Читать книгу His Holiday Matchmaker - Kat Brookes - Страница 11
ОглавлениеHe’d deal with it. Not a very promising start to their working relationship. The door swung open before Alyssa had a chance to reply and a tall, slender woman with a beehive of silver hair waved them inside.
“Come on in out of the weather, you two. I’ll heat some water up for tea. Something to take the chill off.”
“Appreciate the offer, Doris,” Nathan Cooper replied with a smile, “but I can’t stay. I’m just dropping Miss McCall here off.”
The older woman looked to Alyssa. “Myrna and I have been expecting you. Rusty called to let us know you were on your way. Welcome to The Cat’s Cradle.”
“Thank you for having me,” she said, propping her wet umbrella against the porch wall next to the door before stepping inside.
“It’s our pleasure,” Doris said, her gaze shifting to Nathan. “Are you sure you can’t stay for tea?”
Nathan set her suitcase down in the front foyer. “Katie’s waiting for me in the truck. I have to run her out to Mildred’s place before I head back to work.”
“Just be careful on those roads,” Doris warned. “It’s really coming down hard out there.”
“You can count on it.” His gaze shifted to Alyssa. “Guess I’ll be seeing you tomorrow.”
She nodded, then stood watching as the blurred outline of Nathan Cooper faded away behind a curtain of rain.
“A fine-looking young man, that one,” Doris muttered behind her.
She turned from the window. “I was watching the rain.”
“Of course you were, dear.” She turned toward the winding oak staircase and cupped her hands to her mouth. “Myrna! Our guest is here.”
Maybe she had been admiring the way Nathan Cooper carried himself, but that was it. She was there to do a job. Not to start something up with a man on the divorce rebound. Katie would just have to look elsewhere for someone for her daddy.
An elderly woman wearing a bright floral housecoat and fuzzy pink slippers came scurrying down the stairs. “Miss McCall!”
“Call me Alyssa, please.”
Myrna stood before Alyssa, a welcoming smile parting her wrinkled cheeks. Her blue-gray hair hung in a single braid over one shoulder. “We’re so happy to have you staying here with us.”
“Indeed,” Doris agreed with a nod. “Braxton isn’t exactly the tourist capital of Texas.”
A fluffy white ball shot down the stairs and past their legs, disappearing into an adjoining room.
Myrna laughed. “That blur of white is the newest addition to our family, Bluebell.”
“You like cats, don’t you?” Doris asked.
Alyssa nodded. “Yes, I do.” Although she’d never had one of her own.
“Good, because our dear little ones tend to crave affection.”
She could relate to their need.
“You have the prettiest eyes,” Doris observed, then leaned closer in her inspection of them.
Too bad they didn’t work. That wasn’t exactly true. Her eyes were perfect. The visual cortex part of her brain, which had been damaged in the accident, was the reason for her visual impairment.
Myrna leaned closer, as well, inspecting Alyssa’s eyes through her glasses. “She does. They’re just like topaz under the sun.”
“Goes well with her hair color.”
Doris nodded. “I always thought green eyes complimented auburn hair the best, but I do believe I was wrong.”
Alyssa blushed at their compliments and their close scrutiny. “You’re both too sweet.”
Just then two kittens with calico markings scampered into the entryway. Doris bent to pick them up. “This is Rhett and his favorite girl, Scarlett.”
“Well, hello there,” Alyssa said, scratching each of them behind their ears.
“Come on, dear,” Doris said. “Let me give you a quick tour of the downstairs. Then I’ll show you to your room.”
“I’d like that.”
“I’ll go put some water on for tea,” Myrna called out as Doris led her into the parlor.
The house was purely Victorian, from the striped damask curtains to the countless gilded picture frames that lined the walls. Taking a walk through the rooms helped Alyssa familiarize herself with the house’s layout. Like Alyssa’s town house, the women’s home was filled with warm, white lights and holiday decor.
When the tour ended, Doris led her upstairs to the room she’d be staying in. Alyssa stepped inside and looked around, her gaze drawn to the off-white, antique cast-iron bed. She walked over to it, running her fingers over the faded beige ribbon-threaded quilt.
“Our mother made it,” the older woman announced behind her.
