Four Christmas Matchmakers

by Cathy Gillen Thacker

  So he eased from the bed, dressed quietly and left her a note, asking her to call him when she woke. Remembering she had turned the ringer off before they made love, he looked down at her phone. Normally, he would have just left it off. Let her sleep uninterrupted. But they had kids they were caring for. Shawn and Sarabeth overseas. And the job of her dreams in the offing. So he did what she would have done had she had the opportunity before she drifted off. He turned the sound back on. And hoped that whatever came next would only bring them closer.

  Chapter Twelve

  Allison’s cell phone chimed. Over and over again. Pushing out of the fog of sleeping at an unfamiliar time of day, she struggled to get up. Saw Laurel Grimes’s caller ID on-screen. She grabbed the phone and answered the call from the HITN producer. “Hey, Laurel.” She attempted to sound cheerful and awake.

  “Glad I caught you,” Laurel said. “Both trees were spectacular. And a lot easier for our viewers to emulate than the ones Jennifer Moore posted on City Lights.”

  Allison appreciated the compliment, but she had been trying not to think about what her competitor might or might not be doing. It was enough to simply concentrate on her own tasks. “I’m glad you liked them,” Allison said, stifling a yawn. Wondering where Cade had gone, and if he still felt as relaxed with the aftereffect of making love as she did. “So what is next?”

  “Your take on a yuletide tradition. It can be anything as long as it’s related to house decor.”

  Brought back to reality, Allison was all business once again. “No problem. When do you want it?”

  “We’d like to see it posted on your blog by nine o’clock tomorrow morning,” Laurel said.

  “Will do.” They said goodbye. Her mind already on the task ahead, Allison headed for the shower. An hour later, she was over at Shawn and Sarabeth’s home with Cade and three workers from the restoration company, who were busy reinstalling the carpet in the upstairs hallway where it had previously flooded.

  Cade rose from the dining room, where it seemed he had been busy putting together his coaching plan. “Hey,” he said, coming near enough to give her a quick hug. “I was hoping you’d get a little more rest than that.”

  She leaned into his warmth, realizing all over again how tall he was, how smokin’ hot. It didn’t seem to matter how temporary this situation they were in was or how ill-suited they had been for each other in the past. Whenever she looked into his eyes, she felt the fierce magnetic pull. She wanted him. Desperately. Even though they had just made love a few hours before...

  She pushed aside the sensual memories of their time together and, for both their sakes, moved back slightly. “I need to get out the traditional decorations for the tree here, so they’ll be all ready when the girls come home from school this afternoon. But I’m still waiting to hear from Sarabeth about where they are stored.” She grinned as she saw an incoming FaceTime request from Sarabeth. “And speaking of perfect timing...”

  She moved a slight distance away from Cade, as the work continued on the second floor, and accepted the request. Almost immediately, Sarabeth’s face came onto the screen. She was still in the hospital, Shawn beside her. But she looked good, Allison noted in relief. Happy, even. “Hi, Sarabeth.”

  “Aren’t you cheerful!” Sarabeth grinned.

  “Did you get my message?” Allison asked.

  “Yes. The decorations are in red and green storage boxes in the attic on the third floor.”

  “I’ll go see if I can find them,” Cade volunteered.

  Allison touched his arm. “Thanks.” He briefly covered her palm with his own, then moved off.

  Sarabeth registered surprise. “The two of you are getting along.”

  Very well, as it happened. Too well? Allison wondered. Knowing it was unlike her to be so impulsive. Usually, she weighed every pro and con and planned her life down to the very last detail. Aware her friend was waiting for an explanation, she said, “We decided to bury the hatchet and be friends again.”

  Shawn chuckled. “Just friends?”

  Cade came back into the room, his arms full of storage boxes. “Found ’em, and yeah—” he turned to wink at Allison as he set them down “—just friends. So how are things going in Switzerland?”

  Briefly, the couple gave them an update on Shawn’s progress. Which was slow, but steady. Then turned to the latest on the school Christmas performance. “The girls are all supposed to wear red dresses on Thursday evening,” Sarabeth said. “The ones from last year didn’t fit, so I ordered identical new ones online before we left. They were supposed to arrive today, but I just got an email notice that they won’t be delivered until tomorrow.”

  “That’s Tuesday. Plenty of time.”

  “Here’s where it starts to get tricky,” Sarabeth cautioned. “They also need new white tights and black shoes. You can get those at the children’s boutique in town. The problem is, the girls are going to have to go in and have their feet measured. And they really hate trying on new shoes.”

  Allison and Cade traded glances. He shrugged his broad shoulders affably. “I’m sure we will be able to handle it,” Allison said.

  Sarabeth looked less than convinced but nodded in any case. “There’s one more thing. We confirmed with Shawn’s doctors this morning that there is no way we can make it home in time for the performance, so...we’re going to miss it.”

  Uh-oh, Allison thought.

  “The girls will likely be upset,” Shawn said.

  No kidding.

  “They’re used to me missing things,” Shawn said. “Not Sarabeth. I told her she should think about getting an earlier flight, for their sake.”

