Page 74 of The Matchmaker and the Marine

“It’s written all over your face. She is an amazing person and she’s lucky too. Good luck Adam.”

“See you later.” Adam slowly walked down the path to his truck. All he had to do now was ask Mel to go out with him on Friday night.

Adam drove from Beth’s to Mel’s and then parked in her driveway. He sat there for over ten minutes. He couldn’t procrastinate any longer. Before he had a chance to give it another thought, the front door opened and Melinda ran lightly down the front steps, the late afternoon sun glinting off her copper-colored curls.

She smiled at him. “Hey. Twice in one day.”

He got out of the truck. “I hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time?”

“Not at all. I just finished in the office and thought I saw your truck out here. Want to come in?”

“Yeah.” Silently he admonished himself. He was going to have to do better than this. He caught the line of conversation Mel was on…

“Stacey and I have planned a wonderful bridal shower for Molly. The guys are invited to meet us for dinner. Do you want to join us too?”

Adam pulled open the front door and Mel stepped inside. “Sounds like a fun time.” He wondered what she would wear to a nice dinner, he was sure she would look amazing. He grinned.

“Come on in the kitchen. I was just going to have a glass of wine. Interested?”

He couldn’t take his eyes off her face. She seemed to sparkle.

“Sure.” Another clever one-word answer. If Mel noticed, she didn’t seem to take exception.

He waited while she poured two glasses of red wine and said, “It’s cool out back—let’s sit in the living room.”

He followed as she strolled inside, clicking on a few lights as she walked. She settled on one end of the deep cushioned sofa while Adam sat at the other end.

“So, what brings you by?” She took a sip of wine and set her glass on the maple coffee table.

He shifted in his seat and set his glass down. “I came to a decision today.”

“Do tell.” Her smile gave him courage.

“I stopped by Beth’s and cancelled our date for Friday night.”

Melinda pulled at the fringe on a decorative pillow. “I’m not sure I understand. Earlier you said you were going to give it one more shot.”

He inched forward on the cushion. “I had to be honest with myself, and with Beth.”

Slowly she said, “Of course, but…?”

He took her hand. “Mel, I wanted to ask you to go see the cover band with me.”

With a nervous laugh she said, “Adam, you hired me to be your matchmaker.”

“Well, I’m firing you,” he stated with simplicity. “You only need one when you have no idea where to look for someone to spend time with.”

She pulled her hand away and got up. Going to stand in front of the fireplace, she looked at the cold, empty hearth. “I don’t date.”

He got up and went to her side. “Then don’t call it a date. Just say you’ll spend time with me and have fun. We don’t need to label it, we can just enjoy time together.”

“I wouldn’t want to lead you on.” She glanced his way. “It wouldn’t be fair to you.”

He lightly touched her arm and turned her to face him. She looked into his eyes. Hers filled with a mixture of fear and maybe a little hope. “Let me worry about me. You’re the woman I’d like to spend time with.”

Mel remained silent.

“Agree to have dinner with me and we’ll see the band.” He gave her a big grin. “It’s just dinner.”

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