Maybe I do need to go out. Maybe I do need to meet someone.
The way I was all hot and bothered today by a complete stranger? It tells me something. It tells me I’m more ready to start dating than I would have guessed. And when I get over the shock of that realization, I decide to go with it.
“Okay,” I mutter.
“First of all, you’re lonely. You need to—Wait. What?”
“Okay,” I say. “Choose someone and set it up. I’ll go out.”
“On a date.”
“Yes, on a dang date…what are we even talking about?”
“I’m just…I’m a little thrown. You’ve been anti-dating since the first time I brought it up. You were a massive pain in the ass when I set up those two dates in the spring.”
“Well, I guess I wasn’t ready yet.”
“And now you are?”
I shrug, grateful that talking to my sister has proved to be the perfect antidote to my body’s erstwhile condition. Feeling back to normal now, I open my door and step out of the car, grabbing my uniform jacket and hat from the passenger seat.
“Not totally, but…yeah. Sort of. Enough.”
“What changed?”
“Nothing,” I say a little too quickly. “Just…a season for everything, right?”
“And a time for every purpose under heaven,” she finishes, her voice a trifle wistful. “Mama loved Ecclesiastes.”
“Yes, she did.” I slam the driver’s door with my hip as I shrug into my jacket. “So, go ahead. Set me up on a date. Send me the details. I’m game.”
“Sweet!” she cries. “Friday.”
“Wait. Tomorrow night?” Does my sister ever take a breath? Why am I even surprised she had this all set up before I said yes?
“Yep! Tomorrow night,” she says. “Send the kids over to me at six. I’ll give them dinner and they can stay over. Meet her in the lobby of the Northstar at seven, okay?”
“A hotel lobby?” I ask, fixing my hat on my head as I walk up to the front door of the training building. “Might that send the wrong message?”
“She chose the place. Remember, she’s from out of town. Odds are Good markets itself to women in the Lower 48. My guess is that’s where she’s staying. Oh! And her name’s Amanda.”
Amanda. Hmm. I like it. Traditional. Appealing. Not too fancy. Not too citified. Just a nice, sweet, steady girl. Amanda. Yep. I like it a lot.
“Sounds good. Seven o’clock, right?”
“Mm-hm. She’ll be sitting in the lobby, in front of the fireplace, wearing jeans and a white sweater.”
Oh, man, this is getting real. My heart’s starting to race.
“Got it. Amanda at the fireplace in white.”
“Oh, my God! Is this actually happening? Luke, I’m so excited for you!” says my sister, her voice rising a full octave.
I’m smiling, but I don’t let her know it. “Anything else I need to know?”
“Umm…no, I—yes, actually!”
“What?”