A Gentleman's Kiss Romance Collection

by Ginny Aiken

  “I hear you’re an artist now. A pretty popular one.” He placed a price sticker on a dish. “Just like in high school, as sought after as ever.”

  “I paint murals in children’s rooms or in dining rooms usually. I don’t know if I’m an arteest, as I imagined I’d be. Especially if you consider my work eventually gets covered over by boy band posters and bubble gum.”

  “My grandmother told me about your success as soon as I got back into town. I’d love you to paint one of your works in my new house. The walls are so plain.”

  “What?” Perhaps the hot sun was making her hear things. Jeff Weatherly wasn’t interested in art on his walls—it couldn’t be. “What did you have in mind? A chess board in your kitchen?”

  “No, nothing like that. My sister’s going through an ugly time right now. Her son has been staying with me on and off for the last year. I thought it would be nice to personalize his room a bit. Kenny’s the reason I moved back to Heaven. The traveling would be too hard on him now that he’s going to school next year.”

  Mattie’s stomach lurched. Of course she’d heard the rumors about Jeff’s sister and the continuous battle with drug addiction. She hadn’t paid them any mind other than as idle gossip. Judging by the clouded gray in Jeff’s eyes, there must have been a spark of truth to them. Mattie mentally calculated her six-month waiting list and wondered how she could push them all back without harming her carefully built reputation.

  “What did you have in mind for a mural?” she asked.

  “He’s four, and he really likes trains.” Jeff’s expression softened. “He’ll build tracks all day long, and he sits in there and names them all. They’re his friends.” All hint of a smile faded. “With as many struggles as he’s had, they’re his only friends sometimes.”

  Mattie felt her own eyes tearing. She was ready to drop the flea market altogether and go to buy the supplies. “I can paint at night for you. I have a full schedule with a new house in Scottsdale during the day right now, and with the commute…. The woman wants a Roman theme in her bathroom—which is bigger than my condo, I might add—and her daughter wants pink ponies on her ceiling. I’m almost finished with that job, but it’s been a bear working for this woman, so I don’t want to do anything to ruin my shot at getting out of there as soon as possible.”

  “No, I don’t want you to go through any trouble, Mattie. I’m sorry I brought it up. I just thought—”

  “Jeff, I want to do this. I want your nephew to have a place that feels like it was made especially for him. A place where he can know God loves him and so do you.”

  Jeff still shook his head, and Mattie grasped his hand. “I want to do this. It’s important to me because it’s important to you.” Had she really said that? Her fingertips flew to her lips. As hard as she was trying to keep her emotions at bay, she still cared about Jeff. More than she wanted to admit to him or to herself.

  Jeff turned and faced her, his intense gaze meeting hers until she thought she’d melt from the heat. “Mattie, would you paint the spare bedroom for my nephew? I wouldn’t normally ask. I want you to charge me whatever the going rate is for your work.” His chin tilted toward the radiating cement. “I can’t put it into words, but I need to do more for this little boy. To give him some semblance of a home, even if it’s a place he just visits. I feel as if he’s my own. Who knows? If things keep going the same way, he may be at some point.”

  Mattie smiled at their first customer of the day before turning again toward Jeff. “I’ll sketch my ideas, and we’ll buy the paint early next week, okay?” She inhaled dreamily. To think such a softhearted person lurked behind that stoic facade unnerved her. To see a man love a child the way Jeff loved Kenny was everything Mattie wished for in a lifetime. If only she knew what to do to grasp such a love for herself.

  After helping a few customers, one approached looking familiar. Mattie couldn’t place the face, but she knew it had an unpleasant memory associated with it. Once the woman spoke in her gravelly, straightforward way without thought to standard conversational practices, Mattie instantly remembered. Jeff’s sister, Joan.

  “If it isn’t the high school princess.” Joan laughed, a low throaty cackle that brought an underlying fear bubbling to Mattie’s surface. “Still wearing your cheerleading skirt for kicks? Still leading my brother on?”

  “Joan!” Jeff chastised before grabbing his sister by the arm and walking her away a bit. His loud, angry whisper wasn’t hard to overhear. “Do you mind? This is my friend. Do I ask your friends about their freaky tattoos? Or why they feel the need to pierce every orifice?”

