Free While We Were Watching Downton Abbey by Wendy Wax

significant others now online.”
    “Really?” Claire said, her tone dry. “And here I thought I could just mosey on into a bar, drink too much, pick up someone, and live happily ever after.”
    “Isn’t that how you met Dad?”
    There was a silence.
    “There are some really great sites, Mom. I could set up your profile for you if you want.”
    “No, Hailey,” she said as clearly as she could. “I appreciate you wanting to help, but no.”
    “Well, then you at least have to try to make some friends there. Maybe you could join some sort of organization. Or do volunteer work. I bet there are some people in the building you’d like.”
    “I appreciate your concern, Hailey, but I don’t need you to orchestrate my social life or find friends for me.”
    “Yes, you do.”
    “I’ve only been here a week,” Claire protested. “And I don’t have any problem with my own company.”
    Hailey gave her a teenaged version of “humpf.” “Have you seen anyone in the building who looks interesting?”
    “I met someone just the other day.” She thought about the red-haired woman with the children and the dog that had plowed her down. She’d recognized the harried look in the woman’s eyes. Claire had worn one very like it for most of Hailey’s toddler and elementary school years.
    “Maybe you should go to some activity or something.” There was the sound of fingers clattering on a keyboard. “I’m on the building’s website.” More clattering. “Hey, the concierge has posted a calendar for residents. He’s going to be previewing the first two seasons of
Downton Abbey
, Mom. There are a ton of people here on campus who are in love with the series. It’s kind of an Edwardian England soap opera with really great clothes and cool accents that was filmed in a real castle.”
    Claire vaguely remembered seeing an invitation in her mailbox, but did she really want to go watch a television show with a group of strangers when she had her very own brand-new flat-screen TV right here? “I don’t need to go to a formal screening. If I want to see the series I can get it from Netflix or download it. Or, I don’t know, my fabulous daughter could give me the DVD for Christmas.”
    “Mom,” Hailey said as if talking to a child. “The point isn’t that you have to see the series, although it sounds totally up your alley—I mean, you do write historical fiction. The point is it’s an opportunity to meet people you might like. I’m sure it’ll be mostly women. How bad could it be to spend an hour once a week with a group of women from your building?
    “What was it you used to tell me practically every day of my life?” Hailey asked pointedly.
    A smile tugged at Claire’s lips. “That you have to put yourself in the right place. That things don’t just happen without effort,” Claire said as she had so many times during Hailey’s angst-filled teenage years. They had been words to live by, but she hadn’t imagined having them turned on her.
    “You need new friends,” her daughter said. “This is exactly the kind of situation where you might make some.”
    “Honestly, Hailey. This is ridiculous. I don’t need you managing my life.”
    “Just trying to return the favor,” Hailey replied crisply. “I say you go tonight and make an effort to meet people or . . .”
    “Or what?” Claire asked.
    “Or I’m going to post your profile to every dating site I can think of.”
    “That’s blackmail,” Claire observed.
    “Kind of.”
    “There’s no ‘kind of’ about it,” Claire protested. “When did you get so bossy?”
    “Well, my mother taught me that sometimes you do have to lead the horse to water and make him drink.”
    “I’m not a horse.”
    “No,” Hailey conceded. “But you are kind of acting like a horse’s ass about this.”
    “I am not. I just . . .”
    “I know.” Hailey’s voice turned softer. “I know it’s not all that easy to start over. Especially at your