Page 5 of Love Rescheduled

I looked down at my cute walking shoes. “Maybe.”

Hal scrubbed a hand over his face. “Is this like a New Year’s resolution?”

“Something like that.”

Stu tilted his head. “Not sure there’s a fella good enough for you, but we could start holding some interviews.”

“Interviews?” I laughed.

Hal nodded. “I like it. How fast do you need this cream-of-the-crop young man?”

“Well … uh … I’m just thinking that maybe I should start dating again.” I felt like I might hyperventilate. This was becoming a little more real than I had expected.

“You still hung up on that old beau of yours?” Stu asked.

I had mentioned Josh a while back after the guys had asked me if there was a special someone in my life. Josh was special. He had even visited Greer a few times. Nana loved him. Everyone loved him. That was part of the problem.

“No,” I responded. Just because you loved someone didn’t mean you were hung up on them. I was smart enough to know Josh needed to go back on the hanger. We weren’t the right fit for each other. He deserved to be tried on by a woman who was more his style.

The guys narrowed their eyes, judging the truth of my words. I was in earnest.

Hal clapped his hands together and rubbed them. “Sounds like we should get to work. What kind of man are you looking for?”

Oh, I had a list. A long, long list.

“YOU’RE HONESTLY CONSIDERING THIS?” ALEC’S deep-brown eyes popped on Lord Mac’s screen.

It was our weekly session. Every Monday at 1:00 p.m. sharp. I had just filled him in on my scheduled “wedding date.” And the beginnings of a plan that needed a lot of fine-tuning. It basically boiled down to me using Hal and Stu to curate a list of men to interview before setting me up.

I sat up straight at my kitchen table. “Possibly.” I squinted.

“Off the record, I have to say: I’m shocked.” He used that phrase with me a lot—off the record. It meant he was giving his personal opinion versus his professional one. I think he thought of me as a “special” client. And not the way I thought Josh was special.

“So, what do you think on and off the record?” I dared to ask.

“Which answer would you like first?”

“Since I’m paying you a hundred dollars an hour, let’s go the professional route.”

He gave me his dazzling smirk. I swore he used teeth whitener like it was going out of style. “I do appreciate your patronage. And as your life coach, I think it’s great that you have a goal. Especially one that relates to dating again, since that has been the focus of many, many,” he exaggerated, “of our sessions. It’s a positive step forward.”

“So, what’s your personal opinion?”

“Girl, you’re crazy. I love you, but you’re crazy. Nobody schedules love.” He pursed his lips. “But … this is you.”

“You make it sound like that’s a bad thing.”

“You know I adore your quirks. Off the record, of course. What I’m saying is, if anyone could pull it off, it’s you.”

“That’s what Tara and Jolene said.” He knew all about them, too. He listened to our podcast. I think for further insight. And of course, I had talked about them frequently. They were really the only family I had now. Well, them and Hal and Stu.

“At the very least, it might help you wade back into the dating pool like you’ve wanted.”

“Or I might drown in the deep end.” I’d hardly slept last night thinking of all the potential real-life nightmares that could occur if I embraced this admittedly ridiculous idea of scheduling a wedding without a groom. Like, what if suddenly my date wanted to be spontaneous and changed our plans? And I had no idea what was on the menu at the new place he was taking me to and I ordered something with poppyseeds and several of them got stuck in my teeth? What if he wanted to do karaoke? Or I found out over dinner he didn’t believe in properly washing fruits and vegetables before he ate them? How could I let that man be the father of my children? I could hear Josh saying, “That’s what you would be there for.” Oh yes, we had talked about marriage and having children together one day. When you date for two years, those things are bound to come up. Once upon a time, I even believed we could make it work. Which brings me to what really scares me. I know I’m going to have to make solid changes in my life. Not like the kind being with Josh would require, but definitely some. Like I should learn to be more accepting of others’ spontaneity. Or maybe even of the fact that my future husband might not believe in cleaning as you go while cooking. Or worse, might not do the dishes before he went to bed. I could possibly wake up to a dirty kitchen. Maybe?

“What have we talked about before? You have plenty of anchors and flotation devices at your disposal. Let’s list them,” he challenged me.

We had done this exercise probably a dozen times. But it was a friendly reminder. I smiled at a waiting Alec, who looked quite dashing in a pink button-up. It went well with his smooth black skin. He was probably one of the most beautiful humans I had ever met. Don’t get me wrong—I wasn’t romantically attracted to him. The man knew too many of my neurotic tendencies. Although so did Josh and he still loved me—well, he used to. But I wasn’t thinking about him. Except I was totally thinking about him more than I had in a long time. I really needed to stop doing that.

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