Matched with the Doctor (Lunchtime Romcoms #1)

4. Prologue – Mary

Prologue – Mary

“ Y oo hoo!”

I smiled as my friend Bianca let herself into my kitchen via the back door. We’d been friends and neighbors for more than fifty years now and we didn’t stand on formality.

“I made us some coffee,” I said, nodding at the serving pot I’d placed on the kitchen table.

“I brought cannoli.”

Bianca and I got together every Saturday morning to catch up on all the gossip in our small town of Cedar Creek. We were both too busy with our jobs to see each other that often during the week, although we texted a few times a day.

We settled at the kitchen table, fixing our coffees before I spoke. I leaned forward and announced dramatically, “I have a great idea.”

“You’ve been saying that since we were in kindergarten,” she reminded me with a big smile.

It was true. We were both five years old when Bianca’s parents purchased the house next to ours. As soon as I’d seen her playing in the front yard I marched over and said, “I have a great idea. You and I are going to be best friends now.”

I’d started many a conversation like that over the years, although some of them had led to one or both of us getting in trouble, especially in our teenage years when my ‘great ideas’ tended to be about things like sneaking out with boys or sneaking into a bar.

“What’s your great idea?” Bianca prompted.

“I’ve been thinking about the kids. It’s obvious to me that none of them are ever going to get married,” I said. “None of them are even dating anyone seriously. We will never be grandparents at this rate.”

Bianca shook her head sadly.

“I don’t understand these kids today,” Bianca said. “They’re all in their thirties. We were both married with a couple of kids each by their age.”

Right after college Bianca and I fell in love with two brothers, and we had a beautiful double wedding about eighteen months later. We were all from the area so staying in Cedar Creek was a given. Our husbands went into business together and we raised our families together just like Bianca and I dreamed about when we were kids.

“I’m done waiting. I’ve decided that you and I are going to take matters into our own hands.”

“How?” Bianca asked.

“I’m glad you asked.”

I unrolled a giant piece of paper and spread it out on the kitchen table. I’d written the name of our kids down the left side. Between me and Bianca we had nine of them.

“We’re going into matchmaker mode,” I told her.

We’d fixed up several of our friends over the years and had a one hundred percent success rate. Really, we should have used our talents to help our kids years ago. Waiting for them to find their own partners had been a big mistake.

“I’ve decided that we know what’s best for them anyway, so we are going to come up with lists of potential matches for each of our kids, then we’ll figure out a way to get them together,” I explained. “Or if they already know each other and can’t get out of their own way, then we’ll figure out a way to make them fall in love.”

Bianca rubbed her hands together. “I love this idea.”

“I knew you would,” I smirked. “If we play our cards right, we should be having some grandbabies coming along by this time next year.”

“We should get started right away,” Bianca said. “Colleen and Tara are getting way too close to forty for my comfort.”

Colleen was my oldest daughter and Tara was Bianca’s.

“The most important thing is that we can’t say a word to anyone,” I reminded Bianca. “The husbands will give us a hard time and the kids will dig their heels in if they think we’re involved in any way. We’re going to need to be stealthy.”

“Agreed.”

“Okay, let’s get started then,” I said. “I already have someone in mind for Colleen. You’ll never guess who I ran into the other day…”