The Reunion Read Online Free Page B

maybe you could explain it to me. Because I don’t get it.”
    Ken’s look was priceless.
    “You seem really intelligent,” she continued, “so I’m guessing you’ve figured out I’m at least ten years older than you are. Being so old, I can remember a time not too many years ago when this kind of thing hardly ever happened. I mean, you’d see older guys dating younger women, but not the other way around. I’m not trying to make you feel bad, I’m really just curious. Why would you want to date someone so much older than you are? Someone like me.”
    He gave her the look she was hoping for. It said, “I don’t think I do want to date someone like you anymore.” He looked around, clearly trying to find the waiter. She guessed it was time to order dessert. Ken wanted food in his mouth badly.
    “Care for another breadstick?” she said, holding up the basket.
    Tomorrow, she and Gail would be having a chat. Gail Washburn was her partner in a recovering real estate firm. Gail meant well and she was a great friend, but seriously.
    She was a lousy matchmaker.

6
    T he next morning, Karen drove through the hectic morning traffic from her subdivision in Southlake to another subdivision in Keller, Texas, where she worked. Both were in the suburbs of Fort Worth. Fortunately, she only had to deal with the tail end of the rush hour, since she and Gail didn’t start opening the model homes until 9:00 a.m. Even then, they generally didn’t see many interested buyers till it got closer to lunch.
    There was only one other car in the parking area: Gail’s blue SUV. Gail lived closer, right there in Keller. Gail’s first duty of the day—and they both believed her most important one—was to make the coffee. As she did, Karen would walk through the three model homes, turning on all the lights and, on this cold November morning, the heat as well.
    A biting wind blew in from the plains north of town, making it feel fifteen degrees colder than the thirty-four degrees Karen had seen posted on a digital bank sign. The wind was supposed to die down in a few hours. She hoped so; they didn’t need another excuse for customers to stay home. She opened the door of the nearest model home, which also served as their office. Thankfully, Gail had already turned the heat on.
    Karen set her purse on her desk. Gail was already making the coffee in the kitchen.
    “How’d it go last night?” Gail asked over her shoulder.
    “Let me get the other models set up, and I’ll come back and tell you.”
    “I can’t wait to hear,” Gail said.
    “Actually, you can.” Karen let that one linger in the air as she closed the front door and hurried to the home next door. As she walked through the other models, flicking on light switches and thermostats, she was freshly amazed at how beautiful these homes were. It was hard to fathom how low the prices had dropped. Buyers were starting to sneak back into the market, but it was nothing compared to the glory days a few years ago. Back then, they’d have lines stretching around the block and back if they’d let houses go at these prices.
    After finishing the last house, she thrust her hands in her coat pockets and hurried back to the office. She found Gail sitting behind her desk, drinking her coffee. She’d already poured Karen’s into her favorite mug.
    “So . . . I’m guessing things didn’t go so well with Ken last night.”
    Karen stirred her coffee and walked into what should have been the garage area of the home. “Let’s say we maintained an attitude of Christian charity by the evening’s end . . . and parted as friends.”
    Gail shook her head. “Am I going to be in trouble with Bill?” Bill was Gail’s boyfriend. He and Ken were close friends.
    “You shouldn’t be,” Karen said as she sat down. “I’m not sure how Ken will describe the evening. I certainly wasn’t mean to him. At least, I tried not to be.”
    “You weren’t mean ? It sounds even worse than I was