One Sure Thing (Mamma Lou Matchmaker Series)

by Norfleet, Celeste

  Five stories high, with a columned entryway, double hung windows, a transom doorway and ornate cornices and plaster moldings, the edifice was magnificent.

  Surrounded by vacant warehouses and artist’s lofts, it was the perfect place. Located on a quiet street on the Brooklyn waterfront, it was the ideal place. When Raymond first looked at the five-story structure, he saw a building filled with possibilities—a place that could be called home. He saw a shelter for those without hope.

  Construction had begun nearly a year ago. He had hired the best. And backed by several well-established philanthropists, he gained the financial support needed to complete his dream.

  Raymond looked up at the renovation as he approached. It was progressing even faster than he had expected. He wanted the building completed and fully operational by the middle of summer. It was the end of spring and although there was still a lot of work to be done, it was certainly taking shape.

  It was almost seven o’clock in the morning and the construction crew was already working. The construction workers labored tirelessly to transform this into his dream.

  Raymond passed through the open doors and nodded to several workmen as he entered. The entrance hall, soon to be the reception area, had already been wired for the electrical and dry-walled. A number of workers were standing on ladders and wooden platforms using a thick plaster compound and sealer to join the sheets of drywall. The concrete floor was still littered with debris and plaster.

  Raymond stepped over the piles of trash, turned around, and eyed the open airy space. The fifteen-foot original windows had been restored and scraped clean of layers of paint. Brilliant sunlight streamed in giving the space a feeling of cheerfulness. He could easily envision its transformed beauty. He nodded approvingly at the progress that had been made since his last visit.

  He walked through the framed out doorway to the next room. Inside, he looked around at the enormous shell. There was still a lot of work to be done. The walls had been framed along with the ceiling. Support beams were exposed overhead, giving the space a warehouse feel.

  Raymond walked over to the foreman’s work area and began looking at the blueprints. He settled on one floor plan, taking time to read the specs.

  “Hey Doc, how are you? Sorry I’m late.” Greer Lambert, the contractor on the project, removed his jacket and loosened his tie. He reached to shake Raymond’s hand.

  Raymond shook his hand and smiled. “I just arrived myself.” He looked around the immediate area and nodded. “It’s really starting to take shape.”

  Greer followed Raymond’s gaze and nodded in agreement. “Yep, the place is really coming along.” He reached down and grabbed the hardhat that had Raymond’s name on it. He handed it to him then put on his own hardhat. “Why don’t we start at the top and work our way down. I think you’re going to be pleased with the results.” Greer grabbed the blueprints and led the way.

  Raymond put on the hardhat, removed his jacket and followed the foreman up the staircase to the second level and continued in the elevator to the top floor.

  “We’re still waiting for the building inspector’s report, but I don’t foresee any problems. If anything, they should pay you for improving the neighborhood. I tell yah,” Greer looked around admiringly, “when this place is complete, real estate values in this area will improve. It’s a good thing that you purchased the adjoining property for the next phases of the project. In another five years you probably couldn’t afford it. You bought in at the perfect time.”

  “Timing is everything.”

  “Just let me know when you’re ready for the next building phase.”

  “How’s Martha?” Raymond asked. Greer and his wife Martha had been Raymond’s neighbors at his Connecticut estate since he’d bought it six years ago. High school sweethearts, Greer and Martha had been married for over thirty-five years and were still hopelessly in love.

  “She’s fine.”

  As Raymond stepped off of the elevator, he looked around. The space had been divided into several rooms. The two men walked from room to room, carefully examining each space. Greer unrolled the blueprints he’d been carrying and pointed out several things to Raymond. Afterwards, the two continued the walk-through of the next floor down.

