Valentine's Dream: Love Changes EverythingSweet SensationMade in Heaven

by Sandra Kitt

  But what he found tucked in the middle, in an innocent-looking little file folder, made him tinge the room blue with profanity. He punched Netanya’s home number out on his telephone.

  “You think this is funny, don’t you?” he accused her when she answered. “Well, I don’t care for your meddling, Netanya. I found Val’s service folder on your desk. Did you set me up to prove some point?”

  Eric listened to her response for a moment. “Yeah, you do that. I’ll be here. I can’t wait to hear how you’re going to clean this up. And here I thought I was in love with Val.”

  Eric slammed the telephone down. He then dialed Val’s number. Her voice on the answering machine made his gut clench. Eric left a terse message canceling the tentative plans they’d made to get together. He paused, then added the ultimate kissoff, “See you around.”

  Eric paced his office as he waited for Netanya to return.

  “I should have known it was too good to be true. I should have known she was too good to be true,” he railed.

  Netanya had coached Val well, so well that Eric had never even suspected that it had all been a setup.

  By the time Netanya arrived back at the office, Eric was so angry and worked up that she would swear she could see the steam pouring from his ears. But Netanya knew she could hold her own in a one-on-one with Eric. She just hoped he’d be able to see reason and not throw away the best thing that had ever happened to him.

  “Eric?”

  He turned away from the window view of the outside courtyard when he heard her. “Why’d you lie to me, Netanya?”

  “I’ve never lied to you, Eric.”

  Eric paced the length of his office. “You said Val was one of your friends. I took you for your word, when all along she was just another lonely heart.”

  “I never told you that, Eric. You assumed she was a friend of mine. Sit down, you’re making me nervous with all that pacing.”

  Eric glared at her, but he sat in the chair opposite Netanya’s. “She’s a client.”

  “No, she’s not,” Netanya said. “But even if she were, if you love her...” Netanya stared at him pointedly, but Eric looked away, refusing to answer the question. Netanya sighed. “If you love her, it shouldn’t matter where or how you met.”

  “It matters to me,” he said.

  “Val Sanders walked through our doors last Saturday with two of her girlfriends. As a birthday present, the friends gave her a gift certificate for our services. I saw Val and immediately thought of you. I counseled her and she made it abundantly clear that she had no desire to participate.”

  Eric hopped up and grabbed a remote control from his desk. “Then what’s this?” he asked. “People who don’t want to participate leave. They say ‘no thanks’ and walk out the door. They don’t make introduction videos.”

  Netanya sighed. “She did it to humor her friends, Eric. The entire package was a gift to her from her girlfriends. She went along with it for their sake. She came back a couple of days later to cancel.”

  “Mmm-hmm,” Eric said sarcastically. He remained unconvinced. “And how did you pull off the meeting at the reception Saturday night?”

  “Eric, will you please get it through your head. This wasn’t some sort of conspiracy. That meeting happened by accident, by providence.”

  “You two sure were chummy.”

  Netanya had the grace to flush. “I admit, Eric, I knew how you felt about women who use a dating service and I deliberately left that out of the introduction.”

  Eric nodded. “Right. You lied to me.”

  “I’ve never...”

  Eric waved a hand. “We’re splitting hairs here, Netanya, and you know it.”

  Netanya got up and came to stand at his side. With a hand on his shoulders she looked him in the eye. “Eric, you know I love you and want the best for you. I’ve never done anything to intentionally hurt you. I know how you feel about our clients. I’m sorry you hold that opinion, because you do them and yourself a disservice. Where Val is concerned, you told me just two days ago that she was the one. You ran out and bought the biggest diamond you could find. If you love her, I don’t see how the facts surrounding how you met has anything to do with it.”

  She cupped her cheek with her small hand. “If you’re going to throw away a perfect love for a reason like that, you’re a foolish man and not the person I thought you were.”

