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turn-on you can give me would be the sight of you running the vacuum cleaner’.”
    The three women laughed, but Arden shook her head. “Brian was very cute, and it’s not like I’m looking for an immediate boyfriend. What made me mad was his assumption that I’ve been leading him on. Like somehow being nice to a guy means I’m desperate for a man.”
    “Aren’t you?” Lida laughed again at Arden’s rolling eyes. “C’mon. I don’t mean for a man, necessarily…but for a may-un .” The emphasis made her meaning clear.
    Arden looked over at her daughters. “I told you, Lida. That’s not me.”
    Lida followed her gaze, and her expression softened while she patted Arden’s hand. “I know. I’m only half kidding. The other half thinks you should gussy yourself up and head down to the bar on karaoke night, find yourself some young, hot college guy and let him rock your world.”
    Arden burst into laughter. “Oh, that’s so likely to happen.”
    “It’s not so unlikely.” Heather washed down her mouthful of fries with some cola. “The cutest boy ever mows my lawn. It sounds like a cliché, very Mrs. Robinson, but hell-o! That boy is to-die-for cute, very flirtatious. If I didn’t have Leo, I’d seriously consider taking him up on what he’s been offering me all summer.”
    “Get out of here.” Arden looked more closely at her friend. “You’re not kidding?”
    Heather shook her head. “No way. His name is Jordan, and he is Fine with a capital F.”
    “Doesn’t do Arden any good,” Lida pointed out. “Henry, it’s Maeve’s turn next. Don’t you give me that look!”
    “What kind of guy are you interested in?” Heather got up to referee the scuffle that had broken out between the girls and the boys, giving Arden time to imagine dark hair, blue eyes and attitude.
    What she said, instead, was, “I don’t know, I guess.”
    Heather grabbed some more fries. “I’m asking because there’s a nice guy who works in Doug’s office. His fiancée left him at the altar about three months ago.”
    “Sounds like a winner.”
    Lida chuckled. “Why’d she leave him? What’s wrong with him?”
    “Nothing that I know of,” Heather said. “He seems like a nice guy. I think she ran off with an old boyfriend or something.”
    “Ugh.” Arden watched Maeve and Aislin take their turns. “I don’t know, Heather. A blind date? That’s like something from a bad romcom.”
    “You don’t have to marry him. I just thought if you wanted to get your feet wet in the dating pool, so to speak, you might be interested. His name is Greg. He’s about thirty.”
    “Too young!”
    “Oh Arden, that’s only a little younger than you.” Lida scoffed. “Is he cute?”
    “Sandy blond, blue eyes, nice build.” Heather shrugged. “He’s put on a bit of weight, but he’s not fat or anything. Decent sense of humor.”
    “How do you even know he’s interested in going out?” Arden demanded.
    “Because he’s always moaning about how there aren’t any decent women in the world who aren’t married already.”
    “Ah.” Arden sipped her soda and gave Lida a look. “Oh, all right. What the hell, right?”
    The women laughed. Heather gave Arden an around-the-shoulder squeeze. Lida waggled her eyebrows.
    “Try not to break his heart,” she said.
     
     
    “So…” Arden trailed off, looking at the menu while she tried to think of something to say. Greg hadn’t stopped staring at her since the moment she’d introduced herself to him. She could still feel his eyes burning a hole in the top of her head. “The garlic and olive oil pasta looks good.”
    “Garlic makes me bloat.”
    Startled at such an intimate revelation, Arden looked up. “Oh. Um. Well, maybe you’d better stay away from the pasta then.”
    Greg glanced at his own menu. “I’m going to order the low-carb special. I’m trying to watch my carbs.”
    “Ah.” Arden looked again at the menu, still feeling his intense gaze on her. “I