Dating by Design Series Box Set

by Jennifer Peel

  “He only gets one at a time, you know. And you never know, maybe one is all it will take.”

  “Jason isn’t going to get serious with anyone we set him up with.”

  “You never know. It has happened before. Look at Wayne and Julie. They were both in the nothing serious category and now they’re getting married.”

  “That was a fluke.”

  “Zander, we don’t believe in flukes. It invalidates what we do.”

  “You realize for thousands of years people have chosen their mates, all without our help.”

  “Are you kidding me? People have been arranging marriages a lot longer than our new modern method. And there is a large portion of the world’s population who still believe in arranged marriages.”

  He smirked at me. “Regardless, genius, Jason isn’t looking for us to find him a wife. He can do that on his own when he’s ready.”

  “It didn’t work out so well for him the first time.”

  “Sure it did. He didn’t get stuck with that wench for the rest of his life. Darlin’, you realize this is how it works, right? You have to date and weed out the undesirables.”

  “Undesirables?” I questioned.

  “I was going to say something else, but I know how you feel about my off-color vocabulary in the office.”

  “That’s why people come to us. To weed out people for them.”

  He rolled his eyes at me. “I’m not saying what we do here doesn’t work, but you know as well as I do, sometimes you can meet someone and instantly know they’re the one. You don’t need a program to tell you that.”

  I raised my eyebrow at him. “Are you speaking from experience?”

  He paused and cleared his throat. “Hell, no.”

  “Nice.” My phone vibrated.

  “Who’s that?” Zander reached for my phone on the desk.

  I snatched it back before he could get his prying eyes on it. I held onto it like a vice.

  He grinned impishly. “What are you hiding from me?”

  I looked down at my phone and, sure enough, it was who I thought it was, but I was quick on my feet and lied. I’m not proud of it, but it was an emergency. “It’s my doctor’s office reminding me of my annual pap smear appointment.”

  His face contorted into all sorts of disgusted expressions. “You could have kept that to yourself.”

  “Count your lucky stars you don’t have to have one.”

  “I’m going to go wash my brain out. I’ll see you in the meeting.”

  “You asked!” I called out to his retreating figure. I felt terrible lying to him, but if he knew Jason had been texting me, he would have teased me relentlessly. I looked down at my phone again and read the latest message.

  Did I lose you there?

  I’m heading into a meeting. I figured that comment would end the back and forth.

  I hope you figured out last night who would be the perfect date for me.

  Nothing like pressure. We’ll do our best.

  We’ll? You’re my personal relationship manager.

  I never agreed to that.

  Agree to it now.

  You’re pushy.

  I wouldn’t feel comfortable with anyone else.

  What is this? A guilt trip?

  I thought you were all about customer satisfaction. That’s what your brochure guarantees.

  I don’t want to be petty, but you’re not paying for this.

  Which proves another point. Do you want to tie up one of your personal relationship managers for a non-paying customer?

  I supposed he had a valid point, but this wasn’t my job. I figured if I picked right the first time, my job would be over and done with. And seriously, how much help could he really need? Like I said, he was an ideal date, I mean business dinner partner. Okay. I responded with resignation.

  I need a little more enthusiasm out of my personal relationship manager.

  Goodbye, Jason.

  He sent me back some winky face like we were juveniles. I admit, though, it made me smile.

  Meg popped her head in. “Kenadie, the food has arrived.”

  “Thank you. Will you have them take it to the conference room?”

  “Sure thing,” she replied. “By the way, you look very pretty today.”

  I looked down at my navy ruffled blouse and white slacks. “Oh … thank you.” I wasn’t used to the compliments, at least not outside my family and Zander.

  She smiled and walked off.

  I should have thought to compliment her. I was terrible at that, unless it was the aforementioned group. I had too many things to work on. Living outside myself was apparently one of them.

