Make Me a Match

by Melinda Curtis

  Straightening the stapler on his desk, Gideon glanced across the room to the glacially slow ticking clock above the giant windows of Kenkamken Bay Savings and Loan. He swore he could hear that clock kick out every second of his mundane life.

  Not even the expansive view overlooking Main Street tipped the day into color. Instead, this drizzly Friday afternoon foretold an equally gloomy weekend ahead.

  Or it would have if Gideon didn’t have a nice new stack of completed dating questionnaires waiting for him to sort through. In the past two weeks, word had spread to outlying towns about Trinity Matchmaking—his, Ty’s and Coop’s venture into the romance business. What had started out as a bet wagered by their former childhood hockey coach had exploded into a venture Gideon actually enjoyed and found challenging. Who knew they had a talent for helping people find their happily-ever-afters?

  Now they were two-thirds toward their goal of matching six couples in time for the Bar & Grill’s big Valentine’s Day celebration. Thanks to Kelsey Nash ringing the brass bell after breakfast this morning and staking her claim on Ty. Only two more couples were needed to catapult him and his friends out of K-Bay once and for all.

  Gideon shifted in his chair, the plastic wheels squeaking as he leaned his arms on the battered desk that had been cloned from the 1960s. How many more days could he stand to stare at the ancient computer screen that had its own ideas as to when it would function properly? A man could only take so many files, so many forms, so many pleading eyes as they looked to him for financial salvation.

  He felt like the oldest twenty-five-year-old on the planet. Sure he was young to be a bank manager, but that was what happened when your father was the previous manager, and employment, not to mention employees, were scarce. But the thought of spending year upon year stuck in the same job, behind the same desk in the same town for the rest of his life? Existence wasn’t enough and in K-Bay, that was all he was doing: existing. Just like his mother had. Gideon wanted more. He wanted to...live.

  He didn’t see that life happening in K-Bay.

  Had it only been seven years since his dream of becoming a big-time sports manager had gone as astray as an overshot hockey puck? Ty’s recent confession that his fall from grace had come as a result of illegal steroid use and incredibly bad judgment might have destroyed other friendships, but Gideon understood. As had Coop. The past was the past. It was the future that mattered, and Gideon’s future had to lie beyond K-Bay’s borders.

  If he had to deny one more loan...

  Yes, it had indeed been a long, life-sucking seven years.

  Speaking of denying...

  The bell above the front door tinkled and, as she did every Friday at twelve thirty, Sophie Jennings strode into the customerless bank with her weekly deposit from The Flower Shop. She shoved her fake fur–lined hood off her head, exposing her plain ruby-cheeked face accentuated by sparkling eyes and long brown braided hair. The smile she aimed at Clara, the only other employee who worked Friday afternoons, dipped slightly as Sophie’s gaze skittered briefly over to Gideon before she headed to the window.

  His stomach tightened, as it tended to whenever Sophie pinned those searching deep brown eyes on him. In the year since he’d turned down her application for a business loan Sophie continued to be pleasant, as if his decision hadn’t derailed plans to expand her store. Maybe it was his guilty conscience that made him think she continued to hold a grudge. Not that Sophie would ever show it. Truth be told, he’d hated to disappoint her, but someone had to look out for her well-being. Her lazy, unemployed, delinquent brother certainly wasn’t about to, and Gideon didn’t put it past Dillon Jennings to take complete financial advantage of Sophie’s generous and caring nature. He couldn’t, in good conscience, put her at risk of that.

  Gideon sighed and resumed straightening his files—all three of them—on the side of his desk to address once he returned Monday morning. He could hear the friendly chatter between Clara and Sophie, their soft voices filling the room with that touch of color he’d been wishing for moments ago.

  As gray as Gideon saw his world, Sophie lightened up any space she walked into with her ebullient and gregarious personality—character traits Gideon both appreciated and worried about. Not everyone was as protective as he was prone to be when it came to Sophie Jennings.

  “Hi, Gideon.” It wasn’t so much Sophie saying his name that caught him off guard but the underlying tone of uncertainty that accompanied her greeting. “Do you have a minute?”

