His Love Match

by Shirley Hailstock

  “My I-didn’t-know-my-sister-was-pregnant discovery. Congratulations, by the way.”

  “Thanks. Did she tell you about the house?”

  Scott glanced at his sister.

  “Scott’s been a little distracted lately. I haven’t gotten around to the house. We can talk about it as we eat. Sit down.”

  Piper cut the bread and added it to the table with some lemon butter.

  “You sit down,” Jose told her. “I’ll serve.”

  Piper and Scott took seats and Jose filled their plates. “I hope you like liver,” he said, lifting an eyebrow. “I’ve eaten some strange foods since Piper got pregnant.”

  “French bread with liver and onions isn’t that strange?” Piper defended.

  “It is if you don’t like liver.” They laughed.

  “So, Scott, when are you buying the ring?” Josh asked.

  Scott nearly choked.

  “Does that mean you haven’t bought it yet?” Josh didn’t wait for an answer. “Take my advice. When you go to pick it out, take her with you. She’ll need to choose her own stone and setting.”

  He looked at his sister. She nodded and put her own hand up. Her ring had a setting around it that had been added after.

  “Even if it is an Amera design, let her choose it.”

  “So,” Piper began. “When are you going to ask her?” Her smile, one of those that said she was ready to join in the planning. Scott could almost see her rubbing her hands together, eager to start. He wondered what she and Diana had really talked about that night at dinner. All Diana had said was a solitary you. And then he couldn’t get another word out of her.

  “Do you think she’ll wait until after the baby, so I won’t have to wear a maternity dress?”

  “I think we should hold off on any plans until the lady accepts.”

  * * *

  By Wednesday the construction was driving Diana crazy. There was so much building material and piles of debris she could hardly reach her office. She had to park a few hundred feet way from the building in order to get in. Obstacles were everywhere. Diana held the two cups of coffee she and Teddy shared every day before work began.

  “This noise and all these construction materials are hardly conducive to our business.” Teddy arrived about the same time. They met in the parking lot.

  “It hard to get around them,” Diana shouted to Teddy. “And they’ve practically blocked our entrance. I checked with the fire department, and so far they have not violated any code. But we’re not letting him push us away. We leased this place at their insistence, and we’re not giving it up.”

  “I know it’s in a convenient location, our lease still has three years to run, we took this property before they built the hospital down the street, and all the trendy establishments weren’t springing up, but will our clients cross all this debris to get to our offices?”

  “Do you want to move?”

  “No, this area is much more convenient for me, too. It’s close to both our homes, the area is upscale, and I believe the owners want to rake in more money by throwing us out and charging the next tenant more rent.”

  Diana nodded. “Also, most of the other services we work with are close by. Moving would cause them an unnecessary inconvenience.”

  Both women stood looking at the mess the workmen had created.

  “Let’s see what we can get done before the jackhammers start,” Diana said.

  She turned, taking the coffee cup she’d set on a pallet of lumber. Teddy screamed. Diana turned back. Teddy was now on the ground.

  “Are you all right?”

  Teddy didn’t answer.

  Then Diana saw the blood. Looking back she shouted to the men on the other side of the yard, “Help!” Teddy’s leg was bleeding badly. Bending down she pulled some tissues from her purse, along with her cell phone, and began dabbing at the blood. Teddy groaned in pain.

  “Hold on, Teddy,” Diana soothed. Then she saw the gash on Teddy’s leg and knew she needed stitches. “Help!” she shouted again. Teddy had fallen into the pile of lumber and ripped her leg on an exposed nail.

  Several men came running. “We need to get her to the hospital,” Diana said.

  One of them came forward carrying a first-aid kit. He looked at her leg and grabbed something from the kit, which he tied around her leg. Without wasting words, he scooped Teddy into his arms as if she weighed nothing. Teddy cried in pain and turned squeezing the man holding her. Her teeth were clamped on her bottom lip. Diana saw the tears in her eyes and felt her own blur.

  “Bring a truck,” the one carrying her shouted.

  It appeared almost immediately and several of them climbed inside. Teddy whimpered at each bump in the road. With the construction creating an obstacle course, the bumps were plenty. The new hospital was less than a mile from their complex. The staff went into action when they saw Teddy and all the blood. Diana and the men were pushed into a waiting room. After Diana provided all the pertinent information and insurance cards, she returned to the waiting room.

  “You’re still here?” The three men who’d driven them over stood up.

  “How is she?” one of them asked.

  “I don’t know. I was giving her health information. I want to thank you all.” She looked from one to the other. “I couldn’t have handled her alone.”

  “We try not to have accidents, but sometimes they are unavoidable.”

  “I’m sorry, miss. I put that lumber there. I didn’t think...”

  “It’s all right,” Diana said, touching his arm for assurance

  “We’ll move it right away,” the one who’d carried Teddy said. “We best be getting back now. We have a schedule to meet.”

  “Thank you,” Diana said. “I’ll let you know how she is as soon as I find out.”

