Page 7 of Summer on Lilac Island
They looked at Eloise, who was now sorting the already sorted mail. “Okay,” she said. “I’m in.”
Gigi frowned, then glanced at Nonni, who was wearing a similar look of confusion.
“Okay?” Gigi repeated. The Eloise she knew would never agree to this. Could it be Eloise had been wanting to reenter the dating
scene but needed a nudge? Was she trying to prove Nonni wrong? Or was she just so overinvested in Gigi’s love life that she
was willing to do anything in order to get Gigi to go out with someone she approved of?
The fact that Gigi didn’t know the answer to this spoke to how close she and Eloise were these days.
“You’re quite the negotiator, Georgiana,” Nonni said. “I should have you call my home insurance agency. Premiums went up twenty-one
dollars a month. David used to handle all of that...”
“You don’t have to go through with this, Mother,” Gigi said, appalled by the prospect of having to suffer through a date with such a schmoozing, pompous bore as this Dr. Kentwood figure would no doubt be. “Let’s just forget about the whole thing.”
“You want to back out, do you?” Eloise said. The delivery made Gigi feel like she was a little kid again, begging to quit
clarinet lessons.
“No,” Gigi said, refusing to be the one to fold. “I’m just giving you an out.”
“I don’t want an out,” Eloise said, her expression inscrutable. “I told you, I’m in.”
Something about the way she said it made Gigi think about how Rebecca had mentioned several times that she thought their mother
was lonely. Gigi had pushed the comments away as nothing more than the flawed observations of a chronic worrier. But now she
wondered if there might be some truth to them.
Gigi felt a jab of anger toward her dad and how he still kept stringing Eloise along after all this time. She understood why
he had left, but she didn’t understand why he couldn’t stay gone. Eloise refused to move on in case one day he came back for
good.
There was something so infuriating about a mother wound that always seemed to trace back to a father wound.
Perhaps this absurd matchmaking scheme would be good for Eloise. Get her out of her shell and on an actual date. Gigi should
be awarded a special medal for getting such an improbable feat to happen. And in return she could tolerate a couple hours
with the doctor. He couldn’t possibly be the worst person she’d ever gone out with, given the bar was set in hell.
Besides, the dates would serve as a decent distraction from all that had happened here in the past. And what better reason
was there to do something than the promise of stirring up new waves in old lakes?
“You’ve got yourself a deal, Mother,” Gigi said, offering up a freckled hand.
Eloise shook it firmly, a feistiness in her own gaze. “May the best matchmaker win.”
***
Gigi pitched Clyde on the date the next day. While doing some beach yoga so Eloise wouldn’t eavesdrop, she called the Grand
Hotel and asked to be transferred to Clyde MacDougal’s room. He picked up promptly.
“It’s Gigi from the ferry yesterday,” she said. “The serial dater who nearly vomited on you.”
“How could I forget?” Clyde said with a chuckle. “It’s good to hear from you.”
“I have another story lead for you,” Gigi said. “My mom is setting me up with the new town doctor. Everyone is obsessing over
him. But in return for going on a date with him, I’m setting up my mom with someone. We’re playing matchmaker for each other.”
“Your mother is single?” Clyde asked, intrigued. “You didn’t mention that yesterday.”
“Because she doesn’t date,” Gigi said. “This is very out of character for her.”
“It’s quite the hook for a book, isn’t it?” Clyde said. “Family saga and romance, set against the backdrop of a characterful
island town.”
Gigi kicked the sand under her bare feet. She liked how it stuck between her toes. “It’s not just that,” she said. “I want
you to be the man she goes out with. What do you say?”
It took a moment for Clyde to answer. “You’re asking me to date your mother?”
“Go on a date with her,” Gigi said. “Singular. I think you’ll get along. Her name is Eloise. She’s fifty-five years old, very pretty,
very smart, and much better mannered than me.”
“Is she open to a real relationship?” Clyde asked. “Or does she just see this date as a means to an end so you’ll go out with
the gentleman of her choosing?”
“Your guess is as good as mine.” Gigi stretched, feeling strong in warrior two as she listened through her earbuds. “But either way you’ll get a good story out of it.”
“I wouldn’t want her to think I’m using her for that,” Clyde said.
“It’s not like she’s innocent,” Gigi said. “Given how she’s been scheming. Both of you have tainted intentions. It’s as promising
a starting point as any.”
Clyde paused. “I’d like to speak with her and take it from there. May I have her phone number?”
Gigi thought that sounded fair and gave it to him. “Call before 5:00 p.m. Eloise finds it rude when people call too late.”
“I’ll call right this moment,” Clyde said.
“Talk slowly,” Gigi advised. “She’s not a fan of accents; she hasn’t left the island much. And ask her to dinner, not drinks.
She thinks drinks are tacky.”
“I appreciate the tips, but I think I’ll be all right. I do have my fair share of experience asking women out.”
“Everything works a little differently on Mackinac, though,” Gigi cautioned.
“Love is universal, lassie.”
Gigi transitioned into a wobbly tree pose. “Maybe, but we’re not talking about love. We’re talking about dating.”
“Shouldn’t those two things be linked?”
“Theoretically. But it rarely plays out like that, does it?”
“Perhaps it will this time.”
Gigi was taken aback by how excited Clyde sounded. This was the problem with creative types, how their imagination tumbled
ahead of them. It was all right. Eloise would bring him back to earth.
Clyde thanked Gigi once more, then hung up. Gigi hurried back to Thistle Dew, hoping to listen in on the call. She wouldn’t
believe Eloise had accepted the date unless she heard it with her own two ears.