Hope's Discovery (THE MATCHMAKER TRILOGY)

by Marie, Bernadette

  “I wanted to ask you a question.” She kept her voice low, making sure her voice wouldn’t carry to the kitchen.

  “What is it?”

  “I don’t want to hurt your feelings.” She rolled the king in her hand, taking it off the board and inevitably ending the game. “I don’t want to hurt Mom either.”

  “Hope, is everything okay?” David reached across the board and laid his hand on hers. His brows had drawn together, leaving worry lines streaked across his forehead.

  “Yes. Everything is fine. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  “Well, you are.”

  “I’m sorry.” She blew out a breath and looked up at him. His chocolate eyes creased with age and wisdom. With a smile she hoped conveyed her love for him, she said, “I want to find out about my birth parents.”

  He didn’t speak or move right away. But when he did, it was fury she saw in his eyes, followed by the hurt she hadn’t wanted to cause.

  “Why don’t we take this conversation out to the front porch.” He stood and walked toward the front door.

  Hope closed her eyes and took a deep, cleansing breath, but it didn’t take away regret she felt from telling him what she’d wanted to do. How could she feel so small?

  When she walked out of the house, he was sitting on the porch swing looking out over the dark street. He lifted his head to acknowledge the seat next to him. She knew he expected her to take it.

  The deep breath he took and the clearing of his throat said he was ready to discuss what she’d said. Hope braced herself for the calm and grueling argument that loomed before her.

  “I thought perhaps this would have been a phase you’d have gone through at thirteen, not twenty-three.”

  “I don’t want you to be disappointed in me.”

  “Hope Katherine, I’m not.” He set his jaw. “If I had wanted to hide your birth mother from you, I would have. There hasn’t been a day in your life that you didn’t know you were given to us as a gift.” He reached to her face and touched her chin with is finger and thumb, as he had when she was a small girl. “I love you. Your mother loves you. As long and you are not going to replace us as your family, I will listen to what you have to say.”

  “Dad, I would never think of doing that.”

  “I know,” he said, releasing his grip. “It’s still going to sting.” David took a deep breath, laid his arm across her shoulders, and pulled her into him.

  Hope rested her head on his shoulder. It was stiffer than it had been any time before. She was hurting him and she couldn’t help it, but he was trying not to show it. Hope nuzzled in even closer to her father and gathered her thoughts. “I know she’s dead. I know there isn’t a lot of good to her, but Dad, there’s another part. Someone else was involved. Curiosity has the better of me. I want to know that other half. I want to know why she couldn’t or wouldn’t tell him about me.” Hope felt him shift away from her the slightest bit. She sat up and looked into his eyes again. “I don’t want to replace you. I couldn’t have been happier with my life. It’s always been perfect. I just want to know whose blood runs through my veins.”

  He only nodded. She was sure he wanted to stop her. Had he asked her to, she would probably have dropped the whole thing, but he wasn’t asking her to drop it. Worse, he wasn’t saying anything.

  “I love you and Mom. And Carissa and Thomas and the kids are my life.”

  “Shh.” He put his finger to her lips. “Are you ready for it? Are you ready to either have your answers or to be disappointed in what you learn?”

  “I think I am.”

  “It’s going to change you, Hope.”

  “I’m not looking for it to change me.”

  “What I mean is you’ll have so much more information than you do now. Look at how your sister reacts when you even mention Mandy Marlow. Her face loses its color and her lips get tight. What she remembers isn’t positive. You are the only thing about Mandy that was ever positive to Carissa. She would have fought me to keep you if she’d had to.”

  “I know.”

  “Then take what you know and consider it might get worse. What if the man who fathered you is some drug pusher? What if he’s a drunk or a serial killer?”

  “What if he’s some even-mannered pilot who met a woman?” she asked, and David shook his head.

  “You certainly can give as well as you get.”

  “I’m not replacing you.”

  “So you’ve said.”