  With that, Netanya took the remote from his hands, turned off the television and left his office.

  * * *

  Much later Eric sat in his office. All of the agency’s employees were long gone. It was dark outside and still Eric sat there, silently fuming. He’d searched for the recording, but Netanya had apparently deleted it from the system.

  Could she be telling the truth? He’d never known her to lie to him before. He thought of Val’s smile. Her delight in the gifts he’d given her. The fun they’d shared at the arcade and playing Monopoly at his house.

  He picked up the telephone and called her. When he got the answering machine again, he slammed the receiver down and went home.

  * * *

  Friday night, Val wondered what had happened to Eric. The day before, she’d gotten an angry message from him on the machine. The message didn’t really make sense, and in all honesty, it kind of ticked her off, particularly when the caller identification feature on her telephone indicated he’d called again, from work, but didn’t leave a message. What was that all about?

  She’d waited to hear from him, waited for an explanation. Tied up in a legal proceeding most of the day, she did not get the chance to call him at the A Match Made in Heaven office.

  Val opened the telephone book but didn’t find a residential listing for Fitzgerald, Eric. She flipped pages forward and wasn’t surprised to find Gardner, Netanya also missing. She dialed information, asked for Eric’s number and got the computer operator’s message that the number was unpublished.

  “Figures. They probably live together.” But she remembered the conversation with Netanya. Eric’s business partner didn’t pose a threat to her.

  Val misted the plants that needed attention, then selected a piece of chocolate from the box Eric had sent for her birthday.

  When her business line rang a few minutes later, she was surprised at how relieved she felt. But it wasn’t Eric on the other end. It was Shelley.

  “Hey,” Val said without much enthusiasm.

  “What’s wrong with you?”

  “Well, it’s a Friday night and I’m home. I hadn’t exactly expected to be, so I’m sort of at loose ends.”

  “Where’s Eric?”

  Val frowned. “That’s a good question.”

  “Hmm.”

  “Why’d you call this number?” Val asked, curious that Shelley would dial her office number instead of her personal line.

  “Oh! I was calling to leave a message of where I’ll be.”

  “And where are you going?”

  “Out. Remember that too-fine brother who walked into the A Match Made in Heaven office when we were there Saturday?”

  “Yeah, the real tall, gorgeous guy. He looked like a model.”

  “That’s the one and he is. A model, I mean.”

  “And?”

  “And you’re not going to believe this. But he works at the university. How I’d never seen him before, I’m still trying to figure out. But I was in the bookstore, when he walked in. He’s an artist, girl, and he has work on display in a couple of galleries.”

  “You’re kidding, right?”

  “I speak the truth. We’re going to Virginia Beach tonight to an opening of one of his friends who sculpts.” Shelley gave Val the address of the gallery.

  “I don’t know where we’re going after that. But no need to worry. He’s genuine.”

  Val shook her head and smiled. “Well, you have fun. Hey, before you go, have you heard from Kalinda?”

  “She’s out on a date.”

  “With whom?”

 
“Val, this one you really are not going to believe.”

  Val sat on one of the barstools. “What? I’m sitting down. Tell me.”

  “You know how Kalinda wanted to take a photo for the dating service newsletter at A Match Made in Heaven?”

  “Mmm-hmm.”

  “Well, she and the photographer hit it off. He’s a single dad and they started talking about day care centers. His kid is with a sitter and the two of them are off somewhere.”

  “I don’t believe it.”

  “I told you you weren’t gonna believe it. But it’s true. Val, I need to dash because Michael will be here in about fifteen minutes. Are you going to be around tomorrow? I do want to hear all about your birthday. I’m eager to find out what Eric was doing that was so exciting.”

  Val smiled and fingered the flowers on the counter. “It was divine. But I’ll talk to you later. Have fun tonight.”

  Val rang off with Shelley. She made a pot of tea, found a book to read and settled on the sofa with the sound of the television muted. Val’s gaze wandered over the pink roses Eric had sent early in the week.

