Matchmaker (DS Fight Club Book 7)

by Josie Kerr

  Natalie sighed. “Considering how our conversation started, I was going to wait . . .”

  “But?” Buddy removed his hand but kept his eyes closed, anticipating what Natalie was going to say.

  “I’m coming home, Buddy.”

  “Why?” he blurted.

  “It’s just like you said, Buddy: Lucy’s growing up so fast. I’m missing it.”

  “Yes, you are. And I’m glad. Um, not that you’re missing it, but that you’re coming home.”

  “Yeah. Um. I’ll be back next week. I’ll call when I get settled.”

  Buddy sucked in a deep breath and asked a question he wasn’t quite sure he wanted an answer to. “Where will you be staying, Natalie?”

  “Oh, Mom and Dad have that condo in Buckhead. I’ll be staying there until I find someplace closer to you and Lucy.”

  “Sure. That’ll be good.” I’ll believe it when I see the lease.

  “So. Um. Yeah. I’ll call when I get things firmed up, okay?”

  “Sure. And you can call anytime. You know that, right? We’re supposed to go out with some families from the fight club tomorrow night, but we’ll be around all day on Saturday. Why don’t you give her a shout then?”

  “Sure, if I get a chance.”

  Buddy grunted. If the positions were reversed, he’d damn well make a point to call. But Natalie wasn’t Buddy, and as much as he’d like to, he couldn’t force her to call her daughter.

  “I’ll call on Saturday, Buddy. I promise. I’ll just have to make sure I get my timing right.”

  “Where are you, anyway?”

  “Cabo. I was doing a shoot in Baja and stayed for a while.”

  “Uh-huh. Well, it’s getting late, and we have an early morning.”

  “Oh, sure. Um. It was good talking to you, Buddy. I’ll see you two soon. Tell Lucy I love her.”

  “I will, Natalie. Have a good night.”

  Buddy ended the phone call and set the phone on the small patio table. He scrubbed his hands over his face. He felt very conflicted about Natalie’s announcement of her return to Atlanta. As much as he wanted to believe that she truly desired to be an active part of her daughter’s life, he was skeptical of her reasons for returning. More likely, she’d not secured a new beau in Mexico and was at a loss for what she was going to do for money.

  He picked up his phone and thumbed through the gallery until he found the most recent photo of Natalie and Lucy, which really wasn’t recent at all. After all, eight months was a long time when your child was only five.

  The last time Natalie came into town and then left again, Lucy had been distraught. It had taken weeks for her to get back to her regular routine. Buddy didn’t ever want his little girl to have to go through that again.

  “Daddy?” Buddy turned to see Lucy blinking at him, standing just inside the back door. “I think I need a second dinner.”

  “Sure thing, sweet pea. Maybe not a full second dinner, though, but a big snack.”

  She nodded, her eyes still sleepy. “Cheesy eggs?”

  “Cheesy eggs coming right up, baby.”

  Buddy got up and went into the house, and Lucy perched in a chair at their little kitchen table. He and Lucy talked more about their days while he scrambled eggs, adding a generous helping of cheddar cheese and a few diced tomatoes before he took the skillet off the stove and spooned the eggs onto two plates.

  Buddy watched Lucy as she chattered away, happily eating and dancing in her chair, wearing her Wonder Woman jammies. He didn’t mention her mother’s call, not wanting to get her hopes up in case Natalie was delayed or changed her mind. Seeing his daughter’s animated grin as she told him all about the classroom lizards brought an unexpected swell of emotion.

  “Daddy? Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, sweet pea. I’m good. I’m just really glad you had a good day.” Buddy winked at her.

  “I did have a good day. I got to sit next to Maude, and we listened to Miss Mayhew read the monkeys-on-the-bed story. And tomorrow we get to go out to the garden.”

  “The garden?” Buddy picked up their empty plates and put them in the dishwasher.

  “Yes, we get to help grow plants. It’s going to be so exciting. I hope we get to grow bunches and bunches of flowers.” Her gray eyes sparkled, and then she yawned hugely.

  “Okay, munchkin. Teeth-brushing time and then back to bed.”