  I gathered up my pictures, notes, and profiles and made my way to the conference room. Zander was already there with food in hand. Everyone else was straggling in. I reminded myself to be human. “Eva, is everything all right?” I remembered she’d had an emergency last night.

  Her deep brown eyes registered shock that I asked her. “Um … yes. I’m sorry I called last minute.” She glanced at Zander and turned a tad red before she looked back at me.

  That was interesting.

  “Don’t worry about it, Eva,” Zander threw out there.

  I looked between the two. Zander grinned like a dork at me, and Eva quickly took her seat. I let it drop. What was I going to say anyway? Eva had always been a responsible employee and Zander was Zander.

  “Well, everyone, help yourselves.” I waved my hand at the spread before us. I had ordered an assortment of sandwich items along with fruit and vegetable trays.

  It didn’t take us long to each fill a plate. I noticed everyone acted stiff, then I realized we had never had a company lunch or party in the few years we had been in business. I did give Christmas bonuses, so I wasn’t a complete scrooge of a boss. I really tried to be fair, but I was definitely unapproachable. Baby steps, I told myself.

  “What are everyone’s plans for the weekend?” Cara asked out into the group as we began eating.

  “I’m meeting my boyfriend’s family,” Meg announced excitedly.

  “Finally,” Eva and Cara said in unison.

  “I know, right?” Meg responded.

  I was obviously the only one not clued in to Meg’s personal life. That was done on purpose, but I was beginning to realize what a mistake that probably was. I know about Zander, I said to myself as if I needed the comfort.

  Everyone chit-chatted and I listened. I was interested to know that Will was into martial arts, and Cara taught Pilates on the weekends. They all sounded like they lived these well-rounded lives. I hung out with biddies and ate ice cream. You could throw in exercise and reading. And I had an unhealthy obsession with Hawaii Five–0. Or at least with the main character, but look at him. Who would blame me?

  So maybe it was time to take down some of those walls.

  After lunch, we each posted one of our date’s pictures on the wall. In my case, the only one I had or would ever have, and I used the term “date” lightly. Under each date’s profile we placed the pictures and names of our choices for possible matches. Then the fun began. We each gave a brief overview of our subject and how closely we felt they aligned to the paper version, or digital as it may be, and why we chose our particular matches.

  “So,” Zander asked, “do you feel like Jason lived up to his profile?”

  I thought we had already discussed this. He was getting way too much pleasure out of the fact that I had gone with Jason on a business dinner. I nipped his enthusiasm in the bud and went with a very bland, “Yes.”

  “He’s certainly handsome.” Eva sounded disappointed that she had missed taking him out to dinner.

  It made me feel like I should send out a reminder that we had a no dating our clients policy. I would do it later. I didn’t want Eva to feel like I was singling her out.

  We decided on everyone else’s clients first, because I only had the one, though I wished I had none. I liked these meetings a lot better when I was unattached to the
subjects. Not like I was attached to Jason, but I felt obligated to make sure he got what he deserved. And, admittedly, to make sure I would no longer have the title of his personal relationship manager.

  I had to say, though, that I was pleased with my staff. They were very insightful and took their jobs seriously, even Zander. Don’t get me wrong, he was a complete jokester through the whole meeting, but he really did know people and always gave excellent feedback.

  Thirty matches were made and then all eyes turned toward me.

  I began with Liz. Between the three women, I didn’t have a front-runner, per se. They all had things that I wasn’t sure would exactly click with him but, as Jason indicated, he wasn’t looking for anything long-term, I pulled the three best. Liz was divorced, an avid outdoorswoman, owner of a successful pet-grooming business and, like Momma would say, as cute as a button. She even had the dark blonde hair and brown eyes he claimed was his preference. She seemed like a good match for Jason, maybe not in the death do us part way, but as a good interim girlfriend. Liz didn’t want children and she was agnostic, whereas Jason wanted kids and he was a Christian. Her profile made her sound like she was fun and lighthearted. Zander had written a note in her file that said she was unnaturally attached to her golden retriever, but Jason had mentioned the night before he wanted a dog and he specifically named a golden retriever as a possible breed for him.

