Free Point, Click, Love by Molly Shapiro Page B

house.”
    “You look pretty.”
    “Thanks, Maggie.”
    “Is Daddy going with you?”
    “No, honey. Daddy’s not coming.” By now Katie was used to these types of questions from her kids. It wasn’t as if they hoped their parents would get back together, it was more a curiosity about the boundaries of their relationship.
    “Daddy’s never seen you like that.”
    Katie stopped and looked at her daughter. “Yes, he has. He’s seen me like this many times.” On second thought, maybe the kids were determined to see their parents reconcile.
    Katie regularly checked in with her kids about how they were feeling about the family situation. “So, how do you think this whole divorce thing is going?” she’d ask. Frank would immediately respond, “Good!” and Maggie would chime in, “We like it this way!” Sometimes they would list all the pros of having divorced parents, like two homes, two sets of toys, and being able to have a dog at Daddy’s house. But Katie wondered if they were simply giving her the responses that she so desperately wanted to hear. She wondered if her kids really did wish for a more traditional home life.
    E d had asked Katie if he could pick her up at her house but obliged when she said it would probably be best if they met at the restaurant. He had chosen one of the most expensive restaurants in Kansas City, a place Katie had never been before.
    Katie was fifteen minutes early, so she told the hostess she would wait at the bar. She decided to order a cosmopolitan to help her relax. Because she hadn’t eaten the entire day, two sips were all it took to make her feel light-headed and happy. She told herself it didn’t matter what happened with Ed. The important thingwas that she had finally worked up the courage to go out on a date with a man.
    She watched the door as couples arrived and were shown to their tables, until, promptly at seven-thirty, Ed walked in.
    Katie recognized the piercing blue eyes and the ruddy complexion, but other than that he looked completely different than his online photos. He had much less hair a slightly bigger belly, and appeared shorter than the five foot eleven he had written in his profile. Still, he looked dapper in his dark-blue suit and pink tie, so Katie decided to overlook the discrepancies.
    “You must be Katie,” said Ed as he walked over to the bar. He took her hand gently and gave her a light kiss on each cheek. He had a nice smile, and his eyes crinkled in a way that made Katie smile back. She decided to focus on those eyes, welcoming and seductive, and not too much on the balding head and protruding belly.
    “You’re even more beautiful than your pictures,” said Ed, and Katie took the compliment happily, not caring that she couldn’t say the same to him. She couldn’t remember the last time a man had called her beautiful.
    When Katie had first separated from Rob, she was so distraught over the collapse of her marriage that she couldn’t bring herself to eat. For weeks, she had to force herself to eat the minimal amount she needed to survive—a handful of nuts, a slice of cheese, an apple. Soon she found herself with a body as trim and light as the one she had in high school. Losing those extra pounds also gave her an abundance of energy, so she went to the gym regularly, which helped her get her appetite back. As a result, she was muscular, fit, and eating better than she ever had. She looked good, and her date with Ed was the first time she was able to take her new body out for a spin.
    They were seated at an intimate table for two, a single votivecandle glowing in the center. Katie’s first cosmo worked so nicely, she ordered another when the waitress came around.
    “So, Katie,” said Ed. “I hope you don’t mind me asking, but what are you looking for from Match.com?”
    Katie hadn’t prepared for this type of question. She felt like a contestant on The Bachelor , being asked if she was “there for the right reasons.” Katie had