Her Best Match: A Romantic Comedy (The Best Girls Book 1)

by Tamie Dearen

  “But you were married by then?”

  Anne answered defensively, “Yes, I got married when I was twenty, while I was still in college, but I did finish my degree. We were just so in love, we couldn’t wait two extra years.”

  “How did your husband die?”

  For a brief moment, the memory flashed fresh in her mind, and her stomach tightened.

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”

  “No, it’s fine. It’s been fifteen years… fifteen years this November. It was the beginning of the Thanksgiving holiday, and he’d driven to pick up his folks in the country. They were driving back on the highway, just after dark, when a drunken teenager in a big truck crossed the centerline and ran head-on into the car. The girls lost their dad and their grandparents that night, and those poor parents lost their son.”

  “Weren’t you angry?”

  “Oh sure. Shocked, angry, depressed, worried, sad… You name it, I felt it. But I had two girls to take care of and no time to wallow in self-pity. My faith and family and friends carried me through it.” She blinked at her watery eyes. “And I’ve had a great life. Losing Tom made me realize how precious each day is—every moment with someone you love.”

  “But fifteen years? And you’ve never remarried? That’s a long time to be alone.”

  “Well that’s the proverbial pot calling the kettle black. How old are you? Forty-five? Fifty? Fifty-five? You’ve never married at all.”

  Gherring frowned. “I just turned fifty! Do you think I look fifty-five?”

  Anne smirked—she’d known exactly how old he was. Trust an assault to a man’s ego to make him forget about his uncomfortable line of questioning.

  “Well luckily, the car stopped, so I guess we’ll have to postpone this conversation.” Her voice was cheery as she climbed out of the limousine. Gherring followed with a grumpy expression.

  Anne walked into the climbing gym, staring in amazement at the immense climbing wall, peppered with climbers in various extremely uncomfortable-looking positions, some scaling areas with overhangs, one hanging precariously by one hand some thirty feet above the floor. The single-handed climber suddenly lost his grip and dropped. Anne gasped as he fell, but he only swung harmlessly in his harness before he managed to regain his handhold.

  Gherring cocked his head. “You didn’t watch the climbers when you came here before?”

  “Yes, of course, but no one fell when I was watching.” She hoped her lie was reasonable. He seemed to accept her statement, so she relaxed a bit.

  Katie approached with Gary in tow.

  Gary clapped him on the shoulder. “Hey Steven. What’re you planning to climb tonight? Alan laid out a new route that’s probably at least a five thirteen.”

  “That sounds great, but first we want to get the girls on the wall.”

  “Not me,” said Katie. “I’m just here to admire my man.” She playfully squeezed Gary’s bicep.

  “But Anne wants to climb. You remember Anne, right Gary?” asked Gherring.

  “Uhmm, yes.” Gary frowned at Katie before holding out his hand toward Anne. “Good to see you again.”

  Anne smiled awkwardly and shook his hand. “Hi Gary.”

  “Well let’s get you in a harness,” Gary said. Anne took off her coat and jeans, giving her legs the once over to see if she had missed anything while shaving. She squeezed her feet into the tight climbing shoes she’d been given. Gary handed her a harness and then excused himself to take a phone call. Anne stared bewildered at the tangle of straps and metal, but Gherring took it from her hands and helped her step in. As he tightened the straps his hands brushed against her. She felt a familiar warming inside and held her breath in the attempt to slow her heartbeat.

  “Is it too tight?” asked Gherring.

  “No, I’m just a little nervous.”

  He led her over to the wall.

  “I’m climbing here?” she asked. “Don’t you have a beginner wall? You know, like a green slope?”

  “This is the beginner wall. See how it’s not quite vertical? And if you use the blue handholds, the route’ll be pretty easy.” As he spoke, Gherring began threading the belay rope through her harness.

  “Are you sure you know what you’re doing? Should we get somebody who works here to do this?”

  Gherring pinned her with his eyes, the blue glinting. “I assure you I’m more than capable of belaying you on this climb.”

