Free Blue Heart Blessed by Susan Meissner

polite, single Christian man with money.
    Does that mean he met the right girl some time ago but she died? Or he met someone who he thought was the right girl but she dumped him? Maybe he dumped her.
    Maybe he’s never dated. Maybe he’s never kissed anyone. Maybe he’s kissed lots of girls. Maybe he’s a lousy kisser. Maybe he’s too picky. Maybe he wants perfection and he’s never been able to find it.
    Maybe that’s why he only asked me five questions and then turned to Kellen. He probably thinks if he can’t be won over in five questions, there is no point in going on to number six.
    And to top it off, Max and Mia were sitting across from me the whole time, joking and chatting like they’re old friends. Or newlyweds.
    I could barely eat my General Tsao’s Chicken.
    I feel like I’ve been rejected. And by a man I didn’t even want to sit by.
    This is sick. I wanted the RSM to want me so that I could fend off his advances. And I don’t want Max to want me but I don’t want him to want Mia. Or anyone else. He’s my Max.
    Sick, sick, sick.
    I have Sleepless in Seattle waiting in the DVD player and I can’t seem to press play.
    I wish Father Laurent didn’t go to bed so early.
    I wish my dad were here.
    I miss Daniel. I miss having someone to love.
    And having someone to love me.

    Dear Daisy,
    If I were going to give you advice, this is what I would say: No man worth having drops a woman minutes after meeting her on the basis of five questions. If the RSM is indeed a decent guy, he no doubt picked up on your I-really-don’t-want-to-be-here signals and was politely letting you off the hook. You might want to think about who did the rejecting first.
    Max is not yours. You don’t love Max in a romantic way. He’s nearing his thirtieth birthday just like you are and he surely wants to spend his life with someone who finds him irresistible, just like you do. Stand in the way of that and you will lose a good friend.
    Yes, Father Laurent is sleeping at the moment, and yes, you still mourn the loss of your dad, but you are not left without a Father. Skip the movie and go to down to that little chapel you are so keen about and pour out your woes to someone whose advice you will listen to, since you don’t want to listen to any from me.
    That’s what I would say if you had wanted my advice tonight.
    But you don’t.
    Harriet

Fourteen
    W ant to hear a love story? It’s actually the story of two loves. It’s my favorite love story. I never get tired thinking about it. Or imagining that sometime something like it might happen to me.
    Once upon a time there were two best friends named Chloe and L’Raine. They had grown up in a farming community in southern Minnesota and spent their high school years wearing bobby socks and saddle shoes, listening to Tommy Dorsey and dreaming about moving to the city and going to college to become teachers. Chloe was tall and had hair the color of chestnuts and L’Raine was blond and petite. They had known each other all their lives. They knew each other’s deepest hopes and desires.
    After high school, Chloe and L’Raine shared a dorm room at St. Olaf College near Minneapolis. They joined the choir because they both loved music. One evening, in early November of their freshman year, they had to meet up with the choir at a church north of the Twin Cities for a concert. Chloe and L’Raine had to leave later than the rest because they were volunteering at an after-school program and couldn’t leave with the rest of the choir. They didn’t have a car, so they were wondering how they were going to get there when they found out two other choir members would be leaving later and they had room in their car. The two other choir members were music majors. They were also brothers. Twin brothers. And their names were Owen and Warren Murien.
    Owen and Warren had grown up in the Iron Range in northern Minnesota. Their father taught band at the local high school where they were raised and