What had started out as a good day had turned into something else very quickly, she thought as she headed for home. She felt battered and picked on and all she wanted to do was climb into bed and wish it all away. And if that didn’t work, she would think about Stuart because no matter what, he was always with her. And that was never going to change.

four

“By the way, you’re fired,” Thaddeus Roake said as he used the bottle opener on his beer and tossed the cap into the trash.

Lela pulled a cookie sheet of mini quiches out of the oven. After setting it on the hot pads on the counter, she turned and grinned at him. “You can’t fire me. I don’t work for you.”

“You’re still fired. You’re a terrible matchmaker.”

The petite brunette sighed heavily. “Yes, well, I want to apologize for that last setup. I totally misread the situation.”

Thaddeus thought about the lunch Lela had arranged for him with Kristie—an attractive thirtysomething woman who seemed to check all the boxes on his wish list. She was smart, funny, caring and single.

He’d met her at Ruth’s Chris Steak House. She’d been upbeat, attentive and charming. Forty-five minutes in, he’d allowed himself to hope his dating situation might be looking up. Then she’d mentioned wanting two hundred thousand dollars for her charity.

“It was an ask, not a date,” he said.

Freddy, Lela’s husband and Thaddeus’s best friend from the age of six, wandered into the kitchen. He looked between them.

“What?”

“Thaddeus is firing me as his matchmaker.”

Freddy kissed his wife on the cheek. “A good idea. You’re not very good at it.”

“Hey. I know lots of great single women. I just haven’t quite figured out how to sort through them yet.”

Freddy leaned against the counter. “What about that one with the weird name. Katie-Jane, Katie-Marie—”

“Katie-Lynn,” Thaddeus and Lela said together.

“She’s very successful,” Lela said defensively.

“You’re right.” Thaddeus reached for a quiche. “She never got off the phone our entire lunch and when we were done, she called me Theodore.”

“It’s close,” Lela murmured.

“And that other one,” Freddy said, grabbing a beer from the refrigerator. “The one who was—”

“Married?” Thaddeus asked dryly.

“I was going to say too old, but you’re right. One of them was married.” Freddy shook his head. “Honey, I love you to the moon and back but you gotta leave Thaddeus alone. He’s such a loser. You’re going to make things worse.”

Thaddeus eyed his friend. “I’m not a loser.”

Freddy waved away the comment. “Look at you. You’re what? Thirty-seven? So old with nothing to show for it.”

“I have a very successful business that employs you, along with a couple dozen other people.”

“That’s nothing. I got Lela and three kids.”

“Smug bastard.”

They clinked bottles.

“You know it,” Freddy said. “Come on. The Mariners are ahead.”