Meghan’s cheeks heated, but if sharing her own humiliation made her friend feel better, then it was all worth the embarrassment. “Don’t get too excited, It didn’t go as planned. I never found anyone who was right for him—and a lot of women responded, too.” She buried her face in her hands.
“And?”
She peeked at her friend through her fingers. “The unthinkable happened.”
“What?” Cassie leaned toward her.
“He found out.”
“No! You mean you didn’t tell him?”
She shook her head. “He wasn’t happy. Although, I think the description I wrote for his profile stroked his ego.” She grinned. “He actually thanked me for the nice things I said about him. Regardless, he wanted it removed.”
“So you took it off?”
“Yep. Right there in his office while he watched. I’m just glad he didn’t ask Dr. Harding to fire me.”
Cassie narrowed her eyes. “Why do I get the feeling there’s more you’re not telling me?”
Should she share about Animal-Magnet? Cassie would probably get a kick out of it, and cheering her friend up was important. “Well, a funny thing happened the other day. I went to check my email for responses to Dr. Young’s profile and found a message for someone named Foxy-Girl from a guy calling himself Animal-Magnet. She must have made a mistake when she was putting in her email address, and now I’m getting her email from the dating site.”
Cassie laughed. “That’s priceless. What did you do?”
Meghan filled her in. “I was intrigued by the guy, so I replied. We’ve been corresponding back and forth, and I asked him for his picture. He sent it a little bit ago, but I’m concerned.”
“I want to see.”
Meghan ran to her room, grabbed her laptop and brought it to the family room. She pulled the picture up on the screen and handed her laptop to Cassie. “What do you think?”
“It’s hard to tell. You should ask him for a clear shot.”
Meghan nodded. “I thought the same thing. But do you think he might be unattractive and that’s why he sent that one?”
“It’s possible, but you should give him the benefit of the doubt.”
“Yeah. He seems like a really nice guy. I’ll ask him about it, though.”
“Ha. I’m not so sure nice guys call themselves Animal-Magnet. He’s probably a criminal and sent you a bad picture on purpose.”
Meghan took the computer from her friend and sat again on the couch staring at the picture. He couldn’t be a bad person. He had a good heart. It came through in his emails. “No way is he a criminal. I can’t help but trust him. If you read his emails, you’d understand.”
“He could be an ax murderer, or some kind of creep. You need to be careful. Whatever you do, don’t meet him anywhere alone, and don’t give him your address.”
“I won’t. You can even come with me if we ever meet in person.”
“Great.” Cassie rolled her eyes and stood. “I’m going to bed. Thanks for making me feel better. It’s nice to know I’m not the only pathetic person in the world.”
Meghan tossed a pillow at her.
Cassie darted from the room giggling.
She studied the photo a little longer. It really was hard to see the man’s face. His shape reminded her of someone, but she couldn’t place who. She had good intuition about people, and her gut said he was all right. So what if he didn’t want to reveal his face to her yet.
* * *
Ben focused on the screen. Meghan’s response twisted his gut. He quickly typed out a reply.
You’re smart to be concerned about the picture. Your question makes me admire your spunk.
Spunk? Did people use that word anymore? But what else could he say? She’d called him out on the picture and that took...guts. He continued to type.
I am not a criminal, nor have I ever been. I hope we can move forward and continue to get to know each other.
Sincerely,
Animal-Magnet
He sat back and reread the note then pressed Send. He half hoped she wouldn’t respond, which would save him the embarrassment of coming clean. Also, if she replied, he’d eventually have to reveal who he was or blow her off without explanation, which he wouldn’t do. It would defeat the purpose of continuing the ruse. He wanted to build her self-esteem. Let her know she was worth getting to know, and yes, that she was lovable, too. It was clear from the hints that she had dropped that she didn’t believe it. Ben wasn’t in love with her, but he cared about her and wanted to see her happy.
Another message popped into his inbox.
Animal-Magnet,
Thanks for replying so quickly. I’m all for moving forward. What do you like to do with your free time?
Curious,
Foxy-Girl aka Meghan
Hmm. Were he not speaking at Jeremy’s 4-H event this weekend, he’d be at a Mariners game.
I’m a Mariners fan and I enjoy spending time outdoors. I run and I’m an animal enthusiast. But most importantly, I’m a Christian.
Your turn.
He pressed Send and waited. When five minutes passed, he set aside the computer and stood. Would she respond tonight? He glanced at the clock. It was nearing ten. Maybe she’d signed off for the night. That’s fine. He needed so get some sleep or he’d be a wreck in the morning.
A bing sounded from his computer. He rushed to the couch and checked his email.
A Christian huh? Tell me about that. What’s it mean to you?
He should have known she’d pounce on that topic, since she’d done that on their date. He kept his reply short, and sent the note. Without waiting for another email, he shut down the computer. Someone had to be the last person to reply, otherwise they’d be going back and forth all night. Besides, he needed to think. Had he taken this too far? It seemed like feelings could get involved very quickly, and he didn’t want to hurt Meghan. He wanted to help her, but was this the right way?
