Perfectly Matched

by Lois Richer

  “Shay?” When she didn’t answer, Nick tipped her chin up so she had to look at him. She tried not to flinch again. “What’s wrong?”

  Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. She tried to avert her eyes but couldn’t. “N-nothing. I’m fine.”

  “That’s not true.” His brows drew together as their gazes locked. “You’re shaking,” he said in surprise.

  “I’m fine, Nick.”

  “Sure you are. That’s why you’re acting like I’m going to hurt you.” His eyes blazed. She could almost hear his perfect, even teeth grit together. “I am not your stalker, Shay.”

  “I know that.” She tried to move away to gather her composure, but he blocked her path.

  Nick’s face softened. “He sure did a number on you. Did you ever get some help?”

  “I’m fine.” Shay laid her hand on the knob again, eager to get his attention off her.

  “You’re not fine.” Nick reached out as if to touch her cheek, saw the way she recoiled from him and let his hand fall to his side. “Obviously,” he murmured.

  “I will be.”

  “Oh, Shay. You can’t make yourself be fine any more than Maggie can.” He lowered his voice. “Promise me you’ll talk to Brianna.”

  “The thing is, I have to handle this myself, Nick, in my own way. And I will.” Embarrassed, she dragged open the door and pasted on her brightest smile. “Okay, Maggie. How was the book? Are you ready for some more work?”

  Behind her Nick said nothing. But throughout the entire session she could feel his intense scrutiny. Shay knew she had to get a better grip on her reactions or risk Nick seeing just how out of control her panic attacks had become.

  Coming home, back to Hope, was Shay’s fresh start. She would not allow the past to tarnish her life here. A nice guy like Nick—her friend—didn’t deserve the way she shrunk away from him.

  Tonight she’d study her self-help book some more, see if she could discover a new technique to suppress her fear. She’d pray longer, harder. Somehow she would figure out a way to be whole again, to heal that scar her stalker had left her with.

  She knew there was nothing to fear in Hope. Nothing at all.

  So why was she still terrified?

  Chapter Four

  “A little more pressure right here, Nick. More. Good.”

  Two mornings later Nick steeled himself against Maggie’s whimper of pain while Shay’s hands guided his. She’d had to cancel yesterday but had shown up bright and smiling right after breakfast this morning. As she bent to smile encouragement at him, her shimmering hair brushed his cheek. He caught his breath at the soft floral fragrance and immediately recalled that day in New York when he’d helped her untangle her hair from her sunglasses. Despite everything that had happened, Shay Parker was still the most beautiful woman he knew. His heart-thudding reaction to her was perfectly normal. Any red-blooded male would respond to Shay’s smile.

  They’d been at it for an hour and Nick was more tired than he’d ever been, including after his first championship game. Would he ever get used to the feeling that he was torturing Maggie?

  “Sweetie, that was fantastic.” Shay apparently had no issues with hugging his niece, though she still edged away from Nick whenever he got too close. He despised her stalker for that legacy.

  “Grandma and I prayed God would help me.” Maggie swiped at a tear that lingered on her cheek. “It didn’t hurt too much.”

  “I promise it will hurt less each time and pretty soon it won’t hurt at all. Okay?” Shay squeezed Maggie’s shoulder. “Just don’t give up.”

  “I won’t.” The child thrust out her chin. “I want to walk by my own self.”

  Nick heaved a sigh of relief. Maybe he hadn’t done so badly today.

  “When can I ride Uncle Nick’s roly-poly?”

  “His what?” Shay looked from Maggie to him, then back to Maggie, one perfect eyebrow arched. “What’s a roly-poly?”

  “It’s an invention Uncle Nick made. And it’s way cool.” Maggie’s eyes danced as she struggled to sit up. “It’s kind of like—it makes noises and—you tell her, Uncle Nick.”

  “It’s just a gizmo I’ve been fooling around with. Roly-poly is Maggie’s name for it.” Once he’d figured out exactly which muscles Shay was targeting, Nick had spent most of yesterday tweaking his prototype.

