Free Burned in Broken Hearts Junction: A Cozy Matchmaker Mystery (Cozy Matchmaker Mystery Series) by Meg Muldoon Page A

reason to get out of it. It was hard to think of one. Nowhere to go. No one to see.
    The most I had to look forward to today was three Advil and a glass of orange juice.
    So I just sat there, kept thinking, until suddenly my phone buzzed on the night stand.
    My heart jumped in my throat, thinking it might be Jacob.
    Hoping that it was.
    Praying that it was.
    It wasn’t.
    It was a text message from Beth Lynn.
    Any luck yet? :-)
    I let out a great big old sigh.
    Speaking of regrets, I was pretty sure that I was going to regret agreeing to help Beth Lynn find her soulmate.
    But for the time being, it was giving me the reason I needed to get out of bed this morning.
     

 
    Chapter 19
     
    Embarking on a soulmate search was never easy.
    In fact, it could be a real tedious, pain-in-the-ass.
    It took time. Time, patience, and above all, a little luck. Save for the time part, the rest of those I was short on these days.
    I had given Beth Lynn my word that I would look. And despite the fact that she probably didn’t deserve my help, she, like everybody, deserved to have a chance at happiness.
    This would be the last one, I told myself. The last match I’d make. After this, I was calling it quits, once and for all. No matter what visions came my way.
    I had never asked for them. And if I never had one again, I’d be perfectly happy. 
    I took a shower and drank two cups of coffee. The headache was still there, but I was going to have to take what I could get after the amount I drank the day before.
    I got dressed, grabbed my car keys and Hank’s leash before finishing the last of my coffee and heading out the door.
    I was going to have to look for another job soon.
    But for now, I’d just as soon pretend like I was still on my weekend.
     

 
    Chapter 20
     
    I admit it. I’d been going seven over the speed limit.
    Okay, maybe 10 over the limit.
    But whatever I’d been going, I knew it wasn’t the reason the police officer in the faded Broken Hearts Junction Police Department car was signaling me to pull over.
    I slowed and rolled the truck off to the shoulder, next to a patch of juniper. The cop car followed, the red and blue lights flashing behind me.
    I turned off the engine and watched him get out of the car.
    “Jesus,” I muttered under my breath.
    He slowly sauntered up to the truck, and I rolled down the window with a heavy, reluctant hand. Hank started barking from the passenger side.
    He never did care much for Raymond.
    “This is a pathetic way to get my attention,” I said leaning my head out the window.
    “You were going 15 miles over just now,” he said. “It’s my duty to enforce the traffic laws of this city.”
    “You know damn well that’s not why you stopped me,” I said.
    Raymond pulled out his leather notepad from his jacket pocket and started writing what I presumed was a ticket.
    “Aw, c’mon,” I said. “You’re not really going to do that, are you?”
    “Just because we had a recent past doesn’t mean you get special treatment,” he said. “How would it look if I let you off after breaking the law?”
    “If I were anybody else, you would’ve let me drive right past,” I said. “I’m getting the opposite of special treatment here.”
    “Well you can take that up with the county if you want,” he said. “But I wouldn’t bet on them being too lenient. They’re cracking down on speeders.”
    I bit my lip and shook my head angrily.
    “You’re a vengeful son of a—”
    “Who’s that man who drove you home yesterday?” he asked, not looking up from the notepad.
    I raised my eyebrows.
    “Excuse me?” I said.
    “I was just passing by your house yesterday. I heard about you losing your job and thought maybe you’d want to talk. But by all appearances, I got there too late.”  
    He looked away, and I detected a hint of jealousy behind his eyes.
    Jealousy that he had no right having, given the fact that we’d broken up months earlier. And that we’d barely dated to