Prologue

This was it. Meredith Galanes’s chance to hit it big.

She sucked in a breath, her heart pounding. If she nailed today’s television interview, she would be golden. In syndication. Yes.

She strode onto the set trying not to let nerves take over. She could do this. Of course she could. She’d appeared on camera a hundred times.

Only this time was different. There were important people watching—people who could make her career. Two network execs were on set and they’d be scrutinizing her every move, trying to see if Meredith had the chops to take things to the next level. Like the host of this program had been unable to do, even though she was a station darling due to her daddy’s advertising money.

Meredith’s glam squad rushed over for last-minute primping. Joel spritzed her flyaways with hairspray and she shut her eyes, as April clipped a mic to her scoop-neck collar then attached its base to the back of her belt.

“Don’t listen to the rumors,” April whispered.

“Right.” Joel rolled his eyes. “Idle chatter.”

Meredith gaped at them. “What rumors?”

April leaned toward her, her purple-streaked hair in a ponytail. “Your syndication deal.” A conspiratorial grin tugged at her lips. “The top brass say—”

“That you’ll never get it without having a man yourself,” Joel finished.

April grabbed the hairbrush and smacked him with it. “You don’t know that.”

“I’m just saying.” He frowned, smoothing Meredith’s curls with his fingers. “We know Meredith is the best, but good luck convincing the network that a single matchmaker has any business telling other people how to run their love lives.”

Joel shot a look at the stage and Meredith’s pulse spiked when she spied the network “suits” chatting with each other.

Okay, so she hadn’t had a date in two years. That had nothing to do with her ability to match people up. Now she just had to hope the network believed that. Hopefully, her love life wouldn’t come up in her interview today.

Meredith swallowed hard. “Thanks, guys.”

The producer motioned her forward. “Two minutes!”

Meredith took the guest seat and her host, Tanya Gibbs, sat in a tall swivel chair like hers with a high table in between them. They’d each been supplied with large coffee mugs, which, unfortunately, only contained water. While she appreciated less potential for staining her clothes, a shot of caffeine would be a really big help right now. No, make that a double-shot.

She tried to ignore the fact that the execs were here and primed herself for performing.

Deep breaths. Deep breaths.

The execs had already viewed tapings of her show and now wanted to see how she handled interviews, that’s all. There would be a lot of those if she got syndicated and was expected to help market her show.

Inhale. Exhale.

A cameraman gave a signal and then they were rolling.

“Meredith Galanes,” Tanya said with a pasted-on grin. “Welcome to Talk Time!”

The intros went off without a hitch with Tanya summing up Meredith’s matchmaking achievements and hinting at bigger things to come. Not that Meredith was able to focus on any of that. Her mind was stuck on those rumors. She’d been chasing this syndication deal for months now and had finally believed herself to be on the cusp of securing it. Her appearance here today was supposed to cement things. Assuming she impressed the right people. And assuming Joel’s distressingly valid opinion wasn’t shared by certain influential others.

She scanned the crew and her gaze landed on the execs. Nooo. One of them was taking notes! Or maybe she was texting. That could be good or bad, or have nothing to do with Meredith at all.

April waved, trying to capture Meredith’s attention. No wait. She was pointing. Joel was frantically pointing, too—at Tanya.

“Meredith?” Tanya prodded. “Should I repeat the question?”

Tanya Gibbs looked polished in her pale-peach business suit, blond hair, and spiky designer heels Meredith would die for.

“Um…yeah. Could you?”

“I was asking about your love life.” All around them, the studio lights gleamed brighter. No. She wouldn’t dare. “Will that be explored on your show?” She swept one hand through the air. “Boston-area love expert reveals her personal man-catching secrets?” Oh, yes she did.

Meredith felt the blood drain from her face. Time to redirect. “That’s not how this business works,” she said, trying not to squirm in her seat. She adjusted her sunflower-print skirt, draping it over her crossed legs. “It’s not so much about the ‘catch’ as it is the match. The perfect match. And, perfect matches are hard to come by.” She winked at the camera, willing her peripheral vision not to stray to the execs. “That’s where I fit in.”

“Sounds like the voice of experience. Do tell us about the man you’re dating? I’m sure your fans will be interested. All those social media followers, too.”

“Ah, actually. Romance is not a top priority for me right now. I’ve been—”

“No romance? What?” Tanya laughed like the idea was absurd, then pretended to share a confidence with the camera. “And here she claims to be all about love. An expert. Hmm.”

This interview was going downhill fast. Meredith glanced at the shadowy side of the stage, searching for Joel or April or somebody for support, but there were only producers and even more cameras. She didn’t dare look back at the suits.

“Well, sure I make time for romance! Of course. But, in my case, I appreciate keeping things a little…private.”

“Private?” Tanya challenged, not backing down. “What does that mean?”

Meredith tried not to break a sweat, envisioning cool mountain streams and waterfalls. “All it means is…” She smiled sassily at the camera. “We haven’t yet made things public.”

Finally. That should work in throwing Tanya off, but nope. She persisted.

“So there is a special someone.” She tapped her chin. “What’s his name?”

Meredith bit her lip. She couldn’t—just couldn’t—admit her disastrous dating history. What would the viewing public think? And those network execs? Joel was right—Matched Up would never get that syndication deal then. Tanya would make sure of it with her little humiliation campaign. And she was so close.

Tanya’s face fell. “No. Way. You’re not matched up at all, are you?” She forced a fake frown. “How sad. ‘Matchmaker Meredith’ has no match of her own. I wonder…do you tell your clients that you’re single? I can’t imagine that instills a lot of confidence in your…abilities.”

Low blow. Meredith’s gut tightened. Tanya was known for skewering her guests, especially her accomplished female ones. You’d think a fellow woman would help a girl up. Not knock her down, then step on her. Especially in front of network people. Tanya acted like she was above getting fired, and maybe she was. Even though Talk Time was only local, the show attracted tons of viewers. A few more at the moment than Matched Up. But that was mostly on account of Tanya’s enormous advertising budget. “Sure I do. I have a match, my perfect match.”

“Then give us a hint. Occupation. Location. Anything?” Meredith could practically hear the knell of a countdown clock ticking off the seconds in her brain. Her short segment was nearly up.

Ten. Nine. Eight.

Think, think, think. Meredith worked hard to come up with somebody. Anybody. If he was super impressive that would be amazing. Gorgeous would be a plus, too.

Six. Five.

Shockingly, only one gorgeous guy came to mind. One with piercing blue eyes.

And a smirk. How could she forget that part?

Three. Two...

“Well, I guess we have our answer, folks. Thank you for joining us today on—”

“He’s a boatbuilder!” Meredith blurted out.

“Fascinating.” Tanya leaned forward. “Whereabouts?”

“Blue…Blue Hill,” Meredith stammered. Ooh, this is going to come back to bite me. She swallowed hard. “Blue Hill, Maine.”