  “I just want facts. And I want to be open and honest about this. I don’t want to hide it from you.”

  “I assume Trevor is going to help you do this?”

  She nodded, and David took his arm from her shoulders and ran his fingers through his hair.

  “He’s already given me a file full of information, but I think he has more. I just think he’s afraid to show me. I’ll find her family myself if I have to.”

  “You’ll what?” The voice came from the front door, and both Hope and David turned their heads toward Sophia.

  “Mom…”

  “You’re contacting her family?”

  “Mom…” Hope stood and David followed.

  “What are you doing? We’ve been open and honest with you. You know everything we’ve ever known about the woman. Why are you trying to build another family?”

  “I’m not,” she started.

  “Hope, why would you want…”

  “Sophie.” David laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. “She just wants to know who the people were that gave her life.”

  “We gave her a life,” her mother snapped back.

  “Not a life, Mom. Life. I don’t need a new mother. I don’t want another father. I want to know about the people who created me. When I have children I would like to know if they should be screened for certain things or if I might carry some gene for disease.”

  “Children? Now you’re having children?” Sophia clasped her hands to her chest.

  “No.” Hope shook her head and walked toward her mother. “Yes, someday I’ll have children. Right now, I want to know who gave me to you so you could be my mother. Even Santa leaves tags on gifts, Mom. My tag was half torn off.” She reached for her mother’s hand. “I need to know. I need your blessing.”

  Sophia looked at David, who silently nodded.

  “Please, Mom.”

  “Fine.” She pulled her hand back. “You have my blessing.”

  Hope’s heart felt like it was tearing in two when her mother turned back to the house and walked inside.

  “She’ll be fine,” her father assured her. “I’ll talk to her.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You’d better talk to your sister. This will affect her.”

  “She knows.”

  David nodded. “I’ll try and remember everything I can to help you but something tells me Trevor will have more luck.”

  “I know he will.”

  “Be careful,” he warned. “Don’t be afraid to back away if you have to.”

  “Okay.”

  “I’d better get in with your mother. I love you.”

  “I love you too.” She stepped forward to hug him, but he’d already walked through the door and disappeared to find his wife and comfort her. Hope fought back the urge to cry. She couldn’t give up. She had to know the truth—she only wished it didn’t hurt those she loved.

  Trevor flew through the door and headed straight for the desk. He might be a slob in the rental car, but his paperwork was immaculate. His fingers tore through the papers until he found Donald Buchanan’s phone number. It was time for him to come clean or Trevor would do it for him.

  “Hello,” a woman’s voice answered.

  “I’m sorry, ma’am. I was looking for a Mr. Buchanan. I think I have the wrong—”

  “This is his wife. What can I do for you?” The voice was clear and sharp. The image of the grandmother from Flowers in the Attic flashed in his mind. The hair on his arms stood and his skin chilled.

 
“I’m a business associate. I can call at a later…”

  “I said what can I do for you?”

  “Nothing, ma’am. I’ll call another time. Thank you,” he said and disconnected the phone call.

  What had he gotten himself into? Donald Buchanan had warned him against letting his wife know what was going on. He’d said he feared for Hope’s safety.

  If Trevor couldn’t stop Donald Buchanan, he had to stop Hope.

  “I can’t believe you told Dad and upset Mom like that.” Carissa’s arms flew in the air inside the confines of Hope’s car. “Did you see her face? She was heartbroken.”

  “You would rather I didn’t say anything? You would rather I find out my answers behind her back and never tell her?”

  “What I’m saying, Hope, is she shouldn’t have found out by overhearing it. You should have had them both right there with you when you discussed it. Not starting with Dad and then moving on to Mom.”

  “I didn’t mean to tell him right then. It just came out,” she said as she drove down Carissa’s street.

  “You’d better do this all fast. It’s killing Mom that you need to do it at all. I hope that Trevor knows what he’s doing.”

