The Right Touch

Disclaimers: Not mine! But I'd love to claim if I could

Author's Note Ah, life gets bumpy for our couple. Angst is entering their lives.

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Chapter 14

Monday afternoon

Sue glanced at the clock—five o'clock. She couldn't postpone calling Bobby back any longer, especially in light of the fact that Darcy's assistant had brought the contracts to the office for their signatures. Bobby would be cognizant of that detail. They now had a legal and binding document stating The Right Touch would be providing the flowers and greenery for the Heart Fund Annual Benefit Gala this Saturday. The future success of the shop was now assured with the kind of publicity they would be receiving through the fund-raiser. Myles and Lucy could get married sooner than later. As for herself, well, it didn't matter. Myles and Lucy were the important ones, she tried to convince herself.

Bobby had called back twice and each time Sue had managed to find a plausible excuse not to answer. She knew she had to return his call or there was the chance he might show up at the shop. Much as she wanted to see him again, she didn't think Darcy would.

Reluctantly, she punched in his number and waited.

"Manning."

"Bobby? It's Sue."

He brightened immediately. "Sue! I've been waiting to hear from you! Didn't you get my messages?"

"I did but I had things to take care of first. Business before pleasure, you know."

"Are you okay?" he asked in concern. "You sound…funny."

"I'm fine," she lied. "Maybe just a little tired. Someone kept me out late last night trying to pry out of me my secret technique for beating opponents in skeeball."

He laughed. "And was this person successful?" he teased.

"I'm happy to say no. He'll just have to figure out his own technique," she retorted.

"Oh he will, I promise you that. Anyway, I'm calling to find out how everything went with Darcy this morning. I understand there's some exciting news to share."

She took a deep breath and tried to put some enthusiasm into her voice. "Her assistant came over a little while ago with the contract which Lucy and I have signed. I don't know how to express our gratitude for what you've done for us."

"Rubbish!" he protested. "It was your creativity that got you the job. What say we go out for drinks after work and celebrate?"

"I'd love to but I have a previous engagement," she fibbed. "Can I get a raincheck?"

For a moment, he felt strangely deflated. "Sure," he forced himself to say cheerfully. "Some other time. I'll be calling you tomorrow at our regular time."

"Um, Bobby?"

"Yes?"

"Don't call tomorrow morning."

There was a pause. "Why not?"

"I have to go down to the nursery and pick out the flowers and things we'll be needing and it might take all morning," she fabricated. "Can I call you when I come back?"

"Sure. Talk to you tomorrow. Cheers."

Sue sighed as she disconnected the line. She was missing Bobby already. She stood up to work on an order when her eyes met Lucy's puzzled ones. Standing in the doorway, she had her arms crossed and had a question on her face.

"What's this about going to the nursery and looking at flowers?" she asked doubtfully. "This is the first I've heard of it."

"Oh yeah, Myles called to say he needed my opinion on some flowers so I said I'll come by tomorrow morning," Sue improvised.

"And when did this happen?"

"Oh, just a little while ago. I think he must have called when you stepped out."

"Oh really?" Lucy said in disbelief. "You mean to tell me it was so urgent he called from the dentist's chair?"

Sue's eyes widened. She was caught in her lie.

"What's going on here?" demanded Lucy as she walked up to her friend. "Why have you been acting so strangely since Darcy left this morning? Does it have anything to do with the contract?"

"It's signed. We have a binding agreement," Sue said, stubbornly refusing to reveal the real reason for her behavior.

Lucy thought furiously. Why was Sue acting like this? One part of her mind on the problem, she asked absent-mindedly, "Did you call Bobby? He left another message about an hour ago."

"Yes."

Lucy stared. Normally Sue would either repeat a part of the conversation or make some comment about it. Today she'd done neither. "Does it have anything to do with Bobby?" she suggested hesitantly.

Sue froze. She didn't want to involve Lucy in her problem. "I don't know what you mean," she replied trying to deflect her friend's focus. She started to walk away.

But Lucy knew Sue too well to be so easily distracted. "Hey," she said reaching for Sue's arm as she walked past. "This does have something to do with Bobby," she mused out loud. It didn't take a rocket scientist to make the connection to Darcy. "What did Miss D'Angelo say to you this morning?"

"Nothing."

"Sue," warned Lucy. When she had an idea in her head, Lucy was like a terrier—she wouldn't let go. "It's me you're talking to. You can fool everyone else but not me. This has something to do with Bobby," she hypothesized. Her eyes narrowed. "Did Darcy tell you to stay away from him?"

Sue turned her back on Lucy. She didn't want to answer. "I have to get to this arrangement for Mrs. Parker. You know how she likes to have a fresh arrangement for her Tuesday bridge club meetings."

Lucy ignored the don't-bother-me signal and walked around to face Sue. "We're going to talk about this."

Sue looked at her friend. "Just drop it, Lucy…please," she said softly her eyes pleading with Lucy to understand.

She wanted to pursue it further but decided not to when she saw the pain in Sue's eyes. "All right,' she reluctantly agreed. "But if you ever want to talk, I'm here for you. Any time, any place."

"I know. Thanks." A grateful smile appeared on Sue's face. "And Lucy? When Bobby calls tomorrow, could you please tell him I'm at the nursery…picking out flowers?"

Slowly, Lucy nodded and turned to go back to the front to start cleaning up. She had a lot to think about.

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Bobby put down the phone and stared at it. Normally after a conversation with Sue, he was in a good mood. Today's conversation had the opposite effect. He felt strangely disquieted and out-of-sorts. Could it be because Sue had turned down his offer to celebrate the signing of the contract?

After spending time with the actual person, Bobby found himself thinking about her off and on throughout the day. He was disappointed when Sue hadn't been available to take his calls today. It was almost as though she was avoiding him. He couldn't see why she would want to. They seemed to hit it off the two, no, three times they got together this weekend. He hadn't been lying to Darcy when he said it felt like they'd known each other for years. Being with Sue was comfortable.

Conversing with her all those months over the phone, he felt as though he got to know the real Sue Thomas. They were friends before they even met. And when they did meet, it was like icing on a cake.

That she'd be pretty was a given. How could she not be with a voice like that? But the real surprise had been Sue herself—she was positively lovely inside and out. In less than two minutes, she'd charmed the socks off of him and during the course of dinner, had managed to solidify the enchantment. She already had the Hudson kids clamoring for more visits.

Well, he'd see what he could do. Between Darcy and his job, he was kept pretty busy. He frowned slightly. Darcy hadn't been too happy he'd actually met Sue. Was she jealous? He'd never given her cause to be jealous because he'd never been interested in another woman—until now.

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