  He was not ready for anyone to see it, but he should have expected Maggie to tell Shay about it. She was enthralled with the bells, whistles and whirly gigs he’d attached so that every movement made a noise.

  “Can I see it?” Shay must have remembered his reluctance in high school to show off his devices before he’d completed them because she paused a moment, then softly added, “Please?”

  He guessed she wanted to see if what he was making would cause Maggie problems.

  “Sure.” Nick rose from the floor, helped Maggie into her chair and pushed it up to the table, where his mother waited with a drawing tablet and art pencils. “I’ll be back in a few minutes, Mom.”

  “No rush,” she said with a smile. She was always smiling, in spite of the pain he knew plagued her joints. Nick remembered asking her once why she was always so happy. “Because God loves me,” she’d told him. He’d never quite grasped the comfort she found in that, though he’d often wished he could. Once, in high school, after he’d told Shay he struggled to feel God’s love ever since his dad had dumped them, Shay had admitted she felt the same way after her mom died. He wondered if she still felt like that.

  “You’ve been working in the shed again,” Shay exclaimed as she followed him outside. “Remember the time you were trying to figure out a sequence for the Fourth of July fireworks? You almost blew off the roof.” She laughed, her eyes crinkling at the corners.

  “Go ahead, make fun of me,” he growled and blocked the door. As he looked down at her, he realized he wasn’t that much taller than Shay, but somehow she always brought out a protective urge in him. Maybe it was the innocence in her wide-open gaze or the way she always looked directly at him, as if she expected nothing but the truth from him. His heart seemed to skip a beat at the thought, and he cleared his throat. “Maybe I shouldn’t let you see what I’ve been working on.”

  “I’m just teasing.” Her smile softened. “I also remember how you constructed that ladder thing that let Mrs. Smith get what she needed from her attic without endangering herself. And the way you rigged that gizmo in Mr. Murphy’s garage so he could raise and lower shelves. And—”

  “Okay. Enough ego boosting,” he said in his drollest tone.

  “Your inventions have made a difference to quite a few people in Hope, Nick.”

  “For that you are permitted to enter, kind madam.” He bowed and waved a hand as if granting passage into a secret cave. Well, it was his man cave.

  Shay walked inside and stopped, her head swiveling to take in the assortment of projects on his workbench. “It’s not exactly the same as it used to be.”

  “I should hope not. I’m older and smarter now.” He grinned when she rolled her eyes. He directed her to his left. “This is what Maggie was talking about,” he said, pointing to the roly-poly.

  Shay bent to study his work. “Interesting. What is it, exactly?”

  “I researched Maggie’s injury. Then, after watching you work with her, I put this together. It’s like a walker. Sort of.” Unnerved by Shay’s silence, Nick lifted it and set it in front of her. “When you push it, it makes noise. I figured it might keep her from getting bored with the exercises.”

  “Clever guy,” Shay murmured. She pushed the handle and grinned at the noise that followed.

  “Once she’s mastered this, it won’t take much to change it up a bit,” Nick explained. “Maybe I’ll make it more like a bicycle that she has to pedal. That would build strength in her legs, wouldn’t it?”

  “Yes, it would.” Shay asked him to demonstrate so she could watch which muscles he used—Nick began to sweat bullets wondering if he’d made a huge mistake. Then Sha
y tried it herself. “It’s amazing,” she said. “Ingenious, actually. Obviously Maggie can hardly wait to try it, and those things that whirl and click and beep will be an excellent incentive for her to push harder to make them go faster, louder, whatever.”

  “I hope so.” He adjusted one of the handlebars trying to hide his delight that Shay thought his work was amazing. “It needs a few modifications but it’ll soon be finished. When do you think she could start using it?”

  “Whenever she wants to give it a shot.” Shay straightened. “But only where it’s flat and smooth. And only if you’re right beside her. She will tire quickly at first and may overbalance. Don’t let her overdo.”

  “I could add something like training wheels,” he mused. “That would provide stability.”

  “Good idea.” She moved to study another machine he was deconstructing. “What’s this?”

