Page 38 of Pity Parade

Paige

Couldn’t it still be possible for the two of you to get together?

Me

No. Yet again, he made a point of telling me he doesn’t plan to get serious with anyone.

Paige

Why?

Me

He used to be married. His wife died while pregnant with their son.

Paige

NO!

Me

Yeah. And according to my good friend Google, he hasn’t been serious about anyone since. That was ten years ago.

Paige

That’s so sad. I’ll cross his name off my list.

Me

At least his disinterest makes sense now.

Paige

Where are you?

Me

I’m sitting in front of the market waiting for Daniel to show up to buy groceries.

Paige

Call me back if he doesn’t and we can figure out another plan.

Me

Stay tuned …

I open my Scrabble app while I wait. Eight games later—only two of which I win—I play all my tiles on an existing “s” for the word “flouters” in one direction and “zoot” in the other. The “f” is on a triple letter tile and the word is on a triple word line, so I wind up with one hundred and forty points. Temporarily forgetting where I am, I shout, “Yes!”

“Trina? Trina Rockwell? Is that you?” I look up into the familiar face of Daniel Martin. He appears to have aged more than two years, but given the stress of his job, that’s totally understandable.

Trying to act surprised, I say, “Daniel, what are you doing here?”

“What am I doing here?” he asks. “What are you doing here?”

“My last season of Midwestern Matchmaker was shot in Elk Lake,” I tell him. “I really enjoyed my time, so I decided to spend the summer here.”

He shakes his head from side to side. “What a crazy coincidence.”

---