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Chapter 21
I’m not feeling very Hoptimistic today
“What’s with the help wanted sign in the window?” Hailey asks Pops as we join him at the bar at McGraw’s on Monday night.
“The cleaner quit,” he grumps.
“Maggy quit?” Phoebe asks. “What happened?”
Hailey narrows her eyes at Phoebe. “How do you know Maggy?”
Phoebe rolls her eyes. “I lived with Pops for a while, remember?”
When Phoebe had her troubles, she stayed in Hailey’s childhood bedroom to keep safe. The place she had been living was seriously sad. I still can’t believe Ms. Perfectly Put Together ever lived in a boarding house full of drug addicts. The woman is full of surprises.
“Why are you grumpy about it?” Hailey asks Pops. “The turnover on cleaners is pretty high. This is not an unusual situation.”
“Someone,” Pops glowers at the table of uncles who are not hiding their mirth whatsoever, “had a salesman call me at eight this morning. They wanted to sell me a lawnmower and wouldn’t take no for an answer despite my explaining I don’t have a yard.”
“You don’t have a yard,” I agree. Pops lives in the apartment above the pub. It’s a huge apartment as it’s the size of the pub, but there’s no yard. The ‘backyard’ is a parking lot, although there is one picnic table where the smokers hang out.
“Someone,” he growls, “told him I would deny having a yard, but it was only a negotiation tactic.”
I giggle and throw a thumbs-up at the uncles who wink in response. They’re a menace but they sure are fun to be around.
“Why didn’t you hang up?” Hailey asks.
“I did. He called back. Three times.”
“Why didn’t you switch off your phone?”
Pops shakes his head at Hailey. “I have a daughter who works as a PI, a son-in-law who’s a detective, and a friend who…”
I lean closer. Is he going to finally tell us what Wally does? It has to be Wally he’s talking about. To my great disappointment, he mutters, “Never mind.”
Argh. I know Wally is some sort of super-secret black ops guy, but I need the details. My curiosity is killing me!
“What are you going to do to get them back?” Hailey asks.
Pops narrows his eyes on his supposed buddies. “You’ll see. You’ll see.”
Goodie! I look forward to whatever revenge he comes up with. Of course, my phone has to beep with an incoming message and ruin my happiness. My mom – tired of waiting for me to sign up for the dating website myself – signed up for one on my behalf and is now trolling the profiles to find a man who is a ‘good’ fit.
She’s been sending me these profiles all dang day. Unfortunately, she seems to think I need an older man who looks boring as all get out. She says he’ll tame me. I don’t want anyone to tame me. Hell, I don’t want a man at all.
How long are you going to lie to yourself? my inner voice – aka that bitch, Adult Suzie – asks. I ignore her and open the message on my phone instead. It’s as I thought. Another email from my mom.
Hailey looks over my shoulder. “Yes! More men!”
Phoebe looks over my other shoulder. “Let’s see. They can’t all be bad.”
“What’s going on?” Sid asks as he bellies up to the bar.
I don’t want to answer him, but Hailey has no problem tattling. “Mrs. Langley sends these daily emails with dating profiles of men she thinks Suzie should date. We’re looking at the latest batch.”
“What for?” he asks. “I thought you and Grayson were an item.”
I groan. “Why does everyone keep saying that?”
