by Deb Kastner
In the meantime, if he found the opportunity to do so, he thought he might have to have a word with Danny and Jasper. A harmless prank was one thing, but making a woman cry? That was something else entirely. If they had anything to do with it, Wyatt would see that they apologized to poor Katie.
He wondered which, if any, of the other boys were involved in the mystery matchmaking shenanigans. He briefly considered telling the boys about his own letter, but then thought better of it.
If Danny and Jasper weren’t the only ones writing these notes—and Wyatt’s gut told him that they weren’t—then he didn’t want to draw their attention to his supposed match with Carolina. That was inconsequential information.
Even if it had somehow left an indelible mark in Wyatt’s heart.
The attempted matchmaking would eventually blow over on its own—although for his sake, and for Carolina’s, he hoped she wouldn’t be wearing red at the Valentine’s social.
That could be bad.
Very bad, indeed.
* * *
Carolina stood in a corner on the far side of the church’s fellowship hall, which she had helped transform into a Valentine’s Day wonderland of red, pink and glittering silver hearts, bows and ribbons.
The silk blouse she was wearing was the only thing in her closet that even remotely resembled anything that would work for a Valentine’s Day party. With her complexion, she couldn’t pull off most shades of pink, and she hadn’t had time to go shopping for anything a little less blatantly—
Red.
She’d only agreed to wear the telling color because it was part of the overall theme and she didn’t want to let Katie down, not to mention the ladies who’d planned the event. She didn’t want to inadvertently offend anyone.
So, limited in her choices, she had arrived in traditional Valentine’s Day colors.
The Lady in Red.
Yep. That was her.
She wanted to roll her eyes. After only half an hour, she was already turning herself into the most modern definition of the word wallflower, and she was grateful she wasn’t standing out from the crowd by wearing blue or green.
Which she had considered.
But why did it have to be red?
She felt as if dozens of eyes were surreptitiously upon her—she who had exactly followed the instructions of the mystery matchmakers. Were they gleefully giggling somewhere?
Not that anyone other than the kids who wrote the note—and Katie, who’d read it—would even know what was contained within. But the last thing she wanted to do was inadvertently encourage silly boys’ misconceptions.
What if they left a note for Wyatt next time?
A shock of adrenaline bolted through her as it occurred to her that Wyatt might already have received a similar missive.
What if he would be looking to see if she wore red?
After that first moment of alarm, she calmed down. He hadn’t said anything about having received a letter, so she was probably safe.
Katie had insisted that she and Carolina park themselves in the corner nearest the ice cream sundae bar, since dessert would presumably be the utmost thought in most of the single men’s minds.
Single men, meaning Pastor Andrew, Carolina thought, amused. She didn’t want to mention that she had no interest whatsoever in the single men of Haven.
At first, Katie had been taken aback and was downright indignant by the mystery matchmakers’ note. With as deep as Katie’s feelings ran, it was hardly a joking matter to tease her with a letter.
Unlike Carolina’s awkwardly scribbled note, Katie’s had been carefully typewritten. Even the signature was typeset.
Be my valentine at the ice cream social.
Pastor Andrew
Katie had regained her composure shortly after receiving the note and the rose, and, in her usually upbeat way, had overcome her initial sensitivity.
A typed signature? That was a dead giveaway for sure. There was no sense in her being a bad sport when most of the other singles in town had also received letters.
Carolina hoped Pastor Andrew hadn’t heard about it. It seemed to her that the minister was as shy and awkward around Katie as she was with him. Knowing there had been an attempt at matching up the two would only serve to make things worse for both of them.
Along with Katie, Carolina was keeping her eyes trained on the door, watching laughing couples enter and mingle, and silently praying that someday, one of those happy couples would be Katie and Pastor Andrew.
A tiny flame flickered in her heart—one that she barely dared acknowledge.
The hope that she might one day have someone special to share her life with.
Her pulse jumped when Wyatt entered the room, gently escorting his gran through the crowd and to a chair near where some of her friends from the nursing home were located.
Katie nudged Carolina’s shoulder with hers. “What are you waiting for? For Wyatt to notice your red blouse?”
“Ha-ha. Very funny.”
Carolina was not amused.
But she did want to go speak to Eva. It was sweet of Wyatt to bring his grandmother to the social. If Eva was having a lucid day, she would welcome Carolina’s familiar face. If not, Wyatt could more than likely use all the help he could get to keep her happy.
Either way...
“All right. But you’re coming with me.” Carolina looped her arm through Katie’s, ignoring the heat rising to her face. She felt like a teenager at her first high school dance.
It wasn’t a fond memory.
Eva, she reminded herself. She was doing this for Eva. There was no reason for her to feel uncomfortable.
“Eva,” Carolina exclaimed as they neared. “I see you managed to talk your handsome grandson into being your date for the dance.”
The older woman’s eyes met hers and flashed with recognition.
“Carolina.”
She crouched before the old woman and took both of her hands. Her skin felt thin and brittle to the touch, like parchment paper.
“Wyatt?”
