This Matter Of Marriage Read Free

complained about her long hours and her total commitment to Artistic License, and she’d told him that wasn’t likely to change.
    â€œI found an ad in the Seattle Weekly for a dating service,” Donnalee announced.
    Hallie groaned. As far as she was concerned, only people who were desperate resorted to dating services. She didn’t even want to think about the kind of men who applied to meet women that way. “You’re joking, right?”
    â€œYou promised you’d hear me out.”
    Hallie closed her eyes and prayed for patience. “Okay, okay. Tell me all about it and then I’ll tell you I’m not interested.”
    â€œThis is different.”
    â€œThey use videos, right?”
    â€œNo,” Donnalee said indignantly. “Would you kindly listen?”
    â€œSorry.”
    â€œYou and I are successful businesswomen. Most men are intimidated by women like us.”
    Hallie wasn’t convinced that was true, but didn’t say so.
    â€œIn my case, I’ve been married once and it was a disaster.”
    â€œThat was over thirteen years ago.”
    â€œSoon it’ll be fifteen and then twenty, and my whole life will have passed me by. All because I made a stupid mistake when I was barely out of my teens. Hallie, I want a man in my life.”
    â€œThe whole nine yards,” Hallie added.
    â€œChildren, the house in the suburbs with a white picket fence. Cat, dog, family vacations. I can’t believe I’ve put it off this long! I’d probably still be putting it off if you hadn’t come up with your plan.”
    â€œYou’re saying you want me to contact a dating service, too?”
    â€œWould you listen, darn it? First you have to apply and if you’re accepted, you pay a hefty fee and they’ll arrange for you to meet a suitable match. One on the same financial level as you, whose personality fits yours. The woman I talked to claims they’re very selective and only take on a certain number of clients. If you’re accepted, the company is committed to finding you a match.”
    â€œHow hefty is the fee?” Hallie had recently forked over fifteen hundred bucks on exercise equipment. So much for paying off her credit cards.
    Donnalee hesitated a moment. “Two grand.”
    â€œTwo thousand dollars!”
    â€œYup.”
    â€œI damn well better get a date with Brad Pitt for that.”
    Donnalee laughed. “Brad wouldn’t date someone as old as either of us.”
    Her friend’s words were of little comfort. “You aren’t serious, are you?” For that kind of money Hallie figured she could have liposuction and forget the treadmill and the dieting.
    â€œYup,” Donnalee said with a hint of defiance. “I’m thirty-three. I don’t have as much time as you. If this agency can help me find a decent man, then I’d consider the money well spent.”
    â€œYou are serious.”
    â€œJust think of it as a shortcut.”
    Hallie still wasn’t sold. “I haven’t actually started looking yet.” Using a dating service felt like waving a white flag before she’d even stepped onto the battlefield. Surrendering without so much as a token effort.
    â€œWhat are you going to do, wear a sandwich board that says AVAILABLE in big black letters?” Donnalee asked.
    â€œDon’t be ridiculous.”
    â€œYou’ve had your entire life to find a husband, and you haven’t. What makes you think it’s going to be different now?”
    â€œBecause I’m ready.” This probably wasn’t the time to remind her friend that she’d had relationships over the years, the most promising one with Gregg. While it was true that those relationships had grown fewer and fewer, and her social life had become rather dull, she’d barely noticed, working the hours she did. However, since the first of the year, she’d taken measures to correct that,