  “Looks like I’m the only one who actually met someone the official A Match Made in Heaven way.”

  Chapter 10

  Saturday morning Val was doing laundry when her doorbell rang. She opened the door to a somber-looking Eric.

  “Hi. What’s wrong?”

  “May I come in?”

  “Sure.” Val, puzzled at his aloofness, stepped aside to allow him in. As he walked by and into the living area, she shook her head in appreciation of the lithe, athletic grace of his walk. She also liked the back view of the jeans he wore.

  “Mercy. There ought to be a law,” she mumbled as she fanned herself with her hand and shut the door. “Pardon the mess. It’s laundry day. Can I get you something?”

  “I’m fine.” Eric smiled, then patted the sofa cushion next to where he sat. He shrugged out of his leather bomber jacket and placed it on the other side of him.

  Val joined him. She tucked one jean-clad leg underneath her and faced him. She couldn’t believe that she’d fallen in love with this man, this gentle but fun-loving man who’d walked into her life a mere seven days before. She understood at last, really understood, the appeal of Las Vegas wedding chapels and justice-of-the-peace weddings. The mental image scene of her parents’ whirlwind courtship played out in her mind over the years finally made sense. Love was like that.

  Eric turned to her. With one arm on the sofa back, he let his fingers trail through the edges of Val’s hair. He realized with a start that he finally got to see her with her hair down. It fell to her shoulders in a profusion of soft curls.

  “I owe you an apology,” he said.

  “An apology? What for? Wednesday was perfect. As you can see,” Val said, waving a hand to encompass the area, “I almost ran out of space for all the deliveries.”

  Eric smiled as his fingers moved from her hair to her mouth. He traced her lips.

  “I love you, Val,” he said.

  “Eric, I love you, too. I think from the moment I saw you in the community center, part of me knew that. The other part struggled with the fact that we’d only just met. And when you kissed me, well, part of me was outraged. The other part knew I’d come home.”

  “That’s how I felt when I met you, Val. I’d come home. You’re the woman I didn’t know I was searching for. And I almost lost you.”

  “What do you mean, you almost lost me?”

  Eric stood up. Val planted both feet on the floor and watched him pace the area in front of her.

  “I apologize for the ugly message I left on your machine,” he said. “I was angry at the time.”

  Val crossed her arms. “I wondered about that. For a moment it sounded like a brushoff to me.”

  Eric stopped moving and looked at her. “It was.”

  Val crossed her legs. She knew she probably looked militant, but there wasn’t much help for it. After falling in love with the man, was she to find out now that he had a vile temper?

  Eric came and sat on the edge of a chair. Val turned to him and their knees brushed. The contact sent an electric current through her. Val tried to ignore it and lowered her arms.

  “Ever since I started A Match Made in Heaven,” he said, “I’ve had what Netanya calls a near phobia about the women who come through our doors. As a single man operating a matchmaking agency, sometimes it looked odd for me to be without a mate. Netanya and I played to that because she, well, she...”

  “She told me,” Val said.

  For a moment Eric looked surprised. “Hmm” was all he said though. “Netanya and I on more than one occasion have played the role of the happy couple because it was prudent and necessary for the viability of our business. Sometimes it was also to get rid of overzealous women who believed I was their match made in heaven and men who took one look at Netanya and started revising their wills.”

  “She’s a very pretty lady,” Val said, this time acknowledging the fact with no lingering jealousy or self-doubting thoughts.

  Eric nodded. “Pretty meddlesome. Maybe that’s why she’s such a good matchmaker. And she doesn’t even use the computers.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “She told me how you came to the agency.”

  Val grinned. “Talk about meddlesome. My girlfriends who set the whole thing up as a birthday gift for me can be the epitome of meddlesome. I told you how I felt about love at first sight. I couldn’t buy into what you and Netanya do for a living. You are efficient though. I have to give you that.”

