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No harm at all.
Or so I tried to convince myself.
Chapter Nine
Hunter
As far as dates typically go, that could have gone better.
Being proposed to on a first date was definitely a first in my book, though I couldn’t say it had even been my worst.
Lyndsey was right, though. The woman hit every box on my checklist. She was attractive, family-oriented, willing to share in the household responsibilities, and wanting to settle down. She left out the part about the woman being obsessively baby crazy and just a little too desperate to get married for my tastes.
I even felt for a short while after the date had ended that I was inexplicably being followed by a shadowy figure.
We had parted ways amicably, however. I hadn’t been able to come up with an excuse at the time, though I’m sure there was some sort of protocol for ending a relationship before it even began. That was the beauty of trying a matchmaking service, I suppose. Everything was done through them, and my privacy was kept completely safe. If I didn’t want to see the woman again, I didn’t have to worry about her cyber stalking me or trying to block her on as many dating platforms as possible.
We were done. Though I couldn’t say the prospect of getting back out there made me feel any better.
The restaurant wasn’t too far from where my apartment was, though I’d taken the long way home that night. I did this not only to avoid being followed back home, but also to clear my mind. Was this really what I should be doing? Did I really want to go through a string of dating mishaps just to find the best candidate?
If finding a wife was meant to happen organically, this definitely didn’t feel right. I shouldn’t be expected to find the right person in a matter of days or weeks. It was a lifelong commitment that required time and digging. It required trust. What if I never felt that spark? That magic? Would I just have to settle? And if I risked never waiting for that spark, what then?
This all needed to happen now. Or so I told myself. I didn’t have the time to maybe or not find the person who kindled a fire within me. That person very well may never show up in Madison or any of the surrounding areas. And then, I’d have wasted all that time waiting for nothing.
The glow of a nearby cafe caught my attention. Not so much for the lighting or window displays, but rather for the woman in the seat beside it. Her soft blonde hair piled on top of her head in a messy cluster of curls and strands. She chewed the end of her pen, peering down at the papers in front of her with a mix of confusion and concern. The subtle wrinkle in her brow was almost too cute to ignore, and I had just come back from a date she’d set up for me.
It would be rude to pass by Lyndsey Saunders without stopping in for a moment.
Against my better judgement, I entered the cafe and quickly found her booth. She stared up at me confused.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I was in the neighborhood,” I said nonchalantly and gestured toward the booth to take a seat. “Mind if I take a seat?”
She nodded and scooted further down the seat in the booth. “Yes, of course. It’s fine. Don’t you have a date you’re supposed to be on?”
“Yea, well,” I stammered. How did I tell her about this trainwreck of a night? I ran my hand against the back of my neck. “She came on a little too strong for my tastes.”
Lyndsey’s chocolate-colored eyes darkened to coal in the dim lighting of the cafe. She eyed me carefully, determining whether this next excuse was warranted or another machination of my reluctance to start dating. I couldn’t say I hadn’t given her any reason to doubt me. I’d put up a fight since the moment she walked into the office. This wasn’t how I saw the marriage process starting. It wasn’t how I saw any aspect of my romantic life being portrayed, and yet I had no other viable solution to get me out of it.
“What does that mean?” she asked, still suspicious.
“Well, she was definitely interested in having kids,” I said, throwing myself down into the seat beside her. “She already had a list of names she’d wanted me to choose from for the kids and even brought a tube for me to give her a DNA sample.”
Lyndsey covered her mouth, half-way in the middle of chewing something. Her eyes widened, obviously as concerned as I had been when the woman asked me for such a thing. “For what?”
“Genetic testing,” I explained. “To see if I had anything in my medical history that would prevent our kids from having a healthy and happy future.”
Her hand fell down into her lap, and a small smile twitched at the corner of her mouth. “Well at least she was being proactive. You like that, don’t you?”
“She brought a ring to the dinner.”
A finger rose to her lips. Whether to stop her from laughing or grinning, I couldn’t tell. “For you?”
“For herself,” I said, though it didn’t make it any less weird. She’d asked me to place the ring on her finger if I was ready to commit. Talking my way out of that one had taken some persistence and artistry to deliver without ending in tears. But I’d done it, somehow. Though, there was no guarantee I’d ever be able to do it again. “She said it was the one she wanted to wear when she got engaged. She then asked me if I was ready to get married so that she could wear it and seal the deal.”
At that, Lyndsey did laugh.