  “No,” Sarabeth interjected firmly. “I’m needed here. I’m not leaving you.” She looked back at the phone. “I’m going to ask you not to tell them we won’t be there until Thursday before the performance. The less time they have to stew about it, or feel disappointed about it, the less temper tantrums there will be.”

  Allison figured they were probably right. “We can do that,” she said, while Cade slid a reassuring arm about her waist.

  “But don’t worry. You won’t have to break the bad news to them. Shawn and I will do that on Thursday before the show. And we’ll also ask you two to videotape it for us, so we can all watch it together when we get back, and I know they will like that.”

  “Sounds good,” Allison said, breathing in Cade’s cedarwood-and-soap fragrance.

  “We’ll call again when the girls are home from school,” Sarabeth promised.

  “Talk to you then.” They hung up. Afraid if she stayed that close to him they would end up kissing again, Allison eased away from Cade. She recalled that shopping never had been his favorite thing. But these weren’t normal circumstances. “Want to go shoe shopping after school?” she asked lightly.

  His brow furrowed. “The girls are expecting to redecorate the tree.”

  “We could still do that or at least start it after dinner. I’m just afraid if we wait on the clothes and there’s a glitch...”

  The corners of his sensual lips quirked. “Like there might be when we’re trying to buy four identical pairs of black shoes in a certain kid size?”

  Glad she suddenly had his full attention, she admitted, “We’d have to go to San Angelo, and that’ll be half an hour there, half an hour back.”

  He clamped his hands on her shoulders. The move forced her to look him straight in the eye. “You’re right.” He smiled, ready to get this errand done. “We’ll just pick them up from school and go straight there, then.”

  * * *

  Naturally, it wasn’t as easy as that. “I don’t want to go shoe shopping without my mommy.” Jade pouted, refusing to get out of her car booster seat.

  Sienna folded her arms across her chest. She also refused Allison’s assistance. “Mommy always takes us.”

  “We will jus
t wait,” Hazel said, without a trace of her usual good humor.

  “I want to go home and be with Zeus,” Amber agreed.

  “It won’t take long,” Allison promised, continuing to hold out her hand while the girls remained truculently in place.

  “And you know why?” Cade flashed his most charming grin. He angled his thumb at the center of his chest and declared dramatically, “Because I bet I hate shopping almost more than your daddy does.”

  Jade grinned, and just like that, the spell was broken. She accepted Cade’s hand out of the SUV. “No, you don’t,” she argued back merrily.

  “’Cause nobody hates shopping more than our daddy!” Sienna added.

  Not about to be left out, the other two quadruplets scrambled to get out of the SUV. Cade took the hands of Jade and Sienna while Allison captured Hazel’s and Amber’s. Together, they walked the sidewalk in downtown Laramie until they got to the children’s boutique located next to Monroe’s Western Wear.

  “You’ll have to tell me all about shopping with your daddy while we try on shoes,” he soothed.

  So they did. While they got measured. And tried on soft black ballet-style shoes, as well as black patent-leather Mary Janes, and glittery black slip-on shoes that, while uncomfortably stiff, also had the unfortunate habit of sliding off the heels of the girls’ slender feet.

  “What do you think?” the clerk asked.

  Cade looked to Allison for a decision. “I think it’s between the black ballet shoes—” which had an elastic inside edge for a better fit “—or the patent-leather Mary Janes,” which had a buckle strap across the middle.

  “I want the sparkly ones!” Jade said heatedly. Her three sisters quickly agreed.

  Allison looked at Cade. The shoes were definitely the prettiest, but they would be hell to break in. And worse, wouldn’t stay on for even two steps. Hence, they were an accidental trip or slip-and-fall waiting to happen. Not good, when all four girls were going to be on stage in front of all the parents, their own nowhere to be found. Not that they knew that yet...

  Cade’s dark brown eyes met hers, understanding that persuasion was needed. He pointed to the most comfortable. “I like these because they’re the kind ballet dancers and princesses wear.”

  “Princesses wear sparkles!” Sienna declared.

  And to Allison and Cade’s dismay, they could not convince the girls otherwise.

  Cade steered Allison to the side. “What do you think?”

  Allison’s emotions warred. Empathy won out. “That maybe, given everything else ahead of them—” like their parents not being there to see the performance “—that this is one battle we should let them win?”

  Cade nodded and squeezed her hand in agreement.

  Fortunately, the white tights were an easy purchase. Finished, they headed home.

  Unfortunately, by then it was nearly dinnertime for the girls, which on school nights was around five or five thirty. Baths and pj’s followed, and though they still had time to decorate the family tree, the girls were not the least bit interested in cooperating about that or anything else, it seemed. “I don’t want to do it without Mommy.” Hazel’s lower lip trembled.

  Sienna was near tears, too. “We need Daddy to put the ornaments on the tippy-top.”

  Allison wished they would let her comfort them. “Cade and I can help you.”

  Jade’s lower lip shot out. “You already ruined it by putting the other stuff, instead of our stuff, on it.”

  Amber cuddled Zeus as if her life depended on it. Sorrowfully, she advised, “We don’t want it to be ugly again, Miss Allison!”

  Ugly? They thought what she had done was ugly? Now Allison was near tears.

