Dear Lonely Heart (The Matchmaker Series)

by Fiona Starr

  She loops her arm through his and he leads her away to the dance floor where a few couples are swaying to a slow song.

  I suck down the rest of Laura’s drink and look around the room, wondering if I’ve miscalculated the hint of chemistry between me and Lonely Heart in our letters. Maybe it was a mistake to jump on a plan like this without checking if he could make it. It is possible he had plans tonight that he couldn’t break. Or a client meeting, or something else. If he doesn’t show up it might not mean anything at all, right?

  I feel like the only person in the room who’s alone. This was a mistake. I’ll go to the ladies room and give myself a minute there and when I get back I’ll tell Laura that I’m going home. I grab my clutch and turn to leave the table and bump into someone, dropping my clutch.

  “Oh, excuse me,” I mumble, feeling like the biggest idiot. I bend down to get my purse and he does too. We reach it at the same time and bent over, I notice his tie, which dangles in the air between us. It’s got The Muppets on it. Heat rises in my cheeks as I stand back up.

  He’s a lot taller than me—easily a foot. I look up at his face and he’s smiling at me, the dimple in his right cheek gives him a boyish quality.

  “I like your tie,” I say, my voice shaky. I hold my clutch against my stomach, which is doing flips. He has dark eyes and dark brown hair which he wears pushed back off his clean-shaven face. He’s got a lanky build, like a swimmer or maybe a runner. He’s wearing a hint of cologne and I catch the woody scent of something earthy and cool.

  “These are for you.” His voice is soft and a little gravelly, like he’s just woken up. He lifts a small bouquet of tiny pink tea roses, offering it to me. “I didn’t know if you liked…”

  “They’re perfect. Thank you…” I take the flowers and inhale their freshness. “I’m Claire. Claire McHugh.”

  “Claire.” His smile incorporates his whole face, lighting it up in a way that makes me smile in return. He offers me his hand. “I’m Thomas Stone. It’s really nice to finally meet you.”

  THOMAS

  When she talks her mouth curves to the side a little, like she’s smirking or there’s a private joke in there that I don’t understand yet. She’s petite and her brown hair is cut into a pixie cut that she tucks behind her ear and holds in place with a sparkly clip. She’s wearing the Audrey scarf she mentioned in her letter. She has a little bit of Audrey Hepburn about her; maybe it’s her outfit or the fact that she’s so small, but it gives her an air of class that makes me feel like I am definitely out of my depth.

  “You want to sit down?” I offer, pointing behind me over my shoulder. “I spotted some tables back by the bar.”

  “Yeah. That’d be nice,” she says.

  We stand there a moment too long, staring at each other before I step to lead us away. We both laugh at our awkwardness. I find us a table on the edge of the dance floor and pull out a chair for her. She sits down and I sit across from her, the two of us silent as we smile and glance around the room.

  “Do you…” she begins.

  “I’m sorry…” I blurt at the same time.

  “Go ahead,” I say.

  She smiles and the corners of her eyes squeeze closed. “Do you live around here?”

  I shrug. “About ten minutes on the Metro. I have a place in the Ballpark Lofts.”

  “Nice.” She nods her head in approval. “Are you a baseball fan?”

  “Are you kidding? The Cards are all there is, come on!”

  She arches a brow at me. “I don’t know. Ritchie’s contract is up. He’s a free agent now. I heard Boston is looking at him.”

  And just like that, whatever awkwardness we had melts away and we’re talking about everything from the Cardinals’ chances next season to her coffee shop, and the fact that she’s lived here for almost ten years and hasn’t been to The Fudgery.

  The music ends and the deejay takes a break, sending the handful of couples on the dance floor back to the party. The room grows suddenly quiet. A waiter stops at our table, offers us some hors d’oeuvres, and asks if we’d like something else to drink.

  I look at Claire to see what she wants to do and she wrinkles her nose as she asks, “Are you hungry?”

  I’m always hungry, but I play it cool and tip one shoulder. “I could eat.”

  She texts her cousin that we’re leaving. We find a pizza place a few blocks away and grab a table near the window.

  “I’m really glad you came tonight,” she says. “I wasn’t sure if I was rushing things by asking”

  “No… not at all. I am sorry I was late.” I stop and rephrase. Honest and open, right? “Actually, I wasn’t late. I almost didn’t come. And then when got here and I saw you, I almost left.” I can’t meet her gaze; I look at the table instead. We’re being honest about our stuff. Nothing to hide. “I got cold feet.”

  “Cold feet? Why?”

