dad’s sister. Why? What about her?”
Wanting to downplay the situation now, I shrug a shoulder. “I met her yesterday. Apparently our construction work caused the wall to rattle too much and she had to move a bunch of her stuff. One of her glasses broke, too.”
“Oh no,” Amber says. “That’s too bad. I bet Heidi was upset.”
You could say that.
“Yeah, she was. I paid her for the broken glass.”
“That was nice of you,” Markus says.
“She’s coming to the holiday party, too,” Amber adds, then leans in closer. “She’s single, you know.”
“Is that right?” I’m not going to let on that I have any sort of interest in Heidi. I’m not sure how Markus would take it, considering they’re related.
Amber gasps. “Oh, you two might get along really well, actually.”
Is that right?
Markus puts his hand over his wife’s. “Babe. Don’t try to play matchmaker between Heidi and Jacob. They have to work next door to each other. If things don’t work out between them, that could be really awkward.”
He has a point.
Amber looks at Markus, then me, then back to Markus. “Okay, fine,” she concedes. But then she looks back at me with a serious look on her face and adds, “Just so you know, though, Heidi is the kindest, strongest, most selfless woman I know. She’s been through a lot in her life, and she’s not one to put up with anyone’s crap. She’s a fighter, a warrior, and she deserves the best in life.”
Her words take me by surprise, especially with the seriousness of her tone.
“Okay… I understand,” I reply, although I really don’t. What has Heidi been through?
I can only hope that I’ll get the chance to talk with her at the party. Not only do I feel the need to apologize to her, but I’m also more intrigued by and want to get to know my new, beautiful work neighbor for the amazing person Amber makes her out to be. Saturday can’t get here fast enough.
3
Heidi
