Page 41 of Merry Little Midlife Matchmaker

Lizzie’s smile was soft. “Good. That makes me happy.”

“Maybe next time Zach can come have a sleepover at our place. Right, Dad?”

“Right,” I said, nodded to Lizzie, and followed my son out the door.

When he was buckled in and his gingerbread house was held firmly on his lap, Mikey looked over at me and said, “Dad?”

“Mm?”

“Lizzie’s nice.”

I nodded and turned the key in the engine. “Yeah,” I replied. “She is.”

“And she’s really pretty.”

The steering wheel was smooth beneath my fingers as I gripped it. “Yeah,” I repeated. “She is.”

NINETEEN

LIZZIE

On Monday morning,Laurel leaned on the reception desk and placed a takeout coffee cup from the Four Cups Café in front of me. “Good morning.” The look on her face was all-knowing and amused.

“Good morning to you too,” I said. “What’s this for?”

“For setting that date up on Saturday. I had a good time.”

A frown tugged my brows as I spun the cup around so I could take a sip. “I see,” I replied. Hadn’t Sean said it was a bust?

When I glanced up at Laurel, her smile had widened. “So do I. A lot of things became clear to me over the course of that dinner.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means you set me up on a date with a man who waxed poetic aboutyouhalf the time.”

I didn’t quite know what to say to that, so I said nothing and took a sip. The coffee was silky and delicious, and my shoulders eased. “Sean and I have known each other a long time,” I finally said.

“Did you ever date?”

I jerked. “Me and him?”

“Yeah.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“He was—is—my brother’s best friend.”

Laurel sipped her own coffee then said, “So?”

“So it’s not like we knew each other that way. I was the annoying little sister. Then he graduated and moved on.”

“And now he’s back.”

“And now he’s back,” I repeated, wrapping both hands around the paper cup to warm them. “Are you trying to tell me something? Because I’m not following.”

“Lizzie, you are too cute.”

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