Page 99 of The Matchmaker's Choice: A Lesbian Romance

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take a long time to heal, and some of them never go away.

I pull up to Adley’s apartment building. It’s grey with

black balconies. Obviously not new, but the place did get a

fresh coat of paint recently. For some reason, I think the

building must have been a salmon pink before. I doubt that’s

the case, but I just have this feeling. Tons of places are salmon

pink. This is Phoenix. It seems to be everyone’s color of

choice.

I park along the street. It’s free parking and there aren’t

any weird zones where I have to pay online or anything. The

neighborhood seems pretty low key. It took me nearly an hour

to get here from my place, which I figured in when I thought

I’d have to leave by six to get here for seven, and traffic was

fairly light for a change. The area is mostly rentals,

apartments, and older houses that are pretty small. I never saw

any rundown places though. Everyone seems to take real pride

in them. It’s not a sketchy area at all, just more of a

neighborhood where new families or singles can afford to buy

or rent.

When I buzz Adley’s apartment number on the ancient

beige button, the door clicks open immediately. I head to the

second floor and she’s the third door in. When I’d picked her

up for our first date she had come out to the car, so it’s really

my first time there. I knock and a minute later, Tildy pulls it

open.

“Hi!” She smiles broadly at me. She’s adorable in pig

tails and a red and black sparkly dress. She looks like she

could be going to a wedding. “Do you like my new dress?”

She twirls around, and then sticks out a red sparkly ballet flat

for me to inspect. “I got new shoes too! Mom said I shouldn’t

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