“I’m here, Gran.”
Wyatt shifted so his grandmother could see him, standing directly behind Carolina. His warm palm brushed her hair off her shoulder and electricity skittered down her spine.
Eva clucked at them. “Wyatt, take your wife out there and dance. I’ll be fine here for a little while.”
Carolina scrambled to make sense of the words, and it took her a while to realize Eva’s gaze was resting firmly on her.
“I’m not—”
“You know I don’t dance.” Wyatt’s laugh sounded forced as he squeezed Carolina’s shoulder.
A silent reminder.
Of course. She was the registered nurse here, and yet she’d been the one to get confused. She, more than anyone, ought to know that Eva’s faculties weren’t working at full capacity. Her mind worked in bits and pieces. Eva probably remembered her and Wyatt together in the past and, seeing them together now, had mistakenly made more of it than it was.
Much more.
And she was embarrassed to realize how completely that connection had thrown her off.
Wyatt had done the right thing—redirecting his grandmother without correcting her misconceptions. In a short time, Eva wouldn’t remember what she had said, anyway.
But Carolina would.
Eva’s statement would be branded on her mind for a long time to come.
Carolina stood abruptly, her shoulders plowing into Wyatt’s chest. He put out his hands to steady her.
“I’m sorry, I—” She searched for an excuse to make a speedy exit, but nothing came to mind.
She was grateful when Katie stepped in.
“Carolina and I were about to get a bowl of ice cream,” Katie said
cheerfully. “Wyatt, can we get you and your gran anything? A glass of punch or something?”
Wyatt shook his head, and Carolina scrambled back to the safety of the corner wall she’d originally been holding up, leaning against it and focusing on slowing her breath.
She would never, ever complain about being a wallflower again.
“Well, that was interesting,” Katie said with a laugh. “Mrs. Harrow.”
Carolina groaned. “Please. Let’s not even go there.”
She needn’t have worried. A moment later, Katie grabbed Carolina by the shoulders and ducked behind her.
“What now?”
“I’m so not ready for this.”
Carolina spotted Pastor Andrew in the crowd and had to remind herself that Katie was still a young woman, with a young woman’s hopes and dreams. It couldn’t be easy for her, crushing on the town’s minister—
Who looked like he was walking straight toward them.
“Katie, I think you’d better—” Carolina started to warn, but she didn’t have the opportunity to complete her statement before Pastor Andrew was upon them.
He was a tall, lanky man with kind hazel eyes. He scrubbed a hand through his light brown hair as he approached.
He looked as nervous as Katie was acting. Katie made an incomprehensible squeaking sound but stepped forward, smoothing her bright pink dress with her hand.
“Katie,” Pastor Andrew said, and then, almost as an afterthought, he nodded at her. “Carolina.”
Carolina didn’t mind at all that the minister only had eyes for the boys ranch secretary. This could be good. She sent up a silent prayer for the couple.
Pastor Andrew cleared his throat and shoved his hands into the pockets of his black slacks. He had a real gift in the pulpit and in counseling the boys at the ranch, but he looked like he was having trouble speaking to Katie. His Adam’s apple bobbed and he cleared his throat a second time.
“Katie, I—I was just... How are you?”
Somehow Carolina didn’t think that was the question the minister had intended to ask, but Katie, her face taking on a rosy glow that matched the color of her dress, didn’t seem to notice.
“Very well, thank you,” she answered shyly. “And you?”
“I’m good. Fine. That is, I just—” Pastor Andrew hesitated and rocked back on the heels of his cowboy boots. He took a deep breath and let it all out at once in a string of words. “Here’s the thing. I was wondering if you read my note.”
Katie’s eyes went as wide as saucers. Carolina had to admit she was almost as surprised as her friend was.
The typewritten note and the rose were actually from Pastor Andrew?
He had been at the barn raising when Katie had received the letter and gift, but Carolina couldn’t remember if he’d stayed to eat lunch. Had he seen her run out of the room crying?
No wonder the poor man was a bundle of nerves.
Carolina pushed Katie forward and tried to fade into the background so the couple could talk, but she didn’t get far enough away that she couldn’t hear what was going on between the two of them. This was just too good to miss.
And so romantic.
Her heart welled. She tried not to shift her gaze to Wyatt but failed miserably. She caught his eyes momentarily, gulped in a breath of air and forced herself to look away.
“That was you?” Katie finally found her voice.
Pastor Andrew’s brow creased in confusion. “Of course it was me. I signed the note, didn’t I?”
“It was typewritten.”
“Yes. Well. Is—is that a problem?”
“No. It’s just that I thought it must have been the mystery matchmakers at work. It wasn’t handwritten, and a couple of boys delivered it.”
Now it was Pastor Andrew’s turn to redden. “That’s the last time I try to be romantic,” he mumbled under his breath.
Then, louder, he said, “I am so sorry. I can see now how you might have gotten the wrong impression. I typed the note because my handwriting is atrocious and I was afraid you wouldn’t be able to read it. Worse than a doctor’s script, I can promise you. I can’t even read my own writing sometimes. I wanted to let you know I was interested, but instead I made you believe the exact opposite.
