“I tell myself no. And really, most of them—like Larson—initiate the sex, not me. I…I find myself just going through the motions and I don’t like myself very much for that.”

“Every date doesn’t have to end in sex, Cassidy.”

“I know. Now that I’m older, I actually hate first-date sex. What about you? This last one?”

Laura shook her head. “No. I have this rule. Well, since I turned thirty, I have this rule. If I’m not emotionally invested, I don’t sleep with them. Sex, to me, is too personal.”

“If I had that rule, I’d never have sex.”

“You’ve never been in love?”

Cassidy shook her head. “You?”

“Yes. A couple of times.”

“So what happened?”

“The first time, I was apparently in a little deeper than she was. And the second, Sandi—she’s the one who taught me to cook—just fizzled out. For both of us. We ended things in a friendly, very civilized manner.”

“You lived together?”

“Yes. And I introduced her to her current girlfriend and they are head over heels in love. I see her now and I realize how different it was with us.” Laura shrugged. “So maybe we weren’t really in love after all.”

“I’m not sure I’d recognize it if it happened to me. I’m forty-four and still looking. I have this fear it’s never going to happen.”

“It’ll happen when you least expect it. That’s what my mother always tells me.” Laura’s foot bumped hers and she pushed off. “With all the dating you’re doing, you’re bound to find someone. Me? Living out here? My chances have dropped significantly.”

“Yeah. Well…maybe being in love is overrated.”

Laura laughed. “Yeah…let’s go with that.”

* * *

“Just because I spent a lazy afternoon in the pool—”

“Drinking beer,” her mother added.

“—doesn’t mean that you have to eat leftovers.” She smiled. “Besides, I’m starving. I could eat a whole pizza by myself.”

Actually, the pizza was Cassidy’s idea. She’d invited Laura—and her mother—to have dinner with her. Laura had protested, of course. She’d just spent the better part of three hours with her. But Cassidy had persisted and Laura had been too relaxed to offer much resistance after that, other than to insist they eat at her mother’s house.

She enjoyed Cassidy’s company. A lot. Cassidy was cute and charismatic, pleasant to be around and just witty enough to be charming. Add to that, she looked fabulous in a swimsuit. No wonder she could date anyone she wanted.

“So you’ve made a new friend? You were worried about that when you moved here, I know.”

“Yes, we’ve become friends. She’s nice.” And they had, even though Laura didn’t recall ever having a friend she enjoyed looking at—especially in a swimsuit—as much.