An Unlikely Match

by Arlene James

  “Yes. Thank you,” she returned softly.

  Nodding deeply to Hypatia, he said, “I appreciate the hospitality.”

  “Our pleasure,” Hypatia murmured.

  Dallas, who had observed all in silence, rose then. “I’ll see you out.”

  Still smiling, Lawrence followed her from the room.

  Ellie immediately crossed to her customary chair and collapsed upon it with a gusty sigh.

  “Not so fast, my girl,” Asher said, pulling her up by the arm again. “I’d like a word with you in private.”

  “Use the library, why don’t you, dear?” Hypatia suggested, sounding weary.

  “Excellent idea,” Asher said, striding off in that direction with Ellie in tow. Dallas turned from the door just as they crossed the foyer. Her eyes widened, a speculative gleam lighting them.

  Ellie groaned, but Asher did not slow down until he’d closed the library door behind them.

  “We are out of time,” he stated flatly. “I need straight answers.”

  Ellie glanced away. “I’ve given you straight answers.” To those questions he had asked, anyway.

  “Do not be fooled by that man’s mild manner! He may be young and all smiles, but he knows exactly what he’s doing, and today’s little stunt tells me that he’s clever. Beyond that, if I were a betting man, I’d lay odds that he knows something that I do not. So spill it, Ellie!”

  “Spill what?”

  “You’re holding something back.”

  She threw up her hands. “I’ve given you the facts exactly as I know them!”

  He stared at her for several moments, one hand moving agitatedly against his thigh until he clapped it to the back of his neck. “Something is missing from this picture, and if you can’t supply it, then I need to speak to your grandfather.” He looked up suddenly. “Is your grandfather having financial difficulties?”

  “No! We may not be wealthy, but the Monroes have always been solvent. I don’t make much money, of course, and I do have student loans, but to my knowledge, Grandpa has no major debts.”

  “What about a mortgage?”

  “The house was inherited. I don’t think it has ever carried a mortgage. The drugstore is free and clear and brings in a steady income.”

  “How were you paying for the renovations?”

  Ellie shrugged. “Grandpa said there was money. I suppose it has to do with the drugstore. He took in a young partner a few years ago and recently struck a deal to sell. Not immediately, but over time. I assume there was a substantial down payment, and there had to be savings, too. Of course, it’s all gone now. Grandpa paid off the contractor after the fire.”

  “That may have been a mistake,” Asher mused. “It’s possible the contractor or subcontractor was negligent.”

  Sighing, Ellie felt tears well up. It was all such a mess. She was tired and hungry and overwhelmed with worries about Dallas and Odelia and, especially just then, her grandfather. She had tried so hard to take the burden from him and protect Dallas in the process, but nothing was going as she’d hoped. The more immediate concern, however, was one she’d pushed to the back of her mind.

  “We’re never going to get back into our house, are we? But where are we going to go?”

  “Hey,” Asher said, “it’s not like you’re going to be out on the street.”

  “But we can’t stay here indefinitely, and if we can’t get the house back into shape…” She sniffed and tried to swallow back the lump thickening in her throat, but she could not keep the tears from falling. “G-Grandpa should be r-retiring and t-taking it easy, but I don’t know if that will be p-possible now.”

  Asher patted her shoulder awkwardly. “Don’t cry. That won’t help.”

  “D-don’t you understand? I can’t p-pay rent for the two of us, but it’s not fair for him to have to c-continue to work. He deserves better than this!”

  Against his better judgment, Asher reached out and pulled her into his arms. “It’s going to be okay.”

  She sniffed and closed her eyes, her head upon his shoulder. “You don’t know that.”

  “I promise you.” Pushing her away a little, he framed her face with his hands, tilting it upward. “Just work with me, sweetheart. We can’t be at odds here. We have to be a team. Okay?”

  “Okay,” she echoed, smiling softly as she gazed into his amber eyes. “A team.”

  “That’s my girl,” he said, and then he set his lips to hers.

  It was a completely natural gesture, a light, comforting kiss, but it quite literally curled Ellie’s toes.

