Reunited: Matchmakers Book 4

by Declan Rhodes

  “And how do you expect me to know how his relationship is unfolding? We live in different cities. Should I hire a spy?”

  I watched Sean open up the case he pulled out of the drawer. “You’re a client of his right now. Maybe you can come up with some kind of business connection. You both know that couple who just got married. Find out how close they are as friends, and maybe the couple can share some intelligence.”

  “Remind me to keep you happy. You’d make a scary private investigator.”

  “I don’t know about that, but scoot over here. Right now, I’ll take your mind off of everything that happened earlier by beating your ass in a tournament of backgammon. I know how you hate to lose.”

  “I hate to lose at anything. Outside of my dating disasters, the world’s been my oyster for too long.”

  7

  Daniel

  Blake and I slowly made our way to our hockey game seats, only five rows back from the ice. We balanced two boxes of popcorn and two drinks. I held them tightly in my hands, desperate to not spill them all over the family seated in the row in front of us.

  I’d received a last-minute invitation, and Blake was still in the process of explaining what happened. After I responded “Yes” to a text message, he insisted that I meet him in the arena lobby.

  “These are Ollie’s season tickets. Iris insisted on a getaway this weekend, and they’re in the car on their way up to Door County as we speak. They wanted to get out of town before the snowstorm hits. Iris thought it might be romantic to cuddle up in a cabin with a blizzard outside. They should make it before the worst of the weather hits. They’ve got a two-day head start.”

  “That’s why she was in a hurry leaving the office. She didn’t explain. All I heard was, ‘Gotta run. You know how Ollie can be.’”

  “Ollie was outside in the car with the suitcase.”

  On the surface, it was only a long weekend trip, but it could be more. My eyes opened wider as I looked at Blake. “You don’t think they’re…”

  “Oh, holy shit. I didn’t think of that.” The popcorn bounced in Blake’s hand, and he spilled a few kernels to the concrete floor. “Well, if they plan to get hitched this weekend, there’s not much we can do about it. I say good for them, but I hope not. I think they’d have a fun wedding reception.”

  Iris didn’t share any additional information with either of us, so it was useless to speculate. I changed the topic of conversation. “About the tickets. I think you only told me part of the story.” I popped a handful of popcorn into my mouth while I listened for the response.

  “These are Ollie’s tickets, and Iris suggested that I take Hunter. It was a great idea, but there’s a game night at the center, so he’s busy. I thought about how you’ve been dragging all week since the Hank and Luke wedding, so I thought you might need a night out. I would’ve given both of them to you if you wanted to take Seb, but I haven’t heard about him for a few days.”

  “Over.”

  Blake juggled his popcorn box again and nearly sent it forward over the rail. I helped catch it and prevent an unpleasant scene with fellow fans.

  “I appreciate the invitation, and you might be right. The week’s been a rough one. At least business is going well. The only problem—I don’t know the first thing about hockey.”

  Players skated around the ice warming up, and Blake put on his patient teacher cap. He pointed first to one goal and then the other.

  I said, “I’m not clueless about how games work in general. I think I could figure that part out on my own. There’s a little black object called a puck, too.”

  “You’re already halfway there. Do you know how soccer works?”

  “Mostly. I played it back in high school.”

  Blake sipped his drink as he evaluated my statement. “You were a jock? I never knew that. Didn’t the constant sweating mess up your hair?”

  I scowled. “What do you think I am? Do I really act that picky? Yes, I played some sports in high school. I was on both the soccer and tennis teams—for two years.”

  “Only two?”

  I screwed one half of my mouth up into a frown. “I wasn’t so good at either. I saw the handwriting on the wall and bailed out after my sophomore year.”

  “And it saved your hair. Anyway, hockey is sort of like high-speed soccer on ice. Can you imagine that?”

  After I managed to get the image of figure skaters with sticks and pucks out of my head, Blake’s comment made sense. The two goals and centerline matched the design of a soccer field. “Thank you. That’s probably helpful.”

  Blake pointed up toward the ceiling of the venue. A mini replica of an airship floated overhead. “Look at that. It’s an indoor blimp.”

  The airship avoided obstacles, and I presumed a person operated it as a drone.

  “What do you think it’s for?” asked Blake.

  “I don’t know. I’ve not been to one of these games before.”

  “Me either. I’ve only seen hockey in person in Chicago.”

  We both watched as the blimp slowly circled the crowd. It came to a brief stop on the opposite side of the rink and rained down paper cards on a cheering crowd below.

  Blake and I turned to face each other. “Advertising?”

  A few minutes later, the remote-control-operated airship parked itself over our heads, and one of the cards landed in Blake’s lap. A smile filled his face when he announced, “Free tickets!”

  I pointed at the words “courtesy of” followed by the name of a local business. “Advertising, too.”

  “Uh, oh. I can hear the gears as they grind away in your head.”

  “Do you think gay men come to these games? I mean, other than us since it’s a one-time thing for you and me.”

  “I know they do.” Blake discreetly pointed at two young men three rows away who were yucking it up. When they finished laughing, one kissed the other on the cheek. “Does that answer your question?”

  “I wonder if they have any friends who could use our services?”

