Free Dating for Two (Matchmaking Mamas) by Marie Ferrarella

the shoulder that had begun to rise.
    “I didn’t really notice. He was tall, dark haired with really green eyes and he was around thirty-three, maybe thirty-four.”
    Eleanor inclined her head, not bothering to hide her wide smile. “Not bad for not noticing.”
    She was not about to go down without a fight. “I have an eye for detail. Sue me.”
    “More lawyer talk,” Eleanor enthused, her eyes sparkling like her daughter’s were capable of doing when she was caught up with something.
    “Mother, you’re hopeless!” Erin cried, bordering on exasperation.
    Blessing Maizie silently in her head, Eleanor did her best not to come across as too eager as she asked, “So when are you seeing him again?”
    “What do you mean, ‘again’?” Erin stopped pretending to type—because at this point, her mind was not on her toys. Her mother’s question indicated that she knew about the casual café stop. “How did you know?” she asked suspiciously.
    Eleanor was instantly intrigued. “How did I know what?” Her enthusiasm was building by the moment. She was going to take Maizie out for the best meal of her life if this ended up with her daughter finally giving up her single status. “You’ve already seen him?”
    Belatedly, she realized that her mother wasn’t talking about the café—how could she be? Her mother was a great many things, but clairvoyant was not one of them.
    “Well, yes, in the classroom,” Erin said, doing her best to backtrack.
    But it was too late to attempt to cover anything up. She could tell by looking at her mother’s expression. Eleanor had always been extremely good at reading between the lines.
    “That’s not what you meant and you know it. Erin Sinead O’Brien, give me a little credit. I’m your mother. I know when you’re not telling the truth.”
    There was no point in trying to deny it. Besides, it was harmless, right? She was never going to see the man again.
    Even so, Erin closed her eyes and sighed. “We just went out for coffee after we gave our talks. Please don’t make a big deal out of it, Mom, because it wasn’t.”
    “Erin, you haven’t been out with a man in three years, not since you started up this company. Let me cherish this crumb for a brief moment.”
    She really didn’t want her mother to get her hopes up—nothing was going to come of it.
    “There’s nothing to cherish, Mother. He’s a very nice man who said he had a little extra time and wanted to know if I’d join him for a cup of coffee. When he mentioned French pastries, I decided why not? That’s all there was to it. You’re making too much of it.”
    Eleanor appeared not to hear her protest. Instead, she asked, “What’s his name?”
    “Why, so you can start sending out wedding invitations?” Erin challenged.
    “So I’d know how to refer to him,” Eleanor corrected, then grinned as she said, “but that sounds pretty good, too.”
    Erin felt as if she had one foot caught in the stirrup of a galloping horse. She had to find a way to stop her mother before someone got hurt—or trampled, she thought sarcastically.
    “You don’t need to know how to refer to him, Mom, because there’s not going to be anything to refer to him about.” Gritting her teeth, she went through it one more time. “He was just a nice man who got roped into giving a talk to his son’s class, same as me.”
    Eleanor picked up on an important point. “So he has a son.”
    Too late Erin realized her slip. “Brilliant deduction, Mom. Will you please stop playing detective and trying to make this into something it’s not?” she pleaded. “I’ve got a presentation to get ready.”
    “You’re giving a speech in another classroom?” her mother asked hopefully.
    Erin didn’t even attempt a denial. Instead she just stated the fact as it was.
    “A presentation to a representative of a toy-store chain.” Maybe if she told her mother how important this was, she would cease and desist trying to pair her off with