  Suddenly, Asher wrenched away, leaping back so far that he bumped up against the door. Her hand lifted to her lips in wonder. He abruptly spun about, wrenched open the door and strode through it without a word.

  Ellie ran forward, intending to call him back, but before she could get out a word, Dallas appeared. Ellie jerked to the side to look over her friend’s shoulder, only to see Asher pulling the front door closed behind him. Deflated, she glowered at her friend.

  Squealing like a teenager, Dallas grabbed Ellie by the shoulders and walked her backward into the room. “He called you ‘sweetheart’! I heard it!”

  “You were eavesdropping,” Ellie accused.

  “Duh. Did he kiss you? It sounded to me like he kissed you.”

  Oh, he had kissed her, and it hadn’t been a brotherly affair this time, either. Ellie felt a smile tugging at her lips, but the memory of what had followed changed everything. That kiss had been an accident. Obviously, he hadn’t intended to do it. There had been nothing romantic about it, not on Asher’s end, anyway. He’d simply meant to comfort her and gotten carried away.

  The thought brought fresh tears to her eyes. Suddenly, she couldn’t help feeling that Dallas was very likely responsible for the train wreck that her life had become. If not for that fire, she’d never have been thrown into Asher’s path. She’d never have let her girlish crush burgeon into something so desperate, and her grandfather and Odelia wouldn’t be tiptoeing around the house like scalded cats. No matter how lofty Dallas’s motives might have been, Ellie just could not feel in charity with her best friend at that moment.

  “I am not listening to your nonsense, Dallas Chatam, not now. I’m facing a major problem here, in case you’ve forgotten.”

  In typical fashion, Dallas waved that away with the flop of her wrist. “Ash will take care of that.”

  “He’s not a magician, Dallas. I have no doubt that he’ll do what he can, but even he can’t predict what the insurance company will do.”

  “Oh, come on. They’ll pay. Besides,” she said, waggling her eyebrows, “I’m less interested in how Ash is handling the insurance company than how he’s handling you.”

  “Stop it!” Ellie hissed. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “So tell me.”

  “There is nothing to tell. And I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

  Huffing, Dallas parked her hands at her waist. “Well, that’s no fun. You always tell me everything.”

  “What part of nothing do you not get?”

  Dallas rolled her eyes. “Fine. So let’s talk about your grandfather and my aunt Odelia.”

  Ellie wasn’t much in the mood for their usual confab, but she parked herself on the edge of the large, rectangular table in the center of the floor. “I’m not sure there’s anything to discuss there, either.”

  “Are you kidding? After the way she behaved earlier? No, I’m telling you, this is working. Getting them together under the same roof is the smartest thing we’ve ever done.”

  “We?” Ellie shook her head. “This wasn’t my idea, Dallas. I’d never have thought of moving in here.”

  “Too true,” Dallas admitted. Winking, she added, “I take every bit of credit for that particular stroke of genius.” She reached around and patted herself on the back, grinning widely. “I cannot wait to tell my know-it-all big brother that I was right about Odelia and Kent!” With that, she whi
rled away and made for the door, saying, “Gotta run. I have a PTA meeting tonight. We’ll talk more later.” She paused to wag a finger at Ellie, adding, “And don’t think you can spare the details indefinitely just because he’s my brother.”

  She all but skipped through the door, leaving Ellie to wonder glumly just how far her friend would go to achieve her ends—and just how much longer she could go without asking Dallas for the truth.

  Wincing at the slam of the door behind him, Asher paused on the deep porch of Chatam House. The guilt he’d been trying to outrun slammed into him, dealing a full body blow that made him stagger and moan.

  He had done it. Good grief, he had actually kissed her! He hadn’t just thought about it. He hadn’t just anticipated it. He’d actually done it.

  Dear Lord, what’s wrong with me? he mentally howled, but before he could pursue that prayer to any satisfactory conclusion, a familiar voice called to him.

  “Asher? Dear boy, whatever is the matter?”

  He spun on one heel to find Odelia sitting in the same position where he’d last seen her, except this time she was swathed from head to knee in white faux fur. She appeared, in fact, to be wearing a hooded cape, which on anyone else would have been an oddity.