In all fairness, he wasn’t lying to her. He simply hadn’t revealed his identity, and she seemed fine with that—at least for now. He ran his hand through his hair, then reached for his smartphone and shot off a quick note.
I have a confession to make. I sent you a bad picture on purpose. I’m not yet ready to send a good picture of myself. I should have told you that up front.
I’m sorry,
Animal-Magnet
His conscience eased somewhat, but it still nagged him. He wasn’t doing anything wrong. She knew Animal-Magnet wasn’t his real name.
He headed to bed. It’d been a long day. He probably needed a good night’s sleep. Everything would be clearer in the morning.
* * *
Tuesday morning, Ben rushed to make it to the clinic extra early. Hopefully, Pete would be there so they could have a heart-to-heart.
Minutes later, the door swung wide and Meghan hurried in. She stutter-stepped when she spotted him, but quickly regained her composure. “Good morning, Dr. Young.”
He stood a little taller and grinned. “You’re here bright and early.”
“I try.” She brushed past him without a second glance, then powered on the computer.
The smile slid from his face. He turned to her. “Did you have a nice evening?”
“It was fine. You?”
“Fine.” He frowned. What had he done to deserve the cold shoulder? Oh, yeah—he’d nearly forgotten about yesterday. Keeping their online relationship and their “in person” one separate was difficult at best. However, he hadn’t been unkind. He should’ve insisted she hear him out, and they both would have had a good laugh over the profiles and moved on. Now if he ever hoped to reveal his identity as Animal-Magnet, he needed to be on good terms with her as himself.
“Do you have a m
inute?” He leaned against the counter.
“Seriously? I would think after yesterday—”
He held up a hand. “Truce. I don’t know what I said, but whatever it was, please forgive me. I want to be your friend.”
She sighed. “You confuse me, Dr. Young. One minute you want my help, then you don’t. Then you were angry about your online profile and made me remove it, but then you were super nice, like you wanted to be friends or something.” She raised her hands palms up. “I’m baffled.”
“I can see why. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to send mixed signals. And for the record, I wasn’t angry.”
She arched an eyebrow.
“Well, maybe I was at first, but I was only giving you a hard time yesterday. I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m really sorry.” He tightened his jaw. Would she accept his apology or hold his behavior against him?
Her face relaxed. “Me, too. I could’ve handled things better. How about we go back to the way things were before I started this matchmaking fiasco?”
He nodded. “I’d like that. In fact, I really enjoyed our date, and I think we—”
“Whoa, stop. That’s not going to happen. You own this place and though technically, you’re not my boss, I’m not going there again. Before I barged in on your life, you barely knew I existed, and I think that was for the best. Hi and goodbye is all we ever said. I think that’s where we need to return to.”
He opened his mouth to disagree, but snapped it shut. This was not what he wanted, but perhaps she was right, at least for now. His stomach knotted. “Okay. I disagree, but will honor your wishes.” He strode to his office. It hurt that she wanted nothing to do with him. He raked a hand through his hair.
What a mess. If he weren’t careful, he could get sued for harassment. Maybe Animal-Magnet should quietly disappear, after all. He sat behind his desk and noticed a new email. Great, it was from Foxy-Girl, err Meghan. His finger hovered over the delete button.
“Ben, I got your message.” Pete stood in his doorway, holding the note Ben had left on his office door asking for a chat. “What’s up?”
“Nothing. Sorry I bothered you.”
“Okay. But you’re not fooling me. I know something’s up. You look ready to pull your hair out.” He chuckled. “Actually, it looks like you tried. You may want to take care of that before you start working.”
Ben waved a hand. “I don’t care about my hair.”
“I get it. If you want to talk about whatever has you so uptight, you know where to find me.”
He stared at Pete for a moment, weighing his options. “Fine.” He let out a heavy sigh. “Come in and shut the door.”
After Ben had shared his predicament about Meghan, Pete shrugged. “I wouldn’t worry about it. She’s true to her word. You don’t need to stress about a lawsuit. Stay away from her and things will go back to normal soon.” He leaned forward and started to push up out of his chair.
“There’s more.” His shoulders sagged. He couldn’t look at Pete.
“Uh-oh. Why do I get the feeling I won’t like this?”
Ben explained about Animal-Magnet and Foxy-Girl.
“That changes things.” Pete frowned. “You’re playing with fire. End it.” He stood and strode from the office.
Ben rested his elbows on his desk and buried his head in his hands. He never should have told Pete. Animal-Magnet could have quietly disappeared, and no one would’ve been the wiser.
Meghan’s message still glowed on the screen. He didn’t have time to read it. He’d deal with this mess later when he was “off the clock.”
Chapter 13
Meghan whipped around the corner and out of Ben’s sight. Maybe she was acting like a child, but she didn’t care. So far, she’d managed to avoid him since their conversation that morning. She didn’t like the tension between them, but it was to be expected for a little while. Returning to the way things used to be was a good idea—one she planned to follow through with. Ben was a great guy, but she should’ve known better than to mix business with pleasure, so to speak.
