Page 12 of Her Surprise Vacation Date

For a best friend.

For a partner.

For a wife.

My gaze travels to where she’s standing with a pack of toothbrushes in each hand. She’s not looking at the items, however, but at a young couple down the aisle who look to be around our age. The woman has her back to the shelves while the man faces her. One of his hands rests on the shelf above her head as he towers over her. They exchange words too soft for me to hear as they stare at each other without blinking. But the giggles that follow ring in the air like the tune of the Pied Piper. The happy sounds lure me in and make me want what they have.

What I’ve always wanted.

Ever since my sister made me watch cheesy, predictable chick flicks with her starting from the third grade, I’ve beencurious about relationships. How a man and a woman can meet and fall in love and develop a connection that only the two of them can understand. I long to have that kind of supportive and mutually beneficial relationship—andthe cheesiness it brings.

The only problem is that I haven’t met a woman I’ve been able to see having a future with. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve crossed paths with some nice ladies at work and at church. But no one who makes me feel the way that Hope makes me feel. Like a hero one moment, then putty in her hands the next minute. She’s the only woman who can make me blush. And the only one I want to sweep off her feet and carry into the sunset with an endless supply of cookies, if only just to see her smile.

Yes, I’ll admit it, I’m a hopeless romantic. But I have dreams of being aHope-fulromantic—with a capital H for Hope.

I say a prayer, asking the Lord for His guidance and blessing with this endeavor. We only have a couple of days together, and I want to treat her with the utmost respect and care. It’s also been a long while since I made any moves in the romance department, and I’ll be the first to admit I’m a little rusty. But it appears that I have some great inspiration to work with, namely that young couple.

Hope seems enamored with them. She’s no longer peeking from the corner of her eye but has turned around to face them. Her eyes are wide open, and her pretty pink lips are pressed together like she’s trying to contain her excitement. She reminds me of my sister when she gets to a good part in a romance book. What is it about this couple that’s so intriguing?

Maybe it’s the man’s stance? He’s doing that infamous leaning bit from the movieWhile You Were Sleepingthat Ameliaforces me to watch with her every Christmas. I thought it was a gimmick that the screenwriter made up, but maybe it’s possible that women really dig it.

I decide to find out. If I’m going to move myself out of the friend zone with Hope, I need to show her I can be boyfriend, and eventually husband, material.

With purpose in my steps, I saunter over to Hope and stand in front of her. Taking a step forward, I sandwich her in between my torso and the shelving, then I raise my arm over her head. Holding onto the top shelf, I glance down and offer her my sexiest, “Hey.”

She blinks in surprise and replies with a less sexy and somewhat confused, “Hey. What are you doing, Shane?”

“I just wanted to see if you need any help.”

“Oh, I’m good, thanks. I was just debating between getting a single toothbrush or a pack of four. The pack would be a better deal, but I really don’t need that many toothbrushes. But I do plan on brushing my teeth every day for the rest of my life, so maybe I should get the four-pack. What do you think?”

“I say live a little and get the four-pack. You can always save whatever you don’t use for your future husband and kids.”

She bursts out with a laugh. “I’m pretty sure I’ll use them up a lot sooner than that. There are no guys on my radar right now. And even if there were, I’m not dating this year.”

My mouth grows dry. “Not dating this year? What do you mean?”

“I’m on a self-imposed dating sabbatical this year—or maybe even longer, I haven’t decided.”

I vaguely remember Amelia saying the wordsabbaticalearlier when she was on the phone. But I had no idea she’d been talking about Hope taking a break from dating. Thisnews is such a shock to me, my tongue freezes up. In my silence, Hope ducks out from under my arm to return the single toothbrush, then tosses the four-pack that she apparentlywon’tbe saving for a husband and kids into the shopping cart.

Great. Not only did my leaning trick not work, I’ve been officially sequestered. Pushed even further into the friend zone with no hope of leaving. Of all the times I could re-meet and fall for the woman of my dreams, it has to be when she’s taken a vow not to date. What am I supposed to do now?

CHAPTER 7

Hope

“Relationships arelike a walk in the park. Jurassic Park. ~Unknown

Shane is an enigma. That’s the conclusion I’ve come to after our shopping trip. One minute he was acting all chummy and helpful and the next, he seemed to withdraw into a shell. His mood had changed in the toothbrush aisle right after I told him about my dating sabbatical. That couldn’t have had anything to do with the flip, could it?

He hasn’t said a word since we started driving again. I suppose I don’t help matters either. All the adrenaline I’d gotten from my airport misadventure has worn off, and I suddenly feel more deflated than a popped balloon. Even the sugar I’d consumed from those delicious cookies doesn’t have any effect on me. All I can think about is how all my planning was for naught. I’ve lost Amelia’s birthday present, and I don’t have a backup plan. And the only person I have to blame is myself.

Sighing, I decide to break the ice with my deep, philosophicalthought of the day. “Do you ever feel like things just don’t go the way you want them to? Like God allows things to happen to you so you have to grow? It’s like that verse from James that talks about considering it pure joy when you face trials ’cause you’re supposed to end up more mature as a result of going through them. Is that why we have to struggle so much in life?”

“Is that a rhetorical question?” His tone has a trace of humor in it as he smirks. “Because you pretty much answered it.”

“I suppose I did, didn’t I? I guess I was hoping for a different, more comforting answer.”

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