Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 25896 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 129(@200wpm)___ 104(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25896 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 129(@200wpm)___ 104(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
Thankfully, the store wasn’t very crowded, and Rhys and Fenway were able to make their way outside without bumping into anyone. Rhys needed to find a way to expand his business. It was small and with his product line growing constantly, more space would be nice. However, he was unwilling to leave his location. It was prime real estate and the foot traffic drove his business to record breaking numbers each year. He’d be foolish to move. Yet, in order to do any type of expansion, he’d have to fight the local government with all their rules and regulations about historic preservation.
At the park, where they were both popular visitors, Rhys sat on the bench while Fenway visited her favorite trees, bushes, and the occasional flower. Despite being on the cusp of spring, a rose had already bloomed. It was like it needed to be the first flower to prove winter was on its way out. Rhys appreciated it. He hated winter and longed for sun-filled days and short nights.
After Fenway had enough time to wear herself out, Rhys walked her back to the store and found his employees in a fit of giggles. “What’s so funny?” he asked.
Emma, one of the young clerks, held up the newspaper. “We’re reading Missed Encounters.”
Rhys knew about the ever-popular section of their newspaper but had never perused the column.
“Oh, listen to this one,” Lydia, another one of his employees, said as she started to read the piece aloud.
“On a dreary day we had our missed encounter. Me in my yoga pants and hoodie, while you looked dashingly handsome in a suit with a red tie. You winked at me as we crossed paths in the aisles of the grocery store, and when I needed help, you were there with the assist . . .”
The more Lydia read; the more Rhys began to wonder if it was about him. He had an eerily similar encounter the other night while picking up some items. He’d definitely winked at a woman and considered talking to her until she whacked him in his head with hers.
“I don’t know who this is, but I hope he reads this and goes to meet this woman,” Emma commented.
“Can you imagine?” Lydia replied. “I don’t know if I’d have the guts to send in an encounter like this to the paper. I’d be so afraid of rejection.”
“Me too,” Emma agreed with a sigh.
“What do you think Mr. Wainwright?” Lydia asked, breaking him from his reverie.
“About what?”
“Missed Encounters? Do you ever think that someone you’ve come across in your life was the one, but the moment passed so quickly, you couldn’t do anything about it?”
“Like, if you’re at a stoplight and you look over, and the other driver looks your way. Your eyes meet and it’s wow,” Emma added. “I always wonder.”
Rhys hadn’t wondered—at least not until now. He was certain that the article wasn’t about him regardless of the similarities. For all he knew, she could’ve met another man after he bolted from the store or it could even have been someone before him. Just because they hit heads doesn’t mean the man she wrote about was him.
Right?
Rhys headed to his office with Fenway hot on his heels. He wasn’t one to believe in kismet or fate, in fact, after Celeste he had pretty much sworn off any relationships because he wanted to focus on his son.
He sat down at his desk and eyed his own copy of the newspaper. He pulled it from under the pile of advertisements he needed to approve and flipped the pages until he came to the Missed Encounters column. Rhys read the article, repeatedly. Each time, he tried to find something about his trip to the store that didn’t match up. The woman he encountered, the circumstances that led to him helping her . . . nope, everything pointed to him. He was her missed encounter. Rhys was sure of it. But what was he supposed to do about it?
Meet me at Rose’s, on Valentine’s Day, 8 p.m.
Rhys studied those words. An open invitation. He could easily pretend he never saw the paper. He had nothing to gain or lose by ignoring it.
Except, he felt something.
What that something was, he wasn’t sure. Rhys thought the woman in the store was cute, especially when she hid the items she had in her arms when they first ran into each other, and then again when it was evident she was going to talk to him.
You winked at her for a reason.
Rhys read the story again and then set the paper down. He picked his phone up and pressed the number for his best friend, who also happened to be his cousin.
“What’s up?” Dean asked.
“Do you ever read Missed Encounters?” Rhys led straight into the question, forgoing the usual greeting of “hello”.