“Do you like her?”
“She’s really sweet,” said Anne. “I like her a lot.”
“She’s keeping the location of her job confidential with her daughters,” said Steven. “Her story is she got a private nursing job, which is true. And I’ll make sure she gets a great reference for her next job.”
“But Spencer knows?” Emily asked.
“Spencer’s in the loop. He helped us get everything set up with his mother. And he’s the one who warned me about...” His words stopped abruptly.
“Warned you about what?” asked Anne.
“Uhmm... about... his family... being so close and all. That it might be good to keep his sisters in the dark.”
“I thought that was Connie’s idea,” said Anne.
“Uhmm, yes, they were thinking along the same lines.”
“So what’s for dinner?”
“I ordered food to be delivered, so your mom doesn’t have to smell it cooking. Some pastas and salad.” He turned to Anne. “I’m hoping you might be able to stomach some pasta with or without sauce.”
“Maybe.” She scrunched up her nose.
“So Mom, I’m going to an art class tomorrow night.”
“Really? That sounds fun. How did you hear about it?”
“I’m going with Grace. That’s Spencer’s oldest sister.”
“So, does this mean you’re getting closer to Spencer?”
“Lay off, Mom. He’s really nice and all, but he’s a player. You told me so yourself.”
“I said that? I think what I said was there are always girls hanging around him.” She cocked her head to the side. “So what do these sisters look like?”
“Well three of them are tall—taller than me. And Grace, the oldest one is short. She only comes up to here.” She held her hand up to her chin.
“You know, it’s possible some of the girls I saw hanging around were his sisters.”
“Oh... Well Grace made a comment about him having a lot of female friends. I guess she could have been teasing, but he didn’t deny it.” She paused, pursing her lips. “Maybe I’ll find out the real truth from Grace.”
“That’s a good idea—he’s been so sweet.”
“Yes, but we’re only friends, Mom. Don’t push.”
“I’m not,” Anne said innocently. “But I’m trying to find a match for him. Remember? One of my nurses was about the right age. Tall and thin. Pretty. Maybe she’d be a good match.”
She felt a small knot in her stomach. “I don’t think he’d like to date a nurse. They wouldn’t have anything in common.”
“She said she liked doing outdoors stuff. They might have that in common.”
“Oh.” Emily was irritated. And her irritation irritated her even more. “Well, I still think he’s not interested right now.”
“We’ll see… I’m sure Connie will be helpful. And we’ll be together eight hours a day. I don’t know why you’re doubting my abilities. I have a pretty good track record.”
Steven grinned. “Let’s see... How many different women did you consider as my possible mate?”
“Okay, I didn’t do so well with you. But that’s because you kept messing with my mind.”