  “I think the answer to that would be another yes.”

  Before the game even began, my hockey adventure was productive. We were on the search for ways to expand the Match Made advertising. Sports events could open up an entirely new direction for us.

  I said, “Why don’t you type this into your phone so you don’t forget it. I want you and Iris to do a little research and find out how we could get our name on those little cards. We need to know the cost, too. It has to fit the budget.”

  Blake folded his arms over his chest with a smug expression on his face. “And I bet you thought there was nothing that could happen here that would have an impact on business. I bet you thought you came to the game just to be nice to me.”

  “And I’m always curious about men in uniforms.”

  Blake laughed and nearly spilled his drink.

  Approximately two minutes before the scheduled start time of the game, the next big surprise of the evening arrived. I heard the words, “Pardon me, pardon me,” to my left. I turned my head to ascertain whether Blake and I needed to stand to let a fan move past us to their seat.

  With a muttered, “Fuck—no way,” I turned back toward Blake to my right. His mouth was wide open. He saw what I saw.

  Kenneth made his way toward us with a beer in hand. When he spotted me, that crooked smile lit up his face. “Daniel! Who would have thought I’d see you here? What a coincidence.”

  I clenched my teeth and willed the corners of my mouth to remain neutral and not turn down into a frown. As I stood, Kenneth pushed past me, and his legs brushed mine. He looked at his ticket and then at the seat next to Blake. Satisfied that they matched, Kenneth settled himself and swallowed a big swig of the beer.

  The final seconds that remained before the start of the game counted down on a large game clock overhead. We had only a short time left. I knew that we didn’t have time to try to make small talk and leaned back in my seat with my mouth shut.

  Un
fortunately, Kenneth didn’t plan on being quiet. He moved forward and to the left, leaning over Blake’s legs. He glanced from one of us to the other.

  “Did you get your tickets from Ollie, too?”

  Blake spoke for both of us. He made it unnecessary for me to add words to the conversation. “Yes. Do you know Ollie?”

  “I met him at Hank and Luke’s wedding. I was surprised when his fiancé called and offered me one of these seats. She said he had four tickets at first, but she’d already given two away. She offered me the last pair.”

  My blood started to boil. Iris set me up. She knew the basic facts of my history with Kenneth. Heat radiated from my face as my skin turned red. I wondered whether she mentioned that I would be at the game. Why else would Kenneth drive all the way from Chicago to Milwaukee to see a minor league hockey team play?

  Blake asked the logical question. “Do you expect someone to join you?”

  “No, not at all. I told her that I didn’t have anyone I could call on such short notice, but she gave me the ticket anyway. I had to walk out of the office immediately after the call to make sure I made it up here in time. They held the tickets for me at the will call booth.”

  I mumbled, “Good ole Iris.”

  Kenneth piped up. “Did you say something, Daniel?”

  Fortunately, the game saved the day. The players began to slap the little black puck across the ice, and it riveted our attention. Blake winced every time a pair of players crashed against the boards.

  At the next break in the game, Kenneth leaned over Blake’s legs again. “The two of you will never believe what I agreed to do during the break between periods. I’m terrified, and you might need to give me a little push. It’s not like me to put myself out there. Ollie’s fiancé said that Ollie did it once before, and he was excited to do it again. I’m taking his place.”

  I glanced at Blake, and I wondered whether he had the same thought as me in his head. Why didn’t Iris ask one of us to do it? Whatever it was.

  When Blake offered Kenneth a handful of his popcorn, I slumped in my seat and rolled my head back. Suddenly, Blake stood and applauded. He roared his approval along with the crowd. I followed his lead, stood a little late, and clapped along.

  With a disdainful glance, Blake said, “You didn’t even see what happened. Did you? I hope you weren’t thinking about work.”

  My mind was nowhere close to thoughts about work. I did think about Kenneth and tried to will him to leave. I hoped he might suddenly get an emergency text about his business, or maybe he would be struck by an untimely case of food poisoning caused by something he ate at lunch.

  Somehow, I managed to suffer through the first period of the game. Kenneth left the stands five minutes ahead of the break to show up for his activity. He high-fived Blake. “Cheer for me, guys.”

  As they set up on the ice and Kenneth lined up with three other fans, I leaned in close to Blake. “What the hell are they going to do?”

  “I think it’s pretty obvious. Don’t you? Sort of a human bowling ball thing.”

  At one end of the rink, attendants set up ten large, almost five feet tall, foam bowling “pins.” At the other end, two large, hefty men pulled on opposite ends of what looked like a giant slingshot. In the center, the first fan, a young woman, sat on a sort of dish sled like the one I used as a kid when I sledded down a hill along the Lake Michigan shore.

  I held my hands up to my face and peered through the cracks between my fingers. The two burly men suddenly let go and flung the woman across the ice. The dish made two rotations before she crashed into the foam pins and took down eight of them. The crowd roared its approval.

  Blake said, “I’m jealous. We have to come again so I can sign up for this.”

  “You want to do that?”

  “Why not? It’s hilarious, and I bet it’s fun, too. It might be even better to sign Hunter up and not tell him what it is until it’s too late. I’d bring binoculars so I could see the look of terror on his face as they let go of the slingshot.”

