“No worries. I don’t have any plans, anyway.”
The door chimed, and Ricky’s mommy came in. Iola Fletcher was a small lady, but she walked as if she were the queen of this town. From what Sammi had told me, she kind of was. The gossip queen, anyway.
“Oh, there’s my handsome guy,” she crooned before glancing at me. “I mean the dog. But you’re not bad yourself.”
I chuckled. “Thank you, Ms. Fletcher.”
“Oh, call me Iola or Nana,” she said. “Everyone else does.”
I got Scarlett down from the grooming table and ushered her into doggy day care until her owner arrived. When Ireturned, Iola was exchanging doggy French kisses with Ricky.
Blech. I loved dogs, but I drew the line there.
“So, Hank,” Iola said with a gleam in her eye. “Sammi was just telling me you haven’t met a lot of people in town yet.”
“I’m still getting the lay of the land.”
She nodded. “Must get lonely, though.”
“Sometimes…” I sensed a trap coming. I glanced at Sammi, and judging by her smirk, yep, trouble lay ahead. “I’m fine though. I’ve got all these lovely dogs to play with every day.”
“I bet they love you.” Iola dug into her giant purse. “Which is why I want you to sign up for Matchmaking Mamas. Men who love dogs are an instant hit!”
I took the business card and read:Matchmaking Mamas: We’ve been lovin’ longer than you’ve been livin’!
“Oh, wow,” I said. “Matchmaking. I didn’t know this sort of thing still existed with all the dating apps out there.”
Iola harrumphed. “Dating apps. More like fucking around apps.”
I did a double-take at the swearing. Iola looked like such a sweet lady.
Sammi snorted a laugh. “She’s not wrong.”
“Matchmaking Mamas make you a match with therightperson. We do a personality profile on every client, and we use our many years of experience to match folks up. We have a high rate of success! Why just a few weeks ago, Damon Cassidy professed his love to Maverick Parks in front of a big crowd!”
I didn’t know who any of those people were, but I tried to look suitably impressed. “Wow.”
“Yes! We don’t discriminate, dear. We can match youwith men or women. What do you prefer? Oh! If you like both, we can do that too.”
She beamed at me, looking proud.
Sammi chuckled. “Hank is a boring hetero.”
“Sorry to disappoint,” I said.
“No worries. We have a lot of women signed up. In fact…” Her eyes lit up. “I know just the perfect one for you without even doing your profile. What do you say, Hank?”
“I don’t know. I’ve got Sammi’s dogs this weekend, so…”
“Then next weekend,” Iola said, patting my arm. “Give me your phone number. I’ll text you the details.”
I sent Sammi a pleading look, but there was no help in that quarter.
“Don’t look at me,” she said. “You need to get out and meet people. Since you won’t do it on your own, why not let the Matchmaking Mamas help?”
I wanted to refuse. A bunch of old ladies choosing my dates? But I hadn’t been out since my last breakup, and it’d been a messy one. Clara and I had never really been right for each other. That was obvious now. I’d just gone through the motions while the red flags zipped right over my head.
When my younger brother called to tell me he was on the verge of being evicted, it’d been a perfect time to get out of Riverton and start fresh.