  “It was going to be an adaptation to the pedal system on Mom’s old bike, to make riding easier. She promised Maggie they’d take a bike ride when she’s able,” Nick explained. “But I can’t get it to work right so I’ve gone back to the drawing board. These are just a bunch of spare parts at the moment.”

  “Actually—” Shay frowned, her gaze far away on something Nick couldn’t see.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked, steeling himself for her criticism.

  “Nothing. It’s just that I was thinking—” She touched one wheel thoughtfully then looked straight at him. “Can I play inventor for a minute?”

  “Be my guest.” Nick stepped back, disconcerted by the way she studied him. Once he’d been able to read her thoughts so easily, but he couldn’t tell what she was thinking, only that it made his stomach do a little flip and he had no idea why that was.

  Shay grasped two hard, round balls from a nearby basket filled with sports paraphernalia from his youth. “Could you attach these to the wheels?”

  “I suppose.” Nick frowned, considering how he could do it. He turned to glance at Shay. That speculative look of hers was leading up to something. “Why?”

  “Because then this machine would be exactly what your mom needs to work her hands and arms. It’s a strange thing, but in the world of arthritis, moving, even though it hurts, means gaining mobility.” Shay demonstrated what she wanted and waited while he attached the balls. “Yes. That’s better.” She tried it out. “Can you make it a little harder to move?”

  Nick caught the flowery scent of Shay’s perfume as he bent to adjust the tension. Had she always smelled like the desert in bloom? “How’s that?” he said, standing back, trying to regain his focus.

  “It’s perfect.”

  “We make a good team.” He grinned at her.

  “I didn’t do anything, but you sure have a knack for inventing.” Her gaze moved back to the machine he’d created for Maggie. “I wish I had something like this for another client. A boy, Ted Swan. I don’t suppose…” Her head tilted to one side as she favored him with an odd look.

  “No, I can’t,” he said when he realized she wanted him to build something else. “I don’t know anything about therapy. This is just a toy.”

  “It’s a very useful toy,” she said. “You can help people with your toys.”

  “My field is football, Shay. That’s what I intend to stick with.” He felt oddly unsettled by the calculating look she gave him. She liked the machine he’d made, but if he tried to create something for this client of hers and failed, he’d look like a fool to her. He couldn’t figure out why it suddenly mattered so much that Shay didn’t see him as a failure; he only knew it did. “If this thing helps Maggie, great. But that’s as far as I’ll go.”

  “Okay.” Her voice was quiet but her eyes brimmed with sadness. “Can you carry this inside so your mom can try it now, while I’m here?”

  Nick lifted the machine they’d collaborated on. Shay led the way back to the house, her long legs easily eating up the distance from the shed. He followed more slowly, wondering about the other client she’d mentioned. It had to be a kid because that was primarily whom she worked with. He found it endearing that Shay managed to think about someone else while helping Maggie and his mom. She had always gone the extra mile for something she believed in.

  But then Shay and Brianna and Jaclyn had always rushed to fill a need where they saw it, often before others even realized it was there. Zac and Kent were the same. They all pitched in whenever and however they were needed in the small community. Nick was starting to realize how much he’d missed the sense of togetherness and common purpose that Hope offered.

  And how much he liked being a part of it. Maybe he’d think about something for this boy, but not till he’d finished Maggie’s machine.

  Inside the house, Nick stood back as Shay gently led his mother through a regimen that had her panting with effort, much to Maggie’s delight.

  “Hey, Grandma, we can do our exercises together,” the little girl said with a grin.

  “Speaking of that, we’d better get cracking with the rest of Maggie’s therapy, Nick.” Shay smiled at him. “I have another client to see this morning.”

  The rest of the time passed quickly. Shay’s quiet encouragement never faltered though Maggie burst into tears at several points and Nick grew so tense he kept making mistakes.

  “Don’t get frustrated, Maggie. You either, Nick. You can’t think of this as something you’ll do and be done with. You have to practice it every day. Maggie, every morning, before you get up, I want you to do ten of those little leg lifts when you’re lying in bed. Your legs will soon get used to working,” Shay assured her. “But only if you keep making them do it.”