  “Is something wrong?” Odelia pressed, obviously alarmed by his silence.

  “Uh. No. That is, there was an insurance investigator here, and I was called in to run a little interference.”

  “Oh. I didn’t realize. I only saw your car pull up in front of the house from my bedroom window, but by the time I made my way down here to wait for you, there was no one else about.”

  “He didn’t stay long,” Asher said, moving on to the more salient point. “You wanted to see me?”

  Odelia smiled, but her gaze remained troubled. “Oddly enough, you seem to be the only one I can talk to about my situation.”

  Asher was almost relieved, and the irony of that was not lost on him. Just days ago he’d rather have taken a blow to the head than talk about his old auntie’s crush on a past beau. Now, it seemed a much-needed distraction from his own tortured feelings. He would not think of that as a crush. No, no, a mature man did not form a crush on a woman young enough to be his…okay, daughter was a stretch. Still, she was too young.

  Shaking his head, he walked over and took a seat next to his aunt. “How can I help you, Aunt Odelia?”

  “I’m not sure you can, dear,” she admitted, looking down at her lap. “I’m not sure anyone can. It’s just that I’m so confused.”

  “About what exactly?”

  She bit her lip, her capped teeth making significant indentations in the thick layer of bright pink lipstick that she wore. The sight made Asher smile despite everything. It struck him suddenly that despite the fact they’d been born on the same day, Odelia had somehow managed to stay younger than her sisters. He hadn’t realized it before because their looks, if not their styles, were so similar. Something vibrant shone from Odelia’s countenance, something that made her seem strangely innocent.

  “Do you think it’s possible,” she finally began, “to find love at my age? Romantic love, I mean?”

  No sprang to the tip of his tongue. It was the wisest answer he could give her, the surest. But he couldn’t say it. He looked at that sweet face and those sad, yet expectant eyes, and he couldn’t find the strength to crush her dreams.

  “There is much to consider for someone in your position,” he began carefully, only to feel the words he wanted to say dwindle away. Several awkward moments passed, during which he felt uncharacteristically unsure of himself. Gulping, he finally said, “I have to answer with a qualified yes. Anything’s possible, after all…” He paused again, struck by the hope that had kindled in her eyes. Realizing suddenly that he couldn’t argue his way out of this with logic alone, he stopped trying and gave her what she obviously needed to hear. “Yes. I think it’s possible for someone your age to find love and romance.”

  She stared off into the distance. “Well,” she said finally, “it’s a moot point. Even if Kent should harbor some true feeling for me after all this time, nothing has changed. I still can’t contemplate leaving my sisters, you know, not that I would expect to have the opportunity, mind you.” She shook her head. “No. Regardless of what Dallas says, it’s not my romance that God has ordained this time.”

  “This time?” He tilted his head, feeling that he’d missed something important.

  She reached across and patted his knee. “I’m so very glad for you,” Odelia told him warmly.

  He had definitely missed something important. “I don’t understand.”

  “Now, don’t be coy. We’ve come to expect it, you know.”

  “Expect what?”

  Odelia giggled. “Surely you’ve noticed. Every time someone seeks sanctuary in this house, a romance soon follows. Yours is no exception.”

  “Mine!” he yelped, jerking sideways in his chair.

  “Well, yours and Ellie’s. Tell me,” she went on curiously, “when did you first notice her that way?”

  Notice her? Notice Ellie? That way?

  The truth blindsided him, knocking him out of his chair and onto his feet.

  He had noticed Ellie the first moment that he’d laid eyes on her, when she’d been nothing more than another incoming freshman at BCBC. He’d instinctively buried the attraction beneath the knowledge that she was his baby sister’s friend and, therefore, too young and off-limits. She was still too young.

  Wasn’t she?

  Client, he reminded himself desperately. Baby sister’s best friend. Fifteen years his junior. Client. Plus, he had no intention of ever remarrying. He did not want to get married again. Period. End of discussion.

  Apparently not, however, so far as his aunt was concerned.