  “I don’t know. It was easy for me to open up and talk through letters. The face-to-face stuff… well, let’s just say I am rusty at best. When I saw you I felt like I would be a disappointment. I mean, you’re so lovely and I’m…”

  She puts a hand on mine, interrupting me. “… and you’re doing just fine, Thomas. I am not disappointed. Not even a little bit. Why would you think that?”

  I blow out my breath. “I’m sorry. I… God, I can’t believe I am bringing this up. When I was a kid, I went through a rough patch. Like really rough.”

  She looks alarmed and I don’t know where she thinks I’m going but I rush to reassure her. “Oh… no, it’s nothing crazy or bad or anything…”

  “Okay. What is it?”

  “I had cancer—leukemia—when I was a teenager.”

  “Oh wow, I am so sorry.”

  “Thanks. It’s fine. I am fine. But back then, between being sick all the time and the treatments—the chemo and all the drugs, I ended up being kind of a late bloomer. I had to be home-schooled for a few years and I was small for my age and really awkward. I was bullied pretty relentlessly because of it.”

  She smiles. “Well, you’ve made up for lost time in the height department, that’s for sure.”

  I laugh. “Yeah, I’m batting a thousand at six-foot-three. But I think a part of me still hears that voice telling me that I’m less than everyone else. That I can’t live up to expectations.” I look away. “It isn’t something I think about, I haven’t thought about it in years, but going through the matchmaker process, writing letters to you, I realized that it has had an effect. I like being able to open up on paper. It’s made me think more about all of it—why it isn’t as easy for me in person. You’d think someone who survived cancer would be taking life by the horns, but instead, that whole experience has made me hold back.” I rub my hands over my face, embarrassed and exasperated. “My sister’s a psychologist—she would be horrified that I am sharing this with you on our first date.”

  Claire leans back in her chair and assesses me. “Well, this isn’t really a first date, first date, right? I think we deserve some credit for writing our letters back and forth. So this can be like our first date and a half.” She grins. “But you know what? I am glad you shared that with me. I like knowing that about you—not that you struggle with feeling insecure or anything like that, but that you told me. I think what Grace said about being open and honest in our letters was good advice—and it’s good in person too, about whatever comes up. The world could use a little more of that. It makes you real. It makes this real, you know?”

  I watch her face and I can tell that she means it. She really is that genuine. I can’t believe how lucky I am to be sitting here with this woman. I send a little thanks out to Grace Graham.

  CLAIRE

  Laura bursts through the kitchen door and drops her bag next to her chair as she sits. “Well? How was last night?”

  I sigh and feel myself blushing. “Oh my god, Laura. Thomas is so sweet.” I rinse the cookie sheet and leave it in the sink and dry my hands on my apron. I carry a plate
of warm oatmeal cookies to the table and sit down. “We left the party and went to get pizza. We talked about all kinds of things. He had cancer when he was younger. He’s a huge Cardinals fan, and he told me that when he first saw me he thought I was out of his league.” I am gushing but I can’t stop.

  “We ended up going to an all night diner when the pizza place closed because neither of us wanted to leave. I got home in time to shower and change and come to work. I should be exhausted but I am floating on all this energy! I’m probably going to crash later but we have coffee, right? So it will be okay. We’re going out again tonight, dinner and a movie. They’re playing The Caine Mutiny downtown. I’ve got Carli coming in early for her shift.”

  She’s smiling as she listens to me ramble. “That’s really great. I am so happy for you!” She breaks a cookie in half and nibbles on a raisin. “I guess the matchmaker really knows her stuff.”

  “And what about you? Tell me all about Paperback Writer!”

  She leans in and whispers conspiratorially, “Doug and I had a sleepover at my place!”

  “Laura!” I pretend to clutch my pearls, my mouth gaping. “You didn’t!”

  “Oh yes, we did. Several times.” She throws her head back and laughs.

  I try to act scandalized as I shove a cookie into my mouth. “Oh my god.” I get up and pour us two coffees and hurry back to the table. “You are going to sit there and tell me everything.”

  THOMAS

  “You’re in a good mood.” My sister makes lunch for Henry and Olivia while I sit at her kitchen counter. The kids are squealing and laughing as they play with Animal in the living room. He’s barking and wagging and licking their faces all over the place; he loves our Saturday visits with the kids.

  “I met my match for the time last night,” I say.

  “Your match in what? Oh… your Match! I didn’t realize you’d been paired with someone already! Why didn’t you tell me?”