  “You have a latent sadistic streak, Blake. I never knew that about you.”

  He did his best to cackle like the stereotype of an evil Halloween witch.

  Kenneth was next. It shocked me that he agreed to participate. It was Ollie’s kind of thing. I could see that, but when I dated Kenneth, he’d do anything to avoid being singled out in public. He didn’t even want to win door prizes at charity events because he’d have to walk to the stage in front of the crowd to pick up the gift.

  A different Kenneth sat on the dish sled and waved to the crowd. Blake waved back.

  I didn’t hide my face. I wanted to see Kenneth’s entire adventure. I admitted to myself that he looked like a fun, exciting man as he sat there and waited to crash into the bowling pins.

  The sled zipped across the ice and spun even more than it did under the first contestant. It rotated at least four times, and Kenneth leaned into the pins. He took down all ten of them for a strike, and the crowd roared even louder than they did for the first human bowling ball.

  With humility, Kenneth stood and acknowledged the crowd with another wave. I watched, but I found myself distracted as I thought about different he was from in the past.

  Blake shook Kenneth’s hand when he returned to his seat. “Was that half as fun as it looked like it was?”

  “Probably twice as much.”

  I didn’t intend to say anything to Kenneth. I was waiting for him to return to Chicago, but somehow my mind and body conspired against me. I leaned forward and turned my head in his direction.

  “You never would have done something like that in the past.”

  “That was a long time ago. Let’s just say I’ve grown up a bit since then.”

  Blake tried to be discreet, but I didn’t miss the glance in my direction and the raised eyebrow.

  For the rest of the game, two full periods, I was too engrossed in my thoughts and speculation about Kenneth to know the score. How did he change? Did he have another relationship? Was he trying to hit on me now?

  Blake pounded on my thigh. “Two minutes left, and we’re only up by one! You gotta help us cheer them on, Daniel!”

  I watched the men clad in massive pads glide across the ice and clapped when Blake clapped. He stood along with Kenneth for the last 30 seconds, and I joined them. We all erupted in shouts and applause when our home team won the game.

  The team celebrated on the ice, and the crowd clapped along. Kenneth started to push past us.

  “I hate to do this, guys, but I need to get going. I’ve still got that long drive to Chicago, and I need to check some business numbers before bed.”

  I found myself face to face with Kenneth as he stepped in front of me. His back was closest to me earlier when he pushed past us, but for his exit, he turned around.

  What happened next didn’t shock me, but it put me in a bind. Kenneth asked, “How about that coffee? I’ll drive back up here to Milwaukee if you say yes.”

  This time, Kenneth didn’t whisper in my ear. He said it out loud. I didn’t tell him that I’d broken up with Seb, but the conspicuous absence of my most recent dating partner might have led to an assumption.

  The invitation backed me into a corner. At the moment, I wanted to say no. I wanted Kenneth to disappear from my life and fade away like he did for most of the last ten years. Unfortunately, I knew that he was already part of my extended web of friends. The chances of Kenneth exiting from my life were slim.

  Before I could open my mouth, Blake’s sharp, bony elbow assaulted my side. I bit my lip. I didn’t see any other good choices.

  “Sure. We can do that. Let’s text and set it up.”

  8

  Kenneth

  The morning after I was a human bowling ball, I sat at the small dining table in my four seasons room looking out over Lake Michigan. The sun barely peeked above the horizon as it began to spread pink and purple rays across the sky. While I watched, I reached for my lower back and groan
ed.

  “Did the old man have a rough night at the hockey game?”

  Sean poured a mug of coffee for me. He’d already retreated to his apartment when I returned the night before. The human bowling ball experience was tremendous fun while it happened, but the morning after, my body protested and told me, “Never again.”

  I explained the slingshot and the bowling pins to Sean. He laughed out loud. “You’re such a ham. I’m proud of you.”

  There was a lot more to tell, but I held the rest inside. A few minutes later, Sean delivered a breakfast plate that included stuffed crepes and a fresh fruit salad. He joined me with his own food. I knew that he wanted to dig further into my night when he stared across the table with an expectant expression on his face.

  The food was delectable as usual. Before Sean could ask another question, I said, “I’m driving up to Milwaukee tomorrow. I might not be home until late, so don’t worry and flood me with text messages.”

  “Would I do that?”

  “Any time there’s a hint of rain or snow, you do. You’re one of the worst worry warts I’ve ever known. You’re twice as bad as me.”

  “That’s an overstatement, and you know it. I think keeping you safe is part of my job. What kind of an assistant would I be if I didn’t keep your health and happiness foremost in my thoughts?”

  “Moderation in all things.”

  I watched Sean put his fork down. It was the signal that s question was on its way. “So, what else happened? In your message about the hockey game, you told me that Iris mentioned four tickets and only offered you two. Who used the other pair. Anyone you knew?”

  “Private investigator and trial lawyer. Did you ever consider those as alternative lines of work?”

  Sean dismissed my suggestions. “I’d hear too many bad stories that I don’t want to know about.”

  “Okay, you would figure it out sooner or later. I ran into Daniel again.”