  He nodded. The three of them headed toward the door.

  What are your names?” Diana stopped them. They all turned back to her. “I’m sure Teddy is going to want to know.”

  “I’m James, miss.” James was a massive guy. He was the one who’d carried Teddy. “I’m the foreman. This is Eddie Layton and Kyle Murray.” Eddie had driven the truck and Kyle had administered first aid.

  “Thank you again.”

  James, understanding that she was distraught over her friend, touched her on the shoulder. “She’ll be all right,” he told her.

  The other two nodded. “You call us and we’ll come take you home.” This again from James. He handed her a dirty slip of paper with the construction company logo on it and a phone number. “It’s my cell.”

  “I will.”

  * * *

  “Which one?” Scott shouted. He grabbed one of the workers and hauled him close. He probably scared the man, but Scott was past caring. It could have been Diana. “Which one?” he growled at the man. Scott’s heart pounded as if someone was beating it with a mallet. Pain like he’d never felt before seized his chest. The men had just told him that one of the women from the wedding company had been hurt.

  “I don’t know. James and Eddie took her,” the man said.

  “Took her where?” Scott tried to lower his voice, but he was beyond control.

  “The hospital.”

  He dropped his hold on the man and was back in his car in a flash. With the precision the car was built to perform with, he sprayed gravel and dust behind him as he took off like a horse out of the starting gate. This was his fault. He’d badgered them to move. When Diana dug her heels in, he drew up a different plan, but it used part of the area her offices occupied. They were there every day, going in and out, negotiating the construction materials. It was bound to cause an accident, and now it had.

  Scott must have looked like a madman when he burst through the doors of the emergency entrance. Wildly he lo
oked from one place to another, hoping to find Diana. If she had been hurt he couldn’t forgive himself.

  “Scott.”

  He whirled around at the sound of his name. Diana was coming toward him. Relief flooded through him like the Niagara River cascading over the falls. He took off at a dead run. He grabbed her, pulled her into his arms and locked his mouth on hers. His arms traveled all over her as he kissed her. It took a moment before he realized she was not responding. He stopped. Lifting his head, he looked at her.

  Diana pushed herself back, and he got his first good look at her. If she wasn’t hurt, it had to be Teddy. “How is she?” he asked.

  “She cut an artery. If we’d been any farther from this hospital, she’d have bled out.”

  “I’m sorry.” He took a step forward. She moved back.

  “Go away. I never want to see you again.”

  “Diana, I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

  “I truly believe that,” she said. “But if you hadn’t been so hell-fired to get us out of there, your construction people wouldn’t have all that dangerous equipment putting us in harm’s way.” She took a breath. Scott could see she was trying to keep control of herself. “Teddy almost died.” She spoke through clenched teeth, but her voice still broke. “And over what? A little bit of land. Well, we’ll move, Scott. Our five-year lease is up in three years. At that time, and not a minute before, you can have the office.”

  “Diana, I—”

  “I’m done talking to you. All further dealings between us can be conducted by our lawyers.”

  Diana turned and walked away. She held her head up and she didn’t hurry her steps, but every line of her body was stiff and unapproachable. Scott wanted to kick himself. He didn’t dictate the construction plans, but he’d noticed the hazards of the narrow path they had to get to the office doors.

  Scott didn’t believe the way his heart ached. He’d never felt this bad before. He’d lost her. He could tell by the way she’d felt in his arms. What was he going to do now?

  * * *

  For the past five years Diana had risen each morning with a smile on her face. Going to work made her happy. Even the pitfalls of difficult mothers and bridesmaids hadn’t made her want to pull the covers over her head and hide from the world. But for the past week she’d gone through the motions. It was hard to accept the tone of voice of some of the customers, but so far Diana had managed to keep everything going. Teddy was out of the hospital and forbidden to come into the office.

  Diana was working with Teddy’s assistant, Renee, to make sure everything went well. Renee was a godsend, and Diana considered herself lucky to have her. She filled in the details and kept everything going in the right direction.

  As Diana passed the coffee shop, she remembered when she’d seen Scott and Linda sitting inside by the window. They had cuddled so close, they should have gotten a room instead of making a display for the entire township to see. Diana had stopped going to Edward’s after that. Now she made coffee in the office or picked up a cup from the construction lunch wagon that came around for breakfast and lunch. It wasn’t Edward’s fine blend, but it opened her eyes.

  “Damn,” she cursed and pulled the car into a parking space. She wasn’t going to let Scott or Linda alter her routine. She liked Edward’s coffee and she’d go to his shop whenever she wanted. She did not have to talk to Scott just because she bought coffee there.

  Diana was lucky. Scott was not in the shop. She ordered for herself and Teddy and continued on to the office. She was back in the car before she remembered Teddy was not in the office. Glancing at the two cups sitting on the middle console, she raised a shoulder and decided she could drink them both. Today was a double-cup day, anyway.

