Matchmakers, no. 1

by Bernadette Marie

  David stepped back into the light. A sly smile raised a corner of his mouth, and one of his dark eyebrows arched. She could feel the color rise in her cheeks.

  “Oh, that’s right. You don’t know, do you?” He tapped his hand on the jamb of the door. “I live here, too. I know you can find your room. It’s also where you left it. Good night, Sophia. Sweet dreams.”

  It was already eight o’clock when the smell of pancakes stirred Sophia awake. She opened her eyes and saw the room of her childhood in the daylight. Warmth filled her, and a smile crossed her lips. She was home.

  It had been so long since she’d called anywhere home. She’d known only three in her lifetime. The one she shared for such a short time with her parents. The one she shared with her grandparents after her parents died. She sighed. Then there was the home she’d shared with David.

  The thought had tears stinging her eyes and a lump forming in her throat that she forced down. With a deep breath, she cleared her conscience. She’d left. It had been her decision to leave and start a life away from them all. It would be that same life she would return to in fourteen days.

  She dug through her suitcase and found her warm, pink robe. She slipped it over her gray pajama bottoms and white tank top. Giving herself a glance in the mirror, she dragged her fingers through her hair and decided there wasn’t much she could do with it.

  She stood in front of the mirror a moment longer and studied the scar on her neck that had plagued her since childhood. She ran her fingers over it. The hideous mark was there as a reminder of what it had taken to save her life.

  Her lips pursed and tears still stung her eyes when she thought about the accident that had put her in the path of death and had taken her parents from her. With one more glance at herself, she tightened up the robe, pulling the lapels together until her throat was covered. Then she headed downstairs.

  Chatter came from the kitchen, and Sophia stood on the bottom step and listened. She closed her eyes when she heard her grandmother’s voice. Her heart beat faster with the anticipation of her grandmother’s arms embracing her. Too many years had passed since she’d seen Katie. Sure, they spoke on the phone every week, but Sophia had been so angry with David and had left in such a storm of emotions that she’d never been back to Kansas City, even to see her grandmother. Guilt that she’d abandoned her to escape humiliation ripped at her. She promised herself to make their time together memorable.

  Sophia took a deep breath and walked toward the back of the house to the kitchen. She stopped at the door and watched as her grandmother fussed over pancakes, and Millie stirred together more batter from her seat at the table. David was already up and seated with his aunt. A cup of coffee rested between the palms of his hands. He was dressed in a University of Missouri T-shirt, jeans, and tennis shoes. Obviously, the comfortable attire meant he didn’t have to work. The thought had Sophia’s heart racing again. He’d be nearby all day.

  “Well, well, well. Look who the cat dragged in.” Millie noticed Sophia in the doorway and smiled.

  “Good morning, Ms. Millie.” She walked to the table and kissed her on the cheek. Then she turned to her grandmother, who waited for her with damp eyes. “Good morning, Grandma.” She wrapped her arms around the woman who had meant so much in her life. They clung to each other for a long time.

  Katie Burkhalter held her granddaughter at arm’s length and took in the sight of her. “Oh, my little Sophie, look at you. You’re more beautiful than I remember.” She smiled and pulled her close again. “I’ve missed you,” she whispered.

  “I’ve missed you ,too.” Her voice wobbled. David crossed the room to the coffeepot, and she hoped he was too busy to notice her emotional greeting with her grandmother.

  “You look like you could use this.” He was standing behind her. She turned, and he held out a cup of coffee to her.

  “Thank you.” She took the cup without looking up at him.

  Millie smiled from beyond her bowl of blueberries and batter. Her soft, blue eyes shimmered with mischief.

  “What a coincidence that you were both on the same plane.”

  “Who said we were?” David raised his eyebrows at his aunt as she exchanged a glance with Katie.

  They were at it again. Sophia shook her head, and Katie looked too innocent.