  “Teeth-brushing time! Teeth-brushing time!” She popped off the chair and scurried into the bathroom while Buddy turned off the lights in the kitchen and living room. Hopefully, Natalie would tell him when she was coming so he could ready himself and Lucy for her arrival. He had a feeling he was going to need all the preparation he could get.

  Chapter Six

  “And how did you find this place, Dad?”

  Heath held up his beer, grinning in delight as he examined the dark ruby-red liquid in the glass. He took a deep drink and licked the foam from his mustache.

  “Oh, that’s a perfect pour, isn’t it?” He took another drink and then set the glass down. “I was looking for a place that showed the football matches.”

  Molly looked around the crowded dining area. There wasn’t one television in Foley’s Public House. Only a small, unoccupied stage at one far end gave any indication that entertainment other than congenial chatter happened at the pub.

  “Oh, apparently they bring in TVs sometimes, but they just show mixed martial arts these days. Their bartenders, however, have been finalists in the Guinness Perfect Pour competition the past five years.”

  Molly laughed. “Oh, the truth comes out, huh, Dad?”

  Her father winked and took another deep drink from his beer. “So, how was the rest of your week? Go any further into the shitter than it already had?”

  “Heath!” Barbara said with a laugh.

  Molly choked on her own beer. “Thanks for that, Dad. And for your information, other than Boone’s untimely intrusion, it’s been the best first week of school I’ve had in years.”

  “Really?” Heath arched an eyebrow at her.

  “Really, Dad. Oh, thank you.”

  The trio fell silent as a dark-haired woman set their meals in front of them.

  “Oh, this looks so good.” Barbara took a bite of her cottage pie. “Oh, and tastes delicious as well.”

  “I’m glad you like it.” Meghan, the dark-haired daughter of the owner of Foley’s, smiled at the group gathered around the table. “I’ll bring some malt for your fish and chips right over.”

  After she walked away, Barbara remarked, “Now that’s good service. And such a good price for the food. I don’t see how they stay in business.”

  “Well, the place is pretty crowded, and it’s fairly early for a Friday night. The sign said there was music starting at seven thirty. I bet they do some pretty brisk business after the dinner crowd dies down.” Heath tucked into his fish and chips. “Oh, yes. That is brilliant.”

  They spent the duration of their meal making small talk about Heath and Barbara’s week, and Molly was thankful that Boone didn’t come up again. It was during dessert that the conversation turned back to Molly.

  “So, how is this year’s crop of five-year-olds stacking up?” Heath sat back, a mug of coffee in his big hand. “Any students that stand out so far?”

  “Dad, it’s only been two days.”

  Heath snorted. “Molly, dearest, you know as good as I do that two days is plenty of time to spot where there’s going to be trouble.”

  Molly inclined her head in acknowledgment, but she wasn’t quite as confident in her abilities to read people. The fact that Boone had so thoroughly deceived her for so long left her rattled and unsure.

  “No, nothing that sets off any internal alarms.” Her thoughts flickered momentarily to the conversation she’d had with Lucy’s father the night of the open house, but in the two brief days of the school year and the snooping she’d done in Lucy’s permanent record, not that she had much of one, she didn’t find much.

>   The sound of cheers and whoops emanating from the enclosed patio on the side of the pub cut through the general hubbub of the dining room, distracting Molly from her ruminations.

  “That sounds like a lively bunch,” Heath remarked with a laugh. “Wonder what they’re up to.”

  Just then, two little curly-haired girls, one sandy-blonde, the other strawberry-blonde, buzzed from the patio, past the table where the Mayhews sat. They held hands and were giggling conspiratorially as they raced toward the restrooms.

  “Oh, I remember when you were that age.” Barbara sighed wistfully.

  “I believe they are two of my students, but I can’t be sure because they flew by so quickly,” Molly said with a laugh. “Little dolls, they are, regardless.”

  Barbara laughed and then asked, “So, the flea market tomorrow? Bright and early so we don’t die from heat exhaustion?”

  “Certainly—if we go, we need to go early,” Molly agreed. “Are you going to join us, Dad?”

  Heath snorted. “Not bloody likely. You two can go paw through dead people’s things. I’ll stay home in the air conditioning, where it’s civilized.”

  “ ‘Paw through dead people’s things’ sounds so . . . inconsiderate,” Molly said, laughing. “But I suppose it’s true.”

