Addy sat at a picnic table inside the staff commons cabin and watched the rain fall on the trees and lake.

It seemed that the very Earth was mourning Addy’s losses.

Now that her mom had gone home again, she had nothing to distract her from the long day of avoiding Remington.

Fortunately, he was making it easy for her. He hadn’t shown up for his swim lesson last night and today he’d gone out on break as soon as she arrived in the dining hall for lunch.

When the thunderstorm rained out the pool time, she’d dragged herself up here with her laptop, ostensibly to complete plans for the Floatillion.

Instead, she’d created a very different spreadsheet.

Remington was a wonderful man. She couldn’t be with him, but she couldn’t allow him to be alone or to bumble into the first enterprising woman who admired his physique.

No, Addy wasn’t going to leave his fate to chance.

She was going to hook him up, with someone really wonderful.

The idea hurt. A lot.

But it was better than licking her wounds, and better than thinking of the man she… cared about, alone in a world that was so new to him.

She’d opened the Maxwell’s website to the staff page and was entering names in one column.

Across the top she’d added categories for Patience, Sense of Humor, Common Sense, and more.

“Hey, Addy,” Nikki’s voice called to her.

“Oh,” she replied. “Hey, Nikki. I didn’t even hear you come in.”

“You’re lost in thought,” Nikki teased, pulling one of her dark curls straight and then letting it bounce back up in an unconsciously silly gesture. “Are you still working on the Floatillion stuff?”

“No,” Addy said, shaking her head. “Something a little different.”

Nikki slid in beside her.

“Whoa, what’s this?” Nikki asked, gazing at the spreadsheet.

Addy fought the urge to cover the screen.

“It’s, um, a matchmaking spreadsheet,” she said.

“Your story checks out,” Nikki nodded slowly. “Patience, Sense of Humor, wow, and not one picture. This is, like, the opposite of Matchr.”

Ugh, Matchr. That app was half the reason Addy needed to do this. Remington would be eaten alive by the women on there.

She wondered if anyone in the Stargazer crew had thought about using some kind of alien dating app to find matches for the men of Aerie. That would be interesting.

“So who are you trying to get hooked up?” Nikki asked. “Someone annoying, huh?”

“What? No,” Addy said.

“Well, then why would the person need to be so patient and humorous and all?”

“It’s for Remington,” Addy said.

Nikki bit her lip.

“I can’t be with him,” Addy told her. “But I can’t leave him to the sharks either. I’m going to find him someone great, someone who can give him what he needs.”

“Is that really what you want?” Nikki asked.

“It is,” Addy said simply, trying not to let the question roll around in her head and raise doubts.

“Then we don’t need this,” Nikki said, indicating the laptop. “We’ll figure it out without a spreadsheet.”

“Do you have any ideas?” Addy asked.

“I know Esther works with him, and she seems to really like him,” Nikki offered.

“No,” Addy said immediately.

“Why not?” Nikki asked.

“She’s dumb as a rock,” Addy said.

“She’s nice,” Nikki said.

“Dude, I’ve seen her try to put quarters in the credit card slot on the soda machine,” Addy said. “More than once. He needs someone to help him learn about the world, not shove his change into it.”

“Okay, okay,” Nikki relented. “How about Sue from Accounting?”

“Seriously?” Nikki was incredulous.

“She’s everything you said,” Nikki retorted, counting off qualities on her fingers. “She’s patient, she’s funny, she’s got common sense, and serious financial know-how.”

“She’s at least twice his age,” Addy said.

“I would have thought her life experience would make her the perfect teacher,” Nikki countered.

“I’m going back to my spreadsheet,” Addy said firmly.

“What about Jasmine?” Nikki asked.

Oh.

Jasmine Rowe was one of the golf pros. Jasmine was down-to-earth, funny, beautiful, and you couldn’t even resent her wild popularity because she was one of those people who was truly warm and kind to everyone.

Addy’s soul was scorched with instant jealousy.

“Look, you don’t have to do this,” Nikki said, as if sensing Addy’s emotions. “I can’t understand why you think med school and love are mutually exclusive.”

Addy stood up.

“No, it’s a great idea, and I’m going to do it,” she said. “Thank you, Nikki. I’m going to find Jasmine now and see if she’d be interested in a blind date.”

Thankfully, the rain had all but stopped. Addy dashed out of the cabin and made her way down the hillside as quickly as she could.

Every step reduced the risk that she would change her mind. Every yard she traveled removed a thousand ways in which she could track him down, corner him, and beg him to take her.

She reached the lawn at last and passed the pool, the pavilion and the main house, then crossed over to the golf course.

Jasmine could be anywhere, but Addy hoped that fate was on her side and would guide her to her friend.

She had begun to fret that she wouldn’t know what to say. Heck, she didn’t even know if Jasmine had a boyfriend already.

Marco Jenkins, the head of the golf coaches, approached.

“Hey, Addy, how’s it going?” He had a wolfish look that told her he hadn’t forgotten their good times last summer.

“Good,” she said. “Is Jasmine around?”

“Yeah,” he replied, looking disappointed. “But I have no idea where. Anything I can do?”

“Maybe,” she replied. “Do you know if she’s, um, seeing anyone?”

Marco’s eyes lit up again.

“Fun,” he said, leaning in hungrily and placing a hand on her wrist. “I don’t think she is. And if things work out and you two are looking to add a third to your little—Hey, Remi!”

Addy turned to see Remington, a shocked expression on his face.

She was here trying to hook him up and he had caught her red-handed.

She felt the blood rush to her cheeks.

Remington’s eyes flashed, and he turned on his heel and stormed away.

“Where’s he going so fast?” Marco asked.

Her heart constricted and she turned away so as not to watch Remington go. She wondered briefly if he’d seen her talking with Marco - his hand on her wrist - and thought they were flirting.

“I thought you guys were, you know, a thing,” Marco said.

“No, we just swim coach together,” Addy replied. “Anyway, if you see Jasmine, let her know I want to talk to her.”

“Sure thing,” Marco said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

“It’s about the Floatillion, moron,” Addy said, giving him a playful shove and leaving.

“Damn,” Marco called after her. “I’m gonna pretend you didn’t say that - it’s better for my fantasy life.”

“Whatever,” Addy yelled back. “Just tell her I want to talk to her.”

She focused on walking slowly back to her cabin. Remington was already out of sight, but she didn’t want to risk catching up to him.

You need to take it slow, Addy, her inner voice insisted, in what was probably the understatement of the year.