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“Mildly. Mitch is mad at me, and Mom is in full lecture mode.”
“Uh-oh.” Stef leaned both elbows on the table, ready for the gory details. “What have you done, sissy?”
Frankie looked over her shoulder.
“Don’t worry. Angie’s out sick today,” said Stef.
“Okay, good,” said Frankie.
Not that she didn’t appreciate their favorite server, but Angie fell on juicy tidbits the way most women fell on chocolate. She had the largest Christmas village in town and was one of the shop’s best customers every Black Friday. Her own village complete, she was now starting one for her newly married daughter. Angie came into Holiday Happiness so often, she considered herself a good family friend and, as such, entitled to knowing everything that was going on with the family. And sometimes she also felt entitled to share with others what was going on.
“So spill,” said Stef.
Frankie was filling her in on the whole fiasco in between bites of salad when Viola texted to see how the meetup went.Don’t ask, Frankie texted. Which, of course, prompted Viola to call her instantly.
“I’m at The Salad Bowl with Stef,” Frankie answered.
“Enjoying a Toss Your Tacos?”
“Of course.” They made a better taco salad than the Mexican restaurant.
“Was Mitch mad?”
“Yes. Wilhelmina was a faker.”
“Oh boy. Sorry. I’ll let you get back to your lunch. Say hi to Stef for me.”
“If you’re going to be looking for perfect matches, you could at least look for one for me,” said Stef after Frankie ended the call. “Oh wait. Never mind. I’ve seen how that turns out, and the last thing I need is another Dick.”
Richard Swineburn, Stef’s ex of two years, had never liked it when people used the outdated nickname, for obvious reasons. Although he lived up to it. The man had been a narcissist. Sadly, Stef hadn’t seen it until it was too late. She’d been too impressed with his good looks and his good job as a CEO of a seafood distributer in Seattle.
Adele had had one of her famous prophetic dreams when Stef first started dating him. Stef had only laughed when Adele had reported she’d dreamed that Stef was caught in a net with a school of tuna and Richard was on the tuna boat pulling in the net, dressed in a Dracula cloak and cackling, “Gotcha now.”
Frankie hadn’t been a fan of Richard, either, and had tried to persuade Stef to slow down. She hadn’t. Until after she married. The marriage dragged on for seven years before Stef got free of him.
She deserved better. It had been two years since her divorce, and so far she hadn’t found it. Not that she’d been looking until the past few months, and that search had been hampered by cynicism thanks to how badly she’d been hurt.
“Every online match isn’t a fail,” said Frankie.
“You gonna tell that to Mitch?” Stef teased.
“Uh, no, and I’m removing him from the site.”
She did that while they waited for their desserts—lavender cupcakes, the restaurant’s specialty.
“Too bad Mitch is too old for me,” said Stef as she watched his profile disappear. “I’d take him in a heartbeat.”
“You’re right. He’s not the one for you. But I know there is someone. He might even be here in Carol.”
“I doubt it. I think I’ve dated every single man within a twenty-mile radius. Love shouldn’t be so hard,” Stef said with a sigh. “Trying to find the right person is like looking for a needle in a haystack.”
“Or finding a needle in a Christmas tree,” quipped Frankie.
Although it really wasn’t funny. There were a lot of good people out there looking for someone with whom they could share a life. It didn’t seem right that it was so hard to do.
“Maybe I’ll write a feature about dating for theClarion,” mused Stef. “I’ll title it ‘Looking for a Needle in a Christmas Tree.’”
“Or ‘Where’s Santa When You Need Him?’” Frankie suggested.
