The Matchmakers

by Jennifer Colgan

  When she turned to leave the room, she bumped into Nick who told her, `You’re on a break. I told Farley he had to let you dance with me.Ćallie giggled as Nick swept her into his arms. The veil of uncertainty seemed to have lifted once she saw the room full of happy, dancing couples. True love existed here, somewhere. The tingle in her wings told her so. By morning, maybe she’d be on her way home. She let Nick lead her to the dance floor and melted into his arms, content with her accomplishments and eager to enjoy her last night in the human realm.

  Chapter Seventeen

  His formal costume lent Nick an air of sophistication he hadn’t felt in years. He’d never been the tuxedo sort and he abhorred suits and the lifestyle that came with them. Nevertheless, whirling around the dance floor with his cape flowing behind him and Callie’s shimmering form in his arms, he felt like royalty. He wanted to sweep her away somewhere where they could watch the sunrise and drink champagne. He wanted to take her home and kiss her senseless. The music ended, and she stumbled against him, laughing. `You’re making me dizzy.´ Her voice sounded fuzzy, and beneath the edges of her jeweled mask, her cheeks looked flushed. `Are you all right?´ Nick steadied her and led her to a barstool. She sat and spun around, a glittering confection in sage green. Tiny pink flower petals rained down from her hair. `Everything is so bright.Śhe giggled again and flicked petals off her gown with her fingernails. Nick felt her cheeks with the back of his hand. `You feel clammy. Are you sick?´ `Sick? No. It’s hot in here, though. Don’t you think?´ `Uh, oh.´ `Whassamatter, Nick?śhe asked, teetering on the barstool. Nick set his suspicious gaze on Andrew, who’d wandered over from his station behind the bar. `Did you give Callie anything to drink?´ `I think she had club soda earlier, why?´ `She’s drunk.´ Nick whispered the words, but Callie heard him. `I am not. I’m a Fae, and we do not drink alcohol.´ Nick laughed to cover his bout of nerves. Something was wrong, and he feared Callie might suddenly start performing her magick tricks for a bar full of curious onlookers.

  `Someone had to have given her something. Hayden?´ Nick tapped the pouting princess as she skulked by. `Hm?´ `Did Callie have a drink tonight?´ `No. She never drinks. Hardly eats anything either. I was surprised she went to town on the chocolate truffles.´ `They’re goooood.Ćallie slipped off the barstool and landed in a glittering heap at Nick’s feet. He hoisted her up from the floor and clamped his arm around her waist to keep her upright. She squirmed, but he held tight. He glared at Andrew. `What’s in the truffles?´ `They can’t have made her drunk. I mean, she’d have to have eaten dozens of them«´ `What’s in them?´ `Chocolate, cream and Grand Marnier just a little for flavor.´ `Uh oh.Ćallie made a pouty O with her lips. `Grand Mar-in-ay«is soooo good.´ `She’s drunk,´ Nick repeated. `How can that be?Ándrew asked. `There’s really only a couple of shots of alcohol in the whole recipe.´ `I’m a faerie, Andrew. We can’t tolerate alcohol at all. It makes us loopy.Ćallie’s serious tone dissolved into hiccupping giggles. Nick dismissed her remark with a shrug. `She takes her costume very seriously. Farley, we have a little problem.´ `I don’t want to go home yet. The party isn’t over,Ćallie protested fifteen minutes later when Nick tried to settle her into the passenger seat of his truck. She slipped off the seat and landed on the running board. He pulled her back up and threw his body across hers to hold her in place while he struggled to fasten her seatbelt. `It’s not a good idea for you to stay. You’re tipsy and you’re telling people you’re a faerie. That’s not good.´ `But I am a faerie, and I’m a damn good one, too.´ `Yes. You are a damn good faerie, but you’re not supposed to tell anyone about it, remember?´ `My wings hurt.´ `We’ll take them off when you get home.´ `They don’t come off.´ `Yes, they do. Now, relax and we’ll be out of here in a minute.´ `One, two, three, four, five!´ `Five what?´ Nick swung himself into the driver’s seat and said a silent prayer that drunken faeries didn’t get carsick. `Five couples. Five good ones. True love.´ `Really? You think we got five couples together tonight?´ `Who are you callin’ µwe’, buddy?Ćallie swung her upper body around and stabbed her finger at his chest. `You know, you haven’t been much help. You know.´ `I know. I’m sorry. I’ll try harder.´ `You know, five couples are more than we need. You know.´ `I know.´ `Poof. I’ll be gone tomorrow. You wait and see. You’ll wake up, and I’ll be gone. You won’t have to worry about me anymore.Án intrusive emotion stabbed at Nick’s heart. He tried to ignore it and concentrate on starting the engine. `I like worrying about you. My life was getting a little boring before you came along.´ `It might even be more than five.Śhe turned back toward the passenger window and tapped experimentally on the glass. `No kidding.´ Nick kept his eyes on the road. He didn’t want to think about waking up tomorrow and finding her gone. She couldn’t walk out of his life as quickly as she’d walked into it. `Oh, look, pixies!Śhe bounced up and down in her seat and pointed to the dark roadside. `You see pixies?´ `They’re all over. Always be nice to pixies.´ `I’ll remember that.´ They rode in silence for a few miles, and Nick held out hope that Callie had fallen asleep. When he looked over, though, she was examining her hands the way she had the night Skip had shown up at the bar. `What’s wrong?´ `Nothing.´ `You sure?´ `I want to go home.´ The giggle had left her voice, and she sounded heartbroken.