  Mattie looked away but suddenly felt her hand grabbed, and a tiny hand curled into her own. She looked down to see a little boy with sandy brown hair, styled easily into a well-coifed bowl cut. His large blue eyes were unmistakably Jeff’s. This had to be the nephew, and Mattie kneeled to speak.

  “Hi, there, little guy. What’s your name?”

  “Kenny.” The big blue eyes blinked, and little pudgy lips spoke with a lisp. “I get to go with Uncle Jeff today. Mommy says she has stuff to do, and little kids can’t come.”

  “Well, we need lots of help selling all these good things today. Do you think you could help us?”

  His head bobbed excitedly. “Uncle Jeff says I’m a great helper.”

  Jeff’s voice increased in volume. “Did you even feed him today, Joan?” As Jeff saw Mattie’s widened eyes, he lowered his voice.

  “Are you hungry, Kenny?” Mattie asked.

  He rubbed his tummy. “I’m weally ungry. Mommy said all the cereal was gone, and I ate it too fast. She’s got no money for more and has to get some, but if I keep eating it too fast, I’m outta luck.”

  “Come on, then. Let’s get a donut over here. Krispy Kremes.”

  “Ooh, those are my favorite! Mommy likes them, too.”

  “Let go of my kid! You got that, princess?” Joan’s wild black tresses fell over her face as she yelled.

  Kenny’s blue eyes widened, and he looked first to his mother then to the stranger holding his hand. Mattie only clung tighter to Kenny’s hand and took him to the refreshment table. “It’s all right, Kenny. Your uncle Jeff is right there, and so is Mommy. We’ll be able to see them the whole time, okay?”

  Kenny nodded. Jeff looked adept at handling his sister, and Mattie would gladly let him. With all these church folk gathered around, Joan wasn’t likely to get away with too much.

  “Mrs. Wessex.” Mattie smiled at the older woman. “This is Kenny, and he is so famished, he says. He simply must have a donut.”

  Josephine pinched the little one’s cheeks, and Mattie noticed it was with less force than she’d endured. “I think he might need two. He looks like a big boy.”

  After downing three donuts and two glasses of milk, Kenny had more than a bit of energy to run off. Josephine noticed and eagerly offered to take him to the church playground for a time. Mattie agreed and went to find Jeff, to see if there was anything she could do to help.

  Jeff’s face was drained of color, as Mattie found him sitting in a folding chair behind table seventeen. He looked up and blinked slowly then stood frantically. “Where’s Kenny?”

  “Relax—he’s with Josephine Wessex. They went to play off some of the sugar high from the donuts. They’re right over there.” Mattie pointed, and Jeff exhaled.

  “I guess you remember my sister now, huh?” Jeff’s defeated expression gave way to a resolve. His shoulders straightened. “I have to get that boy, Mattie. I can’t let him grow up like this. Look—I hope you don’t mind, but I’m going to have to cancel lunch. As long as I have Kenny, I don’t want to do anything to destroy that or cause my sister not to trust me.” He looked away for a moment. “Joan thinks our goody-two-shoes ways will harm her son, that we’ll fill his head with religious notions if we take him out together.” He held his forefinger and thumb up. “She’s this close to signing over custody.”

  Mattie swallowed hard. Joan had always hated
what Mattie represented, and it was no different ten years later. Jeff wasn’t willing to sacrifice his nephew for the chance at a relationship that had already failed once. That made perfect sense to her, but logic wasn’t on her mind.

  “Of course, I understand,” Mattie said over the lump in her throat.

  “I’ll make it up to you. I promise.” Jeff’s head shook back and forth. “Don’t give up on me, just yet. Your Gram has a lot of wisdom, and I think there’s something here we have yet to discover.”

  “Can I still help you with the mural? No strings attached. We’ll do it when Kenny isn’t around so Joan will have no qualms.”

  He paused momentarily. “I’ll see you Monday night.” He took out a business card and wrote his home address and phone number on the back. His eyes were filled with sadness, and Mattie fought the urge to touch his face and try to take some of his stress away. But she would pray, oh, how she would pray.