  “Zander, what do you think, since you took out Liz and you know Jason?”

  “Yeah, sure,” he said too quickly.

  I could feel my face scrunch and my eyes squint. “That was way too easy.”

  He laughed. “You did a good job. What can I say?”

  I looked around the room. “What does everyone else think?”

  They all nodded their heads in agreement. “Looks like good match,” Will said, throwing in his two cents.

  “Really?” I questioned.

  Again, they all nodded.

  I felt uneasy about it. I don’t know why, but something felt rotten in Denmark. What could I do though? Disagree with myself?

  “Good meeting.” Zander clapped his hands loudly and stood up.

  All the other managers took that as their signal that the meeting was over and they, too, stood up.

  “Have a nice weekend,” I said quietly.

  They all murmured their goodbyes and left quickly, even the butthead I called my best friend.

  I walked back to my office in almost a daze. I guessed all that was left for me to do was send both Jason and Liz each other’s contact info. From there, it was up to them to connect.

  I sat at my desk and hesitated to send the prospective information to each. Zander’s immediate agreement bugged me. It wasn’t natural for him. I tapped my fingers on my desk. After several moments, I did the inevitable and sent Jason and Liz their respective contact information through our portal.

  I rubbed my temples. I hoped my personal relationship manager duties were over.

  Chapter Twelve

  I did a lot of sighing on the way to Momma’s. It was the strangest week I’d had in forever. I was looking forward to the routine of dinner with Momma, water aerobics with the Nanettes, and lots and lots of ice cream. I was contemplating getting three scoops.

  I walked into my childhood home to find Momma crying at the kitchen table, poring over old photo albums.

  I rushed right over to her and squeezed her shoulders. “What’s the matter?”

  She looked up to me with little mascara stains under her pale blue eyes. “Your daddy and I had our first date forty-seven years ago today.” She handed me a faded wedding photo of the two of them. Momma was the epitome of a Southern belle and daddy looked so handsome, even if his bowtie was abnormally large.

  “Oh, Momma, I’m so sorry.” I sat next to her and held her hand. “Do you want to cancel tonight?”

  She shook her head no.

  I looked at the picture again. “You were and still are the most beautiful woman I know.”

  She gently took the picture. “You haven’t looked in the mirror lately, sugar.”

  “You’re supposed to say that, you’re my momma.”

  “Be that as it may, it’s still the truth.”

  “I love you. I’m sorry you lost Daddy.”

  She squeezed my hand tight. “I was lucky to have loved him for as long as I did. He drove me crazy, but I loved him.”

  “I know you did, and he loved you, too.”

  “Yes, he did.” She looked up at me with watery eyes.

  Mine were watering, too.

  “I hope you will find someone like him. You deserve that, Kennie.”

  I wiped an errant tear out of my eye. I didn’t argue with her. It didn’t seem like an appropriate time.

  She smiled, leaned over, and kissed my cheek. “I’ll get dinner ready.”

  “Why don’t you sit here and I’ll throw something together?”

  “You always were my favorite daughter.”

  I made my way to the refrigerator and peered inside at its contents. “How does a chicken Caesar salad sound?”

  “Perfect.”

  As I prepared dinner, Momma reminisced.

  “Did you know it only cost a dollar fifty to go to the movies when your daddy and I started dating?”

  “Wow. Prices have increased quite a bit. I paid almost fifteen dollars the last time Zander and I went together.”

  “You know, if you would date someone, they would pay for you.”

  I should have known she would take an innocent statement and twist it into a good reason to date. “Even if I were dating, which I’m not,” I said quickly, as she turned around so fast she probably pulled a muscle in her neck. “I wouldn’t expect him to pay for me.”

