Jeremy was in a foul mood when he came into Sam’s house twenty minutes later. Sam saw the depressed look on his cousin’s face and chuckled, knowing Jeremy’s day hadn’t gone well.
He said, “Wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?”
Jeremy, who’d been glaring into space for a good fifteen minutes since he’d walked in, looked up at Sam, more than a little confused as to what his cousin meant. “What?”
Sam knew Jeremy sulked when personal ambitions didn’t go his way. He had no doubt this was about women, as it had always been about women. From the looks of things, Jeremy had gotten turned down. But to be honest, not many females turned him down. When those rare occasions did occur, however, the sulking could take days, if not weeks, until Jeremy found himself another lovely being to be smitten with.
Luckily, this mood change only happened in Jeremy’s private life. The man was very good at keeping his emotions under control where business was concerned.
“You haven’t had lunch yet, have you?” Sam changed the subject. He came over to his cousin and slapped him on the shoulder. “Come on. Let’s go.”
Jeremy still looked confused. “Where?”
“Lunch,” Sam said. “It’s pretty late. I haven’t had mine either. Was too busy with work. Or don’t you want any?”
“Lunch?” Jeremy asked. “Yeah, sure. Why not? I’m actually starving.”
“Normally, you’d complain about it,” Sam said, cocking his head to one side. “What’s on your mind?”
Jeremy didn’t hesitate to begin sharing his woes. “You remember I told you about Chandra, don’t you?” he asked as they headed toward the casual dining area with a spectacular view of the sea.
“Yes,” Sam replied, remembering that Friday two months ago when Jeremy had returned with sparks in his eyes. Sam hadn’t doubted at the time Jeremy had just met another lovely being he’d fallen for.
The cousins took their seats and relaxed.
“Yes, I remember, too,” Marian, Sam’s housekeeper, chimed in from the kitchen. “When are you bringing her over?”
Jeremy looked pained at that question.
“About time.” Marian continued. “You’re always talking about her. I want to put the name to the face. Don’t you feel the same, Sam?”
Sam didn’t reply. Instead, he said, “Lunch?”
Marian laughed. “Bit late for lunch, but I’ll make you boys something to eat anyway.”
“What you got?” Jeremy asked. “I haven’t had anything to eat since last night.”
Marian shook her head. “That’s why you need to find yourself a nice girl and settle down. And this Chandra sounds like the one.”
Again, Jeremy looked pained at Marian’s statement. He said under his breath, “She’d be if I could get her to go on a date with me.”
Sam overheard. “She turned you down?”
Jeremy sighed and then gave Sam a depressed nod. “Yeah, she turned me down.”
“What?” Marian uttered. “She turned you down? That’s just not possible.”
In this case, however, it was possible. Chandra Chandler did just turn down Jeremy, and it was eating at him. He just couldn’t believe it. Most females begged him to go out on a date with them.
“Maybe she wasn’t ready yet,” Marian said, nodding her head as she prepped the sandwiches.
“Ready for what?” Jeremy asked. “It’s only one date.”
Marian looked up and shrugged. “I don’t know.”
The cousins were silent as Marian continued preparing the sandwiches. When she was done, she brought the tray over and placed it on the table before them. “Here, enjoy your very late lunch. Ah, Sam, about Lilly’s birthday party…”
“Yes?”
“I heard Nina is planning the party this year.”
Sam picked up the disapproval within Marian’s voice. He wondered if his agreement to let Nina take charge in planning his daughter’s birthday party had upset Marian. She had always been the one planning Lilly’s birthday celebration since his wife Sarah’s death three years ago. Before that, it was she and Sarah who had done it together.
But now that Nina had put her hand up as volunteer, Marian didn’t look one bit pleased with the idea. Sam knew Marian didn’t like Nina very much, but he couldn’t understand why. Nina had been Sarah’s best friend and was a perfectly nice woman to be around. She was pleasant, beautiful, and most of all loved Lilly to bits.