“It’s beautiful.”
“She loved quilting. Unfortunately, neither Myrna nor I inherited our mother’s sewing abilities,” she said, a hint of sadness in her voice.
Alyssa turned to face her. “We all have our own special abilities. You and Myrna run a boardinghouse, and yet you still find time to take in strays and love them unconditionally. It’s more than some children can say about their own parents.” The second the words left her mouth, Alyssa wished she could take them back.
“Your parents didn’t show you love?”
“I was simply making a reference,” Alyssa replied with a nervous laugh.
“Of course you were,” Doris said from the open doorway. “If you ever need to talk, dear, Myrna and I are very good listeners. Now you go get settled in and then come down to the kitchen and join us for a cup of tea.”
“I’ll do that. Thank you.” Tears pricked at the backs of her eyes as the older woman stepped from the room, closing the door behind her. No, she would not think about her mother and the love she’d never been able to show Alyssa. That was something that would never change. Her mother was gone now, so there was no use wishing for what could never be.
Instead, she would strive to focus on only the good things God had blessed her with in Braxton. Like the kindhearted sisters who had so generously opened their home to her. Like the adorably inquisitive Katie Cooper and her stick-pony-riding father.
* * *
Nathan glanced toward his daughter, who appeared to be thoroughly captivated by the rain outside. As long as it wasn’t storming with gusting winds, she was fine. Let the wind pick up and Katie became panicked. Understandable, all things considered.
He thought back to what she’d said earlier. Since losing her mother, Katie had never once voiced her discontent with the way things were. He’d assumed that Mildred’s presence in her life, and then that of Audra’s, satisfied any need his daughter might have for a mother figure. And maybe it had in the past, but something had changed. His little girl was looking for a mom.
That tugged at his heart. He would give his daughter the world if he could, but giving her another mother was asking for more than he was ready to do. And what if he did remarry again, for Katie’s sake, and things didn’t work out? Where would that leave his daughter? Motherless again. Heartbroken. Emotionally withdrawn. No, it wasn’t worth the risk.
So how was he supposed to handle this situation? Ignore it? Tell Katie to stop wishing for what she could never have? It was moments like this that he missed Isabel the most. She always knew the right thing to say.
He pulled up to Mildred’s place and shifted the truck into Park.
“Daddy, look how big the puddles are outside,” Katie exclaimed, her lightly freckled nose pressed against the passenger window.
“It’s coming down in bucketfuls,” he acknowledged with a nod. Crazy weather patterns. High sixties and sunshine that afternoon. Cold rain that evening.
“I wanna jump in them.”
At least his daughter’s thoughts had moved on to something other than Alyssa McCall’s marital status. He tossed his partially soaked cowboy hat onto the backseat to dry, then stepped out into the rain. As he rounded the back of the truck, he shrugged out of his coat. Then, opening the passenger door, he gathered his daughter up in his arms, wrapping her up in his coat to shield her from the rain’s onslaught. “The winds are picking up. We don’t want you blowing away.”
Katie stiffened in his arms with a muffled gasp. “I don’t wanna be blown away,” she cried out, her arms clutching his neck.
He mentally chastised himself for his careless choice of words. He tightened his hold on her with a sigh. “Don’t you worry, honey, Daddy would never let that happen to you.”
“But it happened to Mommy.”
And there wasn’t a day that went by that he didn’t blame himself for Isabel’s death. He’d been off with his brothers working on a job site. He hadn’t been there when his family had needed him the most.
Before he had a chance to reply, the front door swung open and Mildred walked out. “There you two are. I was beginning to worry.”
He set Katie on her feet. “We had to swing by The Cat’s Cradle first.”
“Yeah,” Katie joined in, her mood shifting back to its normal carefree state. “We had to give Alyssa a ride there.”
“Miss McCall,” Nathan corrected as he shoved a hand back through his wet hair.
“Miss McCall?”
He nodded. “Apparently, she’s gonna be helping out with the decorative touches to the rec center.”
“She’s real pretty,” his daughter added with a glance in his direction.
The older woman smiled, her gaze shifting to Nathan, as well. “Oh, is she now?”