  “That Trevor?” Hope was sure to hear Carissa’s opinion on him now. “You know, you weren’t very nice to him.”

  “I don’t trust him.”

  “Why?”

  “Why?” Carissa snorted out a laugh. “He picked you up in a cemetery.”

  “He didn’t pick me up.” She held back her own laugh and shook her head.

  “Either way. He meets you in a cemetery, mourning over someone you shouldn’t have been mourning over anyway,” she added, living up to Hope’s prediction. “Then he comes into the school and inquires about our classes when his niece doesn’t even live here? And then…oh and then he happens into your store, and now you’re painting his picture.”

  “I was already painting it,” she admitted, wrinkling up her nose. She caught her sister’s stare. “I couldn’t get his face out of my mind. I’ve seen it in my dreams. Just like Grandma Katie said, He’ll come for you.”

  “I have decided you’ve lost your ever-loving mind.”

  “I haven’t, but I might be losing my heart.” The smile was there. She felt it on her face and her whole body felt light.

  “Oh, dear!” Carissa shoved though the contents of her purse for her keys. “I can’t believe you. You need a shrink.”

  “So now you’re going to go to bed mad at me too? Mom’s mad. You’re mad. Dad’s not too happy…”

  “And you think going on with this is going to change that? Stop while you’re ahead.”

  “I can’t,” she said softly. “I need to do this.”

  “Then be careful with who you hurt with it.” Carissa opened the door to the car. “And by the way, I’d really reconsider this Trevor guy too. I swear he’s hiding something. I don’t know what it is, but—”

  “And when you’re wrong and I marry the man?” She raised her eyebrows as a dare.

  “Then I’ll take it all back. But, Hope, don’t go run off to Vegas and get married tonight to shut me up. I’m allowed to worry about you. It’s been my job since the day Mandy walked into the juice store and told me she was pregnant with my sister.” She shut the door and waited until Hope rolled down the window. “I love you. Take care of yourself and I’ll be happy.”

  “I will. I promise.”

  How could she have hurt everyone she loved? But she had.

  Hope tossed and turned and sat up in bed. She pulled her hair over her shoulder and huffed out a breath. Was it worth it? Did it really matter who had been part of who created her?

  Yes, it did matter. It had always mattered.

  Hope swung her feet to the side of the bed and set them on the floor. She slipped her feet into her slippers and walked to the kitchen. Opening the door to the refrigerator, she pulled out the orange juice and reached for a short glass in the cupboard. She sat down at the table and poured the orange juice into the glass. Then she sat with it in her hands, never taking a drink.

  So many things had run through her head since she’d told her father about her plans. The pain in her mother’s eyes was enough to make her rethink the whole thing. She was used to Carissa being angry with her. That was normal. Sisters were always at each other for something. But it was what she’d said about Trevor that made her anxious.

  Carissa didn’t trust him. The thought alone angered Hope, but it shouldn’t, and that angered her more. Carissa had always watched out for her and now wouldn’t be any different. But there were some things that didn’t click when Hope thought about them.

  Why was Trevor still in Kansas City? What insurance investigation would possibly take so long? Why did he suddenly pop up at the cemetery, the school, and her store?

  She finally drank down the juice. She hated herself for thinking too hard. There wasn’t anything she wanted more than for Trevor to have all her answers and to be her answer.

  Her morning was shaky and dragged on. She’d had three snippy old ladies in her shop, all of whom took jabs at her art. Thomas had new students, and she wanted to tell them to try a quieter form of expression, but she was sure if she did, he’d hit her upside the head with a drumstick. The pants she’d put on didn’t fit quite right, and her hair had gone flat in a matter of moments. Had she not wanted Trevor to walk through the door, she’d lock it.

  And then he did.

  It was past one thirty. He carried a pizza and a two-liter bottle of soda. When he smiled, he looked a bit shaky too. That didn’t help her mood.

  “Hi,” she managed, but it didn’t sound polite.

