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“Right. So if you don’t mind me asking, is she single?”
I hold Shane’s gaze. I can tell he’s serious. “Um, yes, she is.”
Shane smiles. “Great. I might be popping in sooner rather than later then.”
I chuckle and start towards the door with Shane near my side. “You’re welcome any time Shane. I’ll make sure she knows to give you a brownie on the house.”
Chapter eight
Jared
I’m sitting at a stoplight when I realize I am in silence. I press the playlist button and Bach flows out from the speakers. There’s something calming about classical music. It’s not all I listen to, but when I’m driving, I like to think, and classical music seems to help me do just that. I take the turn into the parking lot where I’m meeting my parents and sister for an early dinner. Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy our family dinners, but I know I’m going to get asked questions about my social life, so before I get out of my car I pause and lean my head back and take a few deep breaths as I prepare for my responses to their questions. I generally have a set of responses that are always the same.“No, I’m not seeing anyone.”“My last date didn’t work out.” “No I’m not interested in anyone right now.”The last one makes me stop for a moment. I can’t say I like anyone, but I will admit (only to myself of course) that Lacey has piqued my curiosity. She’s interesting. She’s smart. She’s attractive. So I might be a little curious about her, but that’s about as far as it goes. I think.
I head into the restaurant and spot Rachel waving to me from a corner booth. I walk her way noticing that Jeff isn’t sitting beside her. “Where’s your husband?”
Rachel taps her hands on the table. “Well, the sitter cancelled last minute so he offered to watch the kids so I could come have dinner with you guys.”
I sit next to her and put my hand on top of hers. “Well, tell him thanks, because I’m glad to see you. It’s been too long. How are my nieces and nephew doing?”
“Oh, they’re driving us crazy. But in a good way. Max and Sara are doing great in school and Danielle is sleeping through the night, thank goodness.”
“Glad to hear it. We’ll have to have a kid-friendly dinner soon,” I say.
“Jared you can stop by any night and have dinner with us. It’s a fantastic time. There’s usually someone having a tantrum, food all over the table, a tummy ache announcement and it usually ends with me sitting at the table drinking wine.”
I laugh. I know my sister is kidding, well, somewhat. She really does take it in stride, and her kids have two amazing parents. I could only wish to be as good a parent. Speaking of parents, we both look up and spot ours entering the restaurant. Rachel waves making sure they see us. My mom waves back at us and starts to walk faster. You can tell she’s excited to see her two kids. As they sit down, they both beam smiles at us.
“Well hello my dears,” my mom says.
My mom is the sweetest woman. She loves nothing more than her kids and grandchildren. She’s active in the community and volunteers at the animal shelter. As a retired kindergarten teacher, she’s still involved in her old school helping with school events. Her heart is as big as they come. I look over at my dad adjusting his glasses. He looks just as happy as my mom.
“Well Jared, I’m glad you could make it. How are things with the business?” My dad asks.
“Good dad. Starting an expansion project soon, which I’m hoping will pay off in the end.”
My mom reaches her hand across the table to rest on mine. “Oh honey of course it will. You are so smart. It will be amazing, I’m sure.”
My mom has always been a supportive woman. I’m pretty sure I could have told her I wanted to shovel dirt for my career, and she would have bought me the shovel. When I graduated from Harvard you would have thought I won the Nobel prize and when Rachel told her she wanted to be a teacher my mom cried with joy. I’m not jealous that Rachel and my mom have a super close relationship. I would expect that as they share stories about teaching and of course there’s the grandkids. Sometimes though, I wish I could give my mom something else.
I smile. “Thanks mom.”
We sit for a few minutes as Rachel tells us funny stories about the kids. We all look at pictures on her phone astonished at how fast they are all growing. My parents seem less surprised, but of course they see them every week, and I’m lucky if I see them once every few months.
We all order our dinners and continue chatting about my mom’s book club, then my dad’s bowling league. It impresses me how active they both are in retirement. There’s a pause in the conversation when I make eye contact with my mom. I can already tell what she’s about to ask.
“So Jared. Anyone new in your life these days?” She asks in the sweetest way possible.
Here’s the thing. I know my mom is not trying to meddle. I give my parents credit for that. Even my sister. No one has ever tried to push a blind date on me or worse a ‘someone-they-know’ date. They all want me to find someone on my own and I know they wish I would date more.
“No mom. But I did go on a date a few weeks ago. It just didn’t click though.” I say, hoping that she’ll see I at least made an effort.
“Oh, well, that’s too bad. There’s more fish in the sea,” she says smiling at me.
My sister nudges my arm. “Yeah, but Jared you can’t date like once a year. You have to get out there more. It’ll take you twenty years to find someone the way you’re doing it.”
My dad chuckles and points his fork at me. “Rachel is right son. Go on more dates. You need to increase your odds.”
My dad was a math teacher and loves to throw math related lingo into any conversation. It still makes me smile.