  “Like ’sparagus,” Maggie puffed as she worked to flex her knee. “Right, Uncle Nick?”

  “Right.” He chuckled at her distasteful expression.

  “Huh?” Shay glanced at him, her eyes questioning.

  “Well,” Maggie said with a deep concentration. “Grandma says ’sparagus is good for you,” Maggie explained to Shay. “Uncle Nick and I don’t like it, but she said if we eat a bit every time, then we’ll get to like it.”

  “Grandma is very smart about a whole lot of things,” Nick agreed as he shared a smile with his mom. “Though maybe not ’sparagus,” he whispered in Shay’s ear. She turned to smile at him, a wistful look on her face. He wondered at that look, but it quickly disappeared.

  Ten minutes later Shay headed out the door.

  “You’re doing fine,” she said. “Call me if there’s a problem. Otherwise I’ll see you in the office next week, Maggie.” With a flutter of her fingers Shay was gone, her small red convertible vanishing in a cloud of dust.

  “It’s like a light goes out when Shay leaves,” his mother mused as she lifted her hands off the machine he’d created. “It’s no wonder she was a success at modeling. How could the camera bear to look away from such inner beauty?”

  His mother had always loved Shay. In high school she’d never made any bones about the fact that she liked seeing the two of them together. But Nick knew she’d always hoped something else would develop. He wasn’t exactly sure how he was supposed to tell her not to hope for more than friendship. Because he couldn’t offer Shay more.

  A moment later she and Maggie began preparing lunch. Nick wandered out to his workshop, his thoughts on that wistful look on Shay’s face when he’d teased about the asparagus. What was that about? She had looked—what? Envious?

  Come on, Nick. Shay Parker, envious of you? Get real. You’ve got nothing she’d want.

  Nick’s cell phone broke into his train of thought.

  “What are you doing tonight?” His friend Kent McCloy was a very busy local vet and prone to short, clipped phone calls.

  “I’m guessing I’ll be doing something with you,” Nick shot back. “Wanna tell me what?”

  “Jaclyn and Brianna have planned a housewarming for Shay. It’s tonight,” Kent said, sounding harried. “According to them, you, Zac and I are in charge of the food. So what are you bringing
?”

  Strange noises erupted in the background.

  “What are you doing?” Nick asked.

  “I’m waiting for a colt to make his first appearance in this world, so I can’t stand here talking to you for long. Are you in, Einstein?” Kent used the old moniker he’d tagged Nick with years ago after he’d debuted his first invention.

  “I’m in, Cowboy,” Nick shot back, using Kent’s old tag. “What do you want me to bring?”

  “Some of those chocolate cookies your mom used to make the team back in high school wouldn’t be hard to take,” Kent said. There was a disturbance in the background. “Gotta go, Einstein. Seven at Shay’s. We’re going to surprise her. Bye.”

  A housewarming—which meant he needed to buy Shay a gift. Nick almost groaned aloud. The thought of shopping in town where everyone stopped to say hello and ask his plans now that he was out of pro ball made his stomach tighten. But he’d weather their questions today because he wanted to give Shay something special.

  As he walked to the house, Nick flashed back to the night he’d visited her and the fear that had filled her eyes before she’d realized it was him at the door. Shay said she had moved back to the farm because she was trying to recreate her dad’s dream, but given the way she drew back whenever he got too near, Nick now realized that dream was costing her. She’d been terrified that night, before she’d realized he was her caller.

  Maybe a surprise party for Shay wasn’t the best idea.

  Nick dialed Kent to alert him, but his friend’s phone went to voice mail. He tried Zac before recalling Zac was out of town for an all-day conference. Nick would have to think of something else.

  At the sound of a neighbor’s dog barking, Nick had an idea. A dog—he’d give Shay a watchdog. Nick was pretty certain her stalker didn’t know where Hope was, and he was even more certain that if the man was going to make another move against Shay, he would have done it before now. But maybe having a dog would make Shay feel more secure. At least she’d have something to befriend and love with that soft heart of hers.