Vanessa's Match by Judy Christenberry

named Alex work for him. I haven’t met them.”
    “Jim is wonderful, the big brother all little girls dream of,” Vanessa said.
    “Then I definitely need to meet him, so I’ll know what kind of brother I need to be for Lindy.”
    Vanessa continued, “And Alex is my other brother David’s wife. She was a police officer before she joined Will’s firm.”
    “How did she meet your brother?”
    “Oh, she knew David before. They’re cousins.”
    “She married her cousin?”
    “Yes, but they’re not really cousins. I mean, David was adopted by her uncle and his wife. So they were legally cousins, but not blood cousins.”
    “Okay,” he said, drawing out the word. “That still seems a little odd to me.”
    Vanessa went on the defensive. “Well, it’s not!”
    “I know, I know. Your family is perfect.” He let a little sarcasm slip into his voice. He knew he shouldn’t, but he was tired of being the bad guy.
    “I didn’t mean that. It’s just—You don’t know them.”
    “You’re right, but I’d like to meet them. Will they be there on Sunday?”
    “I’m not sure. Sometimes they come. And David’s little sister, his adopted sister, and her husband come sometimes, too.”
    “Man, you must have a real crowd on Sundays.”
    “We do. That’s how Mom and I like it. We wish Rachel and J.D. lived closer, but they don’t.” As if suddenly remembering, she added, “Rachel is my sister Rebecca’s twin.”
    “Twin? Are they identical?”
    “They are. But neither of them knew she had a twin. It was amazing when we helped them find each other. And wonderful for me. Suddenly I had two sisters where I’d had none.”
    Rick smiled at her. “It’s a good thing you had a lot of siblings to find—it’s obvious you were meant for a big family.”
    “Yes, I was.”
    “We’re picking them up here,” he said as he pulled into the driveway of the hotel where the Williamseswere staying. He regretted that they had to entertain someone else this evening. He realized he’d rather spend the time with Vanessa alone.
    For a lot of reasons.
    “You want to come in with me while I get them or wait here in the car?”
    “I’ll just wait here, if it’s all right.”
    Inside the hotel, he saw the Williamses waiting for him. Again he considered how much better the evening was going to be with Vanessa instead of Sharon as his companion. These people had no idea how lucky they were. If he was right, though, they soon would.

Chapter Eight
    It didn’t take long for Vanessa to show her value as his date for the evening. As soon as they were all settled in the car and on their way, introductions over, she engaged the couple in conversation. She was well spoken, intelligent, friendly. Simply put, she charmed them.
    When they arrived at the Anatole, they took the elevator up to NaNa’s, and the maître d’showed them to their table, which had a great view of downtown.
    “It’s so good to be back in Dallas,” Hillary said as they were seated.
    “I didn’t realize you’d been to Dallas before,” Rick noted.
    “Oh, yes, I was raised here.”
    “You didn’t care for L.A.?” he asked. The couple had been living there since their marriage.
    “Well, at first it was exciting. I did all the tourist things. But after a while, the excitement died away and I realized it was just a much-too-big town witha lot of smog. It’s true there was a beach nearby and mountains not too far away, but we had children to consider. It was like living with a chain smoker.”
    “I hadn’t thought of it that way.” Vanessa glanced at Rick, as if waiting for him to comment.
    “That’s an unusual take on L.A.,” he said, and looked at John. “Did you like L.A.?”
    “I did when I went to school out there. But I was young and single then. Now I have two children and Hillary needs some help on the weekends.”
    “You realize this job would involve travel?” Rick asked.
    Hillary answered before John could. “Yes, but my family is