Curvy Valentine Match

Mara bit back a laugh and shook her head. “You’re being ridiculous Joss, you know that, right? If Ben had any interest in those women he wouldn’t be scanning the crowd in search of someone to save him.”

My gaze followed her finger and sure enough, he was looking around for assistance. “It doesn’t matter. Tonight was the perfect chance for him to make his interest known, the fact that he didn’t tells me everything I’ve been ignoring for months.” For almost a year, because it hadn’t taken me long to develop a crush on him after I started working at PHS and he’d shown an interest in the suddenly winning Varsity girls soccer team.

“So, that’s it? Crush over?”

I gave a sharp, exaggerated nod. “It’ll take some time, but yeah, that’s it.” If I waited any longer, the situation threatened to become sad. Pathetic. Depressing. “It’s time to move on, to do what I set out to do when I moved here and took this job.”

Mara turned to me, curiosity burning in her big brown eyes. “Does that mean you’re finally going to reach out to your brothers?”

“Half brothers,” I corrected and nodded. “But yes. I’m going to actively look for love and I’m going to meet my brothers. Not necessarily in that order.”

“Sounds like you have a plan.”

“No, making a plan, is as far as my plan has gotten.” And it had only crystallized when my crush looked at me like I was a fool for thinking he might be asking me out on a date.

“You know there is a well-known matchmaking service in town with a pretty good reputation for, you know, helping people find love.”

Time for Love. They had an excellent reputation in Pilgrim and beyond, and it was probably the best chance someone like me had for finding a good match.

“That’s a great idea, Mara. Hey! Maybe we could do this together and we’ll both find love?”

Mara scoffed as I knew she would. “Pass.” There was no venom in her words, but everything from the set of her shoulders to the straight white line of her mouth told me she meant her words.

“Why? You’re single and beautiful.” Despite her acerbic wit and dark good looks, Mara hadn’t been on a single date in the year and some months we’d been friends. “What’s the big deal?”

“There’s no big deal,” she said, but I noticed Mara kept her gaze on the football field, clapping as if she was paying attention to the action on the field. “I tried love once and it bit me in the ass in the most spectacular fashion. I have no interest in feeling that way again.”

I understood her reluctance, the humiliation that still burned through me was enough to make me want to hide under the covers for a week, but I wasn’t ready to give up. Not yet. “You have no interest in feeling in love, or the feeling when love doesn’t work out?”

“Both. I don’t want to love someone so completely again, and that wouldn’t be fair to the other person, so here we are.”

“But you’ll help me?”

“Of course, I will. Don’t you want fashion tips from the woman who lives in jeans and t-shirts?”

I looked down at myself and frowned. “I dress in jeans and t-shirts most days,” I insisted.

“And you were just complaining that you can’t compete with those women. Personally, I think you’re miles better than them, but you clearly don’t, which means you need real help. The kind Sophie and Eva and Olive can give you.”

“Okay fine,” I groaned. “You can give me moral support, right?”

“Abso-friggin-lutely.” It wasn’t exactly the answer I was hoping for, but from Mara, it meant she’d have my back throughout all of this, which was all I needed.

“Thanks, Mara.” I wrapped her in a hug that was more uncomfortable than it should have been thanks to our layers against the chilly evening.

“Yeah, yeah. You’re welcome.” The woman was uncomfortable with any kind of emotion, and for some reason it only made me love her friendship and support even more. “Let’s not get crazy about it.”

Crazy was moving to a small town in a state I’d never been to, just to meet two half-brothers I never knew about, and who probably knew nothing about me. They probably didn’t give a damn that I existed. But I was here and determined to see my plans through, which meant Time for Love.

And Tulip.

Eventually.

Ben

Nothing was better than a home cooked meal, except of course when the meal featured all of my favorite foods. It was yet another Sunday dinner at my mom’s house, the same house where me and my sisters grew up, with the same pine dining table that took up the entire dining room. The table was set the way it always was, the only difference was that the usually empty seats were now filled with brothers-in-law, nieces and nephews. And because of all the additional seats being filled, dinner was a much louder affair.