  Cade laced a hand about her waist. “Nothing like being overtired,” he quipped. Unlike her, he was not the least bit surprised or upset. “Listen, girls, it’s pretty late. Why don’t we read some Christmas storybooks, and then see if we can FaceTime with your mommy and daddy?”

  Finally, something Allison could do to help. “I’ll see if I can get them,” she said. She texted, asking if it was a good time for a chat. A minute later, Sarabeth and Shawn called. What followed was a horrendously long list of complaints. Mostly about Allison. Cade miraculously escaped unscathed.

  Cade eased her away from the table where the girls were gathered around Sarabeth’s laptop computer, emoting nonstop. “Let them get it all out,” he said.

  They were. Boy, were they ever. Still, things were a lot calmer when the conversation wrapped up. “Be good listeners for Allison and Cade,” Sarabeth concluded.

  The girls blew kisses and the call ended. “Time for teeth brushing and bedtime,” Cade said.

  The girls went upstairs obediently. Ten minutes later, all were beneath their covers. A short time after that, all were asleep, and Cade and Allison were on their way back downstairs.

  “Sorry they gave you such a hard time tonight,” he said.

  She smiled her admiration. “You’re so good with them.”

  He kissed the top of her head. “So are you.”

  It was hard to believe him about that. With a sigh, she went back into the kitchen, unsure whether to go after the half-folded load of laundry or the half-finished dishes. It was unlike her to leave so much undone. To be so...unsuccessful. Usually, everything she did now was perfect. To the point she’d been teased her blog should be called My Perfect Life instead of My Cottage Life. Every anxiety she’d ever had about one day having a family of her own came to the fore. “Maybe I’m not cut out for motherhood.” She went into the laundry room and began putting the damp clothes from the washer into the dryer.

  Cade stepped back to give her room to work. “I didn’t know you were interested in motherhood.”

  It wasn’t something they had ever talked about when they were dating. But then, they hadn’t talked marriage, either. They’d been focused on college. Their careers.

  She hadn’t let herself think about it after they’d broken up, either.

  He crossed his arms, waited, daring her to go on. So, of course, she did. She angled her chin at him. “I wasn’t. But this week has me thinking.”

  “It has me thinking, too...”

  The next thing she knew, she was backed up against the clothes dryer. He pulled her in close so she was nestled against him. It was the first time he’d held her since they’d made love. She luxuriated in the heat of his body and the desire in his eyes.

  Tempted to kiss him again—for all the wrong reasons this time—she wiggled out of his hold and eased away, her spine stiff. She hated it when she felt like a failure. And there was no doubt she had let the girls down today. Despite all her best efforts. “You don’t have to soothe my feelings.” She picked up the clothes basket of clean laundry and carried it into the breakfast room. Where the supper dishes also waited.

  Leaving the basket on the floor, she went to clear the table. He followed suit, too. “Isn’t that what friends are for?”

  Friends. She wanted so much more than that. Tears trembled once again.

  He stepped in to load the dishwasher. “They were just giving you the business because they’re mad at their mom for leaving them, and you’re the closest thing to a mother figure that they have right now.”

  The coziness factor in the room increased tenfold. “How do you know that?” She stepped in to help him.

  His gaze roved over her, as if he were mentally calculating where and when they could next make love. “Because when I was a kid, I was an expert at the same thing.”

  “You? Mr. Charm.” She tried to imagine him being that temperamental and cantankerous, but couldn’t.

  Briefly, he covered her hand with his own. “Hey. I wasn’t all sunshine and roses.”

  Ignoring the sparks the contact generated, Allison tried not to drown in the molten depths of his espresso-brown eyes. “I don’t
think you’re all sunshine and roses now.”

  Chuckling, he shot her a wry look. They finished wiping down the counters and stepped to the sink simultaneously to rinse their hands. As their shoulders touched, Allison gave in to curiosity and asked, “Who did you give a hard time?”

  He handed her a towel. “Every foster parent I had, including Carol and Robert.”

  Figuring it wouldn’t hurt to take a break, Allison took him by the hand and led him into the living room to sit on the sofa. “How many homes were you in?”

  His gaze turned brooding. “Six, that first year.”

  Hard to imagine. “Why so many?” She searched his face.

  He leaned forward, scrubbing his hands over his face. Then stood and began to pace. “I was angry that my parents went back in the house, after it was struck by lightning and caught on fire—when my brother Travis and I begged them not to go. And even more furious when the gas water heater ignited and blew up shortly thereafter, taking them and everything we owned with it.”

  Allison listened, aware he never talked about the tragic chain of events that had altered his world.

  Sorrow tightened the planes of his face. “Then social services came in and split all eight of us kids up that very night. Moved us all to different homes.”

  “Oh, Cade...” Her heart went out to him.

  “It was miserable and scary. And I lashed out, against every person who made me feel even a tiny bit safe. The same way the girls are lashing out at you right now.”

  “Because I make them feel safe?”

  He returned to sit beside her. “In the way that their mom does, yes.”

  She turned to face him, her bent knee pressing against his rock-hard thigh. “Why not you, then? You’re certainly acting like a dad.” And a very good one at that.