"Why are you nervous?"

"Because I'm a little rusty."

"I haven't been on a date in twelve years. How's that for rusty?"

"May I make a suggestion, then?" he asks.

"Sure."

"How about we not think of this as a real date. This way we can get rid of all those superficial expectations and just relax."

"That gets me out of the hot seat."

"That makes two of us. We could think of this as the beginning of a budding friendship."

"First I need to decide if I want to be your friend, Jasper, or if I want you to be mine."

"I hear you. Then let's see what we can learn about each other today and take it from there. How does that grab you?"

"As long as you don't get too personal."

He rakes his bottom lip with his teeth and then tilts his head to the side as if I wasn't listening to what he just said. I think he's flirting with me! He may not realize he's doing it, but he is. I forgot how this works. I'm too old to blush and yet my face is heating up. Maybe I'm reading more into this than I should. "So what made you want to practice medicine, Jasper?"

"Honestly?"

"Honestly."

"It might sound strange, but I always found science and biology fascinating. It helped me discover how our bodies work, how everything is connected and how-because of science and technology-some things can be fixed. I wanted to be a human mechanic, so to speak."

"And here I'm trying to learn how to change my oil."

He cracks up. His teeth are as straight as dentures. And wedding-dress white. I bet he uses those strips. He must have had braces when he was a teenager. His voice is raspy. It suits him. I'm not giving him points for being attractive, because he can't help it. Isaac had the same kind of magnetism.

"Technically, I'm a retired orthopedic surgeon although I travel all over the world, mostly to third world countries with a group of volunteer doctors. We treat people who're victims of disasters, various deformities, all of whom have no access to medical treatment. I work on children, mostly. But I teach at the Mayo Clinic here in Phoenix."

"That's really wonderful, Jasper."

"Okay," he says, leaning forward, and he looks me dead in the eye. "Ask me anything you want."

"First, I have to be honest."

"Okay."

"When I told my girlfriends I was going on a blind date, one of them told me about a website that had about two hundred date questions. I wasn't sure what I wanted to know about you, if anything, so I picked about twenty or thirty of them, in case you turned out to be boring and we had nothing to talk about."

"Am I boring?"

"So far you're not."

"Neither are you. So, go ahead. Ask me anything."

The waitress brings our salads and pours us a glass of water. We squeeze our limes at the same time. "I only remember a few of them and it feels a little silly to me now."

"Come on. This might be fun."

"Okay, but don't answer them if you don't want to."

He looks excited.

"What's the last book you read?"

"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix."

"No shit? Whoops, sorry. I didn't mean to swear."

"No shit, and I did. What about you?"

"Brief Interviews with Hideous Men."

"I hope it's fiction."

"It is," I say. "What's the most beautiful place you've ever seen?"

It looks like he's mentally traveling through a scrapbook. "Too many to pick just one," he says. "But. Fiji and Kenya. That's two, so fire me."

At least he has a sense of humor and he's not a nerd or a fuddyduddy. I still sneak an occasional peek at my watch. I know how charm works. It's right up there with sex appeal. I'm wearing an invisible repellent to keep them away from me. For now.

"How do you measure success, Jasper?"

"Doing what you love even if the pay isn't good. And you?"

"We're on the same page on that one," I say. "How do you measure happiness?"

He thinks about this one. And as if he's talking to himself, he says: "It's a feeling of calm that comes from inside. When you figure out what's important. When you have nothing to prove. Giving everything you do everything you've got and being satisfied, regardless of the outcome. What about you?"

I take a long sip of water. I hadn't considered answering these questions when I was going through them. "When you're willing to surrender to goodness and joy. Give yourself permission to feel it. Not holding yourself hostage for making mistakes. Doing what you love. Doing for others. Learning to cherish the beauty of right now. When you can make yourself smile and laugh without depending on anybody else."

"I like yours. Maybe we can combine them."

I look at him like, what?

"Come on, Savannah. You're intelligent enough to know what I meant. So don't even go there."

"Your three worst qualities?"

"My three worst qualities? Hard to narrow it down to just three. Okay. One: I'm impatient. Two: I'm opinionated. And three: I'm a perfectionist. And I'm listening," he says, putting his chin in his hands.

"I'm impatient, opinionated and I, too, am a perfectionist. If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to add two more."

"Be my guest. I could've kept going, too, you know. But I wouldn't want to frighten you off."

"I'm shaking like a leaf. I'm prone to gossip and sometimes I'm not as empathetic as I could be."

"Who is?"

"What about your best qualities?" I ask.

"I'm not the one to answer that. Yours?"

"I'm brutally honest. I'm prone to gossip and I'm definitely opinionated. It's how I know where I stand. Last one?"

"Are you in a hurry?"

"No. I just have a million things I have to do today. I also have to be somewhere in less than an hour."

"Did you have a time limit set for me? Tell the truth."

"Of course not," I say as I finish the last of my salad.

Jasper hasn't touched his. I feel his eyes on me. I'm almost afraid to look up. "This was delicious," I say. "Why aren't you eating yours?"

"I seem to have lost my appetite, which is strange because I haven't eaten since this morning. I loved those questions. I hope we can do this again one day?"

I look at my salad. One day? "Maybe we can, Jasper."

"Once more with feeling," he says. "Look, I'll be frank. I know a lot about you, Savannah, which is why I wanted to meet you."

"What is it you think you know about me?"

"You're independent and smart and interesting. You know who you are. I respect the topics you explore on your shows. I know you collect black art-and so do I, by the way. You're an avid reader. And from what I can tell, pretty open-minded. Did I mention that you're also beautiful?"

"Thank you, Jasper. Especially for the nice things you said about my work."

"How much time do we have?" He's got a smirk on his face.

"About twenty minutes or so."

"Tell me. What kinds of things do you like to do in your spare time? Was this question on that list?"

"No. You mean as in hobbies?"

He nods. Nibbles on a long leaf.

"I don't really have any specific hobbies."

"I don't believe that."

"I'm ashamed to admit it, but I don't."

"Have you ever golfed?"

"No. I've been thinking about taking lessons. I take it you do?"

"Every chance I get. Maybe we could go out on the driving range one day. I could teach you a few things."

"Wait! I do have a hobby. I love to travel."

"I don't know if traveling is what I'd call a hobby. I could be wrong. I'd like to hear about some of the places you've been. Maybe another time. For now, how about this: Where's your next trip?"

"Paris. I leave in three days. For two weeks."

His eyes widen and brighten. "Right on! Paris is probably my most favorite city in the world. In fact, I almost moved there. Have you been before?"

"Twice."

"Do you speak French?"

"No, I don't."

"Neither do I. If you don't mind my asking, are you going with someone?"

"No, I'm not."

"Good for you, Savannah! My kind of woman! Forgive me. I just haven't met very many sisters who travel the world solo. That's all I meant. I hope I didn't offend you."

"No offense taken."

"God, I sure wish I could go. We could hang out in one of those fabulous lounges and have a drink and sit on a sofa and listen to live music and talk some and boogie some and then chase it with a few shots of espresso and maybe walk along the Seine . . ."

"Earth to Jasper. That sounds very intriguing but right now we're here in Phoenix and it's been very nice having brunch with you."

He folds his hands, leans forward and looks directly into my eyes. "Before you go, can I ask you one last question just to satisfy my curiosity?"

"It depends on the question."

"Of course Thora told me you're a recent divorcee."

"That I am."

"I also understand we're not supposed to talk about our divorces. Was this a no-no on the list?"

"It sure was."

"If you don't want to answer this, you can tell me to go to hell and that'll be the end of it."

"Okay."

"So what made you want to divorce him? Unless it's way too personal."