“I enjoy trying my luck at the slot machines from time to time,” Clint confessed.
“Oh my,no,” Grandma replied in a scathing tone. “You should tithe that money, Clint.”
“They have a lot of excellent shows in Vegas,” Britt pointed out reasonably. “Sunshine. Museums.”
“Shopping,” Zander added. “Good hotels. Restaurants.”
“I’m proud to say I’lldiehaving never visited Las Vegas,” Grandma announced.
Which was probably for the best. Both for Grandma’s sake and the sake of the unsuspecting residents of Nevada’s largest city.
“So, Clint.” Britt spoke before Grandma had a chance to say more. “It struck me the other day that I don’t know a lot about your personal life.”
In response to her sudden shift in topic, Zander sent her an odd look.
“I’ve known you for quite a while now,” Britt continued, “and so I feel badly that I haven’t been more intentional about asking you questions, you know?”
“Sure.” Clint nodded, which sent his long hair rippling. “I do. Intentionality is a really good, a really deep, practice for all of us to integrate into our daily lives.”
“Scripture reading is a good practice for all of us to integrate into our daily lives,” Grandma declared.
“I practice Jazzercise,” Valentina stated.
“Good for you,” Zander said to Valentina encouragingly.
Britt cleared her throat. “I remember meeting a girlfriend of yours a few years ago, Clint. Have there been other, ah, special women in your life?”
“Oh.” Clint reddened. “Well...”
Britt waited, meeting his awkwardness with patience.
“No,” he said. “Not very many.”
“Why not?”
“I had my heart broken once,” he said.
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“I’m sorry, too,” Zander said. “Was it recent?”
“It was when I was eighteen.” Clint gave a small shrug. “She was my first love. We’d planned to get married just as soon as I got a steady job in Hollywood. I’d barely been gone two months before she started dating someone else.”
“I will make youpiroshkies.” Valentina’s gaze brimmed with eager compassion. “They good for romance problems.”
“And did you start dating someone else at that time?” Britt asked. “When you learned that your girlfriend had moved on?”
“No, no. I was crushed. I kept to myself for many years after that.”
Britt blinked at him. His approach to dating differed in every way from her more-is-better approach. Then again, she’d never considered herself to be in love with any of the guys she’d gone out with. “And then what?”
“Finally,” Clint said, “after she married for the third time and moved to New Zealand with her family, I decided that it might be time to date someone new. So I tried to. But still, to this day, I’m gun-shy.” Clint shifted his weight from foot to foot. “None of my relationships have lasted very long.”
“Hmm.” Grandma sniffed. “Britt knows something about that.”
“Maybe I need piroshkies,” Britt said. If the fried buns stuffed with fillings cured issues of the heart, then Britt ought to place an order for a dozen.
“Same here,” Zander murmured.
