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He shrugs his eyebrows at her and asks, “You want to swipe on some of this?”
And just like that, he’s off the show.
By the time the first episode ends, Paige and I have eaten the entire pizza, and each had two beers, which is my limit because I work in the morning.
Paige takes a last swig from her bottle before declaring, “I like this show.”
“Doesn’t Trina Rockwell remind you of that girl Leila from high school? She was captain of the debate team,” I remind her. “She wore those mid-length skirts that made her look like she had fat calves.”
Paige cringes. “We wore those skirts, too.”
“Which is probably why I always thought we could have been friends with her.”
“Why weren’t we?” she wants to know.
I shrug. “If I had to guess it was probably because she was even lower on the social food chain than we were, and we didn’t want to be demoted further.”
Crossing her legs until her heels are resting under her knees, Paige says, “That’s so mean. I hate the high school versions of us.”
“I wouldn’t go back in time if you offered me a million dollars. It’s amazing anyone comes out with even a shred of self-confidence.”
We spend the next two hours watching as Midwestern singles are successfully set up. By the end of the third episode, Trina smiles into the camera and announces, “I’ll be matchmaking in my home state of Wisconsin next season, so if you’re interested in applying, just go to our website to submit your audition tape.”
Neither Paige nor I say a word but we’re clearly thinking the same thing. Should we sign up to be onMidwestern Matchmaker?
CHAPTERFOUR
JAMIE
My daughter and I spent a week in Elk Lake last summer which is how we decided to move here instead of someplace else. The woods, the water, the charming downtown—all of it felt like coming home. Sammy would sigh wistfully and say things like, “I bet this is a great town to live in,” or “I bet the kids here are really nice.” That should have clued me in that things were changing for her at home. Sadly, that’s something I didn’t find out until months later.
As we pass the Welcome to Elk Lake sign, I nudge my daughter’s sleeping form. “Wake up, we’re here.”
She moans in her sleep before finally stirring. “What time is it?”
“Four o’clock. Which means we have time to get settled into our rental before heading into town for supper.” We’ve leased a fully furnished house for two months while we look for something to buy. The moving truck is going to put all our stuff into a storage unit across town.
I slow down when the voice on the map app tells me I’ll be turning in five hundred feet. Sammy sounds scared as she asks, “This is really happening, isn’t it?” I’m not sure how our new reality is just hitting her, but I imagine she’s been in a bit of denial. I know I have.
“It’s just the next chapter in our story,” I tell her. “If we don’t like it here, we can move to Vermont or North Carolina or Hungary…”
Giggling at the last destination, she sounds less than certain as she says, “No, sir. Elk Lake is going to be perfect. We’re going to be happier here than we’ve ever been before.” I like that she’s affirming a positive outcome. We’ve spent a lot of time in the last year discussing how important it is to vocalize the way you want your life to turn out. Your thoughts and words have power and no one can take that away from you.
“Hungary has goulash though …”
Sammy arches one eyebrow in a look of challenge. “Grandma makes goulash, and we don’t have to go across the world to get it.”
“We’ll stay here as long as we’re happy,” I tell her. “I’ll do anything it takes to keep my girl happy.” I’d even move to Alaska and race huskies if it would make her smile.
“You won’t get married …”
“Historically, my dating life has not turned out that well.” Truthfully, it’s been downright depressing. While I have dated since Sam’s mom left us—she was only ten months old at the time—I have never introduced anyone to my daughter. Not until I asked Shelby Lynn out. I told her I wanted to keep things quiet until we were sure we had a future together. She didn’t think that was necessary, and she talked freely about our four dates to her daughter and anyone else who would listen.
That was when Kelsey decided to make Sammy’s life a living hell. As a result, I broke things off with Shelby and she let her daughter systematically ruin my child’s social life. So no, thank you, to dating again any time soon. I’ve had my fill.
Instead of confirming the truth of my last statement, Sammy lets out a low whistle as we pull into the driveway of our rental. “This is really nice. It looks more like a lodge than a house.” It made sense when shopping for temporary digs to get the nicest thing I could find. I wanted us to start this adventure on a high note.
“I thought we should rent in the area where we want to buy. That way we can decide if we really want to live on the lake or we just think we do.”