  “Hey. I hope you like pizza,” he said, lifting it with a forced smile.

  “Who doesn’t like pizza?” She walked around the counter, brushed his lips lightly with a kiss, and took the pizza from him.

  “My sister.”

  “What?” She turned her head as she walked toward the back of the store.

  “My sister. She doesn’t like pizza.”

  “Really?”

  He shrugged. “She worked at a pizza place during high school. Might just be she’s tired of it for eternity.”

  “I can’t imagine.” Hope opened a cabinet and took out two paper plates. She set them on the table and reached for two coffee mugs from her rack.

  “I didn’t know what you’d want, so I got cheese.” He winced as he said it, and she laughed.

  “You can’t go wrong with that.”

  Trevor nodded and reached into the box.

  “Wait,” she said, stopping him.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m in a real lousy mood. The food can wait a minute.” She set down the mugs and closed the lid to the pizza. She walked a step closer to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I think we should kiss.”

  “I thought we did that,” he said, holding his hands out to the sides.

  “No, that was a peck. A spiteful one at that. Hold me and kiss me.”

  “My hands have cheese and sauce on them.” He grinned.

  “Fine. I’ll hold. You kiss.”

  He dipped his head down until their lips were a breath apart. The anticipation of the kiss already lifted her spirits. But when his arms came around her, his hands careful not to touch her clothes, and he pulled her to him tight, the air whooshed out of her. He took possession of her lips. She felt the coarseness of his unshaven skin rub against her face as his tongue sought hers.

  Hope pulled herself to him tighter and felt her knees go weak. He nipped at her lip, took her mouth again, and left her completely boneless when he pulled away and rested his forehead on hers.

  “Okay,” she said, catching her breath. “That’s better.”

  “Oh My, do you know what you do to me?” His words were carried on a breathless whisper as well.

  She knew exactly what she did to him. She’d pressed herself extremely close and though she’d meant to lock the door she never had. �
�We’d better eat that pizza.”

  “We’d better.” He stepped back to let her move away from him. Ripping a piece of paper towel from a roll on the table, he wiped off his hands. “Last night I…” He turned his head. “Oh, wow.”

  Hope lifted her head up and watched as he was pulled toward his portrait.

  “She’s going to flip. She’s just going to flip!”

  “Well, that will be a sight,” she joked, but a warmth she’d never felt before washed over her as he admired her work.

  “Oh, Hope… there are no words.” His voice was awed. He cocked his head as he moved in closer to the canvas. “Thank you.”

  “I mean it.”

  “So do I, now say thank you.” She waited for him to turn his eyes to her.

  “Thank you.” His lips were soft, but the smile reached his eyes and bore right into her heart.

  “I can’t wait to see her face when you give it to her.”

  Trevor moved to her and gathered her in his arms again. “Thank you,” he said and kissed her gently. “Thank you.” He kissed her again. “Thank you.”

  “You back there?” The moment fizzled when she heard her sister’s voice call from the front door.

  “We’re back here having lunch,” Hope called out.

  “We’re?” Carissa asked as she cleared the back wall. Her eyes widened and then narrowed as she looked at Trevor. “Oh.”

  Trevor gave Carissa a nod. “Hello, Carissa. Nice to see you again.”

  “Trevor,” she said coolly, at which Hope shot her a warning with her eyes. “Nice to see you too.” She added a smile and Hope took a breath.

  “Want some pizza?” Trevor asked her, opening the lid to the box.

  “No, I’m trying really hard to lose all that baby fat.” She pointed to Hope. “Don’t you even point out how old that baby is now.”

  “Not a word.” Hope ran her fingers over her lips as if to zip them.

  “Wow.” Carissa moved further into the small room and looked over the painting that Hope had finished the night before. “You will never cease to amaze me. This is wonderful.”

  Hope exchanged glances with Trevor. “Thank you,” she said as the bell on the front door chimed. “Excuse me.” She left them alone.