  “Well I don’t know what that means, but I guess I’m gonna trust you with my life.” She looked up at him with wide eyes, and his look softened.

  “I’ll try to be worthy.” His dimples returned.

  He began tugging on all the various straps, his hands brushing against her, assaulting her senses. She was all-too-aware of his hard muscles, strong and sinewy. Her head swam, and she tried to catch her breath. Why was her heart beating so rapidly? She must really be nervous about trying the climb. She breathed in and out, slow and steady. He was standing so close she drew his clean scent deep inside. She had to get away from him. The only way was up.

  She started her climb. The first few moves were easy, and she felt the comforting tug of the belay supporting her. She started moving up steadily, looking for the next blue hold as she ascended. She made it three fourths of the way up when she noticed her muscles were fatiguing. She felt tremors in her arms. “My arms are shaking!” she yelled down.

  “Put all your weight on your feet and rest your arms for a minute. You can relax—I’ve got you.”

  Anne followed Gherring’s instructions, planting her feet firmly and standing tall. She felt the belay rope lifting, easing the strain on her arms. She realized she really could trust him. And somehow, she wanted to rely on him for more than just climbing a wall. She felt a pang in her heart. His feelings for her were more like that of a protective father. But there was no reason why she couldn’t fantasize a little, right? He’d never know.

  She started climbing again, feeling the strain and ignoring the exhaustion in her limbs. She paused for a moment.

  “You’re almost there,” called Katie.

  “You don’t have to go any further if you don’t want to,” teased Gherring. “You can just give up now.”

  Gherring’s words worked like magic on her competitive spirit, sending adrenaline into her system. She scrambled quickly upward and touched the top of the wall.

  “I did it!” she yelled. Whoops and hollers came from below. “Now what?”

  “Just let go,” said Gherring. “I’ve got you.”

  “Let go?”

  “Let go of the wall. You can hold on to the rope and lean back.” He pulled hard on the belay rope and she felt it again—that secure feeling that someone else is protecting you. The knowledge that someone is making sure nothing bad will happen. That you’re safe. She let go of the wall and, to her surprise, the rope held her steady. She swung away and then back toward the wall.

  “Now I’m going to let you down slowly, and you can just walk down the wall,” Gherring’s soothing voice rose up from below. The descent was smooth and quick. Anne was shaking from head to toe as she stood on the ground with Gherring loosening her harness.

  “Okay—that was a rush!” Her heart was beating rapidly, speeding up with the heady feeling of Gherring’s touch. At least he wouldn’t detect the effect he had on her.

  When Gherring had freed her from the straps, he paused a moment and looked closely at her flushed face. “You really did like it, didn’t you?”

  She stared back at his piercing blue eyes, so close she could see little glints of gold around the edges. “I… uhmm, I… I did. I liked it.”

  “You know,” he said softly, “I—”

  “Hey Steven! Are you ready to climb? I’ll belay you.” Gary called from across the room.

  Gherring sighed, and turned toward Gary. “I’m coming, buddy.”

  Anne stood next to Katie while Gherring tackled the challenging climb. His muscles flexed and bulged as he pulled him
self under an overhang using only handholds. Katie leaned over and whispered in Anne’s ear, “He looks pretty good for a fifty year old, don’t you think?”

  Anne, who’d been thinking he looked pretty good for any age, nodded her head in agreement. She decided climbing was a really great spectator sport, at least when the scenery was this good. “Does he come here a lot?”

  “Yeah, he and Gary were friends and climbing buddies before this, and Mr. Gherring encouraged him to start this gym and was one of his initial investors. In fact, that’s how I met Gary. Mr. Gherring was pretty mad at Gary when he realized he was going to lose his executive assistant, but I think he’s finally accepted it. He didn’t really have a choice, and it’s helped a lot since you showed up. He was so pouty about the whole thing; he was turning down every single candidate.”

  “Why do you think he hired me? After turning down all those others?”

  “Don’t get your feelings hurt, but you made him laugh.”

  “He laughed at me?”

