“Such as?” Tom asked.
“Such as would you rather be a flower, shrub, or tree?”
Tom chuckled. “I guess that is pretty random.”
“The questionnaire asked about color preferences and that sort of thing as well, but it also asked the applicant for opinions about things that might actually come into play when entering into a relationship such as dream vacation, dream job, and fantasy date.”
“You know, I’ve always wanted to go somewhere exotic like Bali or Bora Bora,” Gracie said, I assumed in response to the question about a dream vacation.
“You can afford a trip like that, and you aren’t tied down with kids or a job. You should go.” I glanced at Tom. “I’m sure you can find a friend to go with you.”
“Oh. I don’t know,” Gracie said, although I could see that she was intrigued by the idea.
“I’ll be here to hold down the fort. And if Bali or Bora Bora seems like too big a commitment, start with something easy like Hawaii. That would be really doable, and there are flights to Hawaii from the Denver airport every single day.” I watched as Gracie appeared to be thinking about it. “Wouldn’t it be nice to get out of the snow for a week or two?”
She nodded. “It would at that.” She looked at Tom. “How about it? Are you interested?”
He shrugged. “I wouldn’t mind some warmer weather, but it’s already February. How far in advance do these things have to be booked?”
“For a trip to Hawaii, you could probably go in a couple of weeks,” I informed the couple. “Let me do some research on your behalf. Is there an island you might particularly want to visit?”
“I guess Kauai,” Gracie said. “That’s where they have all the jungles and waterfalls you see on TV.”
“Okay. I’ll look into it, and we can talk again tomorrow at breakfast. I have my volunteer shift this afternoon, and then Cass and I usually grab a bite to eat, but I should have plenty of time to look into flights and accommodations after I turn my column in.”
Gracie glanced at Tom, who winked at her. I had a feeling this trip would be exactly what the pair needed to work out their own relationship issues. Of course, knowing what I knew about the family curse, I really wasn’t sure that was a good idea but having a dream vacation together didn’t mean they had to get married, which in my mind, seemed to be the key to activating the curse in the first place.
“By the way, I wanted to ask if you’d spoken to Ned,” I asked Gracie.
“I spoke to him yesterday,” she answered. “Nora is home from the hospital and seems to be doing better. She’s still weak, and Ned is understandably worried about her, but her doctor seems to think she’ll pull through this with as much grace as she pulled through everything else. I told him I was happy to continue to open and close the store for as long as he needed me, but he decided to look for a more permanent solution, so he asked his niece to come to Foxtail Lake and run the store while Nora recovers. Once they see how Nora fares over the next few weeks, they’ll figure out what their next move should be.”
“Is he thinking about selling the store?” I asked.
Gracie nodded. “I think he’s considering it. Nora’s cancer seems to be in remission, and there is real hope for a full recovery, but I think the ordeal has taken a lot out of both of them. When I spoke to him, he simply said he was going to look into some options, but I won’t be surprised if he sells. I hate to see Ned and Nora leave the area, but I suspect that might be an option he is considering as well.”
“But this is their home,” I argued. “I can’t imagine them not being here.”
“I can’t either, but I suppose when you get to a certain age, you have to ask yourself if you are physically able to deal with the snow.”
I supposed that much was true. Maybe the niece would stay and help run the store, and the popular couple could maintain the life they loved for a while longer.
After I finished my pancakes, I headed into town. Dex was in his office, and by the time I arrived, he’d already read the electronic version of my column that I’d sent over first thing this morning. I handed him the hard copy, which still seemed pointless in my mind, and then sat down across the desk from him.
“So, what do you think?” I asked.
“I like it. But I do think that by the time the last of your series publishes, we’ll need to identify Ms. Cupid. Any luck tracking her down?”
“No. I really have no idea who it might be. I’ve asked every matched person who they think it might be, and no one can even offer a guess. I mean, if you really stop to think about it, Ms. Cupid has to be someone who knows a lot of people really well.”
“So someone in the community who gets out and talks to people.”
I nodded. “I’ve considered Wilma Goodwin from the post office. I realize that most folks use email rather than snail mail these days, but most everyone in town has a reason to go to the post office at some point. Maybe they want to mail something certified, or pick up a package, or even just buy stamps. Wilma is an outgoing sort, who will talk your ear off before she’ll hand over the stamps you went in to buy, so a simple visit could net her quite a bit of information. In terms of knowing a lot of people, she fits the bill, and she does get a peek at the mail being sent to and from the residents in the area, which would give her additional access to each person’s preferences.”
“Wilma as Ms. Cupid makes sense. Have you spoken to her?”
I nodded. “She chuckled when I suggested that maybe she had been doing some matchmaking, and while she didn’t flat out deny my suspicions, she didn’t confirm anything either. She’s the number one name on my list of potential Ms. Cupids. The second name on my list is Doris Jenner from the diner. She’s worked there as a hostess since I was a kid, and she stops and talks with everyone when they pay their bill. Plus, I know that she sometimes meets with the other town gossips for coffee. In terms of knowing intimate details about the lives of many of the locals in the area, I think she fits the bill too.”
“I agree that Doris might make a good suspect as well. Anyone else?” Dex asked.
“Maude and Ida Cunningham.” The sisters ran the local inn. “I know that they are busy with the inn, and on the surface, it might seem as if they wouldn’t have time to mess with matchmaking, but they are both extroverted and tend to stay right in the middle of whatever is going on in town. They have lived in Foxtail Lake for most of their lives, so they know a lot of people. It seems like those who are being matched are mostly long-term residents, but there have a been a few who are new to town, so I did consider that Maude and Ida would be less likely to have had a chance to talk with the new folks than either Doris or Wilma.”
Dex shuffled some papers on his desk, I suspected more for effect than because they actually needed shuffling. He really did seem to have a romanticized image in his mind as to how his interactions with his staff should go. In a way, I found it endearing.
“The reality is,” I continued, “that Ms. Cupid obviously does not want to be identified, so even if I guess right, I doubt she’ll admit it. All the correspondence with the clients she takes on is via email, so it’ll be hard to track her down unless…”
“Unless?” Dex asked.
“I suppose I could ask Dean and Martin Simpson to help me with the emails.” The brothers were tech geniuses, who I was sure would have no problem tracing the origin of the Ms. Cupid emails. “Of course, doing that feels somewhat wrong,” I added. “An invasion of privacy if you really stop to think about it. I mean, Ms. Cupid isn’t a hardened criminal. She is most likely a sweet old lady who simply wants the people who live in her community to find love and happiness. While I agree with you that naming her will add to the impact of the final column in the series, I’m not sure I want to do anything quite as underhanded as tracing an email to unmask our Cupid.”