“Oh. I get to make a list?”
“Absolutely. Online dating is all about figuring out what you want and the kind of person you want to be with and then navigating this huge sea of potential partners.”
Marguerite thought about what she wanted in a man. Unfortunately, the first image that jumped to her mind was of Alexei, who was basically a fantasy come to life. And who had no connection to her reality. Which was why she was here inventing a dating profile. The pause lengthened as she tried to think of the qualities the mattered most to her.So good-looking it makes my eyeballs hurt to look at youwas probably not the best thing to put first on her list. While she was thinking Iris began to type. She watched, fascinated, as this woman who knew her so well put together her idea of Marguerite’s perfect partner.
I am lookingfor a man with integrity. If he’s like me, he enjoys the simple things in life. A sunrise, a walk on the beach holding hands. I’m a romantic and it would help if you are too.
Marguerite smiled at the words.“Do you see me as a romantic?”
Iris looked at her as though she’d said something incredibly stupid. “Yes! You’re completely romantic. You’re the only woman I know who, at the end ofGone With the Wind, seriously believes Scarlett’s going to get Rhett back.”
“I do think she’ll get him back. I think, in the end, you can’t fight true love. Even if you try.”
Iris grinned at her. “You see? Total romantic.”
“Ha! Look at you. The story of you and Geoff couldn’t be more romantic. There you were, looking at potential baby daddies on the Internet, kind of like what we’re doing now, and all the time there he was, this sweet, steady man. You tried to fight your attraction even as everyone could see you two falling in love with each other. Are you going to tell me that wasn’t meant to be?”
“No. But deep down I’m sort of a corny romantic, too.” As Iris’s hand slipped to her belly, she said, “Who’d have believed I’d get my fairy tale ending?”
“I did.”
“Okay, let’s do this thing,” Iris said, and before Marguerite was at all ready, her sister pushed a few buttons and said, “There. You’re officially signed up on an online dating site.”
“Wow. I kind of want to call it back.” She suddenly hated her profile photo, thought Iris’s description of her was all wrong and mostly wished she’d spent the evening perusing seed catalogues.
“Give it some time. You can always tinker with your profile later. I want that for you, too, you know,” Iris said. “The whole fairy tale. There’s a wonderful man out there waiting for you.”
An icon flashed up indicating she had received her first Internet dating message.
Iris grinned. “Maybe that’s him, there. Your fairy tale prince.” She pulled her hands away from the keyboard. “You do the honors.”
Marguerite clicked on the message feeling a flutter of anticipation she hadn’t expected.
Hey there, Cutie. Got any naked pictures?hotforyou78.
Iris sighed. “Even fairy tales have their trolls.”
