Page 38 of The Matchmaker Club

Her eyebrows rose. “Really?Do tell.”

“Remember the man with the Mercedes from last Saturday?”

Her mouth fell open. “No way! You’re bringing Lucas Freeman as your date?”

“First of all, it’snota date, and second, who told you about Lucas?”

She bit into her turkey sandwich, avoiding my eyes.

“Come on, spill it.” I took a sip of lemonade. “There have to be more rumors flying around at this point.”

“Well, it started out simple enough… that he was there looking to sell the place, but now it’s taken another turn.”

“What turn?”

She sighed. “Lucas is living in the same house with three Reed women. Take a wild guess at what they’re assuming.”

A twinge of anger pinched at my nerves. I knew I should be used to it by now, but it did bother me.

Thelma threw a fry, and it landed in my lap. “Hey, who cares what they think? Let them have their boring cookouts. We have bonfires, beer, and burgers.”

“And better company,” I added.

“You know it.”

We finished up lunch, and Mack cut me to leave earlier than usual since there were no customers.

I didn’t mind and figured I could use the time to do something I had been putting off.

“Hey Mack, do you have some paper and an envelope I could have?”

“In my office, the last drawer in the filing cabinet.”

“Thanks.”

I grabbed the stuff I needed and headed to Fanny’s Pond. One Last Hope was still waiting for a reply, and I needed to give her one.

The picnic tables scattered across the grass were empty. A few people were fishing on the other side of the pond, but other than that, the place wasn’t as busy as it usually was on the weekend.

That damned cookout.

I pulled Blush into a parking space and stared out at the willow tree. The ends of the branches swayed over the water as I took in a deep breath and started on the letter.

Dear One Last Hope,

I’m sorry it has taken me longer than usual to reply, but I wanted to write to you to let you know we have received your letter and are working diligently to

I pulled out another sheet and started again.

Dear One Last Hope,

There is a saying: “Faith makes all things possible. Hope makes all things work. Love makes all things beautiful.”

Don’t give up

Nope. I started one more time.

Dear One Last Hope,