Page 17 of Pity Present

“You’ve got quite an age gap there, huh?”

Melissa answers, “This is Sammy. She’s my husband’s daughter from his first marriage.”

Sammy adds, “But I consider Melissa as much of a mom as my birth mom.” That’s a sweet sentiment you wouldn’t necessarily expect to hear from a teenager.

“You must be thrilled to have a sibling on the way.”

“I can’t wait!” Sammy says.

“I already know we couldn’t do it without her,” Melissa adds while giving her stepdaughter a loving smile. I’d never considered the idea of marrying a man who already had kids, but I have to say, these two make the possibility seem kind of appealing.

“Molly is going to Trina’s mixer at the lodge tonight,” Melissa tells Sammy.

“Oh, fun! What are you going to wear?”

“That’s why I’m here. I’m in Elk Lake to consult with Trina on the gift shop at the lodge. I didn’t even know there was a singles’ event going on until I got here, which is why I’m not prepared.”

Melissa and Sammy share a mysterious look before Melissa announces, “That sounds like a premise for a romcom movie.”

“I want to hear all about your ‘meet cute’ when it happens,” Sammy announces.

“I’m not sure real life is anything like the movies,” I tell her. “At least that hasn’t been my experience.”

“It isn’t, until it is,” Melissa says before explaining, “My dating life had to be the most boring in history until I met Jamie. Then it was straight out of a Julia Roberts flick from the nineties!”

“I suppose I can dare to dream,” I tell her. “But so far, if mysocial life were a movie, it would get record low scores on Rotten Tomatoes.”

“Trina’s going to change that,” Sammy says. “And when she does, you have to get your wedding dress here.”

“At cost!” Melissa adds excitedly. There’s something about Melissa that makes it feel like we’ve been friends our whole lives.

“I promise that if I meet the guy I marry here in Elk Lake, I’ll not only buy my wedding dress at Bride’s Paradise, but I’ll pay full price for it.”

Melissa beams. “Not if, but when, and we’ll discuss pricing later. For now, we need to make you feel like a million bucks.”

I spend the next forty minutes trying on several dresses. Each one makes me feel more glamorous than the one before and I have a hard time deciding which to buy. As a Christmas gift to myself, I pick my favorite three. My reasoning is that if tonight goes well, I’ll surely need other dresses over the course of the next two weeks.

As I’m checking out, Sammy calls out, “Paul is out front!”

Melissa hands a shopping bag over the counter. “Come back and tell us how it goes.”

“Please!” Sammy adds enthusiastically.

I don’t know why, but I agree. “I’ll come back in a couple of days.” Then I take my purchases outside and get into the SUV.

If I were prone to flights of fancy—which I’m not—I might confess to feeling optimistic, which I haven’t felt in a very long time. If I let my imagination go, I might even confess to feeling like a heroine in her own romcom. One who’s about to find everlasting love.

CHAPTER TEN

BLAKE

After talking to Kyle, I head upstairs to my room to write down some notes. Ever since getting this assignment, I’ve been curious about the kind of people who use matchmakers. If you believe what you see on television, it’s easy to assume that every single person is attractive, successful in business, and the victim of bad luck in their previous dating experiences.

This afternoon I met another man who’s going to take part in Trina Rockwell’s new matchmaking adventure. He told me that in his relatively recent past, he left his girlfriend for another woman. Ironically, the other woman left him for another man.

Some might say he got what he deserved, but I’m guessing it’s probably more complicated than that. Nothing in the dating world is as cut and dried as it seems on the surface. There are always mitigating circumstances and details that people on the outside looking in don’t see.

While I’m here, I hope to be able to bring youa variety of stories so that you can find something relatable. The truth is, I’m not sure we need matchmakers as much as we need to use our common sense. But I should know more after my first mixer, so stay tuned.

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