*Eden*

I've never been the sneaky type. People can usually tell when I'm lying about something, or trying to cover something up, so I rarely bother. Unless it's a very worthy cause, like this one. Then, I just have to put my best effort into acting totally natural. It's imperative that my mom doesn't suspect anything.

While sitting at the desk in my bedroom, I carefully type on on my laptop, trying to find just the right words to use. Words normally come so easy to me, but this isn't exactly the same as my typical creative writing. It could be far more consequential.

"Eden!"

I jump half a foot in the air when my brother barges into my room. Then, I quickly minimize my web browser, although I don't think I was quite fast enough...

"Do you really have to scare me like that?" I ask as he comes toward me. "I'm kind of busy, Hunter."

"Oh, if you say so," he replies, holding his phone up to his face. "Sorry dad, she said she's too busy to talk to you."

"I did not!" I insist, wrestling the phone away from him, and waving at my dad over FaceTime, "Hey daddy. How's Berlin?"

"Hey honey. It's good, we're wrapping up today. I'm on a flight back to New York tomorrow, with a few souvenirs for my two favorite people, of course."

I smile. That's the cool part of my dad being a news correspondent. He gets to travel all over the world, and he always brings stuff back for Hunter and me. My bedroom decorations come from literally every corner of the globe, so nothing really matches, but I love it anyway.

"Hunter says you guys are really liking New Orleans."

I nod, "It's awesome. I mean, I miss everybody in New York, but New Orleans is so different from anywhere else I've been. Especially the French Quarter. They've got the cutest little shops, and the food is completely out of this world, and mom even took us on this swamp tour...I thought it would freak me out, but it was actually a lot of fun. Maybe we can do it again when you come to visit. You're still coming next week, right?"

Dad sighs, "Actually, that's what I was telling your brother. I might have to go to L.A. for work next week. I'm trying my best to get out of it, but we may have to delay for a little while."

"Oh," I say, trying not to sound too disappointed. "Okay, that's fine."

"No it's not," Hunter says as he plops down on the chair next to me, "Every time you're supposed to be on vacation, they find some way to push you into another state, or even a different country. They don't care if you see us or not."

"Hunter!" I scold, "Don't try to make dad feel guilty, it's not his fault."

"It's okay, Eden," Dad says, "I don't blame either of you for being frustrated. I am too. I promise I'll make it up to you, okay? When I come down there, we'll do swamp tours, and see creepy cemeteries, and whatever else you guys want. Deal?"

"Deal," we answer in unison. We can hear someone off camera talking to dad, and then, he looks at us again.

"I got to go, kids. Call you later, alright? Love you two."

We both wave goodbye as the call disconnects. Then, Hunter turns to me, "Why do you always act like it doesn't bother you? Every time he cancels on us?"

"Because I don't want him to feel like a lousy father," I answer. "He's not choosing to stay away. It's just how his job is. Now, if you'll excuse me, I want to work some more on my book."

Hunter rolls his eyes, "No you don't. When I came in, you had a matchmaking site pulled up."

"Sshhh!" I look towards the door cautiously to make sure mom isn't around. She's supposed to be in her art studio, but you never can be too sure. Then, I get up, and close my bedroom door.

"It's that secretive?" Hunter asks in amusement.

"Yes," I cross my arms. "You have to promise you won't say anything to mom."

"Yeah, yeah. What did you do, make her a dating profile or something?" he questions as he pulls up the minimized window on my computer. It is a dating profile, but this website sets you up with matches based on compatibility. I had to answer a bunch of questions about mom before I even started uploading pictures and writing her description.

"Ew, mom in a bikini," Hunter says with a grossed out look as he quickly clicks to the next picture. "You're gonna be grounded for the rest of the summer if she sees this."

I shrug, "It's a risk I'm willing to take. I'm hoping to find her the perfect date to take to the Tulane banquet. Then, who knows, maybe she'll want to see him again. But it has to be the perfect guy. I'm not going to answer messages from anyone that I don't think would be good for her."

"He needs to be funny," Hunter offers.

"Definitely," I agree. "And sweet. Someone that'll treat mom like a princess."

"It'd be cool if he had a dog," Hunter adds, and I roll my eyes with a smile.

"He should be adventurous, and handsome, and have a good job of his own," I continue. "But it can't be a job where he has to travel all the time. Mom said that was a big issue when her and dad were married."

Hunter frowns, "I don't know if we can find someone that checks all these boxes."

"We have to at least try," I say. "Her profile is ready to go, we just have to finalize the description. Tell me what you think:

Hi there! I'm a New York girl who just recently moved to the New Orleans area. Would love to find a sweet, funny guy to show me around. Hopefully, someone that I can build a long-lasting connection with. What is there to say about myself?

