Taking Chances by Ann Omasta (best motivational books txt) 📖

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“You deserve only the best,” she whispered in my ear before sliding up to the bar to grab a tray of drinks for one of her tables.

I knew when Seth arrived because the group of ladies sitting across from me stopped talking and turned to gaze at him. He walked to my table and grinned at me. “You’re even more beautiful than I remembered.”

I blushed and then chuckled as Courtney walked behind him fanning herself with a hand, and silently mouthing the words “hubba hubba.” She was right. Seth looked like a Greek god, and I could not believe he was here with me. His dark hair was slightly damp, as if he’d just gotten out of the shower. He was clean-shaven and smelled like Irish Spring. His black tee shirt was just tight enough to show off his flat abs and bulging biceps. And, speaking of bulges, his jeans were snug enough to give a tantalizing hint of his junk. I had to pry my eyes away.

As he sat down, he commented, “Wow, it looks like we scored the best seats in the house.”

I grinned, “I know people.”

Courtney stopped by with a quick, “Hi, I’m Court. Take good care of my girl or we’ll have words.” She waggled a warning finger at Seth with a smile, before hustling off to her next table. She had arranged for one of the other waitresses to take care of us. That had surprised me at first, but being her thoughtful self, she had probably figured I would be more comfortable without her stopping by the table periodically all evening.

Seth and I split a bottle of white wine from a local vineyard and an appetizer platter full of fried, fabulous, fattening goodies. Then we topped it all off with a brownie sundae. It was a perfect evening filled with interesting conversation, laughter, and great food.

Seth surprised me by turning towards the bar and asking, “How long do you think it will be before your friend and the bartender hook up?”

I gave him a sideways look. “Courtney? And Joe? He’s her boss,” I responded, shaking my head.

“Well, they’ve been giving each other googly eyes all night,” he countered.

I sat back in my seat, thinking that one over for a minute. Could he be right? Court loved sex and men, but she had never shown an interest in keeping one around for more than a couple of dates. As I contemplated it, I realized that she did act different around Joe. I had always chalked it up to him being her employer.

I watched Joe working the bar with his customary laid back ease. He was kind of cute, with his slightly scruffy, dirty-blonde hair. His style tended towards tee shirts and flip-flops, while Court was a glamour girl. “Hmm,” I said aloud as I tilted my head, pondering him.

Seth coughed. “Please don’t gaze at another guy while you are out with me. You’re going to give me an inferiority complex.” He smiled after he said it to let me know he was teasing.

“Well, then you better work to keep my attention,” I retorted quickly, openly flirting with him.

“Let’s get out of here then, and find someplace where I can have you all to myself. How about a walk along the water?” he asked.

“I’d love to,” I responded, deciding to give more thought to the Courtney and Joe idea later.

As Seth paid Joe at the bar, Courtney slid behind me and whispered in my ear. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

I chuckled as I turned to her and asked, “What would that be?”

“There isn’t much that would be off-limits with that fine hunk of man,” she mumbled under her breath as I turned to leave with Seth. “Have fun!” She yelled the words to both of us, as Seth put a gentle hand at the small of my back and guided me out of the restaurant.

Chapter 6

We walked hand-in-hand along the sandy shore. The nearly full moon glimmered on the water. It was unseasonably warm, so even the breeze off the water wasn’t too chilly. I was pleasantly tipsy and happier than I ever remembered being in my entire life.

I was in my own world with Seth and barely took notice of the couple walking towards us, until the man spoke. I would have recognized his voice immediately, even if he hadn’t called me by the nickname he had used the entire time that we were married, despite the fact that I didn’t care for it.

“Abracadabra.” He drew the word out. “Working your magic on a new fellow, I see.”

Seth smiled and introduced himself, extending his arm to shake hands.

I almost felt sorry for Trudy the skank when Larry introduced himself as my husband. “Ex-husband,” she and I interjected simultaneously.

“Right, of course, we all knew that. What good fortune, to run into you on our little weekend getaway.” I had to force myself to refrain from rolling my eyes at his broad interpretation of the words ‘good fortune.’

“Well, as you can see,” Larry said loudly and with a big smile as he patted Trudy’s slightly protruding belly, “I’ve been busy since the divorce. My Little Love Muffin and I are going to be the proud parents of Larry Jr. in a few months.”

I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. Not because I still cared about Larry, but because this pregnancy proved that I was barren. Throughout our marriage, I had longed for a child. I wanted to be a mother more than anything. Larry had been agreeable from the start, and we had never used birth control. As one year rolled into two, it became apparent that something was wrong.

I had always believed, deep down, that he was the one with the fertility issue. Whenever I broached the subject with him to be tested, he became irate and insisted that I was the one whose equipment didn’t work, so I was probably the one who couldn’t conceive.

I had never gone for the testing because I wanted to hold on to the hope that I could conceive a child. The baby bump protruding from Trudy’s too-tight, leopard print mini-dress was proof that I had been the reason we couldn’t get pregnant. Not only did my lady parts not know how to have fun, they didn’t even know how to do what they were made to do. I felt broken and sad, and I wanted to get away from these two.

I didn’t even know what had been said as I stood there reeling, and I didn’t care. “Okay, take care. Buh-bye.” I grabbed Seth’s arm and stalked off, wondering how Larry was still able to ruin things for me.

Seth waited until we were a safe distance away before saying, “You still care about him, huh?”

“Larry? Ick, no! I just was caught off-guard with the whole baby thing.” I was determined not to let Larry and Trudy ruin my wonderful date with Seth. I would think about the dire implications of Larry being able to impregnate Trudy later. Tonight was about Seth, and I wasn’t ready for it to end. I wanted to forget all about Larry and his baby momma and thoroughly enjoy my time with Seth.

In what was likely the boldest statement of my life, I turned to him and said, “How about showing me your place?”

Seth was clearly surprised, but he smiled. “It’s not much, but I do have big plans for it someday.”

“I’m sure it’s great,” I said as I locked arms with him and marched him back up the gravel path to the parking lot of Joe’s.

He showed me to a dark green Jeep Wrangler with no doors and helped me climb in. As we drove, I cleared my mind as the wind whipped through my hair. It was a clear night and there seemed to be a million stars twinkling above us.

I was surprised when he turned down a wooded lane that angled towards the lake. Seth seemed almost nervous as he parked the Jeep. “I told you it wasn’t anything special.”

I don’t know what I had expected, but it wasn’t the Airstream trailer that sat before me. “Oh,” I gulped. “It’s nice.” It came out almost like a question, even though I hadn’t meant for it to.

Once the surprise wore off, and I began to look around, I realized that this was the perfect spot for Seth. The lot was full of trees and had a beautiful view of the lake. At the edge of his land was a huge pole barn where Seth built his boats. It was an ideal place for Buddy to roam I noted, as he came over to greet me with a sniff before taking off to chase a leaf.

Seth had built an amazing cedar deck on the front of the trailer, so we sat down to relax and talk in his rocking chairs. I looked out over the water and said, “Okay, this really is nice,” with more conviction this time.