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Prologue
WORK MY MAGIC
RUTH
My name isRuth Anne James and I’m in the business of love.
Let me explain.
Once upon a time, I realized I had a knack for matching those around me to the love of their life. It started back when I was just a little girl playing with my dolls. As I grew, I moved on to real people, even when they didn’t know I was matching them. I was born a matchmaker, and it’s been my lifeblood since I realized I had the gift.
My granddaughter also has the gift. Throughout my life, I’ve only met a small number of true matchmakers as it’s a title several like to claim, but it isn’t always real. So when I realized Layla had the gift, I knew I had found another passion. Teaching her how to hone her skill and ensure she understands the magnitude of her gift.
Much like myself, I first noticed when she would talk about how her Barbies and toys were made for each other. Sometimes the matches made little sense. So I would ask, “Layla, can you explain how Skipper and Mr. Bear make the perfect pair?” To my delight, she would respond with a simple, “Skipper needs someone to keep her warm and to make sure she doesn’t buy the wrong food at the grocery story. And Mr. Bear loves to snuggle and needs someone to make sure he isn’t late for important meetings. They both have what the other needs.” In her young mind, that’s what made sense.
She would pair classmates up at recess, making perfect matches. Then getting in trouble when the teachers would find out she was setting up dates between her seven and eight-year-old classmates. Layla’s antics made me smile. Her gift made me giddy.
Decades later, she turned her gift into something I never did, an income. Turns out my granddaughter is a fierce business woman as well as matchmaker. In college, she worked with a friend to create a dating app that has now, years later, become one of the most popular apps in several big cites. While she doesn’t have as big of a role in the app these days, the money she made and continues to make from Match Me has allowed her to build her Happily Ever After, Inc. empire.
She invited me to join her and I’ve loved every minute of watching my dear Layla accomplish the goals she’s set. But I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t see a goal of hers that seems to be falling to the bottom of the barrel, so to say. Finding her own true love.
I’ve offered to match her several times over her adult life, but she’s got it stuck in her head that she is capable of doing it herself.
Oh, my sweet girl, if only that were the case.
While I have known fierce love in my life, I know firsthand you cannot match yourself.
So I decide to bide my time, on the lookout for Layla’s one true love.
Out of the blue, the perfect man falls in our lap and as I live and breathe, the match couldn’t be more perfect.
My best friend, Dorthy, calls me up and tells me her grandson needs my matchmaking expertise and has found himself in my neck of the woods. She’s been my best friend since the mid-fifties and yours truly is responsible for matching her with her late husband. So of course I’m going to match her charming grandson.
What I wasn’t expecting was that her grandson and my granddaughter already knew each other. I’m an excellent reader of characters and know in an instant how to read someone’s emotional reactions. These two, they have something special. And these two would, in fact, be the perfect match. If, however, my granddaughter weren’t so stubborn. Clearly, she doesn’t get that from me.
Don’t worry, I’ll still work my magic.
Chapter 1
SWEEP THE LEGS
LAYLA
Thankgoodness Valentine’s Day is over.
I would be lying if that thought hadn’t been on repeat in my mind this past week. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have anything against the holiday. I actually enjoy it. When I’m not single, of course.
But since my job revolves around love, everyone makes a mad dash to find “the one” in time for Valentine’s Day, New Year’s, and surprisingly, Halloween. Must be all those great couples costumes available these days.
Anyway, since I’m a matchmaker, a damn good one at that, all my clients seem to have one goal in mind come the first of the year. To have a date for Valentine’s Day.
If only it were that easy.
Unfortunately, Happily Ever After, Inc. isn’t a dating service. It’s the top matchmaking and wedding planning company in Central Indiana, based in Indianapolis. Really, it’s the top in all of Indiana, but I add that factoid only if I want to toot my own horn. And I do. I really do. I’ve worked my ass off to get HEA, Inc. where it is today, thank you very much.
But what that means is that we specialize in forever. Not one-night stands.
I roll my mouse across the screen and click open our singles database, a massive list of clients and singles who have signed up for our services. I’ve got an older client, Mary, who’s coming up on one year as a VIP member.