  “I wouldn’t have put you and Ellie together,” Odelia was musing, tapping the cleft in her chin, “but God always knows best about these things.”

  Asher searched for the words that would lay to rest her romantic expectations on his behalf once and for all. “I fear you’ve misconstrued the situation, Aunt Odelia. Ellie is not…my type.” Unless not being able to stop thinking about her said otherwise. “No?”

  “I mean, she’s a delightful wo…er, girl.” He couldn’t quite remember when he’d started thinking of her as a woman.

  “Such a sunny nature,” Odelia confirmed with a smile, “and you know what they say about opposites attracting. Oh, not that you’re dour by any means, just so very…serious,” she finished apologetically.

  Asher stared at her for a full five seconds, no idea what to do or say. In the end, he took the coward’s way out. Shivering, he clapped his arms about himself. “Brr. Chilly out here. Easy to forget it’s still technically winter until the sun sets, isn’t it?” He got up and sidled toward the steps at the edge of the porch, babbling, “But you didn’t forget, did you? Nice and toasty in that lovely cape, I imagine. Me, I am…” The world’s greatest idiot. “In a hurry. Sorry.” He darted forward and smacked a kiss on her cheek then rushed to the steps, calling, “Stay warm. See you later.”

  “Bye-bye, dear,” Odelia returned, lifting a hand in a tentative wave.

  Asher fled as if someone had set the hounds on him. It was not, he reflected later, his finest moment, but it paled in comparison to what he’d done there in the library with Ellie, and it did not haunt his dreams that night.

  Ah, no.

  When at last he turned out the lamp on his bedside table that night, he dreamed, not of flight, but of kisses and violet eyes that seemed to look straight into his shabby soul.

  Chapter Eleven

  “The house is Ellie’s inheritance,” Kent Monroe said, laying an arm on the edge of Asher’s desk as he leaned forward in earnestness. “It’s all I have to leave her, you see. My young partner at the pharmacy is making semiannual payments on the buy-in, but upon my death, everything having to do with the business goes to him.”

  Asher nodded. It was standard practice for pa
rtnerships, particularly if one of the partners carried a heavier load in conducting the business, as Asher assumed Monroe’s younger partner did. Certainly the man had made no complaint when Asher had stepped into the pharmacy Friday morning to ask Kent for a word in the privacy of his office down the street.

  “So the renovations were in aid of assuring the integrity of your granddaughter’s inheritance,” he said, intentionally suggesting a valid argument in support of their case.

  “Just so,” Mr. Monroe confirmed.

  “And you paid for those renovations with the funds from the buy-in?” Asher asked hopefully.

  Monroe shifted back in his chair, letting his hands fall onto his knees. “Not entirely. I had other funds.”

  “Savings.”

  “Some.” Monroe sighed. “It’s all gone now, of course, with very little to show for it, I’m afraid. Oh, the upstairs was not damaged by the fire, so technically what I paid for remains, with minimal smoke and water damage, but what difference does it make with the downstairs unlivable? I suppose I should be thankful that it wasn’t the renovated portion that burned.”

  Asher tapped a finger against the arm of his chair, considering. Kent’s version of events dovetailed neatly with Ellie’s, and yet he could not escape the feeling that something was amiss.

  “Can you think of anything else that I should know about this matter?” he asked.

  Kent Monroe shook his balding head, but Asher noted that he averted his gaze. “Of course, I’m no lawyer.”

  Asher studied the man for a moment longer, trying to see him as Odelia and Ellie did, but his lawyer’s sense told him that like his granddaughter, the old fellow was not being entirely forthcoming. Stymied, Asher decided not to press the matter further—for the moment.

  “All right. Thank you for your time, Mr. Monroe.”

  Looking greatly relieved, the older man said, “Kent, please.”

  Asher rose to his feet. “Well, then, Kent, I’ll see you on Monday afternoon at three-thirty.”

  Kent took several seconds to hoist his bulk to a standing position, but his handshake was strong when he grasped Asher’s hand in farewell. “Oh, ah, Ellie says a quarter of four is about the best she can do. Something about bus duty.”