“He works out of his house?”
“No, he justcallsit a home office,” Ruby said with some level of exasperation seeping into the words. “It’s like the home office for the company. Apparently, they have several branches all around northern Texas and into New Mexico.”
“So he travels,” Elaine said.
“Oh, my word,” Ruby griped.
“Maybe it would be prudent,” Clara Jean said slowly. “If you gave us a list of what’s okay and what’s not.”
Elaine blinked at her. “You think I’m too picky?”
“No, I don’t think you’re too picky,” Clara Jean said quickly. “I think you have an idea of the kind of man you want, and it would help if we knew what that was, so we don’t waste your time or ours.”
“He travels alittle bit,” Ruby said, frowning as Camila passed the phone back. “But he has other people running the offices.” She looked at Elaine with earnestness and hope. “He’s super-cute in a cowboy hat. He wears a big belt buckle, because he rode in the rodeo for a year, and he’s a small-town guy. I think you’d really like him.”
“All right,” Elaine said, because she didn’t need to shoot down every opportunity. In fact, if she didn’t take shots at all, she would never find someone.
“Yeah? So I can talk to him about you?” Ruby asked. “I’ve got a meeting with him this week. I can just see if he’s single.”
“You don’t even know if he’s single?” Elaine asked.
“I canfind out,” Ruby said. “And if he is, I can say, ‘You know who you should go out with? My amazing sister-in-law, Elaine. She’s awesome.’”
Elaine rolled her eyes and looked at Camila. She shrugged and said, “Heisreally cute.”
“Oh, I hate that word,” Elaine said. “But yes, if he’s single and interested, you can give him my number.”
Ruby whooped, her joy infecting Elaine.
“Let’s see how things go with Brandt,” Glory Rose said. “Then I have someone in mind for you.”
“Who is it?” Clara Jean asked.
Glory Rose shook her head. “I don’t want to say yet. If things don’t work out with Brandt, then I’ll bring him up. Elaine already knows him.”
Their eyes met again, and Elaine tilted her head. “I already know him?”
“Yeah, he’s one of Conrad’s good friends.”
Elaine scoffed. “Well, that could be anyone, Glory Rose. Conrad knows everyone in town.”
“Yeah, and so do you,” Glory Rose shot back. “You Walkers all do. She gestured to Camila. “And we Glovers do too, and everyone knows Tate and Clara Jean.”
“Well, then, who is it?” Elaine said.
“It’s no one,” Glory Rose said. “Go out with Brandt first. But I know this guy is dating and looking for someone, but I’m not sure he meets your qualifications.”
“Why wouldn’t he?” Elaine asked, hoping to get Glory Rose to slip a little bit and tell her something that would help her figure out who she was talking about.
“Well, he’s got a little boy, for one,” Glory Rose said. “And I don’t know if a single dad will make the cut on your list.”
Elaine’s mind went into overdrive. She looked around at the other ladies at the luncheon, and she could practically hear their minds working too.
“The only man I know who has a little boy,” she said, slowly. “And who isn’t married, is Colt Franklin.”
Glory Rose grinned at her and gestured at her, as if to say,There you go.
Elaine scoffed. “Colt isnotinterested in me.”