“I was thinking of a barbeque this year,” Marian said. “I’d bring my grandsons along, too. Lilly likes spending time with them. But I’m not sure if Nina approves.”
Sam frowned. Why did Marian need Nina’s approval to bring her grandsons over? He said, “Bring Jason and Timothy over, Marian. Lilly would love that.”
Marian seemed to sigh with relief at that. “Well then,” she said, “I’ll make sure they come, along with presents, of course.” She laughed. Then she turned her attention to Jeremy, who was slowly chewing away at his food. “She might be playing hard to get, you know.”
Jeremy raised his brows, challenging her statement. “She turned me down flat, Marian. That’s not playing hard to get. That’s a flat no.”
Marian shook her head and headed back to the kitchen to start cleaning up.
Sam laughed. “Come on, Jeremy. Cheer up. It’s not like she’s the only woman in the world. It’s not like you can’t live without her.”
“Well, it sure does feel like that at the moment,” he said sourly. “And it sucks, Sam. It really sucks.”
Sam understood. Hadn’t he felt exactly like that after Sarah’s death? Only it had been worse. Hadn’t he felt like he wanted to commit suicide? Hadn’t he wanted so badly to be with Sarah in the afterlife? The pain. The loneliness. The depression. The suffering. At the time, it had been unbearable. Sometimes, tears just flowed without him noticing. But then he’d caught himself, reminding himself that he had his beloved Lilly to live for. Only then did the pain begin to slowly ease.
Jeremy was just biting into another sandwich when his cell rang. He nearly choked on the food the moment he saw the name flashing on the small screen.
Sam noticed his cousin’s hands shaking when he picked up the phone, and he knew who it was from. Was she phoning to torment Jeremy? Or had she changed her mind?
“Hey,” Jeremy said to the phone, eyeing Sam.
Sam gave Jeremy a look, asking the cousin to tell him who it was to confirm his suspicion. Jeremy said softly and quietly so the person on the other end of the line couldn’t overhear him, “It’s her.”
“Oh,” Sam responded.
“Hi, Jeremy, it’s Chan.”
Jeremy chuckled, pleased all of a sudden. “Yes, so, um, how are you?” he asked stupidly.
Sam tried to hide his smile at his cousin’s reaction. Surely, this wasn’t the same Jeremy he was so used to. The Jeremy he knew was very comfortable in front of woman. The Jeremy he knew was the serial dater who could sweet-talk women into anything and everything. But this one looked like a nervous sixteen-year-old speaking to his first girlfriend. Of course, Sam couldn’t help himself and laughed out loudly.
Jeremy glared at him to shut up. Sam wouldn’t and continued laughing until his stomach began to hurt.
“Who’s that?” Chan asked in the phone.
Jeremy glared at his cousin once again. “Just my stupid cousin.”
“I didn’t know you had a cousin. Well, most people have one, right?”
“Yeah,” Jeremy replied, putting a hand to his lips, indicating Sam really should stop laughing at him now.
“Look, Jeremy, I’m really sorry about before.”
Jeremy felt a flip in his stomach. Sam saw the look on his cousin’s face and, without even thinking, took the phone from Jeremy.
“So, madam, why aren’t you going out with my cousin?” The words came out of his mouth before Sam had the chance to think twice.
A long pause, and then came the voice that had haunted Sam for two months now. The
voice that made him feel warm and glowing inside. The voice he couldn’t stop thinking about.
“I’m sorry? Who is this?”
Sam felt his heart miss a beat and his brain just froze. Instantly, in his mind’s eye, he saw the girl named Chan from the Thursday market again. He suddenly remembered the softness of her body as he embraced her in his arms. And her scent, light and lovely, flowers in spring.
Jeremy frowned at his cousin and said, “Sam?”
Sam blinked. He jolted back to reality and wondered if he’d gone mad for suddenly remembering the young woman from the night market a few months ago.