He shrugged. “I didn’t pay that much attention.” But he had. Enough to know that Alyssa’s hair was an unusual shade of red-gold that seemed to come to life under the light. Enough to know that her thick lashes framed eyes the color of warm honey.
“I see,” the older woman said, but her expression said that she didn’t quite believe him. “Come on in out of that rain and you can tell me all about this Miss McCall.”
“I’m soaked clean through,” he said, nudging his daughter into the warmth of Mildred’s house. “I need to swing by the house and pick up some dry clothes before I head back to work.” What he failed to add was that Miss McCall was the last person he wanted to talk about. She was invading his thoughts with those honey-colored eyes and disarming smile, and was taking over part of the job he should have been overseeing and making his daughter want things, like a new mother, even more, which she couldn’t have. Reaching out, he ruffled his daughter’s hair. “I should be back to pick Katie up around nine thirty.”
“Why don’t you just leave Katie here for the night? No sense traveling on these roads any more than you have to on an evening like this.”
Katie clapped her hands together. “Can I stay, Daddy? Please! Please!”
Mildred was right. The rain coming down as hard and fast as it was could make for unexpected flash floods. Better safe than sorry. “All right, Cupcake. I’ll swing by at lunch tomorrow to check on you.”
“Yippee!”
He bent to kiss the top of her baby-fine hair and then straightened, turning to Mildred. “Call my cell if you need me.”
“We’ll be fine. You just concentrate on getting the rec center done. The town is counting on you.”
He nodded. “I’m doing my best.”
He was the kind of man who put his heart into every job, but this time was different. Every minute, no every second he spent working toward finishing the rec center in time for the town’s Christmas Eve party was a painful reminder of what he and Katie had lost. Of the Christmases they would no longer share as a complete and happy family.
Despite the turmoil that filled him, he had committed himself to seeing the job through. At least, as far as the building’s structure was concerned. Rusty had procured help putting up the holiday trimmings from the church’s Bible group as well as the local ladies’ bingo club. Katie would go to the party with Nathan’s brother Carter and Audra and their kids, allowing him to avoid all that holiday cheer. Then afterward, they’d drop Katie off at home and the two of them would have a quiet Christmas Eve at home, just the two of them.
Pushing all thoughts of Christmas aside, Nathan turned his focus back to the road ahead. Water covering the pavement made hydroplaning a possibility. He eased up on the gas as he drove down the wet road. Leaving Katie at Mildred’s for the night had definitely been a wise decision.
As soon as he arrived at his place, Nathan called Carter, leaving a message on his brother’s cell phone that he was on his way. Then he hurried upstairs to his room to change out of his wet clothes.
When he finally arrived at the rec center, nearly half an hour later, Nathan slid out of the warmth of his truck and back into the cold, wet rain. Raising the collar of the dry coat he’d switched over to, he hurried across the rain-soaked parking area to the newly erected building. One that housed an indoor swimming pool, a TV and game room, an arts and craft room as well as several other recreation-devoted rooms. In the spring, once the weather cleared, an outdoor basketball court, a couple of shuffleboard courts and several picnic tables would be added.
He swung open the front door of the newly constructed building and stepped inside. Removing his jacket, he hung it over a nearby sawhorse, set his still-damp cowboy hat atop it and then moved farther into the room, spotting his brother atop a ladder. “Sorry I’m late.”
“Don’t apologize,” Carter called down from his perch where he stood working on the wiring for one of the overhead lights. “You’ve been working day and night to get this job done. Katie needs you, too.”
No, what Katie needs is a mommy, Nathan thought, his daughter’s words having burrowed themselves under his skin like a thorn.
“How is my little Katydid?” his brother asked as he moved down the ladder.
“Lively as usual,” he muttered, looking around. “Where’s the crew?”
“In the arts and crafts room, finishing the trim on the windows.”
Nathan nodded distractedly.
“Something troubling you?” Carter asked as he walked over to join him. Just a year younger than Nathan, Carter had always been able to read his moods. Their momma used to tell them they were meant to be twins, only Carter decided to hold out a year longer before making his own grand entrance into the world.
“No,” he muttered. “Why?”
His brother snorted. “You always were a poor liar. What’s going on?”