  She waved her hand. “Pish posh. If he were a real man, there wouldn’t be any question. He would just pay for you.” Her eyes lit up. “I bet Jason would pay for you.”

  I had no doubt he would. I wanted to tell her that Jason was using our services so she would drop it, but we had a strict privacy policy in place. Instead, I tore the romaine lettuce with a vengeance.

  “You know,” she added, “Rick was really impressed with him.”

  “Speaking of Rick, did you invite Renee Peters over yet?” My brother was going back under the bus. I didn’t feel too badly about it, since apparently he had done the same thing to me.

  “I did, but she’s busy this week.”

  “There’s always next week.”

  “Yes, there is. She is the sweetest gal. And those boys of hers are so well-behaved and handsome.”

  “She seems like a good mom, from what I’ve observed,” I commented.

  “Oh, yes,” Momma agreed.

  I got dinner on the table as fast as I could. I needed to get to the pool and the three scoops was becoming more of a reality. I cursed that Jason Hadley for moving here.

  On the way to the pool, I was more than grateful we switched gears and talked about Lana’s prom dress. Cissy was working on the hemline and making a shawl to match in case it was cool that evening. You never knew in the spring here. It could be ninety degrees or fifty, depending on the day.

  “She’s going to be stunning,” Momma gushed.

  “Was there ever any question?”

  “She reminds me so much of you when you were her age.”

  “Except she’s ten times more gorgeous.”

  Momma frowned at me. “If only you could see how truly beautiful you are.”

  “Thanks. Anyway, did Rick line up a photographer to take pictures that night?” I wasn’t sure he thought of those kinds of things.

  “That’s a good question. I’ll remind him.”

  “I think Renee is an amateur photographer. I’ve seen some of her pictures on Facebook and she’s pretty good.”

  “That would be perfect.”

  I could feel Momma’s face radiating. I didn’t even need to look at her. Poor Rick.

  We went through our Friday night ritual of me being mauled b
y the biddies. At least my butt got the praise it deserved for working so hard on my elliptical.

  As we made our way out of the locker room to the pool, both Cissy and Adelaide strung their arms through mine.

  “Your momma’s told us that Jason’s sweet on you,” Cissy sang.

  My eyes rolled into the back of my head. “I hate to say this, but I think dementia may be setting in,” I half-whispered so that Momma would overhear.

  Momma went to smack my rear, but I was nimbler than her. I extracted myself from the Nanettes and jumped into the warm water of the pool.

  Cissy and Adelaide were cackling—I mean laughing—at us.

  I needed my hour in the pool, even if it meant I had to put up with the biddies. I was all caught up on the Flowery Branch gossip for the week. The soap opera at the high school continued. Rumor had it that the biology teacher was pregnant with the vice-principal’s child. Or I should say ex vice-principal? He was on administrative leave pending a full investigation, but from the sounds of it, that was only a formality. The twist in the plot was he was denying the baby was his and trying to win back his wife. Like a real gentleman—please note the sarcasm—he was claiming she was sleeping with the Spanish teacher.

  The biddies were beyond excited at the intrigue of it all. The commentary went something like this:

  “I heard his wife left with the kids and went to stay with her aunt in Tennessee.”

  “Good for her. I’m happy to see none of this standing by your man nonsense.”

  “I hope he gets one of those STDs.”

  That’s where I broke ranks and focused on exercising my body instead of my mouth. When the three of them were together, there was never a dull moment, or a quiet one. I needed ice cream, and a life outside of seniorville. I loved them with all of my heart, but I really needed to find some people my own age to play with. Well, you know what I mean.

  I had never been so happy to see Shasta’s. That was until I noticed a bright yellow car with black stripes, and a butthead with a tagalong. A tagalong who was wreaking havoc on my life.

  “Surprise, darlin’!” Zander shouted as we neared him in the parking lot.

  All my senior sidekicks were delighted at the turn of events.