  “I have thirty.” For the first time that day he willed the clock to slow. He gestured to the chair as he stood, smoothing his tie down his chest. “Please.”

  She shoved her thick gloves into her jacket pockets and lowered herself into the seat on the other side of his desk. He hoped she wasn’t here to apply for another loan. While Gideon knew her business was going gangbusters—despite his previous loan denial—he didn’t relish the prospect of rehashing his refusal and her disappointment. Then again, he wouldn’t mind seeing the dormant gold flecks in her eyes spark against a challenge. “What can I do for you?”

  “I, um.” She tucked a nonexistent strand of hair behind her ear and tugged the sleeves of her down jacket over her hands. “I heard you’re the man to see about finding a date.”

  For an instant, he forgot how to breathe. “I’m sorry?”

  She stared at the floor as her cold-pinked cheeks flamed. “This matchmaking thing you have going on with Coop and Ty? I was wondering if you could fit me in?”

  “You want my help finding a date?” That came out ruder than he intended.

  She pinched her lips into a straight line. “You guys have had some nice success stories and I was at the Bar & Grill this morning. Kelsey Nash looked pretty happy to be ringing that bell. Things have eased up a bit now that Mom’s gone, and other than Dillon...”

  “I heard he was arrested again.” He purposely kept his tone even. “Shoplifting this time, wasn’t it? I’m sorry.” He wasn’t, actually. As far as Gideon was concerned, the farther away Sophie could get from her brother the better. Putting the twenty-one-year-old behind bars for a while would probably be the best thing for Sophie.

  Sophie sighed. “I know you don’t approve of him. Or of my defending him, or even my bailing him out, but he’s the only family I have left. I promised our mother I’d look out for him.”

  “I doubt she’d meant for you to risk your livelihood, not to mention your future, to do so.” Her loyalty was admirable, but at some point it was going to turn around and bite her. “I’m sure you already realized, but turning down your loan had more to do with my not trusting your brother than you. He’s a liability, Sophie. One I couldn’t let the bank take a chance on. Not even for someone as reliable as you.” That spark he’d been hoping to flame earlier flared in her eyes and he added, “I factor a lot of elements into loan consideration. That’s not to say you couldn’t readdress the issue with a new manager if and when you want to reapply.”

  Coward. Why didn’t he just tell her he’d turned her down for her own protection? Because that would open the door to something he didn’t want to chance: that Sophie Jennings might actually understand and appreciate his actions. They were friends. Sort of. That had to be enough. Didn’t it? “But that’s not why you’re here. So.” He leaned his arms on the desk and changed the subject. “You want in on Trinity Matchmaking. Why?”

  She looked at him for a long moment and he watched her struggle against the shift in subject. When she spoke, he felt a knot loosen in his chest. “I’d like to find someone to spend time with, maybe have a future with. It’s a little lonely around here. You know?” Her tight smile brushed against the edges of his heart. “K-Bay is where I belong—it’s my home. I’m not going anywhere, especially now that the business is doing better and I’m looking to expand.” The unspoken “despite your best efforts” hovered between them. “It wo
uld be nice to find someone who feels the same. Unless I’m not a good candidate that—”

  Was Gideon hearing correctly? Sophie? Insecure? Little Miss Optimism seemed to be on vacation today. “Of course I—we—could. Try, that is. I’m sure you’re a fine candidate.” Was there a hole Gideon could crawl into until he got his thoughts in line with his mouth? “I happen to have some extra questionnaires in my briefcase.” He leaned down and pulled out the stapled packet they’d been handing out for the past few weeks. “You know we have a Valentine’s Day party coming up next week. And some other events planned. You up for those?” Given the problems they’d had finding willing female participants, he should be feeling excited to include Sophie.

  “After twenty-four years of postponing a social life,” Sophie said as the tension on her face subsided and she accepted the papers, “I’m up for anything. I can have this back to you later today.”

