Page 1 of Undoing the Grumpy Guy

PROLOGUE

THE MATCHMAKERS

Silence fills the rec room of the Honeysuckle Senior Center as seven of the eight matchmakers stare in stunned shock at the flat screen TV dominating the rear wall.

Elliot’s grin stretches from ear to ear as she clicks the TV off. “Wasn’t Reed brilliant?” she comments, looking around at her fellow matchmakers.

“Oh my,” Agnes mutters, picking at an invisible thread on her green cardigan.

Charlotte’s bright pink lips open and close as if she’s trying to say something, but the words just aren’t coming.

Sandra’s brown eyes are wide as she looks anywhere but at Elliot. It’s the matchmakers’ weekly meeting, and they were in the process of finalizing the plans on setting up her dear granddaughter Winnie with Elliot’s grandson Reed when suddenly Elliot remembered that Reed was due to be on TV. Eagerly, they switched it on.

Except it wasn’t some nice light piece showcasing Elliot’s undeniably attractive grandson, who’s a lawyer.

Oh no. Instead, the matchmakers got to watch as Reed reduced a reporter to a sputtering and incomprehensible mess who resorted to vulgarity and arm waving before he got dragged away, still screaming at Reed.

And Reed stood there watching impassively without a single twitch of his firm lips or a glimmer of sympathy in his frosty blue eyes.

Granted, maybe the man deserved it, but watching it unfold had affected them all.

Poor sweet Linda is clinging on to Margot and no doubt feels grateful that she doesn’t have a granddaughter being offered up to that shark in an expensive suit.

Roberta’s husky laughter breaks the unnatural silence right before her elbow bumps into Sandra’s side. “Well! Looks like your granddaughter has her work cut out for her.”

Several looks of pity get aimed Sandra’s way and even she has to admit maybe her confidence in Winnie bringing this stern man around was a bit premature. Certainly, Winnie is an exceptional child and the looks she sends Reed’s way whenever he’s having lunch with his grandmother clearly state that Winnie has it bad for the handsome lawyer.

But now, after seeing the man’s professional side, Sandra can’t help wondering if perhaps a much nicer and gentler man wouldn’t be more suitable for her only granddaughter.

“Linda, what score is your Henry?” she asks, trying not to cower under the sharp look that Elliot sends her way.

Poor Linda looks like she swallowed something particularly unpleasant as her gaze darts between Elliot and Sandra. “D12,” she whispers, clearly unhappy being caught in the middle of things.

“Not even close to a match,” Roberta puts in with a snort.

Elliots' blue eyes narrow. “We already determined that Reed is your granddaughter’s match,” she says, coming over to the table Sandra is sitting at and crossing her arms as she glares down at the other woman.

“Not that your grandson isn’t lovely,” Sandra begins, trying to gather up her courage and casting her gaze around the room in search of support. “It’s just that his personality seems so…”

“Powerful?” Elliot supplies with a satisfied smirk.

“Well…”

Nodding, Elliot’s grin grows. “Commanding.”

Licking her lips, Sandra’s already tiny figure seems to shrink even further. “Umm.. I was thinking more-”

“Brutish, domineering, and overbearing,” Deborah snaps. “Plus, he’s one of the oldest men in the bunch and poor Winnie is only…” She turns and looks at Sandra.

“Twenty-five,” Sandra supplies in a small voice.

Ever helpful, Margot quickly does the math. “That’s seventeen years.”

“It’s a big age gap even for a perfectly paired couple,” Deborah declares.

Several murmurs of agreement fill the room as some of the ladies nod their heads.

Elliot’s face screws up, her eyes practically spitting blue fire as her gaze sweeps around the room. “We already matched the more suitable girl for Reed to Agnes’s boy because Sandra said her granddaughter was in love with Reed. And now suddenly they aren’t a good match either?”

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