i's

hey were. Being married for the last eight years meant I had never even glimpsed a dating website. The world had changed.

er mother's funeral. My parents had been her godparents, a promise made in a hospital room years before that they never hesitated to keep. Technically, we were legal siblings, but the bond went

ose98. Age: 27. Job: Publisher at A Book Company - probablu best not to put the actual c

nto the corner of the sofa, hugging a cushion like a shield. "You remembered my favo

let girl since you were five," I countered, not looking u

in one of the manuscripts she spent all day editing. We spent the next thirty minutes debating the nuances of her favourite movies and her stance on pineapp

y best therapist impression, the one I usually reserved for when Ben was being particularly dense. "So, Tiana R

w minutes ago ebbed away, replaced by a rare moment of vulne

kshelves by genre and then by spine colour, or the way I cry at the end of every 19th-century novel - and finds them endearing rather than exh

ctive would help, too. I'm not a saint. Tall, handsome, well-built...

you're looking for a chocolate lab

"That man definitely does not exist," Cleo continued, walking back in. "But a g

nce, making her feel like her 'quirks' were flaws rather than the things that made her special. He'd been a narcissis

aded Cleo's candid shot - the one where Tiana looked surprised and ethereal - along with a few others I had on my phone from our last

my shoulder. "Not like those girls who use so ma

ard dropped. I saw a flicker of hope in her eyes, a tiny s

ay," she whisp

mit' button. I looked at Tiana. I wanted her to be sure. I didn't want her

ring," Tiana said, feigning annoyance. I could see the

en flashed a bright, celeb

I'm starving, and apparently, building a

it's officially pamper time. I need some of those collagen

uealed, reaching for the face

ct man" was swiping, too. I just hoped for her sake that he was a lot more reliable than the men from her past. I thought of Ben, sitting at home right now with the kids,

best person I knew. She deserved the world. I just didn't know yet that the world - or rather,