  “And we’ll enjoy every sweaty minute of it,” added Barbara. “All of it.” She leered at her husband, who rolled his eyes.

  “Miss Mayhew! Miss Mayhew!”

  Molly turned in the direction of the two chiming voices. “Maude, Lucy. How are you, girls?”

  Chapter Seven

  Four songs. Buddy had counted four songs since Maude and Lucy had gone to the restroom. Bailey had trailed behind them, thus letting the two girls feel grown up but ensuring their safety. But now, as the fifth song ended, Buddy grunted and went off in search of the girls.

  He made his way into the main dining room and headed toward the restrooms, all the while scanning the space for Bailey’s curly, burnished locks because, despite her small stature, Bailey’s wild curls were generally the most noticeable thing in the room.

  He was almost to the restrooms when he saw Bailey standing by one of the tables in the center of the pub, holding hands with Maude and Lucy. Lucy was talking animatedly, making wild gestures with her hands, a sure sign that she was enjoying herself, and Bailey and Maude both had grins on their faces. After laying eyes on them, he was about to turn around and head back to the patio when he caught Lucy’s eyes and she waved to him excitedly, so he had no choice but to go over to the table. He was glad he did, because as he stepped up to the table, he saw Miss Mayhew.

  “Daddy! Look who’s here! It’s Miss Mayhew!” Lucy skipped up to Buddy, grabbed his hand, and began to tug him over to the table. “And she’s got her mama and daddy with her.” So distracted by Miss Mayhew’s bright eyes and flashing grin lighting up the table, he almost missed that there were two other people sitting with her.

  “Hello, Miss Mayhew. It’s nice to see you again.” He bobbed his head at her. Real smooth, Buddy. Real smooth. Not that he should be worried about being smooth with his daughter’s teacher, but still, he couldn’t quite resist smoothing his shirt and worrying if his beard had crumbs stuck to it.

  “Hello, Mister—Buddy,” Molly said, catching herself. “Please, call me Molly outside of school.”

  “All right, I can do that.” He felt his mouth turn up into a grin, and when her smile grew, he found himself responding in kind.

  Molly introduced her parents to Buddy, and Buddy could feel Barbara Mayhew studying him. He wasn’t quite sure what to think about that. He made small talk with all the people at the table until Bailey excused herself to get back to the baby, leaving Buddy with the Mayhews and the two kindergarteners.

  “Oh, it’s Mister Toby! He’s playing tonight. We have to go dance, Lucy.” Maude tugged at Lucy’s hand, pulling her toward the small stage, where a huge bear of a man was setting up a pedal steel guitar. “Come on, Lucy!”

  “Daddy? May I?”

  “Well, uh . . .”

  “One song, little babydoll. And then we gotta pack it in.” Colin had stepped up to the table, and Lucy and Maude took off to the dance floor. “Oh, Miss Mayhew, it’s nice to see you.”

  “I’m going to tell you what I told Buddy—please call me Molly when we’re not in school.”

  “Sure thing, Molly.” Colin bobbed his head and then huffed a laugh. “My girls are dancing fools when it comes to Tobias Harper,” he said with a nod to toward the small dance floor, where Bailey was shimmying with baby Nora on her hip. Lucy and Maude danced next to her, holding hands and swinging around. Bailey crooked a finger at Colin, who grinned and made his way to the dance floor.

  Buddy watched everyone dance until Lucy ran over to him and tugged on his hand.

  “Looks like I’m wanted on the dance floor,” Buddy said while Lucy pulled him toward the clear area in front of the stage. “It was nice meeting all of you.”

  He danced with Lucy and Maude, doing line dances and silly made-up moves for longer than a mere one song. In fact, they danced until way past the girls’ bedtime, only stopping when Tobias took a break and Colin put his foot down and insisted they go home. Bailey murmured something in his ear, and he gave her a serious look and then jerked his chin up in agreement and took the baby.

  “Maude has been asking for Lucy to sleep over again. Why don’t we take her home, especially since it’s so late, and you can have some adult time and pick her up tomorrow morning?” Bailey looked at Buddy expectantly. “I know they’d both love it, Buddy.”

  Buddy looked at his daughter and niece, who were still dancing even though there was no music, and nodded. “Sure. But she doesn’t have any . . .”