  “No, you’re taking it wrong. He laughed because you surprised him. It takes a lot to surprise Mr. Gherring after so many years in this business. He’s become pretty cynical, I think. It’s more like he laughed at himself, for being caught by surprise.”

  “Hmmm, that’s not really too flattering. But I guess it makes sense. Oh!” she exclaimed as Gherring slipped and caught himself with his fingertips on the hold, while his feet searched for a purchase on the wall. He regained his footing and continued upward, every muscle straining. Anne felt the tension in her neck finally ease when he reached the top and fell back to descend. “So do you usually climb?”

  “Me? No way. I’ve got no desire to climb. But I’m happy to watch Gary and cheer him on. He’s opening another gym, and I’m going to help him run the business after we’re married.”

  “Do you think we got away with our little fib about Gary?”

  “I don’t know, but I guess we just need to quit talking about Mr. Gherring.” She smiled. “Or else we need to watch his office door a little more closely.”

  On the ride home, Anne chatted about the climbing experience and asked questions about climbing technique and the climbing wall construction, attempting to keep the conversation from turning serious as it had on the way there.

  “You were a lot more confident on your second climb. The big rookie mistake is relying too much on your arm strength. Your leg muscles are much stronger.”

  “But you sometimes were climbing with just your arms. You know, when you were under those ledges.”

  “To be honest, most women don’t have the arm strength to do that. Plus, I have years of experience and strength from climbing and weights and swimming.”

  “Yeah, that’s it. I forgot you have years and years of experience…”

  “I said ‘years’, not ‘years and years’.”

  “Maybe by the time I’m your age, with all those years of experience—”

  Suddenly Gherring was tickling her side, and she dissolved into helpless laughter. He didn’t relent until she shouted. “I give up! I take it back! You’re not old!”

  Her cheeks were aching from laughter and burning from her body’s response to his touch. Even his tickling started a little fire inside her. She was glad the back of the limo was dark so he couldn’t see her flushed face.

  “Will you try it again?” he asked. “The climbing?”

  She breathed heavily as she caught her breath. “I think so—it was fun. You know what? I should bring the girls to the gym this weekend. I think they’d like it. At least Charlie would.”

  “They’re coming to New York?”

  “Oh yeah, didn’t I tell you? They’re coming on Friday and going back Monday. I’m so excited. In fact, I think we’re going to go eat with your Gram one night.”

  “Gram is staying here through the weekend?”

  Too late she realized Gram had been keeping this a secret from her grandson. “Uhmm, yeah. She said something about having things to do. I’m not sure. I could be wrong.”

  “Is that so?” Gherring mused. “I think we may need to have a talk.”

  “Please don’t get me in trouble with your Gram.”

  “It’s not like I wouldn’t have found out she was staying. I just think she may be up to something.”

  “Well leave me out of it.”

  “Sure. If it’s possible, I’ll leave you out of it.” His face grew more earnest. “You know—”

  “Oh, we’re here. I’m so tired I think I may fall asleep with my clothes on.”

  “Perhaps you need some help,” he suggested, his dimples deepening.

  Anne scrambled out of the limo as if she might catch on fire. “Thanks. I mean thanks for the ride. Not… Never mind. See you tomorrow.”

  She trotted into the building and ran to press the elevator button. To her distress, he sauntered to the elevator just as the door opened and stepped inside with her. She fumbled inside her bag for her keys, effectively eliminating the need for conversation.

  “So you don’t need any help?” he asked, grinning.

  Her cheeks flamed. “No. Stop teasing me, Mr. Gherring.”

  “I’m sorry. You’re so easy to tease. But really Anne, I—”

  The elevator doors opened on the tenth floor, and Anne made her escape.

  “Good night, Mr. Gherring.”

  As the doors closed, she looked back to see him beating his forehead with the palm of his hand. She knew he must be frustrated over how sensitive she was. She just had to learn not to take things so seriously. But it was so hard not to be sensitive around Steven Gherring when his very presence made her nerves tingle. Perhaps she could get some acting lessons from Ellen.

