Page 19 of The Matchmaker Club

“Never thought to.”

“You should.”

He shut the trunk. “What would you name my car?”

“Beast.”

He smiled. “Beast it is.”

“Come on in. I’ll get you some coffee and a nice warm slice of homemade banana bread.”

He followed me into the house, and I offered him a seat at the kitchen table. “How do you like your coffee?”

“Dark, one sugar.”

Sounded about right for him.

I made his cup and cut out a slice of bread and served it to him.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. It’s the least I can do.” I slipped off the Walkman and placed it on the table.

“Is that what I think it is?”

“What do you think it is?”

“A portable cassette player.”

“Yes.”

“Don’t like digital technology?”

I looked down at my coffee. “I like it fine, but I prefer to listen to mixtapes on the Walkman.”

“You have mixtapes?”

“Yeah, my mother made them for me before she died.”

His mouth opened slightly, as if he were about to say something, but instead he nodded with that sorry look before taking a sip of coffee. “This banana bread is delicious.” He finished up the last bite.

“I bet you didn’t expect that after last night’s soup.”

“I heard that.” My grandmother walked through the room and tapped me on the head with one of her oldWeekly World Newspapers. She collected them and loved going back to the strange stories and oddities they were known for.

After she went back to the parlor, Lucas gave me one of his signature brooding stares. “Is there someplace we could talk privately?”

“Sounds serious.”

“It is.”

I sat up, my stomach suddenly in knots. “Sure, we can go out back.”

He followed me through the kitchen door and we started off along the trail that headed toward the hedges and flower garden.

“What is it you want to talk about?” I asked.

“I’m usually very straightforward about things, but last night… I was taken a bit off guard.”