  When Eric looked confused, Val explained. “We three, Shelley, Kalinda and I, had just been to your office Saturday afternoon. And then Saturday evening Netanya introduced us. I’d thought it was all a paper-and-computer thing, but I like the personal touch you used.”

  Eric shook his head. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you. When we met last Saturday, that wasn’t an official A Match Made in Heaven introduction. That was Netanya operating as a free agent. I thought you were a friend of hers and therefore safe to date.”

  “Safe to date?” Val eyed him. Something in his tone made her wary. Had she finally found his fatal flaw?

  His mouth twisted wryly. “That’s as good a way as any to put it. I have a policy against dating women who come through the agency. I’ve always felt they were, well, too clinging, too desperate.”

  Val was getting the picture. Clinging and desperate. Is that how he viewed her? So, this was a brushoff. He’d just come to deliver it in person instead of over the telephone. She folded her arms again. “I came through your company.”

  Eric nodded, then leaned forward and took her hands in his. “When I found your file on Netanya’s desk, I went through the roof. I left that message on your machine and blessed Netanya out. But after I came crashing down, I realized something.”

  “What?”

  Eric tried to press a kiss in her palm, but Val pulled away from him. He captured her hand again. “Hear me out, Val. I want you to know exactly where I’m coming from.”

  He began drawing little curlicues in her hand with his thumb. “I love you. I love you with all my heart and soul. If I let you go because of some stupid hangup I have, it would be like cutting off my arm or taking away my sight.”

  “Why should it matter how or where we met? I’m grateful for Netanya’s meddling, if that’s what it was,” she said.

  “That’s what I’m trying to tell you,” he said. “I thought about it most of last night and I came to the conclusion that the only thing that matters is that we found each other.”

  Val swallowed hard. “So where do we go from here?”

  Eric smiled. He got up and walked around the coffee table to sit next to Val on the sofa. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small box.

  “This has been burning a hole in my pocket since I bought it Tuesday. In a fit of misplaced anger, I almost returned it Thursday. Something held me back though. That something was y
our love.”

  Val swallowed the lump in her throat. “What is it?” she asked, indicating the box.

  He handed it to her. Val looked at him, then took the top off the white box. Inside was a small velvet box. “Eric, what is this?”

  “Open it and see.”

  Val dumped the smaller box into her hand and opened the lid. A huge diamond on a slim gold band sparkled at her.

  “I love you, Valentine Sanders. Will you marry me?”

  “Marry you? Oh, Eric. Oh, Eric.” Val’s eyes misted and she started to cry.

  “You’re not supposed to cry when I give you things. If you do that, I might have to sell A Match Made in Heaven and start up a handkerchief factory, because I plan to shower you with gifts and with love for the next fifty or sixty years. If you’ll have me,” he added quietly.

  “I love you, Eric. Now, as for marrying you...” Val paused.

  She tried to remember all the reasons she had been opposed to quickie marriages. Suddenly she wasn’t so sure what her big conflict had been. Her brows drew together as she searched her memory. Obviously, all those couples she met during the course of her workdays had no clue what true love was about. And besides, the couples she came in contact with were probably a small percentage of all the people out there.

  Could any man make any woman as happy as Eric made her? With Eric, Val felt as if they had invented love...and romance. Surely no one else ever felt this way, as if all the stars in heaven were looking down and smiling.

  She wiped the tears in her eyes, then gently caressed the side of Eric’s face. Oh, how she loved this man who brought sunshine and joy to her life, this man who taught her that romance wasn’t a day or a thing but a way of life. She and Eric would have a lifetime to get to know each other.

  “Yes, Eric. I’ll marry you.”

  Eric let go a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. “You sure do know how to scare a man. For a moment there I thought you were going to say no.”

  Val shook her head. “No way, mister. You’re mine.”

  “And you’ll be my forever Valentine.”