  Chapter Eight - PowerPoint

  After a hectic work morning, Anne headed next door for lunch at Papa’s Place. George and May had made her promise to catch them up on things, so she headed down alone. Spencer met her at the door. “Hey Anne! Have you found a match for me yet?”

  “No luck so far. None of them are willing to compete with all the girls that are constantly hanging around you, vying for attention,” she teased. She started to head back to her table, but stopped dead in her tracks. “How old are you, Spencer?”

  “I’m twenty five. Why?”

  “And you’re in grad school right?”

  “Yep, getting my MBA.”

  “Do you like climbing?”

  “Sure. Climbing, bouldering, hiking, mountain biking, skiing—just about anything outdoors.”

  She pulled her cell phone out of her purse and found a picture of Emily and Charlotte. “Wanna go climbing with me and my girls this weekend at a climbing gym? And do you think you could find another friend to come along? I don’t really know any young guys for us to hang out with.”

  Spencer stared at the picture in his hand, and his mouth dropped open. He looked up with a grin. “I think I could find about twenty friends who’d be willing to go climbing this weekend if I showed them this picture.”

  Anne laughed. “Great. I’ll call you and set up a time.”

  “Oh, and by the way, search no further for a match for me. I’ll take either one. Are they smart, too?” He paused a moment and looked at the picture again. “Never mind. Who cares?”

  George came out to get her. “Hey, come eat in the kitchen. We want to talk to you.”

  Anne followed him into the kitchen where he set her up to eat on a small table in the corner. Things were bustling with the lunch rush, but George and May took turns stopping by to quiz her about the developments over the past week.

  May plopped down in a chair opposite Anne. “What about this Henri guy? He’s from France right? He seemed really interested in you.”

  “Yes, we went out a few times and he’s flying me to Paris to see him in two weeks.”

  “Oh, Paris… Romance… That sounds fun.” She leaned in close. “And he’s enough to make an old girl like me wish I was younger. Don’t tell George I said that.”

 
; Anne laughed. “It’s our secret.”

  “And now you’ve hooked up with Mrs. Gherring? She’s a lot of fun, but she’s always got something up her sleeve.”

  “Actually, you’re right. We’ve joined forces to find a wife for Mr. Gherring.”

  George came over to the table. “A wife for Mr. Gherring?”

  “Shhhh—keep your voice down. It’s a secret.” Anne glanced about to be sure no one else was listening.

  “Every man needs a good wife, even if they don’t realize it.” May got up to help one of the cooks.

  “If no one’s managed to snag that guy in all this time, I don’t see how you and Mrs. Gherring are going to pull it off,” George said, screwing his lips sideways.

  “Well, we think we know just what he needs. It’s just convincing him he needs someone.”

  “Well he dates a lot of women, doesn’t he? The tabloids are always full of rumors about his women. He’s a real playboy. How will you get him to settle down?”

  “Oh, he’s not really a playboy. He just tries to keep everyone at arms length. I haven’t quite figured out how to get him to let his guard down. I might be able to talk to him about it someday, if I can get him to trust me.”

  May returned. “You’re around him all the time. He might actually listen to you. But I thought he was mad at you about the ‘Henri thing.’ You said he’d been trying to keep you from dating him.”

  “Well he doesn’t like Henri, and so he doesn’t want me—or anyone else, for that matter—to date him. But since Henri’s back in Paris, I think Mr. Gherring will just forget about him.”

  George heard a crash in the next room and went to investigate.

  “Oh, and my girls are coming into town this weekend. Spencer’s going to find a friend to come along, and we’re all going climbing.”

  “Climbing?” asked May

  “Yes, it’s a gym Katie’s fiancé owns, where you climb up walls. It’s all very safe. Ropes to keep you from falling.”

  “Well, maybe one of your girls will fall for my Spencer.”

  “Maybe. If they’re willing to fight off the other girls. He’s pretty popular, I think.”

  “Anne, your lunch is getting cold. I’ll let you finish eating.” May went to intervene between two waiters fighting about whose order got priority.