  Chapter 3

  What did you think of your sale partner yesterday?” Gram lifted the corner of her mouth. “Pretty handsome?”

  “I thought it looked quite obvious, as if I were using my grandmother to get a date. It was a little humiliating actually.” Although they’d enjoyed a nice, homemade meal her grandmother had prepared, the subject of Jeff was saved until now. All part of her grandmother’s well-executed plan, she supposed.

  Gram shrugged. “All that matters is that he didn’t mind you as his partner. He enjoyed seeing you, so I see no harm done. We tested the waters, and we’re ready to move forward.” Gram rubbed her hands together.

  “No harm done? He probably thinks I’m an old maid. That no one wants to date me, and my grandmother has to force innocent single men into working flea markets with me.” Mattie’s eyebrows rose. “Your plan might be dead in those waters, Gram. Jeff has far more important things on his mind right now.”

  A giggle rumbled from her grandmother. “Mattie, you always were the dramatic one. You see so much that isn’t there.”

  “I’m an artist. Being colorful is part of my charm.”

  “It is,” Gram agreed. She put a Corelle dish into the cabinet, ignoring the new dishwasher like an abandoned shopping cart.

  “Gram, are you ever going to use that dishwasher? Your kitchen looks like a showroom.”

  “A dishwasher. Whatever for? I can wash a dish without wasting electricity. You young people are wasteful. If you had to go through the Depression, you’d be more careful with resources. Especially with water in Arizona. This may be Heaven, but I don’t take that name literally.”

  Mattie sighed. “Time is valuable today, Gram. That’s why we have modern-day conveniences, so that we can do more important things than wash dishes.”

  “What’s more valuable than spending time with the ones you love while cleaning the kitchen? A dishwasher doesn’t enable you to do that.” Gram dried the last dish and changed the subject back to her matchmaking ideas. “When you were young, we called you the princess, Mattie. Whenever anyone came to dinner you would dance in wearing some wild sparkly outfit you’d taken from my closet. Back from my younger days when your grandfather and I would cut a rug.”

  “What does this have to do with the price of rice in China?” Mattie said, quoting one of her grandmother’s famous sayings.

  “I’m saying you’re a princess in your mind. The reason you haven’t married is because you’re waiting for Prince Charming to return, and no one else will do. I can’t imagine you settling for a man who doesn’t make your heart whirl like that smoothie blender you bought me. My opinion is that no one else will ever take Jeff’s place in your heart, so what choice do you have?”

  Mattie’s chest deflated in defeat. What choice did she have indeed? Seeing Jeff look after his nephew would send the normal, rational woman running for cover. A situation that involved addiction, custody hearings, and ugly court battles did not exactly inspire romance. The idea sent a shiver up Mattie’s spine, and yet the red flag wasn’t hoisted. Mattie only thought more of Jeff for his endearing care of little Kenny.

  “Jeff’s sister doesn’t appear to be doing well, Gram. I think little Kenny will be his priority.”

  “As it should be, Mattie. That little boy hasn’t had an easy time of it. I know his great-grandmother tries to do what she can, but she’s getting older. Preschoolers have a lot of energy.”

  “It would never be just Jeff and I. Even if he were interested in me that way.”

  “Can you ever settle for coming in third? Behind God? Behind Kenny? You dreamed of being a princess. That life doesn’t sound like the one you’ve dreamed of.”

  “Gram, you’re baiting me. You don’t really think I’m still a princess in my mind.”

  “The only thing that’s missing is the tiara, sweetheart.”

  “You’re trying to get me to admit I like Jeff, that his issues are not big enough to squelch my love. But I don’t love Jeff, Gram. I don’t even know him anymore. It was a childhood crush that lives on for the moment after seeing he’s grown more handsome with age. It’s just physical attraction. Certainly not something to build a commitment on.” Mattie straightened her shoulders, trying to convince herself she felt nothing. “I don’t need a man to complete me, Gram. I am a big girl, a successful artist. How many people make their living doing exactly what they dreamed of? Jeff would be lucky to have me.”

  “Mattie, who are you trying to convince? I’m convinced, or I wouldn’t have set the two of you up.”