  “I’ll be at the Bar & Grill tonight. How about you drop it off then? I’m working on matches this weekend.” Matches that had just taken a left turn off a cliff.

  “Great.” She jumped to her feet and clutched his questionnaire against her chest. “I’ll see you tonight. Thanks, Gideon. I appreciate your help.”

  Gideon blinked as she left the bank, hurried across the snow-strewed street and disappeared behind the flower-laden window boxes, ribbons and bows of her shop.

  Sophie Jennings wanted him to find her the perfect man. The hair on the back of his neck prickled. Someone from K-Bay? Not a single appropriate person sprang to mind. Not with the rough-and-tumble, grizzled men who had an aversion to razors and romance. He loosened his tie so he could breathe. Even if he expanded their questionnaire topics a hundredfold, he wasn’t sure anyone could be a match for someone as special and unique as Sophie.

  But she deserved the same shot at happiness as everyone else who’d come to them. Gideon bit the inside of his cheek. He just never anticipated being the person responsible for finding it.

  * * *

  “RATE IN ORDER of preference. Skydiving, kayaking, hiking or playing pool?” Sophie nibbled on the end of her pencil and winced. “Is this thing for real?” Wasn’t there a fill in the blank for “other” or “none of the above”? Maybe Gideon and his friends’ matchmaking service wasn’t such a good idea after all.

  Gideon. All this time she’d suspected he’d been less than forthright when he’d told her he couldn’t approve her loan. Maybe it was naive, but she didn’t think her brother had entered into the equation. Dillon wasn’t perfect, but what did Gideon think her brother was going to do? Dip into her bank account and siphon off the loan money?

  Her brother was still reeling from their mother’s death a year ago and his proclivity toward finding trouble, something that had begun to manifest after their father took off years ago, had only gotten worse.

  But you didn’t turn your back on family. No matter how bad things got.

  Sophie swallowed hard. Or what your brother did.

  Yeah, that was probably exactly what Gideon thought: that it was only a matter of time before Dillon was irredeemable. But Dillon knew where the line was. He knew how far he could go. She gnawed on her lower lip, unconvinced.

  Whether he knew or not wasn’t the point. It wasn’t any of Gideon Walker’s business.

  Falling into her mother’s lifelong pattern of denial, Sophie put her brother out of her mind and focused on something else. Something distracting. Less stressful. Like this dating questionnaire.

  Not all the questions could be so... She flipped to the next page as the confidence she’d clung to faded. “If I had to choose an animal guide, which would it be? Bear, fish, wolf or bird? Oh, wow.” She dropped the pencil and rested her head in her hands. All that was missing was being asked what kind of tree she would be.

  Regret settled like a dormant rose in winter. She couldn’t possibly be desperate enough for social interaction to entrust her dating life to a group of lifelong friends whose list of activities were relegated to whatever sporting season it was...could she?

  “Stop it.” She sat up and straightened her shoulders, giving herself a shake as she refocused her positive energy. This was an opportunity, and if there was one thing Sophie had learned a long time ago, it was to grab hold of those and see them through to wherever they led. Life was an adventure and meant to be embraced. Besides, interspersed with the ridiculous questions were actual reasonable inquiries. There was a place to fill out her interests, what she liked to do for fun and what her plans were for a family.

  “This could be worse. He could have asked what my favorite hunting target... Ah.” Question fifteen. Sophie couldn’t help it. She laughed. “So wrong again. I wonder if aphids would be an acceptable answer.” The darn bugs could be a menace to her flowers, especially given how warm the winter months had become.

  “You’re talking to yourself again, boss,” Melanie Singer sang as she waltzed past Sophie’s office door with an overgrown bonsai in her hands. “If you aren’t going to share with the rest of us—”

  Since the “us” consisted of Sophie, Melanie—her newlywed assistant manager—and a part-time delivery driver currently out on the job, it was no secret Sophie was suffering through a serious dating drought. What else could one call the inch-deep dating pool of K-Bay? She’d known most, if not all, of the residents her whole life and none of them, save for one, had ever captured her romantic attention or made her stomach do that tarantella she’d read about in books. A schoolgirl crush, she told herself for the umpteenth time; a schoolgirl crush that continued to squeeze her heart every Friday around noon. A schoolgirl crush that had taken a serious beating last year when grumpy Gideon had denied her loan request in such a cool, detached way she’d felt as if a winter storm had blown over her and encased her heart in ice.