  “I have the modified blueprints from the architect for your signature downstairs.” As soon as Greer began showing some of the particulars on the blueprint, Raymond’s cell phone rang. He excused himself and answered. It was the office calling to check in and confirm his revised schedule. As soon as he ended the call, Greer resumed his update. The phone rang a second time. Raymond excused himself again and answered. This time he turned and walked away. Greer’s brow rose with interest. The conversation he’d overheard sounded serious. Whatever was happening didn’t sound good.

  Raymond flipped the cell closed and spun to confer with Greer. “We’re going to have to postpone this until later,” he said as he headed to the elevator, then impatiently he turned to take the stairs.

  “Sure, just give me a call.” Greer wanted to ask if there was anything he could do, but decided against it. So he simply offered to have the blueprints delivered to his office that morning. Raymond nodded and disappeared down the stairway.

  By the time Greer walked over to the large row of windows at the front of the building, Raymond was darting across the street to his car. Whatever was going on must have been serious.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Something was wrong, Louise was sure of it. Hope had come by earlier and she was angry. Raymond had called repeatedly asking for her. Something was going on. Somehow, something had happened and it was up to her to put it right. And if that plan included getting sick again, so be it.

  Louise opened another candy packet and took a bite of the nutty candy. She laid back and reminisced back to when she’d first decided to embark on her current endeavor.

  Her grandson Raymond proudly stood at his cousin’s side and dutifully signed as to witness Tony’s marriage to Madison. In that instant, Louise noted a certain glint in Raymond’s eyes. That glint had immediately sparked her matchmaking juices.

  Matchmaking, Louise had learned from past experience, although richly rewarding, was an extremely tricky business. Each undertaking, no matter how complicated, had to be fine-tuned at some point. Plus, and most importantly, she had to consider the individuals involved. Add to that, was an awesome responsibility to encourage such a delicate union. So when you decide to change a person’s life for the better, you had better have a dammed good plan. Particularly when that person suspects something and watches every move you make.

  Without a doubt, Louise had the perfect plan. As a matter of fact, she’d had the perfect plan for the past six months. Unfortunately, implementing it wasn’t as straightforward as she anticipated.

  Louise had never imagined that it would be so difficult to find a woman of style, grace and integrity—one with a sharp intellect, a pleasant personality, and enough inner fortitude to match wits with her grandson. So she broadened her horizons.

  While traveling, she innocently queried friends and associates about prospective candidates. Within the span of four weeks, she’d met dozens of women, but to no avail. So she decided to take a trip to New York City. After all, she reasoned, how hard was it to find the perfect single woman in such a big city?

  To her grandson’s delight, she was spending time with him in his hometown. He had often begged her to come and visit and enjoy the city’s cultural activities. But his overly suspicious nature proved to be too much. Raymond watched her like a hawk and balked at every invitation to a social affair that she suggested. Louise had just about given up hope, when fate stepped in. But, now there was trouble.

  This was the perfect match and she was going to see Raymond happily married even if she had to eat every candy bar in sight. Louise took another bite.

  ***

  “Unbelievable,” Hope slammed her tray down on the table and plopped into the seat across from her sister,
next to the large cardboard box. Her coffee spilled on her French fries, but she barely noticed.

  Faith looked up at her sister and then focused her attention on the large box Hope had deposited in the chair. “Hope, what’s really going on?”

  “The man is unbelievable.”

  “So you’ve said.” She leaned over and pried open the box as Hope continued to rant.

  “He’s just unbelievable.”

  “You’re repeating yourself.”

  Hope glared at Faith and ground her teeth in annoyance. “I just can’t believe him—the nerve. He’s so, he’s so…” She searched in vain for the appropriate word.

  Faith reached in the box and grabbed a sweatshirt. She unfolded it and held it up to her chest admiring the fit. She placed it back into the box and grabbed another shirt. “Unbelievable. I believe that’s the word you were looking for,” she offered dryly.

  Hope squinted at her sister with a look of warning, finally ending her rant. “Yes, that’s it. He’s absolutely unbelievable. He wanted me to come to his office last night to discuss his grandmother’s case. Apparently Mr. I’m-Too-Important is too busy to meet me here so I have to go to him.”

