Downstairs she slid open the screen door to let both animals outside, then put ice in a glass and filled it with raspberry-flavored lemonade. She stared into the refrigerator. “What are we going to have for supper?” Nothing looked appealing. Same with the freezer.

She called Loren as she took her glass out to the deck. “Hey, you have any preferences for supper?”

“Fried chicken. Want me to stop and get dinner?”

“Oh, bless you, yes. Remember a pint of coleslaw. I have great news when you get here.”

“Mother, you know how I hate it when you do that. Oops, I gotta go. See you in an hour or so.”

Roxie chuckled to herself. Even Loren’s voice sounded more chipper lately. She moved over to the chaise lounge and sank into its comfort. This might be a good time to work on her project. She watched two male hummingbirds duking it out over the feeder. “Come on, guys, get along. See how much energy you waste?” They flew off and a female came and perched to drink in comfort. “Good for you. Smart woman.” She left the drink on the table between the two loungers and headed to get her bag. If MJ could get hooked on finishing, perhaps it could happen to her too. Wait, you better go get that paperwork together. That’s much more important right now. Sometimes she wanted to strangle that self-righteous, bossy voice in her head. She left her bag and climbed the stairs to her office. She was deep in the well of paperwork when her phone chimed again. She toyed with letting it go to voice mail, but when she glanced at the screen, Rich’s name came up. A little wiggle of pleasure crept up her spine. He had a nice deep telephone voice.

After the greetings, he continued, “There’s a movie in town I’ve been wanting to see, and no, it is not a shoot-’em-up action adventure.”

“Good thing.”

“Figured you’d think that.” He gave her the title. “Have you heard of it?”

“Sorry, I don’t watch a lot of TV so I don’t see the trailers and advertising.”

“It’s getting good reviews. I thought to go on Friday—are you interested?”

She glanced at her desk calendar. “Seven o’clock showing?”

“Yep. I thought we could catch a bite to eat at the Fond du Flavor first.”

“Okay, sounds good to me.” She sucked in a deep breath to slow her heart back down. This is a real date. I’ve not gone on a date for years.

His chuckle made her smile back. “I’ll pick you up at five fifteen or so. Good, now that that’s out of the way, how’s your day going?”

“I sold a house today.”

“That’s great! Good for you. So what are you going to do to celebrate?”

“I was just wondering the same thing, deep in all the paperwork right now. Since I listed the house too, that means a lot of it.”

“Nate said you are one of the top Realtors in Fond du Lac.”