  “Oh, please, Buddy. Like we don’t have a million nighties? She’ll be fine.”

  “Okay, Sis. Thanks. She’ll have a blast.” Buddy gave Bailey a smooch on the cheek. “In a few weeks, it’s my turn, okay?”

  “Okay.” Bailey did a little clap. “Maude, Lucy, guess what?”

  Buddy laughed at the girls’ squeal of delight when Bailey told them about the sleepover, but he also felt a small pang at the fact that she wanted to be somewhere he was not. Last year, he couldn’t have convinced Lucy to spend the night without him for all the cupcakes and unicorns on the planet. Bailey and Colin were stable and sensible, though, and he didn’t think twice about letting Lucy stay over.

  But “adult time”? What the hell was he going to do? Have wild monkey sex? Drink copious amounts of booze? Run with scissors?

  As if reading his mind, Colin leaned over to him and said in a low voice, “Miss Mayhew is unsupervised and drinking alone at the bar.” Colin did a very unsubtle head nod toward the bar, and Bailey just shook her head as if in complete befuddlement of how Colin could be so socially awkward in some situations.

  Sure enough, Molly Mayhew was sitting at the bar. She had a pint and a shot in front of her and was obviously trying not to laugh at Meghan and Jason Richards’s bickering. Jason’s twin brother, Ryan, who was sitting next to Jason at the bar, didn’t bother hiding his laughter. Ryan was laughing so hard he was almost doubled over, hanging on to his boyfriend, Junior, who had tears of mirth running down his face.

  After Buddy kissed Lucy good-bye and sent her on to her cousin’s house, he joined the group at the bar, where Jason and Meghan were still arguing and Ryan and Junior were still laughing.

  “And another thing, Jason Richards,” the raven-haired, tattooed beauty was saying, “you are the most stubborn person I’ve ever had the misfortune of coming in contact with.”

  “I’m stubborn? I’m stubborn? Oh my God. Hello, pot. Ryan, she thinks I’m stubborn.” Jason gawped at his brother. “Back me up, Bubba.”

  Ryan stopped laughing for a moment, his face serious. “Jase, I can honestly say . . . that she is absolutely correct.” And then he started laughing again.

  Jason shook his head. “See what bullshit I have to put up with? Oh, and thanks
for having my back, Matchmaker,” he scoffed.

  Buddy held up his hands. “Man, I do not get in the middle of sibling shit.”

  “Sibling shit? This is not sibling shit. Though, this is getting ready to be some sibling shit if Bubba doesn’t—”

  “If Bubba doesn’t what? Hmm?” Ryan snickered. “Oh, you’re just mad because you have to cook and take out the garbage now that I’m not living with you anymore.”

  Jason repeated Ryan’s statement in a mocking voice and then drank a big gulp of beer. His brother planted a big, smacking kiss on his cheek.

  “You know I love ya, you big baby. I gotta go. I’ve been up for thirty-six hours, dude. I gotta get some sleep before Family Sunday. Ready, Junior?”

  Junior, who had wisely kept his opinions to himself, nodded and slid off his barstool. “Yep. Come on. Let’s not make this a half-hour good-bye session. Come on, chulo.” Junior grabbed Ryan by the back of the neck and planted a kiss directly on his mouth. Ryan seemed to melt against him until Junior broke the kiss and whispered something in his ear.

  “Oh yeah. We’re outta here. Bye, guys. And gals. Molly, it was nice meeting you. Meghan, hang in there, babe. Call me if you need anything.”

  More good-byes were said, and Jason decided he needed to go as well. Soon, only Buddy and Molly were left. Meghan was serving another customer at the other end of the bar, and Molly and Buddy sat next to each other, a pint and a shot in front of both of them.

  “So . . . .” Buddy began but then stopped because he couldn’t really think of anything that didn’t sound lame or a like a pickup line, or even worse, a lame pickup line.

  Molly surprised him by laughing. “Yes, exactly.” She stuck out her hand. “Hi, I’m Molly, and I don’t really know how to talk to grown-ups.”

  Buddy took her hand, and little zings of electricity zipped where his skin made contact with hers.

  “Hi, I’m Buddy, and I’m the same.” Exactly the same.

  Chapter Eight

  “Why do they call you ‘Matchmaker’?”