  “Oh, hush.” Katie pushed Sophia toward the table and laid a plate of pancakes in front of her. “Eat, you’re too skinny.”

  “Oh, Grandma, you’re the only one who would think so.” Sophia laughed as David slid into the seat next to her and looked her over.

  “I think she’s right.” He watched her from over the top of his coffee mug. “I don’t remember you looking so frail.”

  “Frail?” Her mouth was full of pancake, but her heart was full of fury. She washed down the bite with her coffee and took a breath to give David a piece of her mind. At the last second, she bit it back, not wanting to upset her grandmother or Millie.

  “So, did you two have time to talk last night? Did you make up? Everything back to the way it was?” Millie asked with as much enthusiasm as she possessed in her tiny body.

  “Aunt Millie, things between me and Sophie have been over for a very long time,” David replied.

  A surge of two very different emotions went through her. First, the fact that he’d admitted things were over between them, which they were, infuriated her. That should have been what she’d gotten to say to drive home the point even harder after they’d somehow managed to get them on the same flight.

  Then a gentle calm took over when she realized he’d called her Sophie. She lifted her mug to her lips to hide the smile she had surfaced when he’d called her that. It was the name those who loved her called her. The memory of him calling her Sophie had spiked a jolt of happiness through her she didn’t know still existed.

  The fluttering of happiness lasted only a moment and faded quickly when Sophia watched the figure of a young woman walk into the kitchen. Her long, straight, dark hair hung past her shoulders and over her face. Her shoulders hunched as she shuffled her bunny-clad feet across the kitchen floor. She had on nothing more than her tank top and a pair of cut-off sweatpants.

  Black fingernail polish, half chipped off, coated her nails, and at least twelve black rubber bracelets adorned her.

  The girl shuffled to the coffeepot, poured herself a cup of coffee, and then shuffled back out and up the stairs without one word muttered to anyone in the room.

  David raised his mug as if to salute his daughter with it. “And now you’ve met Carissa.”

  All the joy in Sophia’s body drained. Resentment for the man whose face had haunted her since she’d walked out on him overtook her. She turned back to her coffee. It had gone cold.

  She’d met Carissa before. Perhaps he’d forgotten. It had been mere days before she’d decided to walk out of his life.

  In fact, Sophia had been the one who opened the door that day.

  Standing before her was a little girl with matted braids and dirty clothes. Sophia was sure she was there to sell them something, but the child looked up at her and said, “I’m looking for David Kendal. I’m his daughter.”

  Tears stung Sophia’s eyes when she thought of it. David had dropped to his knees in front of little girl when he’d seen her. She’d whispered in his ear, and he’d embraced her. Moments later, they were running out the door without Sophia to help the little girl’s mother. There had been the one phone call from David asking her to come to the hospital, saying he couldn’t leave. She’d gone, just as he’d asked her to do, even though her heart had been broken. She’d stood just beyond the room looking in. A woman lay in the bed, a doctor attended to her, and David sat with Carissa on his lap, her head on his shoulder. She’d taken one step toward the room when a nurse had stopped her and told her that no one could go in except the husband and the daughter. Sophia left two days later. She couldn’t stand the deception.

  The man she loved was a father and obviously, according to th
e nurse, someone else’s husband. She’d decided at that moment she didn’t need anyone like that in her life. She’d be fine. Just as David had said she was.

  CHAPTER TWO

  The room seemed too stuffy to eat or breathe in. Sophia took her coffee mug and walked toward the front door. She stopped for a moment to look at the many pictures her grandmother had cut from the newspaper and magazines. In each photo, there she was on the arm of the sexy Italian opera singer Pablo DiAngelo. Her heart skipped when she looked at them together. They were happy. Everything about being in Rome was happy.

  Sophia stepped out onto the front porch and sat down in one of the wicker chairs. She felt lost in her own life, but worse, she felt lost in the only place she’d ever called home.

  The street was still quiet. All she could hear was the music that had turned on upstairs and rattled the windows.