Nathan stepped past him to collect his tool belt from the eight-foot folding table that held an array of power tools along with several boxes of nails and drywall screws. “Katie wants a new mother,” he said with a sigh as he slung the leather belt around his waist and buckled it.
“What?” his brother choked, sounding every bit as surprised as he’d been.
He turned with a frown. “That’s what my daughter wants for Christmas. A mother. She even went so far as to give her own little ‘mommy interview’ to this woman who just arrived in town.”
His brother shook his head with a sigh. “Tough one. Not that I don’t understand Katie’s wanting a mother in her life. I reckon a girl needs that.”
“She has Mildred and Audra. That’s as close as she’s gonna get to having a mother figure in her life. Speaking of which, how is Audra doing?”
His brother’s face beamed at the question. “She’s holding up. The morning sickness tends to get the better of her, but knowing the wondrous gift we’re gonna have soon helps get her through the day. The doctor says the nausea should only last another month or so.”
“Glad to hear it. You couldn’t have chosen a better mother for your child.” Audra had given up everything she’d known to move to Braxton with her children after her husband divorced her, abandoning his children in the process. She was determined to give them a better life. Then she met his brother and they fell in love, giving her children the true family they had always wanted.
“Agreed,” Carter said, a hint of heartfelt emotion pulling at his voice. “Getting back to Katie’s request for a momma. She’s too young to understand what you went through when you lost Isabel. But I do. I remember praying for you every day. Wishing I could do something to bring back the brother I knew. One who used to live life to its fullest. Who smiled often. And loved completely.”
“Carter—”
His brother held up a hand, cutting him off. “I don’t blame you for being afraid of letting someone else into your heart.” Reaching out, he clasped a hand atop his brother’s shoulder. “I saw what losing Isabel did to you. I had no intention of ever putting myself in that position. But then the Lord brought Audra into my life and I couldn’t keep myself from loving her. Our daddy was right. We have to have faith. In ourselves. In our love. And, more importantly, in the Lord’s plan for us.”
Their father had told them from his deathbed in the hospital, Have faith. There is always hope beyond the storm. Despite those weakly uttered last words, all three of Caldwell Cooper’s sons had decided that day that faith wasn’t enough. If it had been, their loved ones would still be there. They’d made a pact that none of them would ever take the risk of loving and losing again. Katie was the only exception to their rule. She was already a part of their lives and needed all the love they could give her. Then Carter had to go and let his heart get in the way of common sense. But Nathan understood. Audra was a woman worth loving and she had given her heart completely to his brother.
“So tell me about this woman our little Katie interrogated,” his brother said, lifting an arm to wipe the sweat from his brow with the sleeve of his flannel shirt.
“She’s from San Antonio,” Nathan told him. “Apparently, she’s an interior designer. Her company offered to send her here pro bono to help with the finishing touches to the rec center.”
His brother arched a questioning brow. “Rusty accepted that without consulting us?”
He nodded.
“I thought we were supposed to be handling the entire project,” Carter muttered, clearly ruffled by Rusty’s lack of communication with them on the matter.
“So did I.”
His brother shrugged. “Reckon we can use all the help we can get if we wanna get the rec center completely finished in time. I just wish Rusty had given us some notice.”
“From what I understand, this was a last-minute offer.” His frown deepened. “Apparently Alyssa has a degree and several years experience, and the board jumped at the chance to have her join in on the project—”
“Alyssa?” his brother cut in, his dark brow arching even further.
“Alyssa McCall. That’s her name,” Nathan stated matter-of-factly. “As I was saying, she has expertise in interior design and Rusty jumped at the opportunity to have her handle that part of the project.”
His brother stroked his whisker-stubbled chin in thought, then let his hand fall away with a casual shrug. “I suppose it’s all for the same cause and she does have a degree...”
“We don’t need her help,” Nathan muttered in irritation. Making decisions on the final touches for a lot of their jobs had once been Isabel’s responsibility. She hadn’t needed some fancy degree to make everything come together. She was a natural. Now he and Carter, along with whoever was contracting their construction services, made those decisions.
“Look at it this way,” his brother said, understanding in his eyes. “It’ll free up a little more time for you to spend with Katie instead of spending it all here.”
