Dating for Two. Marie Ferrarella

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      About to walk out of the kitchen, Steve remained where he was and lowered his voice. He didn’t want Jason to overhear.

      Once he began talking, Cecilia understood why.

      “I’m not cut out for this anymore,” Steve confided in her.

      The man was handsome, intelligent and sensitive. If ever a man belonged out in the dating world, looking for his soul mate, it was Steve.

      “But why?” she asked sympathetically, her manner quietly urging him to unburden himself.

      “All the women I’ve gone out with in these past few months have been very attractive. Not only that, but for the most part, they were also smart, funny, motivated career women,” Steve told her.

      So far, there seemed to be no problem. However, she was well aware that life was seldom just smooth, untroubled sailing.

      “But?” Cecilia supplied the missing word she could hear in his voice.

      Steve flashed a weary smile. “But as soon as they knew I had a son, they all reacted in one of three ways. Some were upset that I even had a son and ended the evening, saying there was no future for us. Others equated having children with being fitted with chains, something they made clear they wanted no part of. And the ones who were open to the idea of kids equated having a child with having a cute pet—not the way I view Jason,” he told her with feeling.

      Steve sighed and confessed, “Absolutely none of these women were even remotely what I’d consider to be ‘mother material.’ I guess when I entered the dating arena, my situation was rather unique.” Before she could ask him what he meant by that, he told her. “I’m not just dating to date—I’m actually dating for two. Any woman I see socially has to be willing to not just see me but to take Jason into consideration, as well. He’s part of my life. A very big part of my life,” he said, looking over his shoulder at the boy, who was now deeply engrossed in his game. “Since none of the women seemed willing to see it that way, I’ve decided to take an indefinite break from dating.” And then a smile filtered into his eyes and he said, “Unless, of course, you’d like to go out with me. Tell me, Cecilia, what are you doing for the rest of your life?”

      Cecilia laughed and shook her head. “Getting older, dear,” she replied, patting his cheek, “but that was a very sweet, ego-boosting thought on your part and I’m flattered.”

      She paused for a moment, debating something. She looked over toward Jason. The boy was lying on his stomach, ignoring everything around him and focused completely on the learning video on the monitor. His thumbs were all but flying across the controller in his hands.

      When Steve had opened the refrigerator, she’d had occasion to look in. It hadn’t been a promising picture. Which was what prompted her now to ask, “When was the last time you had a home-cooked meal?”

      “That all depends,” he replied.

      That was a strange answer, Cecilia thought. “On what?”

      Steve grinned. He would have been the first to admit that while he was very successful in his chosen field and liked to dabble in a number of different “hobbies,” cooking was definitely not among them, unless burning food could be considered a hobby.

      “On how broad a definition of the term home-cooked you mean. If you mean a frozen dinner warmed up in my home microwave, then my answer is yesterday. If, by chance, you mean something out of the oven that didn’t come out of a package from the frozen section of the grocery store, then my answer would have to be the last time my mom came to visit, three months ago.”

      Cecilia nodded. “That’s what I thought. Let me see what I can come up with,” she told him. She pushed up the sleeves of her blouse and opened the refrigerator again.

      Granted, he was hungry, but there was such a thing as imposing and he didn’t want to ruin the relationship he had with this woman. He liked talking to her.

      “I can’t have you do that,” Steve protested, stepping in front of her and attempting to close the refrigerator again.

      She cheerfully moved him aside and got back to foraging. “Consider it a bonus for being such a good client.”

      Maizie, Cecilia thought as she got down to business, was going to love this guy.

      * * *

      “What’s his name again?” Maizie asked that evening as she, Cecilia and Theresa got together.

      It was an impromptu meeting. Cecilia had called both of her best friends the second she had gotten into her car. She’d just left Steve raving about the casserole she had made out of the odds and ends that she had found in his refrigerator and his pantry. Even Jason had been moved to say something positive after being made to pause his game and come to the table to eat.

      At that point she was feeling particularly good about the plan forming in her head.

      All she needed was help from “the girls.”

      They met at Maizie’s house within the hour.

      Maizie was currently sitting in front of her laptop, ready to try to get as much information as she could about this potential candidate that Cecilia felt seemed overdue to find love again.

      “His name is Steven Kendall,” Cecilia told her, then spelled out his name carefully.

      “You know him—do you think that Steven might have a page up on Facebook?” Maizie asked, already pulling up the site.

      “I don’t know about Facebook,” Cecilia replied. “He seems friendly enough, but he is a rather private person when he’s not working.”

      “What does he do?” Theresa asked.

      “He’s a lawyer specializing in business litigation and—” Cecilia got no further.

      “A lawyer?” Maizie echoed. It wasn’t so much a question as it was a triumphant declaration. “That means he’s probably got a photo and a profile online with his law firm.”

      Pulling up a popular search engine, Maizie lost no time rapidly typing in the man’s name. She leaned back in her chair as Steve’s photograph and minibio came up on screen. She was clearly impressed.

      She emitted a low whistle and said, “Not bad, Cecilia. Not bad at all.”

      Curious, Theresa leaned in over Maizie’s shoulder to get a look at the man. “Not bad? If I were ten years younger, I’d give him a tumble myself.” She glanced up to see the skeptical, amused looks on both of her friends’ faces. “Oh, all right, twenty years,” Theresa corrected.

      “Better.” Maizie laughed. “Besides, I’ve already got someone for him,” she told Theresa as well as Cecilia. When Cecilia had called her, she hadn’t had a chance to tell either of her friends about Erin O’Brien yet, but she quickly filled in the details now.

      Finishing, she looked back at the lawyer Cecilia had brought to her attention. Her smile was wide and infinitely hopeful. “If you ask me, this seems like a match made in heaven. She’s a toymaker who loves children and he’s a widower with a child who by definition loves toys. It doesn’t get any better than this.”

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