  A year later and she still remembered the overwhelming impulse to grab hold of his bloodred tie—it must have been a Thursday—and choke some life into the number cruncher. Sometimes he seemed wound so tight Sophie wondered if he trimmed his beard—when he’d had one—one whisker at a time.

  She only ever saw him crack a smile when he was out with his friends, and even then she suspected getting his lips to curve took an act of Congress.

  Why her heart sought to flutter like an overactive butterfly whenever she stepped into the bank was beyond her. But it did. Every week.

  Friday. Blue-tie day. Her favorite day, as blue brought out the hint of exploding spring in his eyes.

  For now, Sophie didn’t see the harm in venting her social-agenda frustration to her employee. Besides, she had enough blackmail material to use on Melanie dating back to high school that would ensure her friend’s silence. Not that there was any reason for silence. Hard to keep a secret in K-Bay.

  Sophie pushed up from her desk, took a moment to straighten her paperwork and put the collection of scattered pens back into the flowerpot holder. She knocked a reverent knuckle against the memorial photograph of her mother and stopped in the doorway, the questionnaire in her hands. “I talked to Gideon Walker today.”

  “Did you?” Melanie perched on a tall stool in front of the bonsai, a pair of tiny manicure scissors in her hands poised to trim the tiny shrub into compliance. “You didn’t ask for another loan, did you? It took you months to recover the last time he turned you down.”

  “Don’t exaggerate. And this didn’t have anything to do with money.” But Melanie brought up a good point. The fact that she’d had to ask Gideon of all people about finding a date almost stopped her cold. She could have approached Coop or Ty this morning at the Bar & Grill, but they’d both looked...occupied. That left Gideon, and seeing as she was going to be at the bank anyway...

  If she’d ever doubted the universe was determined to make her its comic relief, she now had solid proof.

  Stuffy Gideon probably disapproved of Sophie’s tendency toward ta
king chances, but what was the point in living if you weren’t going to go after life with a bit of gusto and purpose? That didn’t mean she didn’t learn from her mistakes. She’d readjusted her plans and now she was poised to make The Flower Shop better than ever. Thanks to Gideon, she’d scrimped and saved enough in the past year to put a decent deposit down on the building next door. Take that, Mr. Blue-Eyed Grumpy Pants.

  “For your information,” Sophie told Melanie, “I asked Gideon about the matchmaking service he and Ty and Coop are running.”

  Melanie’s green eyes went horizon wide. “Wow. Asked as in...?”

  “He gave me paperwork to fill out.” Sophie waved it in front of her, half wishing it would disappear altogether. “You should see some of the questions they’re asking. They’re so...masculine.” Not that she didn’t appreciate a good hike now and then, but it certainly wasn’t on her list of most romantic outings. Now, a picnic under the moon and stars, or maybe a walk around Aberdine Lake would be nice. Then again, there wasn’t anything like getting sweaty, dirty and smelly to see if you’d really met your match.

  “Well, they are guys,” Melanie said with a shrug. “But because of them, most of the men in town are looking mighty fine these days.” Melanie’s grin mirrored Sophie’s as she thought about the recent trek a good portion of K-Bay’s men had made to Mike the barber. Who knew there were so many handsome faces lurking under all that...fuzz. “It’s not as if Ty and Coop had a clue about women before they got together with—” Melanie broke off as the front door chimed and Mr. Felenti, one of their weekly regulars, hobbled into the store.

  Dowager humped with a trembling hand clutching an ancient carved cane, the old man was one of Sophie’s favorite people in K-Bay, despite his overpiqued curiosity and penchant for good-natured gossip. Somewhere between eighty and infinity, there truly wasn’t a more charming person in town.