Page 53 of Merry Little Midlife Matchmaker

“Mikey,” I confirmed. “He’s great. It’s been an easy transition for him, even coming in partway through the school year. I was worried.”

“You’re a parent,” she said.

She was kind, and I understood why Lizzie had set us up. Cindy seemed like the type of woman who wouldn’t mind long evenings on the couch and easy meals with family and friends. She had a calming presence.

“I heard you went out with Astrid,” she said as we admired an abstract nude figure on one of the gallery’s stark white walls.

I cleared my throat. “We had coffee.”

Her smile was a little teasing around the edges as she glanced over at me. “Just coffee?”

“Just coffee.”

She laughed. “I’ve heard stories about her, you know. One of the dads got involved with her. Apparently she’s got a whole room filled with whips and chains and things you wouldn’t even believe.”

“I’d believe it,” I said, and Cindy laughed harder.

“I shouldn’t laugh,” she said. “Everyone has their vices.”

I grunted. “I wish I’d had a little warning, is all. I don’t think Lizzie knew when she set us up.”

“Either that, or she was trying to figure you out.”

I huffed in response, wondering.

We walked around to the back wall when a woman walked out of the back room. She chatted with us for a few moments, and we learned that she owned the gallery.

“My name is Georgia,” she said with a smile. “If you need anything, just give me a shout.”

“Will do,” Cindy replied.

After wandering through the rest of the gallery, admiring the paintings and pieces of abstract pottery, we made our way to a nearby restaurant for a meal.

The whole date was pleasant. I enjoyed Cindy’s company. She worked as a librarian and made me laugh when she went into detail about her opinion of the Dewey Decimal System. Her divorce was difficult, and she’d only recently started dating again.

I should’ve wanted a second date. When we parted ways, she lingered by her car door and I knew that I could’ve kissed her if I wanted to. She was beautiful, funny, pleasant, and kind. Everything I had told Lizzie I wanted. It made sense that Lizzie had matched up so many couples in her life, because I’d seen Cindy around the school but we could’ve gone years before actually connecting with each other—but she ticked every box. Our lives could easily slide together and fit.

But there was one glaring problem.

I didn’t want Cindy.

When she laughed, I found myself comparing the sound of it to Lizzie’s snort. When she asked me about my divorce and commiserated over the few details I shared with her, all I couldthink about was how good it had felt to tell Lizzie my truths over the last few weeks. And though she was beautiful, she just wasn’t Lizzie.

Sitting in my truck, I stared sightlessly out at the building in front of me. I wanted to want Cindy. I wanted to feel that spark in my gut, to feel the need to touch and tease and claim her. I wanted the simple, easy romance of someone who was perfectly good and perfectly appropriate.

Instead, I craved my best friend’s little sister.

We were in our forties, but it didn’t matter. She was still Aaron’s kid sister. I was breaking the bro code by even thinking about her this way. I was risking blowing up the longest friendship I’d ever had. Getting involved with Lizzie was out of the question.

And getting her out of my head was even harder.

I leaned my forehead against the steering wheel and blew out a breath. Maybe I wasn’t ready to date. Maybe this whole plan had been a bad idea from the start, and I should’ve just focused on Mikey, on work, on settling down in Heart’s Cove.

My phone buzzed. I pulled it out of my pocket and stared at the screen, chest tight.

Lizzie:Cindy just texted. Said you were a charmer (which I already knew). What did you think??

What did I think? I huffed, reading her message over again. What I thought was that I was wasting my time going out with all these women when I knew exactly what and who I wanted. What I thought was that no one would measure up to Lizzie, because Lizzie was sunlight in human form. She was beautiful and generous and kind. She was a good mother. She gave and gave and gave, and all I wanted to do was lay her down and show her that she could take too. She could take fromme.

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