  `We’re almost there, sweetheart.´ `No, Nick,śhe whispered. `We’re not even close.´ Getting Callie out of the truck and into the apartment proved a lot more difficult than Nick expected. She refused to take off her seat belt, and once he’d managed to unfasten it, she slid out of the seat and into the foot well. `Drunken faeries are like wet noodles,´ Nick muttered as he laced his arms under hers and hauled her up. `If a couple of truffles does this to you, what happens if you drink a beer?´ `We die.´ `Die?´ That thought sobered him instantly, though Callie seemed unfazed. She nodded and threw her arms around his neck. He lifted her and carried her up the steps, grateful that her Fae body weighed so little. `Like salt on a slug. We shrivel up.´ `Well, Tink, that’s not going to happen to you.´ `Then poof. We turn into dust.´ `Not gonna happen.´ Nick didn’t want to hear any more. `It might.´ `I won’t let it. Now come on. Stand up while I unlock the door.´ Nick propped Callie’s boneless form against the doorframe while he fumbled with the key. She sighed and giggled and lurched into the apartment as soon as he swung the door open. `Shh!śhe told him. `If we’re very quiet, we can hear the pixies singing.´ `Okay. Come here«´ Nick caught her around the waist and steered her toward the bedroom. `You need to go to bed.´ `Water.´ `What?´ `I need to drink some water.´ `All right. You’re not going to hurl, are you?´ He eyed her with clinical skepticism. He hoped it was only the hue of her dress that lent a greenish cast to her features. `Hurl what?´ `Toss your cookies. Barf.´ She straightened to her full height and blinked her sleepy eyes at him. `Fae do not barf.´ `Thank heaven for small favors. Now sit down.´ Nick tipped Callie onto the bed. He raised one delicate foot then the other and pulled off her glittery ballet slippers. He forced himself to ignore the alabaster smoothness of her long legs. Next he reached up and unwound the ivy and flowers from her hair. The wild brunette curls he left behind looked sexy and sweet. If she hadn’t been completely snockered« `Here you go,´ he said and reached behind her to unfasten the elastic straps of her artificial wings. He tossed the wire and gossamer lace contraption aside, and she huffed in relief. `That’s better.´ `Here’s one of my shirts. Why don’t you take that dress off?´ He handed her the blue plaid, the one that still smelled of roses even though he’d reluctantly taken it to the laundromat. She accepted the garment and held it to her chest. The vulnerable look she gave him from under her long, dark lashes clenched his gut and made him wish for his younger days when a tipsy girl in a flimsy dress would have been fair game. `I’ll get you some water.Śhe nodded, and he swept out of the room before his feral instincts took over.

