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“What? Oh...yeah. Pregnant. No caffeine. Right. It’s been a while.” He sounded overwhelmed.
“Fourteen years,” she answered. There was a long silence, and she actually felt sorry for the guy. “You’ll be fine. It’s like riding a bike.” She smiled softly. “You did good the first time around.”
“Thanks. I really am sorry I didn’t warn you about the news.” He paused. “How areyoudoing? Seeing anyone?”
“Between the business and working on Dad’s house, my days are full.”
And I didn’t have the head start of already seeing someone while we were married...
She didn’t say that. She also didn’t tell him Hazel wanted her to stay single. The conversation with Chris stayed with her after the call. It’s not like she was grieving his loss or anything. But one of Hazel’s homes had to be stable. She couldn’t bring some random guy back here. It would be nice tohavea random guy, though.
She pulled the lasagna out of the oven and called out to Hazel.
Maybe notrandom. But a man in her life. Or at least in her bed.
She blinked.
Yeah, she did miss having someone in her bed.
CHAPTER SIX
“OOH...SPEAKOFthe devil!”
Mike saw Cecile Manning waving at him as he walked into The Spot. She looked at her dining partners with a big smile. “Why don’t you ask Mike himself what he wants us to do?”
Oh, shit.This couldn’t be good.
The booth was occupied by several members of the Rendezvous Falls Book Club. His grandmother was a member, but she wasn’t with the gang...er...group today. Iris Taggart was sitting next to Vickie Pendergast, with Cecile and Lena Fox on the opposite side. Iris was the over-eighty owner of the Taggart Inn just off Main Street—the largest and oldest inn in town. Her grandson and his wife were running it now, but Logan and Piper knew better than to make Iris feel that place wasn’t her domain in every sense of the word. She was a force of nature, and she knew it. Right now she was fixing a glare on poor Cecile, who was forever the romantic optimist of the group.
“Yeah, I’m sure Mike wants to sit with four old ladies on his lunch hour and be asked his dating preferences. Leave the guy alo—”
Mike pulled a chair over and sat at the end of the booth. They could be a pain, but he liked the old ladies. They meddled, but with good intentions. At least, he hoped so. “Sounds like you’re discussing matchmaking instead of books today.”
Vickie smiled at him, but not until after she’d scanned him from head to toe. Her mind was as sharp as her appearance.
“You’re looking very formal today, counselor,” she said. “Court date?”
He glanced down at his dark pinstripe suit and crisp white shirt. It was a fair question, since his usual daily attire was khakis and a button-down shirt.
“Trying toavoida court date,” he answered. “I have a mediation meeting up in Geneva this afternoon—trying to keep my client and his siblings from ripping their family apart over their grandfather’s will. They’re ready to go to war over an estate that’s barely in the six figures.” He shook his head. “We’re getting everyone and their lawyers together in a room with a court-appointed mediator to see if common sense can prevail.”
She gave him another once-over with her eyes. “Well, you’re dressed for success, my boy.”
His cheeks heated. “I’m also having dinner with one of the attorneys after the meeting. She and I went to law school together in Syracuse.”
“She?”Cecile blurted out. “I thought you didn’t want to date right now?”
Iris grumbled a few curse words under her breath. “Honestly, Cecile—that’s none of our business.”
Mike didn’t point out that their little group hadmadeit their business to send him out on dates with various women for the past eighteen months, trying to find him a perfect match. Vickie glared at Iris.
“You have a funny way of showing your disinterest. Wasn’t Rachel the librarian your idea?”
Cecile sat up straight, her hand in the air. “No,Iwas the one who suggested Rachel! She was so sweet when I met her at the flower shop.” Her smile faded slightly. “But Zoey Hartford said you were off the market for now...?”
He still didn’t know why Zoey told them that. “First, tonight is just dinner with a former classmate. It’snota date.”
“Is she single?” Vickie asked quickly.