  Unsure if she was disappointed or elated at not finding Scott waiting for her, she vowed to make this day different. He was out of her life. She was going to be the person she had been before she filled out that stupid profile and got involved with him. She, Diana Greer, was a businesswoman. She had clients to see and weddings to plan. There had been no time in her life for dating to begin with. Her situation now only confirmed what she already knew—that men were a complication. And that Scott Thomas was someone she could not count on.

  He’d changed from the boyish college prankster. Now he was a ruthless businessman and he wanted her out of the office. Diana was going to move. She’d resolved last night to talk to Teddy. They couldn’t hold meetings or ask clients to risk hurting themselves to get through the construction. They also had other employees, other consultants that couldn’t be put at risk. If they had to, they could take office space on Nassau Street. They could afford it. But they wouldn’t totally relinquish possession of the offices until her contract ended. She could still work from these offices. If she had to meet a potential franchise client, she’d arrange for the face-to-face in the new place.

  Arriving at the parking lot, Diana found a clear path to the office doors, although she still had to park in the outer fringes of the lot. She gathered her briefcase and the coffee and closed the door.

  “Let me help you,” James said. He was a couple of steps away from her when she stood up. Diana wondered if Scott had left instructions that anyone going in and out of the building have safe passage to the door. Of course, he was liable for any accidents that were directly due to the construction. Like Teddy’s.

  “I’m all right, James,” she told him.

  Still, he took her briefcase and escorted her to the door. Diana wondered: If he hadn’t been so dusty, would he have picked her up and carried her to the door? But then that could open up a whole new set of liability issues.

  Inside, the assistants had things under control. Diana went to work on finding a new place to relocate. She called a real estate broker she knew in Princeton and made arrangements to see several places with space to rent. It was while she was talking to him that she thought it would make sense to separate the two offices, although she would have liked them to be fairly close to each other. And having a parking lot brought in more revenue than not having one. But she would miss being with Teddy if the two were separated. Walking into her office and having her come in and relax at the end of the day had become a routine that Diana didn’t want to give up.

  Mentally shaking herself, she decided to think about that later. When Scott finished all this construction, maybe the place would be better for her and her offices. And maybe he’d be willing to work on a second lease. She was three years from the current lease expiring. By then the construction would be complete.

  “Excuse me, Diana.”

  Diana looked up from her desk several hours later. She’d been engrossed in a new campaign for the franchises. Renee stood in the doorway.

  “I’m leaving now. The Garmin wedding is tonight and I need to be at the church early.”

  “No problem. I’ll be there to help you out if you need anything, even if it’s just a second pair of hands.”

  Renee smiled, but she didn’t immediately turn to go.

  “Is there something else?”

  “Well...” There was hesitation in her voice. “I’m not supposed to tell you, but if I don’t and anything happens...” She trailed off.

  “Teddy has asked you to come and get her or something like that.”

  Renee’s eyes opened wide. “How did you know?”

  “Teddy and I have been partners a long time. Friends longer than that.” She smiled and relaxed. Renee relaxed, too. “You go on to the church. I’ll pick up Teddy. And I’ll bring her.”

  Teddy couldn’t have been more surprised when Diana’s van arrived instead of Renee. She wore a floor-length gown in a deep wine color. It complemented the reddish highlights in her hair.

  “I knew she couldn’t keep this quiet,” Teddy said as she admitted Diana into her living room.

  “Renee was protect
ing you,” Diana told her.

  “I’m fine.”

  “I know you are. That’s why I brought a wheelchair and you’re going to sit in it.”

  Teddy decided not to argue. Both of them knew that argument would get Teddy nowhere. If she wanted to go to this wedding, she’d have to play by Diana’s rules. For a moment, Diana wished others would play by her rules.

  “Heard from Scott?” Teddy asked, her voice tentative.

  “He’s no longer a factor in my life. I hate that I ever filled out that profile.”

  “Tell me the truth. Are you really sorry? Would you feel better if you’d never had any time with him?”

  Diana didn’t immediately answer. Her heart hurt. She was miserable all the time, and putting on a front that things were normal, that she was normal, gave her a perpetual headache. She’d fallen in love with Scott, and there was nothing she could do about it. She’d loved being in his arms. And their lovemaking had been something she wasn’t sorry about. He’d made her feel more wonderful, more loved, than anyone ever had.

  “Am I sorry?” She hadn’t realized she spoken aloud until Teddy said something.

  “At least you know now. You don’t have to wonder your whole life.”

  “I know, but that’s not a yes or no question.”

  Diana sat down on the sofa and looked about Teddy’s living room.

  “What did you like about him?”

  Diana smiled. A blanket of warmth settled over her. “I liked the way I felt when he touched me. He’d whisper in my ear or just sit with his arm touching mine.”

  “And in bed?” Teddy prompted.

  Diana’s head whipped around, and she looked at her friend. She was about to push the question aside, then decided the truth was better. “Fantastic,” she said.

  Teddy smiled. “You should talk to him about it.”

  “The accident brought it all into focus for me. He still wants us out of the offices and he’s doing everything to make that happen. Even making love to me.”