  “Aha! So you admit you set me up.”

  Gram smiled her secret smile.

  “Don’t they have shuffleboard or something here to do so you can give up these matchmaking dreams?”

  Gram laughed. “If they do, you won’t find me there. I have too much interest in great-grandchildren. I figure I’m well on the way with Callie, but my prayer is to leave for heaven with a good number of little hearts for Jesus. I’ve prayed for their salvation, and I want to meet them before I leave.”

  “Gram, please. You’re going to outlive us all.”

  “I doubt that, but I am going to live to see my great-grandchildren. I know you think your Gram is just a funny old lady, but I have three successful matches under my belt, sweetheart, and I don’t plan to stop until I’m finished. Do you remember Pride and Prejudice? Mary and Kitty were left with no marriage prospects. I might have rewritten that book had I been around.” Gram shook her head. “To me, matchmaking is like the quilting Lorraine Henke does. She cuts all those special shapes and patches them together until the pattern is such that it will be cherished for an heirloom. I think of marriage that way. Those two separate shapes must come together by some careful sewing.”

  Mattie sighed loudly. “Gram, enough with the romantic analogies. I’m painting Jeff’s wall. Let’s not read too much into that. He has enough to think about, so leave him be, all right? And I’ll try to do the same.”

  “I hear your tone, Mattie. You’re worried I’ll scare him off. I’m much more subtle than you give me credit for. Ask your cousins.”

  Mattie bubbled over with laughter. “Gram, you’re about as subtle as a city bus in a backyard!”

  “Watch your tongue, little lady.” Gram settled into her favorite easy chair and clicked on the television news. “Don’t you have a date, Mattie?”

  “Don’t you?”

  “No, I’ve kept my entire weekend free. I’m having a prayer-a-thon for myself.”

  “I don’t even want to know what you’re praying for, so don’t tell me. You’ll be fasting for the love potion number nine if I’m not careful.”

  “Mattie, sarcasm is your problem. Sarcasm shows a prideful heart. You can go home and use some prayer yourself.”

  “You’re probably right, Gram.” Mattie bent over the easy chair and kissed her grandmother. “Thanks for dinner, Gram. That’s something else you might pray for, a man who can cook for me.” Mattie made her way toward the door and puckered up to blow her grandmother a good-bye kiss. “Love you, Gram.”

/>   “Love you, too, sweetheart. Call me and let me know how Monday goes. I’ll be praying.”

  Mattie knelt in prayer and climbed into bed exhausted and uneasy. Jeff’s furrowed brow kept coming to mind. Mattie wondered how much of his high school years had been spent pulling Joan from dangerous situations. Visions of Joan taunting Mattie in the hallway came flooding back.

  “Little cheerleader wants to slum with my geek brother. Little cheerleader wants to be worshipped.”

  The raspy manly voice would never leave Mattie, not for as long as she lived. Guilt rose within her. She’d never shared Christ with Joan, not in all their horrible encounters. Mattie thought about Jeff’s abandoning her on prom night and wondered how she’d left him alone to deal with his sister’s issues. Mattie had been so oblivious to the burden and instead focused on a lace dress. No wonder he’d lost interest. Mattie’s faith had been shallow and merely words.

  Nightmares besieged her, and she tossed and turned all night. The memories woke Mattie with a start. It was then she realized the phone was ringing.

  “Hello?” she croaked, her morning voice raw and dry.

  “Mattie, it’s Jeff. Listen—I’m sorry to call so early, but I’m at the hospital with Joan. She got some bad stuff yesterday and was rushed here. My grandmother has Kenny. She’s pretty energetic, but I don’t know how long she can keep up with a four-year-old. Can you go by and check on them after church? She’s staying home this morning in case anything else happens. I’m sorry. I didn’t know of anyone else to call.”

  Mattie sprang from bed. “Of course. Of course I’ll be right over there.”

  “No need to hurry, Mattie. You know my grandmother—she and yours could outrun any cart on the golf course, if they had to.” Jeff forced a laugh, but Mattie could hear the strained nature of his tone. “She lives on Agave Circle, 448.”