“You started it with the look,” Nell murmured, turning to survey the expanse of lake before her.
They stood in silence for a moment as Sarah sipped the water, listening to the lake lapping against the rocks nearby and a bird calling in the distance—a loon, maybe? She’d have to check the bird book Nell had given her as a gift.
“So, celibacy? I thought you were dating again?” Nell asked abruptly.
To others, Nell’s quick pivots of conversations might come off as cold, but Sarah knew better than anyone that her mind was always moving in a thousand different directions at any given moment in time, and you just had to keep up.
“I am—well, I’m trying to. I’ve gone on a few dates in the last few weeks, but nothing has resulted in anything more promising than a first date. And I’m looking for love, not a hookup or a fling, so I don’t want to lead with sex, you know?” Sarah sank back down into the chair she had occupied earlier, Nell taking the one beside her.
“Well then, I think that will make the surprise I have for you even more meaningful.” Nell’s mouth curved into a grin. “I hired a matchmaker for you. And not just any matchmaker—theJanet Starr.”
Sarah sputtered on the water she had unfortunately tried to swallow as she processed Nell’s words. “You what?” she said, clearing her throat.
“You want to fall in love,” Nell said in her matter-of-fact business tone that Sarah had come to know so well. “I still want you to have everything you want, even though we’re not together, and honestly, it’s been painful hearing about your dates with mediocre women. I refuse to be followed by someone who isn’t even in your league. So I hired the best. You’re welcome.” Nell placed a hand on her hip, raising an eyebrow as if to challenge her.
“You hired…” Sarah said slowly, still processing.
“She’s the matchmaker for the elite and usually has a fifteen-month waitlist, but I called in a few favors for you.”
Sarah’s first thought was to be pissed off at Nell—at the audacity of her to swoop in to try and “fix” a problem that wasn’t there. She was doing fine with landing dates; that wasn’t the problem. No, the problem was finding dates where she actually felt something remotely resembling a spark.
“We have a call with her in fifteen minutes.” Nell’s smile widened, all teeth and no regret behind her eyes.
“You’re incorrigible, you know that?”
“You love it,” Nell said smugly.
She was right. Sarah did love it. Nell, for as much as she could be sometimes, was absolutely, unapologetically, and unequivocally herself. And that, Sarah had always loved about her.
She followed Nell up the stone steps set into the hillside leading up to the large “cabin” as Nell liked to call it. Sarah had been quick to point out that, to most people, a cabin didn’t come with an east and a west wing. Nell simply waved her off. Sarah also had been quick to point out that most people usually buy a lake house if they’re in the market for a summer home…not a whole-ass private island in the middle of nowhere, but this was Nell after all.
The purchase of the home had been part of one of the “projects” Nell had told her she needed some capital to finish up when Sarah had taken on her role at Nell’s company, StanCorp, as the head of the giving foundation designed to offload the majority of Nell’s billion-dollar wealth to notable causes.
Nell’s office sat at the very top of the cabin’s east wing with glass walls offering panoramic, sweeping views of the lake below. Being up there reminded Sarah of being in a deer blind high up in the trees where no one could see you but you could see everything.
As they entered, Nell moved with her usual elegant ease, barefoot and smug as she slid into the chair behind the desk, Sarah behind her and still slightly unnerved that she was about to meet her first billionaire matchmaker.
“So do the billionaire matchmaking services go away once we get your net worth down to nine hundred and ninety-nine million?” she joked lamely as Nell quickly typed on the keyboard. Nell didn’t reward her with a response. “You’re sure this woman’s not going to suggest a snobby hedge fund manager who raises prize horses?” Sarah grabbed one of the sleek, high-backed leather chairs in the corner of the room, placing it beside Nell and taking a seat.
“You’re nervous,” Nell said offhandedly. She had astute observations and a track record of being annoyingly correct. “Don’t be. Don’t you trust me?”
“I do, I just…” Sarah trailed off as Nell adjusted the lighting, muttering something about how video calls were flattering to absolutely no one.
“How are Lily and Wren feeling about the games?” Nell asked, pulling up her calendar.
“Good, I think. You know how Lily can be sometimes, how both the girls are. Lily’s lightning in a bottle, but she knows herself best. I think she’s a little nervous doing this withoutJamie this time around, but she seems okay. And Wren—Wren is so focused and excited. I promised her I would try to get to as many games as I could. Thanks for getting the tickets all figured out.” Nell waved her off as she continued to click around the screen, sifting through her inbox. “Opening ceremonies are next week. Wren is already with her team, and Lily and Beth are in California. I’m heading there on Monday.”
There was a pause, and Nell nodded. “Wren’s good for Lily. They make sense together. I can see why it works.”
“Yeah, I still can’t believe they kept their relationship from us for almost six months. Honestly impressive, considering Wren can’t keep a secret to save her life.”
“Ah, yes,” Nell sing-songed, “the power young love has to make you keep secrets. Didn’t you ever have a thrilling crush that you wanted to keep all to yourself? I sure did, ask Nate.”
Sarah smiled, thinking back to her days at the all-girls catholic high school she had attended. “That’s besides the point,” she mumbled. Nell raised an eyebrow.
Sarah let her eyes wander to the framed photo on Nell’s desk, a picture of the two of them standing arm in arm at a charity gala the year before, laughing at something Nell had just whispered. Pure joy frozen in time.
“How’s Beth?” Nell asked nonchalantly.