  It was selfish, she knew, but she wondered how much the teenager listening to Metallica knew about her. How much had the girl’s father shared with her about the woman he had once loved?

  Sophia snorted. Why would he bother? She didn’t even mean enough for him to tell her he had a child.

  It didn’t matter. She’d be gone soon enough. For the moment, she was home and she would help her grandmother and her best friend throw the best birthday party ever.

  The screen door rattled.

  “You’ve been home less than twelve hours and have already left the room in a huff. What’s gotten into you?”

  Sophia wasn’t surprised her grandmother had followed her out to the porch.

  Katie patted Sophia on the knee as she sat down in the chair next to her.

  “Just overwhelmed with being here. That’s all. It’s really good to see you.”

  “You should have seen me sooner. I’ve gotten really old in the last ten years.” Her grandmother wasn’t one to hold punches, but Sophia couldn’t fault her for rubbing that in.

  “I’m sorry. I just wasn’t ready to come back.” She sipped her coffee and tried to hide behind the mug.

  “Well, you saw the world, didn’t ya?” Katie sat back in her chair.

  “I sure did, but I never made it to the Vatican.” For her and Pablo, that performance was as elusive as a brass ring. She took a deep breath. “But, for now, that’s all over until Pablo decides on a new venue.”

  “What kind of man is this Pablo anyway? What kind of man wouldn’t let his best cellist come home once in a while?” Katie asked.

  Sophia felt the sting of guilt wash over her. She’d always told her grandmother it was Pablo’s schedule that kept her from returning. In truth, she simply couldn’t face David or the place they’d called home.

  If it hadn’t been for Pablo deciding to take three months off to make some decisions on his next career path, she’d have forgone the party her grandmother had wanted to have and sent her a card. She was quickly realizing that the grudge she carried against David consumed her.

  “Grandma, you know he’s sweet man. We’ve been blessed to have had so many dates offered to us,” she said, and Katie nodded. “You do know I met the Queen?”

  “You wrote and said as much.” Katie sipped her coffee, obviously unimpressed by the news.

  “Well,” she began, waving her hand as though clearing the subject away, “what about this birthday party for you and Millie?”

  “It is going to be wonderful.” The smile returned to her grandmother’s face and, likewise, to her own. “You know, the only time Millie and I didn’t celebrate our birthdays together was when she lived in Germany while her husband was in the service.”

  “I’m sure you wrote each other though.”

  “Damn straight. How many best friends can say they were in the nursery together? I used to gloat because I was three hours and forty-two minutes older than her. I can tell you that’s no prize anymore. Eighty-four.” She let out a sigh. “Who would have thought it would pass so fast?”

  Sophia felt the tug of long ago times and people as her grandmother spoke of her life.

  “Why do you do that?” Her grandmother nodded her head to draw attention to Sophia’s hands.

  “Why do I do what?” She realized she’d been fidgeting with the lapel of her robe.

  “The scarves. The clothes. Your robe. Why do you feel you have to hide yourself? Why do you work so hard to hide your scars?”

  With a trembling hand, Sophia reached her hand beneath the robe and felt for the most obvious scar. Instead, she felt the Saint Nicholas medal that hung around her neck. Her mother had given it to her, promising the patron saint of children would keep her safe. It had worked. The only time it had left her skin was while she was in the hospital after the accident that killed her parents but only injured her.

  Saint Nicholas hid under the high collars of shirts and scarves, tied just so to hide her scar. No one knew he lay against her chest and kept her safe. No one knew—except Katie and David.

  She adjusted her robe again. “I didn’t realize I did it anymore.”

  Katie pushed up from her chair and walked to her granddaughter. She took the lapel of her robe in her hands and laid it open. “It’s part of you. An amazing part of you. Be proud.” She kissed her cheek and walked back into the house.

  Sophia raised her hand to her neck where the scar stood raised against her skin on her throat. There had been a trachea tube there for a month, and it had left its mark just as all the other surgeries and needles had, up and down her body.

