I bit back a giggle.
“Over fifty, wealthy, travels, and owns horses.” Jane faked a gag. “Em? What are you doing?” She practically threw the phone back at me, her face straight from an old, over-dramatized horror film.
I chuckled and returned to my phone. “They aren’t for me.”
“What?” Jane had a blank look on her face. “I mean, I’m glad, but…”
“I’ve decided who I’m setting up next.” I did a little excited shoulder shimmy as I met her hazel eyes. “My mom!”
Jane’s eyebrows furrowed, and she stepped back and put her hands on her hips. “Em, your mom would never let you set her up.” Jane and I were childhood friends, and she knew Mom’s fire almost as well as I did. “How did you get her to agree?”
I continued to scroll through the balding men.
“Em?” Her tone was stern.
“Fine. She doesn’t know.” I refused eye contact.
Jane frowned. “Your mom is gonna kill you. I think this is worse than when we decided we wanted a pink cat and spray-painted Spike.”
I flinched. Mom was livid.
Would she really be that mad? I mean, I didn’t think she wouldbe happy…but when she was in Europe, she would be thanking me.
“She might not like the process, but can you imagine?” I sighed and leaned back in my chair. “She could travel, Jane, and be taken care of for once. Her whole life has been taking care of everyone else. Maybe she could even have horses again.” I tried to show her the profile on my phone.
Jane shoved my phone away and started to stretch out her legs. “Wait! You promised when you took those cupcakes you would look at the dating app?—”
I raised my finger. “I did.”
“Foryouto find a date.” She glared at me, but it was hard to take her seriously as she raised up and down on her toes, stretching out her calves.
“I looked at it for myself first, but then this ad came up for these older singles events.” I stood, no longer able to hold still. “Trust me, this will be perfect. This is so much better.”
Jane stopped stretching and narrowed her eyes. “Better for who?”
My finger paused above the phone. This wasn’t about me. I was thinking of Mom, but I wasn’t sure Jane would agree with my logic. It sounded like we were dangerously close to heading into another talk about trust, avoidance, and boundaries.
Gross.
The bell over the front door chimed as a tall man with brown hair and a black jacket walked through.
“Welcome in,” I called out. He wasn’t our typical customer—he was way too young, and he was way too hot. He held up his hand in a wave and flashed me a kind smile, showing a dimple on his cheek. He was probably a foot taller than me and looked like he never skipped a day at the gym. I resisted the urge to smile. I’m a sucker for a dimple.
“Can I help you find anything?” I smiled back.
He ran his hand through his chocolate brown hair and rested iton the back of his neck, effectively showing off his biceps. “Do you have a movie section?”
I nodded. “Yep! Straight up four rows and to the right.”
“Thanks.” He returned to his looking around the store and I did my best to return my attention to looking at Jane.
She placed her hand on the wall beside her and used it for balance as she stretched out her right leg by pulling it behind her. “How do you plan to get her on these dates, anyway?” She switched legs.
Oh right, setting up mom. For a second, tall, dark, and handsome distracted me from my goal.
“That’s why this is so perfect. Look.” I walked up to her, dodging the swinging legs. “They have this social section for new events.” I clicked around on the website and brought up the calendar section. “It’s at the remodeled venue in Eagle.”
Jane leaned over and stared down at the phone.
