Her Best Match: A Romantic Comedy (The Best Girls Book 1) by Tamie Dearen Read Free Book Online

social calendar. I don’t see how he has time to be lonely.”
    “Now you know being busy has nothing to do with finding meaningful relationships. You have Gary. Think how it’d be if you had to make appearances in public all the time, but you didn’t have Gary in your life. You’d be very lonely.”
    “Wow, you’re right. I never thought about it that way. You really are great at understanding people, Anne.”
    “Thanks, Katie. I can’t think of a nicer compliment.” Anne contemplated her plan to alleviate her boss’ desolate state. She took a deep breath and turned to Katie. “Now let’s get to work on my training. I have a lot to learn if I want to keep this job longer than three months.”
     
     
    *****
     
     
    Emily appeared skeptical, even on the Skype screen. “Wow Mom, you seem to have been pretty busy for only five days in New York. That’s one couple you’ve already gotten together, and several more in the making. In fact, you seem to be doing a lot of meddling, but have you done any work?”
    “Emily, how can you ask that? You know I don’t meddle. I just intervene a bit. These New Yorkers don’t seem to be able to find each other without a little help. There are just too many people here—they get confused.” Anne felt a pang of homesickness. “It’s so good to hear your voice. I really miss you. And I miss hearing a Texas accent. Everyone around here teases me about my accent and acts like they’ve never heard y’all or fixin’ to in their whole lives.”
    “Well, don’t let them hear you talking to Grandpa. When you two are talking, you sound so countrified, and you say things like get foundered and cattywhomperjawed and bust my buttons .” Emily giggled while Anne looked affronted.
    “No I don’t.”
    “Mom.”
    “Okay. Maybe I do that a bit, but it’s not that bad, is it?”
    “No Mom, I just think your work colleagues may be a bit too sophisticated to handle your Texas country talk in addition to your drawl.”
    “Well, they’ll just have to tough it out. I’m too old to learn to talk a new way. You know what they say about old dogs.”
    “At least you need to watch how you talk around Steven Gherring. Did you say he’ll be in the office tomorrow?”
    “Yes, but I don’t seem to be very good at holding my tongue around that man. Something about him just makes me lose my temper.” Anne felt somewhat guilty she hadn’t told her daughters about meeting Mr. Gherring on Friday. But the whole experience had been so awkward she didn’t want to explain it. Besides, he would be so much easier to deal with once she found him a perfect match. “I think he’s just lonely.”
    “Why would you think that, Mom?”
    “Well, I’ve been doing some Internet research and asking questions at work. Steven Gherring is extremely driven. He works long hours and travels a lot. He’s been photographed with a variety of beautiful women who accompanied him to social events. But the gossip columns only have short-lived rumors about romances.
    “He never seems to be seen with any woman more than once, except for his grandmother. And he’s totally devoted to her. She’s an extraordinary woman, ninety-five years old. She’s done interviews and talk shows, and has said she refuses to die until she sees her grandson happily married.”
    Emily laughed. “She sounds great. Does she live in the city, too?”
    “No, that’s the sad part. She lives in a small town about four hours from here. She’s his only family, as far as I can tell, and he only gets to see her about once a month.”
    “Okay, I can see where he might be a little lonely. He’s never been married?”
    “No, but I think he was engaged once, about five years ago. There was talk of a wedding and speculation about where it would take place. But I couldn’t find any information about the break-up. Maybe she died. I don’t know. He manages to keep his life pretty private. I found out most of my info from the