Mike saw Cecile Manning waving at him as he walked into The Spot. She looked at her dining partners with a big smile. “Why don’t you ask Mike himself what he wants us to do?”

Oh, shit. This couldn’t be good.

The booth was occupied by several members of the Rendezvous Falls Book Club. His grandmother was a member, but she wasn’t with the gang...er...group today. Iris Taggart was sitting next to Vickie Pendergast, with Cecile and Lena Fox on the opposite side. Iris was the over-eighty owner of the Taggart Inn just off Main Street—the largest and oldest inn in town. Her grandson and his wife were running it now, but Logan and Piper knew better than to make Iris feel that place wasn’t her domain in every sense of the word. She was a force of nature, and she knew it. Right now she was fixing a glare on poor Cecile, who was forever the romantic optimist of the group.

“Yeah, I’m sure Mike wants to sit with four old ladies on his lunch hour and be asked his dating preferences. Leave the guy alo—”

Mike pulled a chair over and sat at the end of the booth. They could be a pain, but he liked the old ladies. They meddled, but with good intentions. At least, he hoped so. “Sounds like you’re discussing matchmaking instead of books today.”

Vickie smiled at him, but not until after she’d scanned him from head to toe. Her mind was as sharp as her appearance.

“You’re looking very formal today, counselor,” she said. “Court date?”

He glanced down at his dark pinstripe suit and crisp white shirt. It was a fair question, since his usual daily attire was khakis and a button-down shirt.

“Trying to avoid a court date,” he answered. “I have a mediation meeting up in Geneva this afternoon—trying to keep my client and his siblings from ripping their family apart over their grandfather’s will. They’re ready to go to war over an estate that’s barely in the six figures.” He shook his head. “We’re getting everyone and their lawyers together in a room with a court-appointed mediator to see if common sense can prevail.”

She gave him another once-over with her eyes. “Well, you’re dressed for success, my boy.”

His cheeks heated. “I’m also having dinner with one of the attorneys after the meeting. She and I went to law school together in Syracuse.”

“She?” Cecile blurted out. “I thought you didn’t want to date right now?”

Iris grumbled a few curse words under her breath. “Honestly, Cecile—that’s none of our business.”

Mike didn’t point out that their little group had made it their business to send him out on dates with various women for the past eighteen months, trying to find him a perfect match. Vickie glared at Iris.