  “So, why didn’t you just say no and not go?”

  “It’s not that easy. It was an order from Wescott.”

  “Okay, since when do you care about what Hugh wants,” Faith said. “Well, did he at least spring for dinner or something?”

  Hope looked at her sister with an odd expression. “Dinner? Faith, are you listening to me?”

  “I heard you. But did he take you to dinner afterwards?”

  “Yes, we ate afterwards. So what?”

  Faith, only half-satisfied with her sister’s answer, smiled and took out another sweatshirt. “Dinner is always a good start.”

  “It was just one simple dinner Faith, No big deal.”

  “Where’d you go?”

  Hope took a deep breath and looked at her sister. “It was some Japanese restaurant near his office.”

  “Did you have a nice time?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did he drive you home?”

  Hope paused to consider her answer. “Yes, he took me home,” she answered testily.

  “Then what happened?”

  “Later he got up and left.”

  “What do you mean he got up and left?”

  “It was storming outside, so I assume he waited until the stormed passed.”

  “Uh huh,” Hope said.

  Faith nodded. “What did you do in the meantime?”

  “I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

  Faith instantly broke out in a broad grin. “He got up this morning and left, didn’t he?”

  “That’s not the point, the fact remains, that he’s impossible.”

  Faith smiled mischievously. “Actually, that’s the point. Why don’t you just admit it?”

  “Admit what?”

  “Suit yourself,” Faith said innocently folding the shirt and placing it back into the box.

  “What does he think? Am I supposed to be impressed or something? So what he has connections, so what he has influence.”

  Faith continued folding the last sweatshirt. The bold blue lettering of the University of Pennsylvania sweatshirt was on top of the pile. She refolded the sweatshirt and placed it back in the oversized box. “Hope, you’ve got to admit, the man is impressive.”

  “I am not impressed. So what if he can have a few sweatshirts delivered the next day. Anybody can do that.”

  “No, I don’t think so. And actually it was the next morning to be exact.”

  Hope looked at her sister, stunned by her lack of support.

  “He probably just went online.”

  “Since when does anything arrive just hours after it’s been ordered online? Please girl. Just admit it. The man is good.”

  “Big deal, the University of Pennsylvania isn’t that far.”

  Faith began rifling through the various sweatshirts. “Princeton, Harvard, Yale, Cal Tech, Duke, MIT, Stanford,” she rattled off. “Dartmouth, Columbia and of course the one that started it all, U Penn.”

  “Are you finished?”

  Faith giggled in spite of Hope’s stern look. “Yeah.”

  Hope ignored her. “He wanted to have his grandmother transferred to Manhattan Medical. Then, he tried to rearrange my schedule to suit him. I spend half my time in the ER and half on the fifth floor. Can you believe that?” She rambled on uninterrupted for another few minutes.

  Finally, Faith shrugged her shoulders innocently and said, “Manhattan Medical is a great facility. They have a state-of-the-art medical facility. I don’t blame him for wanting the best for his grandmother.”

  Hope looked at her sister with annoyance. She wasn’t supposed to agree with him. She was supposed to be loyal to her. “So what’s Golden Heart? Chopped liver?”

  “Of course not, Golden Heart is wonderful. But Manhattan Medical is arguably the best private hospital in the country.”

  Exasperated, Hope looked at Faith as if she’d grown two heads. “What?”

  “Hope, you’re getting all worked up over nothing.”

  “I am not.” Hope crossed her arms over her chest defiantly.

  “So what, take a few days to hang out with a nice elderly woman. Read a book or two, get some rest. What’s the harm?”

  “I don’t appreciate having my life dictated to me. Did I tell you that I have to go to the fundraiser this weekend?”

  “Repeatedly,” Faith added dryly, as she sipped the last of her tea.