“I had the boys deliver the letter because—oh, never mind what I was thinking about. What matters is what you think, Katie.”
“What I think?” Katie parroted, her voice still high and squeaky.
“About what I said in the note. You know—the question I asked?”
Pastor Andrew held his hand out to Katie and grinned. “Will you be my valentine?”
Carolina was happy for her friends. She really was. But she couldn’t help the way her heart dipped as she considered her own circumstances.
There would be no valentine for her.
Chapter Seven
The nursing home orderlies showed up about an hour after the event started and relieved Wyatt of having to watch Gran.
No—having wasn’t the right word. He was happy to spend time with Gran, to be her date, especially since she seemed to know who he was tonight. Granted, she’d gotten the part about his being married to Carolina wrong, but who could blame her? Past and present melded in her mind.
It was gratifying to see the joy in her eyes as she watched couples dance, and as she indulged in her own bit of perfection in the form of a bowl of chocolate ice cream smothered in hot fudge sauce. Chocolate on chocolate. The smile on her face when she looked at him was worth every bit of effort it had taken him to get her here.
But she tired easily and was more than ready when the orderlies appeared to take her away.
But now that Gran had been taken back to the nursing home, Wyatt wasn’t sure what to do with himself. He probably would have left when Gran did, except Johnny had joined him and was in the midst of a major teenage meltdown.
Wyatt did not miss being that age, when every little thing felt like the end of the world.
Did the girl he admired like him? Did he dare ask her to dance?
At least Johnny’s crisis helped Wyatt not chew his cud over his grandmother’s mistaken impression that Carolina was his wife.
Why couldn’t he let that thought go?
Johnny fidgeted beside him, clenching and unclenching his fists in an uneasy rhythm and muttering to himself under his breath.
“You’re going to have to relax, pal.” Wyatt laid a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “You’re hyperventilating. Your girl will probably notice you if you pass out, but I think it would be better for both of you if you didn’t.”
Johnny didn’t laugh at Wyatt’s pathetic attempt at humor. From time to time, the young man would glance across the room to where a small group of teenage girls huddled, but his gaze never lingered very long.
Wyatt conspiratorially bent his head toward Johnny. “So which one is she, again?”
Johnny had spoken of Cassie Kramer, a pretty girl he knew from the high school he attended. Johnny hadn’t said much, but Wyatt had poked around a little bit and discovered Cassie was in the homecoming court and a star player on the girls’ basketball team. She hadn’t let her popularity go to her head, as Wyatt remembered the girls often doing when he was in high school. Rather, Johnny said she always smiled at him and sometimes stopped to talk in the hall, never belittling him for his stutter.
“The b-brunette,” Johnny answered, shifting from one foot to another. “The p-pretty one.”
Wyatt had no idea what constituted beauty in a modern teenager, so he took a guess. “The one in the pink sweater? You’re right. She is pretty.”
Johnny nodded so voraciously that a large lock of his curly dark hair dropped over his forehead.
“S-so is C-Carolina. She’s w-wearing red.”
; Wyatt’s eyebrows shot up and then he narrowed his eyes on his teenage protégé, He hadn’t mentioned anything to Johnny about the note he had received, especially the part about Carolina wearing red.
Which meant...
He’d found his mystery matchmaker.
But why would Johnny want to set him up with Carolina? He decided to play along.
Wyatt smiled slyly and winked at Johnny. “Yeah. I noticed.”
He tried not to hazard a glance at Carolina but couldn’t seem to help himself. She was standing alone in the corner, her arms crossed in front of her as if she were cold, even though it was quite warm in the building. Wyatt felt a trickle of sweat run down his spine.
He turned his attention back to Johnny.
“So. This Cassie girl. Are you going to ask her to dance, or what?”
The stain on Johnny’s cheeks intensified. Johnny gaped at him and shook his head.
“I could n-never—”
“Why not?” Wyatt wasn’t much of a judge about such things, but despite the young man’s shyness and stutter, he was a nice enough kid in both looks and personality. And he was as loyal as they came. A girl could do worse.
“C-Cassie is—” Johnny didn’t finish his sentence.
“Cassie is standing right over there waiting for you to go and ask her to dance. She’s glanced your way several times now.”
His eyes widened. “At m-me?”
“Yes, at you. Don’t sound so surprised.” Wyatt nodded toward Cassie. “Go.”
Johnny had always taken Wyatt’s advice, so he was taken aback when the teenager shook his head.
“You aren’t d-dancing. Neither is C-Carolina.”
“I don’t dance.”
Johnny shrugged. “N-neither do I.”
Wyatt could see where this was going. Johnny was continuing to play matchmaker, although after Gran’s surprise statement this evening it seemed the boy would have to get in line for that particular job. Still, Wyatt was surprised at Johnny’s sudden gumption. Who knew that the teenager had a stubborn streak?
“I see. So let me get this straight. The deal is that if I dance with Carolina, you will dance with Cassie?”