Four Christmas Matchmakers

by Cathy Gillen Thacker

  Had she not been facing pressing work deadlines, he would have taken her back to bed and eased any of her worries about their pending reconciliation there.

  But between her professional obligations and their babysitting duties, that wasn’t going to be possible tonight, so he did as she asked, promised to meet her in a bit and headed out.

  His three sisters were waiting for him. They surveyed him en masse. “You know, if you want to pretend nothing is simmering between you and Allison, you’re going to have to work a lot harder to wipe that sparkle out of your eyes,” Faith teased.

  “Or at least pretend you’re not having such a good time playing Mommy and Daddy with her,” MacKenzie said.

  He’d have to be an Oscar-worthy actor to pull that off. Cade sent his siblings a bemused smile. “You didn’t see us together.” So there was no way they could know the depth of his feelings for Allison.

  Jillian mugged comically. “True. But we heard you telling stories about the two of you handling the quadruplets’ antics out at the ranch today. And it was clear that you and Allison are working great as a team. Which, I have to say, was not a surprise to any of us.”

  “What do you mean by that?” Cade asked, noting that the only thing Allison had on the “family tree” she was supposed to be decorating thus far were the lights he’d helped her string the evening before.

  Faith stood. “It means you’ve never loved anyone but Allison.”

  “And vice versa.” MacKenzie joined Faith in the foyer.

  “You know I don’t need your matchmaking,” Cade pointed out wryly, gathering up their coats.

  Jillian wagged a finger his way. “Just don’t wait too long to tell her how you really feel.”

  “Or you could lose this chance to reconcile,” Faith agreed.

  Cade realized that. He also knew Allison was a great deal more of a perfectionist than he was. She liked to analyze everything before proceeding and make a detailed plan for the future. Hence, she was going to need time to process the shift in their relationship. And understand that while her star might be rising, his was fading. He wasn’t the hotshot ballplayer she had fallen in love with. A lot of changes lay ahead of them. Changes that they would have to be able to navigate well together, if they were to ever really make a go of it, long-term. He didn’t want to ever disappoint her or let her down again, the way he had in the past.

  Pressuring her into something she wasn’t quite ready for would be doing just that.

  Even more important, he did not want Allison having to deal with this familial interference, and since she might be arriving anytime, he thanked his sisters for all their help, cut the conversation short and showed them the door.

  The only problem was, Allison didn’t arrive shortly thereafter. It was another hour and a half before she showed up. And when she did, she wasn’t in the casual clothing she’d been wearing when he left, but in one of those fancy outfits she liked to wear when taping segments for her blog. It looked like she had done her hair and makeup, too. She had the dinner he’d brought her and put it—so far untouched—into the fridge. He hoped for later.

  “Hey. I was beginning to get worried about you,” he said, lacing an easy arm about her waist.

  Looking more stressed out than he could ever recall seeing her, she wedged an elbow between them, firmly keeping him at bay. “I had to redo the video for my ‘single woman’ tree. And I’m going to have to make one for the family tree while the kids are sleeping, too. So...” She gave him a pointed look, seeming anxious to get to it.

  “You really redid that video?” he asked, aware that if that was going to be the case, they probably should have waited to make love. Rather than make her to-do list longer, her work life more cumbersome.

  She shrugged, ruefully accepting the complications that had ensued. “I had no choice.”

  He quirked a brow.

  “My hair wasn’t exactly right and I didn’t have makeup on.”

  Yet she had looked gorgeous.

  “My blog devotees would have complained I wasn’t living up to my...brand...” She said the last word reluctantly.

  His gaze trailed over the hollow of her throat, past her lips to her pretty dark green eyes. “Which is perfection.”

  She inclined her head. Looked even more uncomfortable. “Listen, Cade, I enjoyed...earlier...but I don’t really have time to talk.”

  She was as determined to keep him at arm’s length as he was to get close to her again. Convincing her they hadn’t rushed into anything was going to be tough. Especially since he had his own niggling doubts, given the way she was currently freezing him out. Fortunately, he knew, even if Allison didn’t just yet, that he was more than up to the task. All he had to do was make sure, in the long run, that she gave them the second chance they deserved.

  Resolved to be as patient as was required in this situation, he said, “And you really don’t want or need my help right now.” He guessed where this was going.

  She sighed, every emotional barrier firmly back in place. “I really don’t.”

  * * *

  Cade tried not to take the rejection personally as he set off on one last late-night stroll with Zeus. He looked down at the dog at his side. “It’s not as if I didn’t do pretty much the same thing to her when we were a couple,” he told his canine pal, feeling disappointed nevertheless. “I left her plenty of times, even right after making love, to get in one more batting practice or workout.”

  Zeus’s ear pricked forward, giving Cade the equivalent of a canine scowl of reproof.

  “And it got worse after that,” Cade admitted reluctantly, figuring maybe he deserved this for all his past sins.

  “As time went on, it wasn’t just practice. I abandoned any plans we had made to spend time together, to go and give an interview with the campus newspaper or a local sports reporter.”