“Sorry, this is Sam, Jeremy’s cousin,” he said. “Did you know he’s moping like a kid? And I just can’t handle that, young lady, because you’re responsible.”
Beautiful merry laughter followed Sam’s outrageous accusation. The laughter affected Sam in the oddest way. He felt his heart warm, his body lighten, and stomach flip. More importantly, his private parts were paying attention. Too much attention for a mere laugh, Sam thought hotly.
“What is this? I’m responsible? I’ve only just met him not too long ago, Mr. White. If that is your name.”
Sam smiled. He couldn’t help himself. Her voice sounded like sweet velvet to his ears. The longer he listened, the more he felt drawn to her. He wanted to see her. That realization knocked the wind out of him.
“That is not my name, young lady,” Sam said teasingly.
“Young lady, huh? I have a name, Mr. White, and it’s Chan.”
Sam blinked for a moment, and then his heart started pounding. “Chan?”
She laughed. “No. You pronounced it wrong. It Chan like C-H-U-N.”
“Chan,” Sam said, loving the way the sound rolled off his tongue. Could she be the same Chan he’d met at the night market? Could she?
He was about to ask if she was present at the market a few months back when Jeremy took the phone from him.
“Stop flirting with my future girlfriend,” he whispered. Then to the phone, he said loudly, “Sorry about that, Chan. Sam has a weird way of helping out.” At this point, he narrowed his eyes at his cousin.
Sam wasn’t paying attention. He was too busy trying to sort out his mind.
“Helping out with what?”
“Ah, don’t worry about that.” Jeremy chuckled and got up from the seat because Sam was still watching him.
He wandered off into the corridor as he talked quietly into the phone. Sam, on the other hand, still couldn’t get Chan’s voice out of his mind.
It was a few minutes later when Jeremy returned to the dining room with a triumphant smile on his handsome face. “She said yes,” he announced joyfully.
Sam didn’t look happy. In fact, he felt like he’d been crushed with a ton of steel. “Good for you,” he said without conviction. Though, he did try his hardest to be happy for his cousin. “So… when’s the date?”
“Sunday at the StarFish Café by the beach. We’re lunching.”
“Sounds good,” Sam said, frowning. A moment later, he got up. “I’m done. I’m going back to work. See you later.”
“Huh?” Jeremy was distracted. He was still grinning like an idiot. “Sorry. I was thinking about Chan. Yeah. Sure. See you later.”
Sam nodded and headed out the door.
Alone, Jeremy continued to happily eat more sandwiches, oblivious to his cousin’s change in mood.
Up in his office, Sam found himself lost, unable to concentrate on his job. All he could think about was Chan—her voice and her smile when she was with Lilly that Thursday.
“Shit!” he swore under his breath. “It’s not her. It’s not her,” he told himself. Surely, the world couldn’t be that small. Surely, there were lots of people with the name Chan.
He laughed. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! He was going mad. What the hell was wrong with him? He had important business to deal with. He had a beautiful daughter to love and look after—the center of his universe. He had a beautiful home. He had the wealth many envied, and that was an understatement. He had the lifestyle he wanted. So what more could he possibly need?
Chan. He needed Chan. He wanted Chan. He wanted to see her. He wanted to kiss her. Shit! He wanted to make hot, passionate love to her. And he wasn’t lying to himself about that. He wanted her. He liked her. And Sam had never liked or wanted a woman this much before, not since Sarah.
He snapped his laptop shut and headed out the door. He needed a drive. He needed to clear his head. He needed to get Chan out of his mind because she, if she were indeed the Chan he’d met—Met? Seen, actually, because they hadn’t officially met at the market—then he needed to forget about her. Because Chan was now dating Jeremy, and Sam would never steal his cousin’s girl. Unless, of course, they mutually broke up and it was okay with Jeremy. But that had never happened before, and it wasn’t about to happen now.
* * * * *
CHAPTER 9