  In the kitchen, he removed his cape and mask and loosened his suddenly-tight collar. He filled a tall glass with cold water and forced aside the rising fear that the minute a
mount of alcohol in Andrew’s truffles would actually kill her. He thought of taking her to the hospital, but what would he say? Excuse me, doc, but my faerie is sick, and I don’t want her to shrivel up and turn to dust. When he returned to the bedroom, he knocked on the half-open door. No answer. Panic forced him to open it, hoping she’d only fallen asleep. What he saw made him drop the glass. Water splashed on his tux and his shiny black shoes and soaked into the carpet while he gaped at the vision before him. Callie stood shrouded in a brilliant cocoon of light. She turned at Nick’s intrusion but seemed not to see him. Two shimmering triangles of luminescence fluttered behind her, and the sound of distant chimes and waterfalls filled the room. Though she still held his shirt in one hand, she was naked, clothed in nothing but a gossamer veil of light, which only partially hid the perfect shape of her body. Nick’s breath left him, and his heart paused between beats as if the smallest sound might break the spell. A second later, he blinked and the light winked out. Callie stood still for a moment, her expression blank, before the shirt fell from her fingertips and her knees buckled. Nick regained his senses just in time to catch her. Ignoring the fact that she lay naked in his arms, he carried her to the bed and placed her gently amid the rumpled blankets like a broken porcelain doll. She moaned. He brushed her hair from her eyes and propped her on the pillows, drawing the sheet across her body.

  `Hey, Tinkerbell, can you hear me?Áfter what he’d seen, the nickname seemed like a mockery. His heart raced, battering his ribcage. She looked so pale and fragile. `Callie?´ Finally she squinted up at him. `The room is spinning.´ `I know. It’ll stop soon. You rest. I’m going to get more water.´ `I’m sorry, Nick.´ `Sorry about what?´ He stroked her hair, tucked a strand behind her ear. `I’m sorry I’ve been so much trouble.´ `Well, trouble used to be my middle name. I guess this is payback. You close your eyes, and I’ll be back in a minute.Ŕeluctantly, Nick left Callie curled on the bed, clutching his shirt in her trembling hands. He retrieved the fallen water glass and made a note to find a towel to sop up the puddle in the hallway. Once outside the bedroom, he leaned against the wall and let out a breath. Had he really seen what he thought he saw? Could some trick of light in the dim bedroom have made it appear that« No. It was time to stop ignoring the facts. Callie was exactly what she claimed to be. But how? He’d probably never be able to answer that question. At this point, did it really matter? Chapter Eighteen

