“Yes. But she nearly died of food poisoning first.”
“True. Well, here’s my advice, move out of the cottage into town. Or, I don’t know, start spending some weekends in Portland or Seattle. Find someplace where there are men. Have you tried Internet dating?”
“No. I have not tried online dating. And I don’t want to. I believe that there’s somebody out there for everybody.”
“I do, too, but how are they supposed to find you? Maybe you should put out a road sign.Stop here for fresh organic produce and a hot, single gardener.”
Marguerite snorted with laughter. “Oh stop it. And don’t mention the idea to Mom because you know she’d do it.”
Geoff chimed in, “Daphne would walk up and down wearing a sandwich board if it would make you happy.”
“I know. She’s a great mom but she does get enthusiastic about her projects. Luckily with so many kids it’s easy to get her focus transferred to somebody else.” Marguerite eyed Iris’s still flat stomach and said, “Like this new baby.”
Iris raised a finger. “You are not allowed to tell Daphne. Do you understand?”
“Of course I do. But she’ll find out eventually.” Then an awful thought struck her. “Do you think she’ll take up knitting?”
Iris groaned and put her head in her hand. “If her knitting is like her pottery, my poor kid will look like a sock puppet.”
“We have to head her off. No knitting. I know, why don’t you suggest that she make a pottery statue to celebrate the birth of your child. Maybe a fountain? Something complicated that would take her months.”
Since Daphne was an enthusiastic potter this seemed like an excellent idea. “Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind. And you should think about what I said about getting out more.”
“I know.”
“You’re sure the food truck guy–”
“No! Mom thinks every man has a crush on us, you know that. He is a friend, but he is definitely not interested in me.”
“Then he’s a fool,” Geoff said. Which was one of the reasons she loved him. He was definitely the brother she’d never had. Not that she didn't have plenty of brothers, and she loved every one of them, but they weren’t given to pumping up a girl’s ego.
