The next morning while Bas enjoyed his bowl of breakfast cereal, Em checked her list over once more. She’d managed to get everything she’d intended to ahead of schedule. This despite Bas insisting that she play some chess with him. He’d killed  her of course, but she’d enjoyed herself just sitting around doing nothing with him. The rest of her day should be so relaxed.

Deacon, his wife, their daughter Rosalind and Casper were already on their way to the house. Nick and Cady would drive up after their flight landed. She’d intentionally made sure that both parents were booked until late in the afternoon just in case some unexpected emergency came up,but so far things seemed complete. With nothing to really distract her, Em figured her imagination would go overboard thinking about seeing Nick again. Rather than torturing herself she’d decided to venture into town instead of staying cooped up there waiting. A cancellation at the salon had been just the luck she needed. A bit of pampering or shopping usually cured whatever ailed her.

Bas surprised her when she announced her plans by offering to drive into town with her. He told her that he had errands of his own and didn’t mind waiting around for her once he was done. They agreed to leave once he finished his breakfast.

The drive into True Falls mainstay was uneventful and quick. Bas dropped Em off at the salon and told her to call his cell once she was ready. Thanking him for the ride, she hopped out and headed inside.

Marco Salon and Spa was a bright space done in cherry yellows and bright reds. It should have looked like a clown exploded, but instead the space was modern and hip with unusual furnishings and art. Em had been there a few times before for manicures so the receptionist recognized her when she entered. The woman must have sensed some uneasiness because she assured Em that Gayle would take great care of her.

Gayle turned out to be a woman just over five eight with short blond hair styled in small spikes. Her demeanor was friendly as she introduced herself and lead Em back to her chair. Wrapping her in a Marco’s smock, she asked permission to release her hair from its ponytail. After testing the texture and asking her what she wanted to try, Gayle grinned when Em admitted that she wasn’t too sure what she was looking to do. It took a little cajoling on Gayle’s part but she managed to get Em to agree to let her work her magic.

The salon turned out to be the perfect place for her to lose herself. Gayle talked nonstop the entire time she worked on her hair. Her head filled with celebrity and local gossip, she had her hair washed, conditioned and snipped without a thought of anyone with the Beckenbach name. Gayle had just finished her blow out and was preparing to flat iron her hair when Em spotted Bas walking her way in the mirror.

Spinning the chair to face her friend, Em could see that he was amused by the attention he was garnering as he made his way to her. Stylists and customers alike were shamelessly giving him the once over. Em managed to keep herself from teasing Bas as he let her know that he was going to wait for her in the lobby. Once he’d given his message Bas turned and fled, leaving Em to chuckle to herself. Gayle turned her back to the mirror and picked up her flat iron.

“You were holding out on me Miss Emery.”

“What do you mean?”

“You got a man that fine and you weren’t dishing any dirt? What’s he like, where did you meet him and does he have any brothers as fine as he is?”

“Bas? Oh no, you’ve got it wrong. Bas is my friend. My best friend actually, but just a friend.”

“You’re just friends with a guy who looks like that?” The flat iron clinked as Gayle closed it on a section of hair. “How is that possible?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean if you’re friends you obviously like him. And I know you got eyes, so you see all that hotness. And that voice? Sexy. Can you honestly tell me that with all that going on you’ve never thought ‘I should make that happen?’ Really?”

Gayle’s animation made Em laugh. Even so, she paused to think before answering her. “I guess the thought really hadn’t crossed my mind. I mean I know Bas is attractive and fun to be around, but there has never been that vibe with the two of us. It doesn’t matter how hot a guy is, if the chemistry isn’t there, then it isn’t there.”

“I suppose you’re right.” Gayle met Em’s eyes in the mirror then grinned. “But it’s still a shame to let him go to waste.”

Em only smiled in response but Gayle’s words got her to thinking. It had been a while since Bas had dated anyone seriously. Bas tended to be more on the serious side when it came to things. Family was important and his career came after that. As far as she knew most of his socialization took place with her and his brothers. He rarely dated anyone more than once and hadn’t had a serious girlfriend since law school. Em had  met Veronica a couple of times and thought that she and Bas would get engaged after they graduated. Instead they’d broken up when Veronica accepted a job on the West Coast. He hadn’t said it, but Em knew that the break-up had been hard for Bas. He’d thrown himself into passing the bar and then into his cases.

His focus had yet to sway from his career and for the first time Em wondered if her friend might be missing some of the other things in life. Casper was still young for anything serious, but Deacon was married with a kid and Nick was eve with someone. He might not have been a aware of it, but he was getting left behind. If there was anything she knew, it was that Bas was the wife, three kids and some dogs type if there ever was one. He just needed the right girl to come into the picture.

It struck Em that this weekend might be the one he’d meet said girl. She’d drawn up the guest list for this party herself and she knew for a fact that plenty of his parent’s friends would be attending the party. There had to be a single daughter or friend amongst them. With a little discreet help Bas could cross paths with someone, find out they had things and common and get his love life back on track. If getting Bas with someone was as simple as sticking to his side at the party and introducing him to the right people, then she could handle that. As an added bonus, if her focus was on showing him off, then she would be a thousand less times likely to feel like crap watching Nick with his new girlfriend. It was that thought that sealed the deal. Operation Set Up Sebastian was now officially on her agenda.