Being Emma by Jeanne Harrell Page A

of Merlot, thank you.
And that’s it for me tonight.”
    Diane looked from Sharon to Janie.
    “Flyweights, both of you.”
    “Gotta drive, Diane. You need to take it easy
yourself.”
    “Listen, ladies, as soon as you have your
drinks, I have something to share with you.” Just then, Jake
brought Sharon’s Merlot. “All right. Let the fun begin.”
    Diane reached into the pocket of her jacket
and pulled out a picture. She laid it on the table for them to
see.
    “Who’s this?” Sharon picked it up to get a
better look. “He’s cute…”
    Diane snorted as Janie laughed.
    “He’s a fellow deputy sheriff at the
Sheriff’s Office with me.”
    “Why are you in the picture with him, Diane?”
Diane narrowed her eyes at Janie.
    “… Because my roommate here decided to match
me up with him. She turned out to be a pretty lousy matchmaker. I
printed up this picture that she emailed to me and kept it around
for far too long. Apparently, our love affair was not to be, and it
culminated with him snubbing me at the dance.”
    Sharon looked at Diane. “I am so sorry to
hear that. That must have hurt.”
    Janie’s eyes softened toward her friend.
    “It did and I’m sorry to have had a hand in
your getting hurt. I promise, ‘No more matchmaking.’ How’s
that?”
    “Apology accepted and now for the finale.”
She got out a lighter. “Should I burn it or rip it up?”
    “If you burn it, make sure the flames don’t
go on the floor. Jake would be mad if you started a fire in the
sawdust.”
    “Ha…” Diane flicked the lighter and a small
flame appeared. “Okay… Bye, bye, Ethan Moody.” She lit the edges of
the picture. The paper started to crinkle with the heat…
    “Wait!” Sharon snatched the picture from
Diane and threw her wine on it, putting out the sparks.
    Janie and Diane both blinked in surprise at
her. “What?” Diane started to say something.
    “If you don’t want the picture, I’d like it.
He’s cute…” She gazed at the photo.
    “… You can have him, Sharon. Good luck…”
    “He’s not such a bad guy… Maybe he and Sharon
would get along.” Janie smiled weakly. Diane’s eyes rolled up into
her head.
    “Is that another feeble attempt at
matchmaking, Deputy?”
    “Nope. Delete my last comment, Sharon. I have
nothing further to say.”
    Sharon laughed. “I could get you to take a
lie-detector test to get it out of you.”
    “Damn waste of a good glass of Merlot too.”
Diane wiped the table off with their napkins.
    Sharon glanced at her watch. “Gotta get
going. I have an early shift tomorrow. This was fun, ladies. Thanks
for letting me tag along.” She smiled at them.
    “Pleasure was ours, Sharon. Let’s do it
again.” Janie smiled back.
    “Absolutely. I’ve got your number. We’ll do
something next week.”
    Sharon got up, slipped a few bills on the
table and left the bar. She waved at them before she went out the
door.
    “Nice woman…” Diane counted the money she
left. “She gave Jake a good tip. He’ll be happy to see her again…”
Janie laughed.
    Janie sipped her beer and looked around the
restaurant. Diane was ready to launch into the second part of her
little plan… She raised her eyebrows at Janie and began her attack.
Janie saw her look.
    “ What’s
the matter with you? You look like the cat that swallowed the
canary…” How
right you are, thought Diane.
    “Oh, nothing… Really…” Janie thought she was
hedging.
    “You’ve got something else to say. Out with
it.”
    “It’s just…” She put on her best innocent
face. “I tell you, I was so mortified when Ethan snubbed me at the
dance.”
    “Yeah… that wasn’t very nice of him.”
    “No, indeed, but then Craig came along and
asked me to dance.”
    “Yes, he was very gallant, wasn’t he?”
Diane’s voice went a little lower.
    “It was more than that…” Janie took another
sip.
    “What on earth are you talking about?”
    “…Craig… When he touched my hand, I went