Animal-Magnet was far more interesting than Ben anyway. She frowned. Too bad he hadn’t replied to her email last night.
She flipped the light switch off and locked the clinic door behind her. She would love to go on vacation and get away from everything, but she had people who were counting on her to find them the love of their lives.
When Meghan got home, she holed up in her bedroom, determined to find a good fit for each of her clients before she did anything else. After she found matches for these people, she was done. She’d lost the desire to matchmake. This was hard work and not fun anymore.
Three hours later, and after multiple emails setting up her clients, she quit. Satisfied with what she’d accomplished, she dragged herself to the kitchen. Cassie was finishing off the ice cream from the night before. Uh-oh. “Bad day?”
He roommate shrugged. “I saw him today.”
“Oh.” Meghan opened the fridge door and studied the contents—slim pickings. She grabbed a yogurt. “You’ll probably run into him a lot. Leavenworth is a small town.”
“True.”
Meghan retrieved a spoon from the drawer and sat at the breakfast bar. “What are you going to do?”
“Nothing. Even though it hurts. The more I think about him, the more I realize this is for the best. It’s over and I’m going to move on.”
“Good for you. I have news, too.”
“Oh? I hope it’s good news.” Cassie rested her elbows on the counter.
“I’m giving up my matchmaking business.”
“Really, why? You barely gave it a go.”
“I know, but once I got serious, I realized I don’t want to be responsible for messing up anyone’s love life. My own history in that department is example enough that I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“Wow. That’s incredibly mature of you.”
“Thanks, and don’t sound so shocked.” She swallowed a spoonful of yogurt. “This whole thing with Ben...I mean Dr. Young, set me straight.” She needed to stop thinking of him as Ben.
“But I thought he was the reason you started your business.”
“In a way, you’re right. But deep down, I think it had more to do with having a part in helping couples find each other and be happy, rather than the mess my parents were.”
“You never talk about them. What happened?”
Meghan stared at her hands, not really seeing them—her brain had conjured up vivid memories of the last time she saw her mother. Her parents were usually off-limits, but for some reason she didn’t mind sharing tonight. Maybe she was maturing.
“My parents fought all the time, but they loved each other, too. I don’t know what happened with them. My mom took me to school one day, and I never saw her again. My aunt picked me up, and no one ever talks about it. My mom vanished.” She’d always secretly suspected her mom couldn’t stand being a mother, which was why she had run away. If it’d simply been marital issues, why leave Meghan behind?
Complete and utter silence engulfed the apartment. Meghan glanced up at her friend. Cassie’s eyes watered.
She didn’t want her sympathy and rushed to fill the quiet. “My aunt and uncle were very much in love—still are. I spent most afternoons at their house. My cousin Laura and I grew close—she has a strong marriage just like her parents. I guess they inspired my desire to see everyone happy like them. The problem is, I don’t know how to attain that kind of happiness.” She shrugged.
Cassie nodded. “Me, neither. Do you think Allison might be onto something with this God thing she’s into?”
“That came out of nowhere.”
“Yeah, sorry. I’ve been giving God some thought lately.”
Meghan tilted her head. “Funny, I have, too.”
&
nbsp; Cassie tossed the empty ice cream tub into the trash. “Have you noticed that Allison has changed since she committed herself to God and started going to church? I asked her about it, and she says it’s because she feels peaceful. And a guy from her church asked her out today.” She pushed back from the counter. “It’s just a thought, but I was considering checking out her church sometime. You want to come along?”
“Maybe. My cousin’s family is Christian. She used to ask me to go to church when we were younger. I finally did when I was in high school, but then I noticed the kids there were no different than everyone else, and I figured, why bother.”
“Yeah, but there are people who believe in God and God actually means something to them. Like Allison and your cousin.”
Meghan nodded. “I see what you mean. Animal-Magnet is a Christian.”
“Really? That’s a shocker.”
“I know. But now I really want to get to know him and see if God makes a difference in his life, too. Maybe it’s time I give church and God a second chance.” She stood and rinsed the yogurt tub, then tossed it into the recycle bin. “Think I’ll see if Animal-Magnet ever replied. I’ve been so busy today I never bothered to check my email.”
“Good luck. And let me know about church. Maybe we can go together.”
Meghan nodded and ambled to her room. She sat on her bed and booted up her laptop. A minute later, she opened her email and grinned.
Thanks for understanding about the picture. I think looks can get in the way of who we really are. Don’t you agree?
He made a good point. She scrolled down and frowned. “That’s it?” Maybe his day had been as full as hers.
Dear Animal-Magnet,
I never thought about looks getting in the way of seeing someone, but now that you mention it...
So, you said you’re a Christian. I would love to hear more about that. Where do you go to church? What do they teach? Do you date women who aren’t Christians? I know one man who doesn’t.
LOL. I guess, I’m being rather nosy, but you should know that about me up-front. I am a little nosy. I hope you’ll answer my questions, though, because I really am interested in learning more about how God makes a difference in your life. I went to church for a while a long time ago and honestly didn’t see the point, but I’m feeling more open to the idea now.
A Match for Meghan (Heartsong Presents) Page 11