Here with Me

"No, Mom, I'm fine. Nothing's wrong.... I like my life just the way it is." Lee Singer wished she could hang up. But hanging up wasn't an option, so she worked at tuning out her mother's you-could-do-so-much-better lecture. After all, she'd heard it so many times she could almost quote it verbatim.So much potential, blah, blah, blah.Wasting your life, blah, blah, blah.If only you had some drive, some ambition, blah, blah, blah.Mid-lecture, the door opened at Lee's small Perry Square art shop, Singer's Treasures, and a man walked in.Her conversation with her mother faded to mere background static as she studied the customer with an uncharacteristic feminine awareness.It wasn't that she didn't notice good-looking men, it was just that most of the time she didn't get hit with this sudden zing.The man in question was tall. At five-six, she wasn't a tiny woman, but he towered over her. Sixtwo maybe?Black hair, not a strand out of place, dark eyes that didn't look as if they missed anything. He was dressed in a neatly pressed polo shirt and Dockers. He wasn't exactly scowling, but he wasn't exactly smiling either.No, he was sort of studying her with an intensity that made her very...She searched for a word to describe the heart-pounding, blood-roaring feeling his scrutiny gave her. A word to describe how looking at him made her feel.Desire.That was it.Not that she'd act on it. Lee believed herself to be the type of woman who knew that what was on the inside mattered more than how a person was packaged. But this man's packaging was a sight to behold.She tried to steady her thoughts and her heart rate, and managed to say, "Pardon me a sec, Mom.A customer just walked in." She put a hand over the phone's mouthpiece. "May I help you?""I came about a rental property on Lake Erie. I saw the ad in the paper and it said to contact Singer's Treasures."She uncovered the phone and said, "Listen, Mom, I've got to go.""I wasn't finished," her mother said. "Your father and I have a surprise. We're -- "Her mother would never be finished because they were never going to see eye to eye on Lee's life choices. She had realized that long ago, but she couldn't help but wish her relationship with her mother was different."Sorry, Mom, but business calls. And business is supposed to be my priority. Remember? Send my love to Dad."Before her mother could utter any further protests, Lee clicked off the power on the portable phone, then set it on the counter."I'm sorry," she apologized. "Parents. You know how they are.""Not really," the man said.From his expression she could tell she'd made a faux pas."I'm sorry," she offered, though she wasn't sure what she was sorry for. She decided to take her mother's advice and for once be all business. "You wanted to know about the cottage I have to rent."He nodded, still studying her. "It's small, a one bedroom that sits on the lake. It has great views, if you like the water. I usually rent it out by the week. Plumbing, electricity...the basics, but not very fancy."A man this pressed and preppy on a hot, humid summer day was the type who was used to fancy... demanded fancy, even.Her small cottage probably wouldn't suit him at all."Is it vacant?"She nodded."Good. I'll take it for a month." He reached in his pocket and pulled out a checkbook."But you haven't even seen it," Lee protested, knowing it wasn't a very businesslike response.He ignored her. "How much for a month?"Lee thought quickly. She'd never been overly aggressive about renting the cottage out and never for an entire month.The cottages were built by her grandmother and her great-aunt on lakefront property years ago. They stood side-by-side overlooking Lake Erie. Lee now lived in her grandmother's cottage and rented out its twin.She wasn't sure she wanted this man living next to her that long. The feelings he stirred were not cJacobs, Holly is the author of 'Here with Me', published 2006 under ISBN 9780373198252 and ISBN 0373198256.