  Zeus huffed and went to the closest mailbox to lift his leg.

  “Yeah.” Cade accepted the commentary on his past behavior. “I was a selfish ego-driven jerk back in those days. To the point I can only imagine the things I would have left her to go and do had she and I still been together when I hit the big time.”

  Zeus ambled on down the sidewalk beside him.

  Cade looked down at him and, enjoying the brisk cold of this December night, continued chatting. “So it was at that point in my career journey that Allison saw the writing on the wall and jumped ship, rather than endure any more solo misery.”

  Letting that happen had been the biggest mistake of his life. “I could take what might be a pretty big hint from her and do the same to her right now,” Cade continued.

  Zeus stopped at the end of the block, studied a sparkling display of Christmas lights. Then did an abrupt about-turn and headed back in the direction they had come. “Trying to tell me not to be impulsive?” he asked.

  Because really, where would that get him and Allison? Alone again? When they had just begun to really find their way back to each other?

  No, he decided, as Zeus headed even more briskly down the walk to the home they’d left. Where the woman of his dreams still was.

  “I’m going to be smarter this time,” Cade told Zeus, softly but firmly. “Not let my ego get in the way. Or make the same old mistakes. If she needs me to be understanding and accommodating, then I promise you this, buddy—I’m going to be more so than she ever dreamed,” Cade vowed, as Zeus’s tail began to wag. “And we’ll see where things go from there.”

  Chapter Eleven

  “You pulled an all-nighter, didn’t you?” Cade said the following morning when Allison opened the front door, wearing the same outfit she’d had on when he left her shortly before midnight the evening before. Her hair, gloriously down before, was now pulled into a tight, messy knot at the nape of her neck. Her lips were bare and she looked tired around the eyes, yet her nonstop energy and ambition s
hone through anyway.

  “Don’t be silly. I got two hours of sleep.”

  “Two hours,” he echoed her, walking inside, carrying a Sugar Buzz bakery bag of goodies.

  “So, I’m fine.” She shut the front door, flashed a crisp professional smile that bore none of the intimate affection they had shown each other the evening before.

  Cade knew it would take time—and privacy—to woo her. He echoed her cordial tone. “Mmm-hmm.”

  “However, I do think it might be wise if you were the one behind the wheel when we take the girls to preschool drop-off this morning.”

  “We?” He still liked the sound of that. The picture it brought of their potential future.

  Her lips twisted. “Better to be cautious, don’t you think?”

  Where everyone was concerned. “I do.” Perhaps it wouldn’t be as hard as he thought to get close to her again. Especially now that she had finished her latest work task. Luxuriating in the subtle notes of her jasmine perfume, he let his glance drift over her. “Did you ever eat dinner?”

  “I did.” Together, they walked into the living room, being careful to avoid the hanging mistletoe. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t have made it through the work I had to do. Thank you for that.”

  “You’re welcome.” He just wished she would let him do more, but one day at a time...

  He stopped short of the “family tree” she had spent the wee hours of the morning decorating. Strands of white lights twinkled. Vintage wooden cranberry garlands were interspersed with red and green fabric bows and white, silver and gold ornaments. The tree skirt was a snowy white, and a beautiful angel sat atop the tree. It was very traditional and absolutely perfect in every respect. He imagined she’d done a lot of measuring to make certain. “Get your video completed for this one?”

  Allison smiled proudly. “I posted them both simultaneously right before the girls woke up.”

  “I’m glad,” he said softly.

  She leveled an assessing gaze on him, kept it there, and he could have sworn, as the intimate moment drew out, she was thinking about kissing him again. Which was great, because that was what he was thinking about doing, too. Not as a preface to making love this time, but to show her what was in his heart.

  He moved closer, just as footsteps sounded on the stairs. “Mr. Cade! Did you see what Miss Allison did?” Sienna declared accusingly. “She decorated our tree without us! While we were sleeping!”

  “And she did it all wrong!” Jade agreed sulkily. “None of our special stuff is on there! Not even the ornaments we made at your mom and dad’s ranch yesterday!”

  Uh-oh, Cade thought.

  No wonder she had looked so completely wrung out when he’d arrived.

  What she had hoped would turn into a happy surprise had instead become a total disaster, at least as far as their four little matchmakers were concerned.

  Allison held up both hands in surrender. She looked to him for support. “I told them I’d undo it, except for the lights, while they were at school, and we would start over when they got home this afternoon.”

  “That sounds like a plan to me,” Cade said.

  All four girls continued to pout.

  “Now, how about you girls go upstairs and finish getting dressed, and then we can all make your school lunches together and maybe...just maybe—” he waved the Sugar Buzz bag in his hand “—give you a special treat to put in them.”

  Not surprisingly, the girls weren’t that easily mollified. They glared at him and Allison. “Fine!” Amber said. Her sisters dramatically echoed the same and stomped back in the direction they’d come, pausing only to fling their hair and glare until they finally disappeared from view.

  Zeus came over to stand beside Cade with a look that said he did not know how much more drama he could take. Had Cade not been so amused, he would have felt the same. He looked at Allison and murmured under his breath, “No fury like four women scorned?”

