Page 61 of A Much Younger Man
“No, no. I was just so excited I had to call. You’ll never guess who I ran into last weekend.”
“I can’t imagine. Is this person about my age, successful, available, and gay?”
“How did you ever guess?”
I sighed. “Who is it?”
“Remmy Kendall’s son, Dylan. You remember him? He’s an orthodontist.”
“I didn’t know he was gay. Didn’t we go to his wedding? There was a bride as I recall.”
“Nobody knew until his divorce. He says even he didn’t know.”
“Right.” I took people’s word for things like that, but I didn’t know how they missed it.
“Apparently it was an amicable split, and the children are over the moon about their mother’s new husband. There’s even a baby on the way.”
“That doesn’t sound awkward at all.”
“My point is, Dylan lives in San Francisco now. And he drives down all the time to see Dana and the kids.”
“Ah.” I thought I knew where this was going.
“I told him you were right there in the middle of the coast. He’s dying to see your clinic.”
“Mother.” I gathered my patience. “Please don’t matchmake. There hasn’t been one time when your victim didn’t end up horribly disappointed.”
“They’re not my victims.”
“Well, they’re notmine.I don’t give them any sort of false hope.”
“How can hope be false? You won’t want to play the field forever. You know you won’t. Sooner or later you’re going to want a partner. Someone to come home to. Someone to share your life.”
“Not necessarily.” Unbidden, the image of Beck’s inky blue eyes popped into my mind. Oh shit.
“You say that now.”
“Mother, I’m nearly forty.”
“That’s a couple of years away. A lot can happen in that time.”
“I know what I want. There’s no point in sending all these very nice men on a fool’s errand.”
“Oh, you are the most frustrating person.”
“I am.” I took after my mother. “Now, are you still planning to come up for the Fourth?”
“Yes, we’re looking forward to it. It’s so nice to watch the fireworks over the water.”
“Let’s hope they don’t set the pier on fire this year.”
“On the other hand, the Santo Ignacio Fire Department has some very fine-looking firefighters. Have you tried—”
“I’ll tell Cam you said so.”
“Do that. He is such a doll.” Dad said something in the background, and she gave a low-voiced reply. “Dad wants to know how Rico is.”
“Ornery. He still says, ‘You ruin everything!’”
