Chapter 10 ~ He Has To Be Comfortable In Jeans

Grace used her fork as it were an artist’s tool, moving the pieces to her spinach salad around hoping to find the perfect configuration. She moved a walnut next to pecan, then placed a small piece of avocado on top of them.
Jane looked at her, “I thought you loved spinach salad. You haven’t touched your wine. You need to eat something. What’s bothering you?”
Grace looked up at Jane. She gave her a half-hearted smile, shrugged her shoulders, “I guess I’m not hungry. Nothing is bothering me.”
“For eleven ninety-five for a lunch salad I hope you’ll eat it. Come on girl, let’s talk about it. I know you and I know when something is bothering you.”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” said Grace staring at her salad.
“I already know what’s bothering you. James called me. He wanted to know if you’re stable.”
Grace looked up and smiled, “Did he? Tell him no. Tell him I’m dangerous and I’m a work release program from the women’s prison.”
They both laughed. Grace picked up her glass of wine and clinked glasses with Jane.
“Did he tell you the difference between a curve ball and fast ball?” asked Grace.
Jane bent closer to Grace and said softly, “He asked me what you were talking about? He had no clue. Did you pull that question out of thin air?”
“No, Matt gave it to me. James is such a jerk. He’s only interested in his own brilliance. He’d sell his soul for a few bucks and I think he already sold it to Paxton. You know what the worse part of the experience, don’t guess, I’ll tell you. He dared to call me a cheap date when it wasn’t even a date.”
“Eleven ninety-five plus wine isn’t cheap. But, it’s not a date,” laughed Jane.
Grace smiled, “I’m okay now. I’m starving. Thank you for the salad. I fell for him at the barbecue. I actually did. He charmed me. I am so grateful I woke up before it went any further, if you know what I mean.”
“You’ve been out of the game, girl. Alice told me about him at the gym and I gave him a call. I didn’t vet him myself. Will you give me one more chance?”
“No way. We made a deal. No more setups. No more blind dates. You remember our agreement, don’t you?”
“Why sure I do, girlfriend. You know I never back out of an agreement, right?” asked Jane.
Grace shook her head and put a fork full of spinach salad into her mouth. She chewed it and looked at Jane. Jane picked up her glass of wine, took a sip and set it down.
Grace swallowed her food, then said, “Spill it. You can’t hold it in. We’ve been friends too long for you to try to hide something on me. You will not rest until you think I’ve found the right man.”
“Now that you ask,” said Jane.
“Slow down. Before you say another word, I am going to give you my guidelines for any guy. If he doesn’t meet these criteria take your black magic marker and drawn a thick line through his name.”
“This ought to be good,” said Jane. She reached for a piece of hard crusty bread and drew it through the olive oil and spices before taking a bite.
Grace scooped up a walnut and pecan along with a dried cherry and chewed on it. Her deep brown eyes gave off an impish sparkle.
“I know that look, Grace. Oh, I know it. You’re going to make it impossible for me to find the right match. Well, girl, you’re on, spill it,” said Jane with a chuckle.
“Here is my criteria for Jane’s match service dot com. I am five feet six inches tall. He’s got to be at least 5 feet ten inches tall.”
“Easily done,” said Jane.
“He has to be physically fit. I don’t mean a runner type. Let’s put some muscle on this dude’s body. I don’t want a pretty boy.”
“Not a problem,” said Jane.
“He has to be comfortable in worn jeans and scruffy shoes. And, doesn’t mind getting barbecue sauce on his fingers.”
“Making it tougher for me. There goes James,” laughed Jane.
“He likes to watch football and can talk sports and politics,” said Grace.
“We live in Texas, that covers about eighty percent of the male population,” said Jane.
“I’ve got more. He’s into protecting the environment. He takes pollution and global warming seriously,” said Grace.
“That knocks out eighty percent of the eighty percent of males in Texas,” said Jane with a laugh. “Anything else?” she added.
“Oh, just one little thing. This one is the deal breaker. If this doesn’t work, all of the above don’t matter,” said Grace.
“I can’t wait to hear it. Let me see. He’s a millionaire. He has a big ranch and a ski lodge in the mountains. I know, he’s been looking for the right woman all his life,” said Jane.
“No, you’re not even close,” said Grace.
“Well, what is it?” said Jane.
“Matt has to give me two thumbs up or it won’t happen,” said Grace.
Jane stared at her. Then she said, “I’ve got to figure out what Matt wants and then find this guy and make sure he fits into what you want, that it?”
“You got it. Good luck,” laughed Grace.