Page 20 of Merry Little Midlife Matchmaker

Lizzie

It’s Lizzie, by the way.

I clicked on the photo and huffed a laugh. There were only two people in the photo: Lizzie on the right, and another brunette on the left. I probably could have figured out who was who—and when I answered Lizzie to tell her as much, she sent me a string of emojis that only made partial sense.

I wasn’t sure when I started smiling, but at that point I definitely was. I opened the photo again and zoomed in. The other brunette, Laurel, was pretty and slim, with her head tilted toward Lizzie’s. Lizzie was wearing a figure-hugging black dress that hit just below the knee, her legs covered in sheer black tights that ended at shiny black ankle boots. Her hair fell in shiny brown waves around her shoulders. I’d never seen it down before, and I liked how dark and glossy it looked. I bet it was as soft as the rest of her, and my fingers flexed with the desire to feel it running through my fingers. The two of them were standing in a bar or restaurant, and the light was low, but Lizzie’s smile still shone through the picture.

A notification popped up at the top of my screen.

Lizzie

Thoughts????????

Lizzie

That’s the only photo I have of her, but I could probably get another one.

I blinked. Right. I’d zoomed the photo in far enough that the other woman had been partially cropped out while I studied Lizzie, so I panned over and had another look. Laurel was a good-looking woman. Her smile didn’t have the same kind of brightness as Lizzie’s, but she looked nice. Not sure she would’ve turned my head if I walked past her on the street, but that wasn’t saying much. I hadn’t been looking to date anyone recently; I’d been too focused on providing for Mikey.

Lizzie

She likes going to the gym, does yoga, and hikes a lot in the summertime. No kids. She’s an architect, super smart, very funny. You’ll love her.

Sean

You work fast. You sure your skills as a matchmaker haven’t just been bullying people into dating and not taking no for an answer?

Lizzie

Rude. She’s interested, btw. I’ll send you her number. I like her a lot, so don’t make me look bad. Kids are screaming, gotta go.

Another message came through with Laurel’s phone number. I stared at it for a while, then set my phone aside and rubbed my face with both hands. Being set up on a date wasn’t an awful thing. It’d been years since I’d been out with a woman, and I wasn’t opposed to meeting someone. This Laurel woman seemed to tick a lot of boxes.

So why did I not care about contacting her at all?

I let my eyes glaze over as I watched the TV for a while, pretending I didn’t know the answer to that question. Then I picked my phone up and probably made the wrong decision.

Sean

How should I save your number in my phone?

It took Lizzie nearly thirty minutes to answer, but when she did, all she sent was a string of question marks.

Sean

If I’m not supposed to use your name.

Lizzie

Har har.

Sean

Is that a childhood nickname?

Lizzie

This better be your way of telling me that you and Laurel have hit it off already.

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