“Fine.” Mimi flicked her wrist and spun a card high in the air. When it landed, we all gasped.
The queen of hearts.
I’d lost the bet.
I opened my mouth to protest when I heard another ding from my phone. Hoping to put off the inevitable of going on a date with three different men, I pulled up the email and read the message. It made me smile, so I quickly plunked out a reply and hit send. Almost immediately my phone dinged with a response.
“What’s so funny?” Mimi demanded. “Are you sexting someone?”
“She better not be,” Gilda said. “She already has three men we picked for her to go out with.”
I groaned. “I’m not sexting anyone. I’m responding to an email. This guy is interested in looking at the cottage tomorrow at one o’clock. Hopefully he’ll rent it.”
“Is that so?” Mom asked. “Well, I hope it works out for you. Now, back to these three men we’ve picked.”
I sighed and put my phone back in my jeans pocket. “What about them? What are their names?”
“We ain’t telling you that,” Mimi said. “All we’ll tell you is the first one will appeal to your practical side.”
“Sounds titillating,” I deadpanned.
Mimi scowled. “The second man will appeal to you because you have the same interests.”
I shrugged. “That’s better. And the third?”
Mimi grinned. “The third man will appeal to you because he can sweep you off your feet.”
“And they’re all eye candy,” Ingrid said.
I rolled my eyes. “You’re setting me up with men you guys think are hunks?”
All four heads nodded.
“I don’t even want to know what you four consider eye candy.” I frowned. “These men are my age, right? Notyourage?”
Mimi cackled. “Shouldn’t you be more worried we’d turn you into your mom?”
I bristled. I knew what Mimi was referring to. The ladies at the senior center liked to give my mom a hard time because she was two years older than her boyfriend, Sheriff Cryer. It was ridiculous, but Mom seemed to love the attention her cougar status gave her.
“My mom is not a cougar,” I snapped. “And neither am I.”
Chapter 2
I let out a sigh of relief when I found my driveway empty the next day a little after one. I’d made a quick run to the art supply store in town and had gotten sidetracked. I was officially late for my one o’clock appointment with the potential renter.
Luckily, Trinity Falls wasn’t too big, and I made it home in seven minutes. Our usually quiet, picturesque town was located west of Portland and east of the Pacific Ocean. The town boasted twenty thousand citizens, but still managed to maintain a down-home feel thanks to the wonderful people in the thriving community.
I pushed a button and released the latch at the back of my SUV and hurried to grab the heavy bags. Usually I didn’t like for people to be late, but today I’d take it.
“Here. Let me help you with that, ma’am.”
I jumped and screamed at the sudden sound. I hadn’t heard anyone come up behind me. Whirling, I nearly dropped my bags at the sight of him. Around six foot with wide expansive shoulders that tapered down to a stomach that, even in the black t-shirt, I could tell was flat enough I could bounce a quarter off.
By the time my gaze traveled back up to his face, he was grinning down at me, his hazel eyes twinkling with humor. “I didn’t mean to startle you. I’m your one o’clock appointment. It looks like you could use some help.”
I knew my mouth was hanging open, but I couldn’t help it. Urging myself to pull it together, I nodded my head and thrust the bags at him. “Thank you.”
He took all five bags and quickly looped the handles through one dark, sun-kissed arm. “Is that it?”