I'm a university instructor, as well as a passionate artist. I'm also the mother of two wonderful children. I would describe myself as creative, witty, loyal, determined, and most importantly honest.

I would like to meet someone with many of these same qualities. I would also like my partner to be adventurous and fun-loving, but ready to settle down here in New Orleans. Think that I could be your perfect match? Don't be shy, send me a message!"

As I finish reading, I can't help but be annoyed by my brother's laughing.

"What? I thought it was pretty good," I defend.

"Yeah, except it doesn't sound like anything mom would write," Hunter points out, still chuckling. "It sounds like somebody's trying to sell her on an infomercial."

"Think you can do better?" I ask.

He shakes his head, "I'm not writing anything. I want my hands clean when mom gets a load of this."

"Okay, let's just submit this, and..." I clap my hands with excitement as mom's list of matches pops up. "Oh, this is going to be so much fun!"

"Do we just start from the top?" Hunter wonders, and I shrug.

"I guess so. Let's see mom's top match." I click on the guy's picture, thinking that he seems very promising. Mom would definitely find him attractive. In the picture, he's smiling while playing with what I assume is his pet Dalmatian.

"There's your dog, bro," I joke. "Hey, look. It says on here that he's a veterinarian."

"Cool," my brother remarks with a smile. "He likes to ride horses too, and watches sports."

I grin, and quickly skim over the description, "Looking to settle down with the right girl. Would love someone with a good sense of humor, a big heart, and the drive to chase her dreams...Hunter, this is so mom! We have to message him."

"What are you gonna say?" he asks.

I think about it for a second, and then start typing:

Hey there! I saw that you're my top match, and I would love to get to know you better if you're interested in meeting up? Are you free for the evening of June 24th?

I take a deep breath, and hit the 'send' button.

Later that night, I'm watching a movie with mom and Hunter when my phone beeps. I bite back a smile as I see that it's a new message from the matchmaking site. Careful to hide what I'm doing, I open it up to read:

Whoever sent that message...I know you're not Maya, unless she's completely changed personalities since high school. Does she know you're doing this?

I freeze in complete shock. This guy went to high school with my mom?

"Bathroom break," I say as I leave the living room, and shut myself in the bathroom. I even turn the fan on to muffle any sound that might get out. Then, I call Aunt Riley. It takes like four rings, but she finally picks up.

"Little Peaches! It's about time you gave me a call. I miss you!"

I smile, "Miss you too, Aunt Riley. Look, I have a really random question to ask you, but you have to promise not to tell mom about this conversation."

"Eden, are you in some kind of trouble?"

"No, it's not about me. Well, not really. I kind of set mom up on a matchmaking website. I was hoping to find her a date for this banquet thing she has coming up. And I messaged her most compatible match or whatever, you know, asking if he wanted to meet up. Then, he messaged me back saying he knows mom didn't send the message unless she's completely changed personalities since high school-"

"So, this man is someone we went to high school with? What's his name?"

"Lucas."

There's a long silence, and I take it to mean that Aunt Riley recognizes the name. She sighs then, "Lucas was my boyfriend at one time. But Maya is the one he really had feelings for, and she had feelings too...but then your dad was also involved, and Lucas' family ended up leaving New York. The timing just wasn't there."

My jaw drops at this new information.

"Aunt Riley, this is perfect!" I exclaim. "But what do you think I should do? He knows the message wasn't from mom. Should I tell him the truth? Should I tell her? I don't want her to get freaked and run, like she does with every other man-"

"She'll probably do that," Aunt Riley agrees, "Look, you're going to message Lucas back, but you have to make it sound like Maya. Tell him that first message was from your meddling daughter who's desperate to find you a man. Maya used to call him by all kinds of nicknames, so I'd use Huckleberry or Ranger Rick somewhere in the message. Be a little flirty, but casual. Don't flat-out ask him out, just ask him things like how he's doing these days. When he asks you about your new job, casually work in that you have that banquet coming up, and that's why your daughter is trying to get you a date. There's like a 95% chance that Lucas will offer to go with you, so you accept, and tell him to pick you up whenever it is-"

I nod along, trying to keep all this stuff straight in my head, "Should I tell mom about any of this before she sees him?"

"Yes. You don't want to catch her completely off guard, but you also don't want to give her enough time to back out. Just text me later, sweetie, I got to get Mira ready for bed."

"Okay. Thanks, Aunt Riley. Love you," I say, ending the call.

When I open the door, my brother is standing there with his arms crossed knowingly, "Bathroom break? Or online dating break?"

I grin, "Let's just say, I've got a lot of new information to work with."

In the next chapter: Josh makes an admission to Riley.