“Well, I had such a good time seeing the premiere through your eyes that I thought it would be fun to see the city the same way.”

I could picture her eyes twinkling. “So you’re offering to be my private tour guide?”

“Absolutely. I’m better than Fodor’s or Triple A, because I’m interactive.”

She laughed. “You crack me up. I would love to. Thanks so much. Should I meet you somewhere or what?”

“Let me give you directions to my place; you can meet me here on Saturday, say around ten, and we can take my car.”

“Sounds like a plan; hold on while I get a pen.”

We got the directions squared away and then chatted a bit more about the recent lousy weather. After we hung up, I went out for another jog. Talking with her was giving me a lot of energy.

GRACE

“WHAT DO YOU think? Good idea or bad idea?”

The women all put on their thinking faces, and I waited impatiently for their response.

“Could go both ways,” Missy said. “The fact that he wants to see you means he’s interested, so obviously the Christianity thing isn’t putting him off. Maybe that’s why he still wants to see you; maybe this will give you an opportunity to talk with him about God. But on the other hand, maybe he thinks a relationship with you is like a relationship with anyone else in Hollywood—low commitment, high intimacy—and he thinks this is just the next step toward sleeping together or something.”

“I think you need to lay down some boundaries this time, Grace.” This came from Joy.

I wrinkled my nose. “So soon? I mean, what if he’s just thinking, ‘Hey, a new friend to hang out with,’ and there’s no desire on his part to move it any deeper than that? Then I’ll feel like an idiot for assuming he does want to go out; it’ll look like I think I’m all that or something.”

“But then at least you’ll know where you stand. You need to figure out what the expectations are on both sides so neither of you is taken by surprise or put out.”

I groaned and buried my face in my hands. “Dating was so much easier when I wasn’t a Christian.” They chuckled. I sighed and raised my head as I mused, “‘Course it was a lot more painful, too.”

“What are you going to do if he does want to date you?”