  “Well, it bears repeating.”

  “You know, you should seriously think about reducing your caffeine intake. You’re getting way too upset over something so minor,” Faith said. With a knowing smile, she added, “What’s really going on with you and Dr. Gates?”

  “What? Nothing!” she practically shouted. Then lowered her tone and looked around the emptying cafeteria. “Nothing.”

  “Uh-oh.” Faith started laughing. “I can’t believe I didn’t see it earlier. He fits the profile perfectly doesn’t he?”

  “What profile?”

  “He’s a wealthy plastic surgeon, apparently gorgeous, probably lives in a fabulous place, has dozens of women after him, and is completely unavailable.”

  “Oh please.” Hope tossed her hand up to quickly dismiss the notion.

  “You are attracted to men that are totally unavailable.”

  “I am not.”

  “Oh please. Every man you ever dated was some lost cause. They either went back to their ex-wife or…,” she paused, “…or they were rich jerks, who were cowards and not their own man, or weren’t strong enough to stand up for themselves.”

  Hope angrily looked at her sister through the slits of her eyes.

  “There was a certain ex-husband who you helped put through med school when his father cut him off. You marry the fool, then he ups and divorces you because his daddy threatens to cut him out of the will. And on top it off he remarries some airhead who his daddy picked out for him.”

  Hope went still. But to her surprise, the raw anger was gone. It was true, Nolan had no intention of keeping his vows and standing up to his father. It took him six months to admit to his father that they’d even gotten married.

  “Why don’t you just admit that Dr. Gates is someone special?”

  Hope was surprised by her reaction. Usually, the mention of her eighteen-month marriage immediately brought tears to her eyes. But now, other than mild irritation, she felt nothing.”

  “Raymond’s nothing to me,” she stated impassively. But now, however, she was surprised at the pain she felt as she woke to a cold empty bed. It was the same feeling she had when Nolan left her without even a note.

  “Doesn’t sound like nothing,” Faith said.

  “Nothing,” she reiterated. “He actually had the audacity to accuse me of being self-righteous. Can you believe that? Me? Self-righteous?”

  “Well Hope, y
ou do have a tendency to come off a bit preachy.”

  Hope’s mouth dropped open. “Excuse me? Preachy? Since when have I ever been preachy?”

  “Oh please, since when are you not?”

  “I presume that’s a personal opinion.”

  “No, it’s a sisterly observation. I’ve known you all my life. That makes me an authority. I’m your younger sister, so that makes me an expert.” Faith smiled sweetly at an angry Hope.

  Suddenly, they laughed aloud until Hope accidentally hit the box with her knee. “And another thing,” she began with a deep breath, launching into another diatribe about the situation. “The day-shift … I haven’t had a day shift in over five years,” Hope said in an exasperated voice. “All of this because of one man.”

  “Ah, but what a man,” Faith said with a dreamlike expression.

  “How would you know? You’ve never even met him.”

  “I don’t have to. Rumor has that he’s gorgeous with a capital G.”

  “His grandmother just checked in the other day. How can the rumor mill get started about him already?”

  “Your little spat yesterday morning was all the talk around the hospital this morning.”

  “Oh please.”

  “Girl, you know the rumor mill starts grinding quicker when gossip is this juicy. So tell me, did you really kick him you know where?”

  “What? No.”

  Faith looked disappointed. “I didn’t think so.”

  “So what’s he really like? Everybody’s dying to know.”

  “He’s an arrogant jerk—typical blade. He thinks that just because he’s a surgeon, the world revolves around him.”

  “He’s not just any surgeon Hope. He’s a well-known cosmetic surgeon. He was even featured on a television program about his work.”

  “Faith, anybody can get on television. I don’t think that’s any big deal.”

  “You know Hope, I don’t remember ever hearing you protest so much.”

  “Meaning?”

  “What did Shakespeare say? Oh yeah, me thinks thou doth protest too much.”