“Not even Jasper?” Myrtle winked.
“Good gravy, especially not him.” She frowned but felt the corners of her mouth lift a little. Jasper Mathis was an amusing man, mostly because he was so curmudgeonly, and it was hard for her to resist yanking his chain from time to time. But romance? With him? Out of the question. Out of the universe too.
“Hmm. Never say never.” Myrtle folded into her car. “Love comes when you least expect it. Look at me and Javier.”
“Jasper is no Javier.”
Myrtle laughed and shut the door. “He could be, if you’d give him a chance,” she said through the open window.
Erma waved off her friend’s comment and got into her own car. A few moments later she was heading back to her house, where she lived alone. Riley and Hayden had their own home in a rural area of Maple Falls, and morethan once they’d suggested she sell her place. “We can build you a smaller house next to ours,” Riley had said. But Erma refused. She liked living in the house she and Gus had moved into when they married so many years ago. She would never leave.
She had to pass by Jasper’s house on the way to hers, and she tried not to look at his modest—and a little run-down—bungalow that sat within walking distance of Main Street. Hard to do since it was on the corner. A short flagpole was planted in his front yard, and every day, except for the rainy ones, he flew the American flag. She’d always admired him for that, especially since patriotism was becoming so passé among the younger generations.
His car, a silver two-door as unpretentious as his home, sat in the driveway. She recalled that he had lived alone in this house since he was in his twenties. The front porch light was still on, and a flashing glow shone underneath the curtains covering the picture window. She could imagine him sitting inside, probably in a shabby recliner, griping at whatever show he was watching on TV. Jasper could complain about anything—and often did.
She must have passed by his house hundreds of times over the years, but this was the first time she’d paused in front of it, musing about what he might be doing.
The curtains suddenly fluttered. Erma looked at her odometer. Not even five miles an hour! She hadn’t realized she’d slowed down so much. She slammed on the accelerator, wincing as she heard her tires squeal.
Had he seen her? She doubted it. The curtains hadn’t opened. And if he had, so what? He wouldn’t have beenable to identify her maroon car in the dark. She blew out a relieved breath and sped off.
As she pulled into her driveway, Olivia came to mind again. She’d never thought about her being lonely. Like Erma, she had plenty of activities to keep her occupied—Bea always kept the BBs apprised, and Riley filled in any gaps. When would she find time to be forlorn?
Then again, Bea knew her niece better than anyone, probably better than even Olivia’s parents. Maybe she was seeing something Olivia didn’t see in herself. But that didn’t give Bea or anyone else the right to poke their noses into Olivia’s love life—or potential love life, whatever the case may be.
Erma turned off the engine and frowned. She knew Bea wouldn’t let this go, not after she’d publicly declared her intentions. Brother. There had to be a way to nip this in the bud.
She got out of her car, fished her mail out of the box, and went inside the house.
Hmm. Maybe if Olivia did go out on a date, Bea would be satisfied and abandon the husband hunting altogether. And who knew, perhaps that someone and Olivia would hit it off. But there was no way they would find him on Singles, Inc. Not in that pool of sharks.
She set her purse on the couch, scurried to the kitchen, flipped on the light, and found some paper and pen in her junk drawer and sat down at the table. She tried to remember every single man under forty whom she knew in Maple Falls. The pickings were slim, but there were a couple of nice young men who were available. Pastor Jared, for one. Bubba Norton too.
She wrote down two more, then stopped.
What am I doing?Resisting the lure of matchmaking was more difficult than she thought.
She crumpled up the paper and tossed it aside. Tomorrow she would sit Bea down and tell her that she needed to let go of the matchmaking idea and let her niece live her life. Like she’d told Myrtle, if it was meant to be, Olivia would find love on her own terms.
She picked up the mail and thumbed through it, stopping at a colorful flyer with a woman and man dancing on the front. She read the print. Ballroom dancing lessons? Interesting. She made a note to call Myrtle and ask her if she was up for learning some moves before she went to the Keys. She had mentioned that Javier liked to dance—
Wait!
Erma stared at the flyer. Smiled. This was perfect. And it didn’t involve meddling, interfering, or shenanigans. She fished her cell phone from her purse and went to her Favorites.
“Bea?” she said when her friend answered. She held out the flyer in front of her. “Forget Singles, Inc. I have another idea.”
Chapter4
“Have a seat, Dr.Bedford.”
Kingston slowly lowered himself onto one of two comfortable leather chairs in the office of Dr.Lawrence Smith, the chief pediatrician in his practice. As he always did when he came into Lawrence’s office, he glanced at the walls. Awards, commendations, and certificates hung everywhere, and several golf trophies lined a shelf behind the elder statesman, as Kingston silently called him. Kingston enjoyed golf, but Lawrence was obsessed with it.
He stifled a yawn. He’d made the symposium mixer at the last minute, and the rest of the event had been a success. But he’d hit the ground running on Monday morning, and even though it was only Tuesday, he was tired. Really tired.
“I guess you’re wondering why I wanted to talk to you.” From behind his large desk, Lawrence steepled his fingerstogether, peering at Kingston through square, silver-framed glasses.
“It crossed my mind.” He leaned back in the chair, but inside he felt anything but relaxed. Lawrence—not Larry, Lawrence—had invited him for a chat only twice in the five years since Kingston had joined his practice. Once to welcome him to the team, and the other to give him a pin to commemorate his fifth year of employment. That had been a month ago. Kingston hadn’t expected to have a personal meeting with him for another five years. And while Lawrence liked formality, he only referred to Kingston as Dr.Bedford in front of staff and patients. Never in private.