  Callie’s world spun in lazy circles. Her throat burned, and her eyes felt gritty. At one point during the long, uncomfortable night, she sensed Nick hovering nearby. His concern flowed over her, and she wanted to reassure him she would be all right, but her fuzzy brain couldn’t form the words. Finally she slept, and when she woke, Nick was gone. Her body felt warm and heavy, and her head throbbed. She sat up slowly, testing her movements. Though her limbs worked, they felt like lead. After some struggling, she worked her way into Nick’s shirt and lowered her feet to the floor. Garish sunlight streamed in through the half-open blinds. The sounds of birds and barking dogs assaulted her ears. Callie had observed humans with hangovers many times, and she’d always been sympathetic. Now she realized, as she dragged herself out of the bedroom, she hadn’t sympathized nearly enough. The clang of pots and the brittle clank of dishes bombarded her raw senses when she reached the kitchen. Nick stood at the sink, wearing jeans and nothing else. The muscles of his back bunched as he arranged dishes on the counter. Callie recognized the crisp aroma of bacon and toast and the sweet smell of pancakes. Nick dropped a fork into the sink, and she winced. `Ow.´ He turned, his smile gentle and concerned. `You shouldn’t be up.´ `Is that what I am? Funny, I don’t feel like I’m awake.´ `Here.´ Nick pulled out a kitchen chair for her. `You had me worried. You told me you were going to shrivel up and die.´ `Oh.Ćallie rested her heavy head in her hands. `I may have exaggerated a little. Though«that does describe how I feel right now.´ Nick placed a glass of water on the table. `Does aspirin work on faeries?´ `No.´ `Well, drink this. You told me it would help, but I didn’t get you to take much through the night. Who knew Andy would spike the truffles?´ Despite the discomfort it caused, Callie raised her eyes to meet Nick’s intense gaze. `I should have asked.´ `Maybe a bar isn’t the safest place for you to work.´ `I’ll never eat anything of Andy’s without getting the recipe first.´ Nick sat across from Callie and touched her arm. His fingers were warm and comforting against her skin. `John called a little while ago. There’s a problem at the site, and he’d like me to go lend a hand with a few things. Will you be okay by yourself?´ `Of course. I’ll just rest.´ `I made breakfast. Try to eat something. I’ll come back home as soon as I can.Ćallie nodded and cringed against the sensation of her sore brain knocking around in her head. `Do me a favor.´ Nick tilted her chin up with his fingertips. `Don’t leave, okay? You said last night we might have reached our quota. You said five couples.´ `Five? Really?´ How come she couldn’t remember something as important as that? `Yeah. You said you’d be able to leave today.´ `Oh.Ćallie searched her Fae senses, but the muzzy feeling of her hangover clouded her perceptions. Whoever the five couples might be, she had no idea. `Would you stay, at least until I get back? I’d like to be able to say goodbye properly.Ćallie managed a smile though all the necessary muscles hurt. `Of course I’ll stay until you get back.´ `Good. I’ll be home as soon as I can.´ He rose, then bent and pressed his lips to her forehead. `Don’t get into any trouble.´ `I’ll try not to.´ Nick arrived at the construction site only to find a knot of half a dozen men standing over a crisp tangle of wires and broken wallboard. John paced around the group, a digital camera in one hand and his cell phone in the other. `What happened?´ Nick’s question turned everyone’s solemn attention to him as he walked up to the group. `The police just left,´ John replied, his voice tight. `Someone ripped out the security system from the first floor. They opened up four walls, dragged all the wiring out here and set it on fire.´ Nick cursed. He’d put up most of the wallboard himself, but the real work was the intricate wiring inside. The electricians in the group looked pale at seeing their week’s work destroyed. `How’d they get in?´ Nick asked, his gaze on the eight-foot-high chain link fence that bordered the entire site.

  `They cut a hole in the back fence then wired it shut again. This was a professional job,´ Marty Carson replied. The foreman shook his head and wiped sweat from his brow with the back of one soot-stained hand. `Who would do this?´ The men shrugged and cursed at Nick’s question, but no one had an answer. John jammed his phone into his pocket. `Someone who doesn’t want to see this job get done. We’re already behind schedule. Once the owners see this«´ `Let’s get it fixed. We’ve got enough crew here to get started.´ The men seconded Nick’s suggestion. John nodded to Nick. `I’ve got to take a few more pictures inside and call the insurance company back. Then we can start ripping out the damaged walls.´ `I can’t believe nobody saw this stuff burning,´ Marty said. `It had to be a hell of a fire.´ The group milled around for a while, commenting on the debris and the work ahead. Nick followed John inside the skeleton of the building to take stock of the damage. `We’re going to have to hire night security,´ John said as they walked through the damaged section of what would eventually be a suite of doctors’ offices. `I’ve never needed that on a job in Bayerville before.´ Nick had nothing comforting to say. That damned intuition told him that John blamed himself and that he fully expected this incident to ruin his reputation. He’d been lenient and trusting because Bayerville was a safe, quiet little town where everyone knew everyone else. In a larger town, he’d never have been so careless as to trust a major construction site to nothing more than twelve-gauge chain link, a couple of heavy duty padlocks and halogen lights. `We’ll find out who did it. And we’ll get caught up on the work. You’ve got a good crew here, John.