  “I always thought it was one of the most beautiful things about you.”

  David. Sophia pulled her robe together as he joined her, sitting in the chair Katie had just occupied.

  “I agree with your grandmother. You shouldn’t hide your scars.” He took a sip of his coffee. “You never hid them from me before.”

  “I showed too much of myself to you physically and emotionally,” she bit back angrily.

  “That’s what people do when they are in love.”

  “I’m not in love with you.”

  “But you were.” He leaned back in the chair and crossed his ankles. “Are you sure some of those feelings still don’t exist?”

  The air had become less appealing. She wished she were back in Italy with Pablo.

  Keeping her robe pulled tight, Sophia stood. She let out a curse as she hurried past him into the house. “David Kendal, you have no idea of the feelings I have for you. The good Lord would send me to hell for them.”

  Sophia tried to make her way up the stairs without anyone seeing her. She needed time alone, and her hands longed for the comfort of caressing music from her cello.

  She made it as far as the staircase before Millie called her name. Hesitantly, she turned back toward the kitchen where Millie and her grandmother sat at the table.

  “I guess you know we already started planning the party,” Millie admitted.

  “David said something about that.” She gave her grandmother a pointed look.

  “I knew you wouldn’t come home unless I was making you plan.” Katie smirked as she cut through her blueberry pancakes.

  Sophia sat down next to the older women and set her coffee mug on the table. She was mindful not to adjust her robe.

  “What’s left to do?”

  “We have the church’s community room booked, and Carissa wrote out the invitations for us,” Millie answered enthusiastically.

  “So, you need food and music and decorations?” Sophia stood and walked to the drawer that had always contained pens and paper and pulled out one of each. “Should we do a buffet or a sit-down meal? We could cut costs if we prepare the meal ourselves, but then what’s the fun in doing all the work? And what kind of cake do you want?”

  Katie patted her hand.

  “I knew you’d take care of everything. You’ll do a great job. Now, David is at your disposal, and he’ll drive you wherever you need to go.”

  Sophia’s stomach clenched.

  “But I could just drive your car.” There certainly was no reason to
involve David.

  “Oh, darling, I sold that car four years ago.” Katie began clearing the table.

  “I didn’t know.” She felt lost again. “How do you get around?”

  “David and Carissa. They’ve been a delight to have here.” Katie patted her granddaughter’s shoulders. “Why don’t you head up and get ready. I’ll tell David you’ll be down shortly to go to the bakery to pick out our cake.” Her grandmother had turned to leave before she could protest his participation.

  “Millie.” Sophia leaned in closer to Katie’s best friend. “You knew he would be flying that plane, didn’t you?” she demanded in a whisper.

  When Millie dropped her head, wouldn’t look up, and never answered, Sophia had her answer. She shook her head and kissed Millie on the top of her head. Once again, she was in the hands of the matchmaking duo, but this time she wasn’t a willing participant.

  Sophia hurried up the stairs for the second time that morning. Fourteen days. That’s all she’d agreed to. In fourteen days, she’d be back in her small, dingy apartment overlooking the Space Needle in Seattle. Back to her corner of the world where she didn’t have a physical reminder of why she’d walked away from David or the guilt that she’d never returned to her grandmother.

  She showered in the bathroom attached to her bedroom. Her bedroom in her grandmother’s house was almost as big as the neglectfully furnished apartment she dreaded returning to.

  When she had managed to apply her makeup and tame her curls, she dressed in a soft cotton dress and slipped on a pair of sandals she’d purchased in Italy during her tour at Easter. After one last look in the mirror, she adjusted the necklace with her Saint Nicholas medal around her neck and reached for her light, silky scarf. She tied the scarf with precision that made her look sophisticated and hid her scars.

  The moment she opened her door and stepped from her room, she ran headlong into the teenager she’d briefly seen that morning with earphones in her ears and an iPod in her hand.