Read Sparing the Heart (Pastime Pursuits #3) for Free Online

we await instructions from Amy on how to proceed with our painting. Once we receive the directions, we dive into our canvases and drinks.
    “Kate.”
    Tiffany states my name and I wait for a question to follow. “Yes, Tiffany?”
    She strokes the brush across the area that will be the sky. “Have you lived in the area long?”
    “About six months. I’m originally from a small suburb north of Milwaukee. This is my first time living in the city.” Even when I attended college I lived off campus. I don’t think I could own my own condo already without doing that. I saved a lot of money, allowing a twenty-five percent down payment, a rare thing in today’s housing market.
    “Don’t you love it?”
    “I do. I like that everything is so close by. A trip to Target doesn’t require over an hour drive round-trip.”  
    “An hour?” Gretchen nearly spits out her wine. “Um, no. I need to be within a ten-minute radius of a Target at any given time.”
    “We have three big things in my hometown: a McDonald’s, a Piggly Wiggly, and a BP. That’s as commercial as we get!” The McDonald’s was the last to come to town, and when I moved it was just being built. “Most of our shops are small, family-owned businesses.”
    “I couldn’t live somewhere like that. Never.” Tiffany shakes her head as she starts her painting. “I want to be where the action is.”
    “Did I mention when I walked out my front door I occasionally got a whiff of the farm field a few miles away?”
    She tosses her brush down and throws her hands in the air. “That seals the deal. I’m never moving.”
    The laughs erupt and I’m loosening up. I like these two. A lot. I regret not carving out time in the past for building relationships. I’ve missed out on so much.  
    “Did you move here alone?” Tiffany fishes for more information about me. I’ll compile a questionnaire in my head for her later.
    “Yep. Just me.”
    “She’s not dating anyone,” Gretchen jumps in.  
    “You’re not?”
    I stroke the orange paint against the white canvas to start filling in the Madison skyline. Is this the only thing people are interested in asking me? “No. I don’t really date.”
    “Don’t really date?” Tiffany cleans off her brush. “Are you married then? Studying to become a nun?”
    Now my affliction to dating means I’m celibate. Trust me, if the right guy came along to fulfill my needs, I wouldn’t argue. I’m tired of replacing batteries.  
    “I just don’t.” I’ll never understand why this is such a big deal to people. Did I miss the instatement of some law requiring me to be attached to a man? Maybe if I wore a wedding ring people would leave me alone. “I ran a business before I moved here and that kept me busy. I think the last boyfriend I had was in college, and that didn’t last long because I was too focused on my classes.” I don’t mention David’s lack of support and talent of only thinking of himself.
    “We’ve got ourselves a nerd here.” Gretchen raises her glass. “To nerds.”
    I grunt at first, but she’s right. And that’s fine. “I own my geekness. To nerds!” The wine is sweet and tickles my throat.
    “No prospects? No one you like?” Tiffany begs for info.
    I run through the file of men currently active in my life. Most of the men I meet are clients or contractors. No one has jumped out at me at someone to pursue. The only male who comes to mind is married. And my brother. “Not really.”
    The two smirk at each other and I’m afraid of what they’re thinking. Everyone always “knows someone” and that normally ends up a disaster. Who they think is right for me is probably far off. I don’t even know what I like. When you’ve been out of the game as long as me, you forget these things. I’ve grown since college and my tastes have changed. I doubt dating is anything like back then, either. Now with all the technology to keep people connected and search for romance, I’m way out of