Wishing, Praying and Hoping

Called Jeff about the furnace Saturday. It was so much louder than when he was here Friday, so much so that my floors were shaking from the sound. I was nervous, hoping that Nick would be accompanying him. For all I knew, Nick probably had a girlfriend. He probably wasn't interested, I tell myself. Who cares that the heavens and earth sang as soon I saw him Friday. I tend to create love stories in my head. My imaginary dating life is a Michael Buble soundtrack.

Jeff pulls in the driveway and I anxiously run to the door to open it hoping to see Nick. I take a deep breath before opening the door, but my heart sinks when I see that Jeff was accompanied by an acquaintance of my ex-husband. Just my luck.

Jeff walks in alone and I give my best disappointed look and say, "Oh, too bad you didn't bring Nick with you."

Jeff looks at me, smiles and remarks, "Yeah, when he said 'I'll call you later' when we were leaving Friday, I asked him 'Boy what did you do!? What were you doing upstairs while I was downstairs fixing the furnace?'" I don't recall him saying he'll call me, but I like the sound of it.

I get a big smile on my face, but I didn't ask what Nick's response was. I wish I did. Instead I say, "Oh, we were just talking about things that need to be done around my house. He offered to help." Jeff smiles at me and I continue, "But I noticed he not only gave me his home number, but his cell too. So..." I let my voice trail off as Jeff says, "Ohhhh."

At this point my ex-husband's acquaintance comes downstairs and I turn the conversation to the furnace. Jeff asks me to go check on the noise level upstairs and he follows me up. I ask, "Is he a nice guy?"

"Yes, from what I can tell, he is a really nice guy. He is the son of my uncle's girlfriend. I just met him, asked him over for a few beers and really like the guy. He's cool."

Jeff heads back downstairs and continues to work on the furnace. I attempt to start a fire in my wood stove unsuccessfully and Jeff comes to help me out. My hair is done, makeup on and I look pretty good. I'm hoping Jeff will report that back to Nick.

Finally, Jeff emerges back upstairs and tells me he'll have to come back Sunday to bolt the furnace to the wall to stop the ridiculous noise level. I say, "I wouldn't object if you brought Nick with you." He turns around and laughs, "I'll give him a call and see what he is up to." I point my finger and laugh as I say, "But don't you tell him anything! Because he might have a girlfriend..."

As Jeff descends the stairs he says, "No, he doesn't have a girlfriend, none that he told me about anyway."