“I could use your help with something,” Jake says.
“Anything,” Fray says.
“I’m going to need a date for Coop’s wedding.”
“Sorry, man, I already have a date,” Fray says, and they both laugh.
Jake pulls out his phone. “Have you ever used a dating app?” He figures this is a stupid question. Fray is a billionaire, so—before Leland—there must have been a line of eligible women after him.
“No, man, but I’m friends with the woman who created Firepink, and that’s the app you want. It’s for users over forty and it’s marketed toward professionals.”
“Firepink?” Jake says. “What about Bumble or Match dot com. Is Match still a thing?” He laughs. “Honestly, I’m used to meeting women the old-fashioned way. I met Ursula in sixth grade.”
“I hear you,” Fray says. “I met Leland when we were kids and I met Anna at the café. Her band played there one night and I fell in love.” He’s quiet and Jake wonders why it’s no longer popular to meet someone in real life. “But trust me, you want Firepink. Here, I’ll download it for you.” Fray takes Jake’s phone and taps and swipes, then he hands the phone back to Jake and says, “Fill out the answers to these questions and click the Fire up! button. This app goes through tens of thousands of profiles in lightning speed and picks the top three women. I’ve heard you should always choose number one. They have the highest success rate in the business with the first match. Their algorithm is magic.”
Jake chuckles. “All I need is a wedding date.” Still, he fills out the answers for his profile and then, once he’s double-checked his responses, he presses the Fire up! button. The phone flips through faces like a Vegas dealer through a deck of cards—Jake thinks he sees a bunch of attractive women but it’s moving too fast and he can’t make it stop—until finally a face appears on the screen.
Jake blinks. It’s a striking dark-haired woman in what he recognizes as an Alexander McQueen suit.
Ursula de Gournsey. Age: 56. Nickname: Sully. Height: 5’6.” Hair: dark brown. Eyes: brown. Occupation: attorney, M&A. Address: New York City. Political party: Independent. Birthplace: South Bend, Indiana. Favorite pastime: work.
Jake laughs. “We’re supposed to go with the first choice, huh?”
“Yeah,” Fray says. “Did you already match with someone? Let me see.”
“Not yet,” Jake says. “I’m going to ask her out and I don’t want you to jinx it.”
“Yeah, bro, go for it,” Fray says. “You’re a boss.”
Jake doesn’t reach out to his ex-wife via Firepink. He texts her instead.
Heading back to the Bend, he says. Guess what? Coop is getting married again. His sixth wedding! Next June in DC.
Jake sees the three floating dots, indicating that his number one match—maybe Firepink does know best after all—is writing back.
Need a date? she asks.