  He felt her stiffen almost imperceptibly beside him. She punched him in the arm, looking harried and upset. “Fun-ny.” Her pine-green eyes narrowed in consternation.

  He set the bag on the kitchen island, then turned to face her. “Seriously, I’ll be around to help. Just don’t forget that the carpet guys are supposed to be here around noon to put the carpet and padding back and collect the dehumidifier fan.”

  Looking abruptly as if her knees were about to buckle, she slid onto a stool. Gulping anxiously, she recalled, “We never did tell Sarabeth and Shawn what happened there.”

  With good reason, given their marital troubles and Shawn’s accident. He waved off her concern and took the stool next to her. Enjoying the intimacy of them sitting knee to knee. “They’ll be fine with it, since no harm no foul.”

  Clearly unconvinced, Allison bit her lip and looked up at him.

  Ignoring the way the skirt of her dress had hiked up on her thighs, he kept his gaze on her face. “We’ll just tell them when they get back so they can see for themselves it’s all fine.” He comically emphasized the last word.

  She started giggling. Tears of levity blurred her eyes. “I’m about to get punchy,” she warned.

  Loving the sound of her laughter, he teased, “I thought you already did that.” He rubbed his left arm as if it still smarted.

  “Ha ha.”

  Allison slid off the stool, bumping knees with him in the process, then looked around as if wondering what she should do next. Another sign of how tired she was. This woman always knew exactly what to do next.

  “Let me feed Zeus his breakfast—” Cade rose, towering over her “—and then I’ll help you with the lunches.”

  She curled her toes beneath her tights, having lost her shoes somewhere along the way. “I already fed him.”

  Zeus wagged his tail, knowing he was being talked about and not averse to a second meal by mistake, either.

  Cade bent down to pet the dog. Then, seeing he could probably use a little more water, he took the bowl over to the sink for a refresh. “You?” He tossed a look at her over his shoulder. “Miss I-don’t-think-I-like-dogs?”

  Cheeks pinkening, Allison made a seesawing motion with her hand. “He’s growing on me.” She bent down to pet him, her dress riding up well past her knees again.

  Feeling the telltale stirring of his body, Cade shifted his gaze away. “Zeus is a very loyal fella.” He carried the filled water bowl back.

  “And patient and loving.” Allison gave the Lab’s silky black-and-white face another stroke, then rose a little more awkwardly than usual.

  Another sign of her bone-deep fatigue.

  Cade put out a hand to steady her, cupping her elbow as she straightened.

  “Which is exactly what you need?” he guessed. Especially around the holidays. Love. Patience. And loyalty. Lots of it.

  Her eyes turned misty. “Sometimes lately, yes, I do think I might need to get a dog of my own to keep me company.”

  She needed a lot more than that, he thought.

  “Although I’m not sure how that would work with my brand. Since a lot of single women prefer cats.”

  “Do you?” he challenged.

  The color in her cheeks deepened. “No, but that’s not exactly the point.”

  He frowned back at her. “It’s exactly the point.”

  She clearly didn’t agree.

  “You have to make yourself happy, Allison.”

  Temper flared in her green eyes. “Is that so?”

  He grinned, loving it when he got under her skin. “It’s absolutely so.” He leaned in, thinking now was the perfect time to steal a kiss...

  “Mr. Cade!” A shrill four-year-old voice sounded behind him. He turned to see Amber standing there, her hands on her hips, her three sisters right behind her. “That is not where the mistletoe is!” she scolded. “You cannot kiss unless you are under the m
istletoe.”

  Wow. What a moody crew they had.

  “Is this what they mean when they say estrogen positive?” he asked Allison solemnly.

  She burst into laughter. And this time could not stop, even when the girls asked her why.

  Hazel stared. “What is wrong with Miss Allison?”

  Cade got the lunch bags out of the fridge and began doling out the individually wrapped Christmas sugar cookies for the girls to add to their lunches as a special treat. “She’s punchy.”

  Sienna nodded. “Very punchy.”

  “What’s punchy?” Jade asked.

  “It’s what happens when you don’t get enough sleep,” Cade explained, as Allison wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes. “So remember that, girls. Always go to bed on time!”

  Allison rolled her eyes, looking both impressed and amused. “Nice way to slide in a life lesson.”

  Cade thought so, too. Maybe he was more suited to being a parent than he had imagined. Allison, too...

  She smiled at him over the kids’ heads. Aware he hadn’t felt this happy or content in a long time, even when he’d been playing ball, he smiled back. “Let’s get this show on the road, ladies!” He found their coats and backpacks, and together, he and Allison herded them all out to the SUV.

  * * *

  The drive to school was as lively as ever, with the girls alternately arguing with each other, singing songs from their upcoming Christmas performance and asking a barrage of questions.

  “Miss Allison, did you call our mommy so you can find out where our real Christmas decorations are?” Sienna asked, as Cade turned into the long curving drive in front of the preschool to wait their turn in line.