Nathan scoffed. “You’re beginning to sound like Mildred.”
“She must be rubbing off on me,” his brother said with a grin. “So, is she pretty?”
“Mildred?”
Carter rolled his eyes. “I already know what a pretty gal Millie is. I was referring to Miss McCall. More important, is she single?”
Nathan groaned. “I’ve just figured out where Katie gets her nosy nature from.”
“I wasn’t asking for you. I was asking for Logan.”
“Our brother happens to be a confirmed bachelor,” he replied with a frown.
His brother eyed him curiously.
“What?” Nathan demanded.
“The little lady caught your eye,” Carter accused, his grin widening. “That’s why you’re so bristly about her being here. She must be a pretty one.”
Nathan’s patience with the conversation ended. “I don’t care how pretty she is. The only woman I ever loved is gone. I’m not looking to replace her. So stop—” his words were cut off by the ringing of his cell phone.
Pulling it from his jeans pocket, he glanced down at the caller ID and then back at his brother. “It’s Millie,” he said.
His brother nodded, stepping away while he took the call.
“Hello?”
“Nathan,” Mildred said, her voice quivering. “I’m sorry to bother you at work.”
The tremor in her voice had his heart dropping like a lead weight. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m afraid there’s been an emergency,” she told him.
Despite their strength, his muscular legs threatened to give way beneath him. He struggled to take a breath. Please, God, not again.
Carter was beside him in an instant. “What is it, Nathan?”
He waved his brother off and forced the dreaded question from his suddenly bone-dry mouth. “Is it Katie?”
“Oh, goodness, no. She’s right as rain,” Millie assured him. “It’s my sister.”
Relief swept through him with gale force. “Your sister,” he repeated as he dragged a hand back through his hair. Then his thoughts shifted to concern for Millie, who had been through enough after losing her husband. “Is she all right?”
“From what I understand, Eleanor lost her balance coming down the stairs this evening and broke her ankle. It’s bad enough to require immediate surgery, which they’ve scheduled for tomorrow.”
“Ah, Millie,” he said, shaking his head, “I hate to hear that. Is there anything I can do?”
“That’s why I’m calling. Eleanor’s all by herself. I really need to be there with her.”
“Of course, you do,” he said without even a moment’s hesitation. “I’ll come get Katie.”
“No need to pick her up right now,” Millie assured him. “She can sleep here tonight like we planned and you can pick her up in the morning. I’m not about to drive up to Laredo tonight. Not with the weather being what it is.”
“I can drive you there,” he offered. How could he not? Millie had done so much for him the past two years.
“I appreciate the offer,” she said, “but Eleanor really needs to get some rest before her surgery tomorrow.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure. You just keep on working to get that rec center done in time for the party. I’ll make a few calls and see if I can round up someone to watch Katie until I get back. I’m not sure how long I’ll be needed in Laredo.”
“Don’t trouble yourself any,” he told her. “I’ll just bring Katie into work with me tomorrow. There’s no school. Some sort of teacher in-service day, which will be followed right after by Christmas break. I’m sure Audra would be willing to help out if I need her while you’re away.”
“Of course,” she said. “Thank you for being so understanding about my leaving.”
“Eleanor’s your sister,” he told her. “You need to be there for her. Now you be sure to get some rest yourself. I’ll be by first thing tomorrow morning to pick Katie up.”
“I’ll have her ready.”
“And, Millie...”
“Yes?”
“Give Katie a kiss good-night for me.”
“I’ll do that.”
He turned the phone off and found Carter standing there staring at him.
“What happened?” his brother asked, his brows furrowed in concern.
“Millie’s sister in Laredo busted her ankle pretty bad. She’s having surgery tomorrow and Millie’s gonna head on up there to be with her. Sounds like she’ll be staying with her sister for a while afterward to help out.”
“I have to admit, when you first answered her call and I saw the color drain from your face, I thought something had happened to Katie.”
“You and me both,” Nathan admitted. His baby girl was his world. If anything ever happened to her...
He forced the thought from his mind and pulled the hammer from its loop on his tool belt. “What are we standing around for? We’ve got us a rec center to finish.”