  I shrug. I wanted to keep it to myself for a bit, and the other reason… I lean over and lower my voice. “I wanted to see how things went before I told Olivia, just in case.”

  “Well? What’s her name? What’s she like?”

  I close my eyes and exhale. “Where to begin? Her name is Claire McHugh and she’s wonderful. I’m seeing her again tonight.”

  CLAIRE

  When Thomas arrives at the coffee shop to pick me up, he has another bouquet of tea roses for me. This time, white.

  “Thank you. Let me put them in water.” I hurry to the kitchen and grab a vase and bring the flowers out to the front counter, placing them next to the bakery case.

  “Is that your chocolate ganache cake?” he asks, eyeing the shelves.

  “The very one. Maybe after dinner we can come back for dessert and you can try it.”

  He looks at his watch. “I think you’ll be closed by then.”

  I lean in and whisper, “I have the keys.” I wink and grab my coat.

  He holds the door for me and looks at the shop’s sign as we’re leaving. “The Perky Cup II,” he says. “Is there a number one?”

  I nod. “The original Perky Cup is in Colorado. It’s been a family business since before I was born.” I don’t want to go into the whole spiel about how my family owns half the town and the ski resort too. “I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do after college, but when David and I moved here the landlord was looking to sell. So we moved in upstairs and the store was just begging to be The Perky Cup II.”

  He laughs and shakes his head. “Wait, you own the whole building?”

  “Yeah. My entire family, aunts, uncles, cousins… we are all into real estate. It’s sort of a family rule. Grandpa Blaze always said, ‘There’s no point building on someone else’s land.’” I shrug. “It’s just a store and two apartments above. I have one tenant and I live here and run the coffee shop. It’s nice and simple, just the way I like things to be.”

  We take the Metro downtown and walk the few blocks to the restaurant.

  THOMAS

  We’ve just finished dinner when my phone buzzes with a text from my neighbor telling me her daughter has a fever and she won’t be able to take Animal for his walk tonight. I look at my watch, we have an hour before the movie starts.

  “Everything all right?” Claire asks. She slips on her coat and we head outside.

  “Yeah. It’s my neighbor. She was supposed to take Animal for a walk tonight, but her daughter got sick so she wanted to let me know.” I turn my phone on silent and drop it into my pocket. I don’t want to be distracted while I am with Claire.

  “Will your dog be okay? You’ve been out quite a while,” she says, looking at her watch.

  I don’t want to end our date. I don’t want to lose a second of my time with Claire. “He’ll be fine. I can walk him later. I live just up the street from the theater.”

  We pass my building on the way to the Savoy Theater and Claire stops walking when we get to the front door. “It’s really no trouble if you want to walk Animal. I feel bad that he’s going to be stuck at home because of me.”

  I look at my watch and then up at her, weighing the options. “Well… we do have time. The movie doesn’t start for another forty five minutes.”

  “Then let’s go get him. I’d love to meet your muppet.”

  Milton smiles and gives me a knowing eye as he holds the door for us.

  CLAIRE

  I laugh when Thomas opens the door to his apartment and Animal is waiting for him. He’s got his leash in his mouth and his tail is going a hundred miles an hour. When he sees me he drops his leash and lets out a single bark.

  He’s the size of a small golden retriever and he looks like the dog version of the muppet he’s named for. His red hair is wild and floppy, and his mouth seems somehow too wide for his face. I get down on my knees to greet him.

  “Well, hello there, Animal! Aren’t you the cutest thing?” I close my mouth and let him lick my cheek in greeting.

  Then he leaves me and goes back to his leash, which he picks up and holds as he watches Thomas expectantly.

  He waves the dog out the door. “Come on, boy. Let’s go see what happening outside.”

  Animal runs to the elevator with his leash still in his mouth. When we get to the lobby, the dog stops at the door and drops his leash, waiting for Thomas to latch it onto his collar.

  “Wow. He’s really smart.” I can’t get over how funny he looks with all his hair flying all over the place.

  “Yeah, he’s a fun dog.”

  We head outside and take Animal for a lap around the block, stopping at every patch of grass and every tree. When we get back to Thomas’s building, his doorman, Milton opens the door and we head inside.

  “We still have twenty minutes,” Thomas says as we get in the elevator. He unlatches Animal’s leash and folds it up. Animal jumps up and takes the leash, holding it in his mouth. When the elevator doors open, the dog races back to their apartment and waits for Thomas to open the door, his tail wagging the entire time.

  I laugh. “He really does look just like a muppet.”

  Thomas slides the key into the lock and opens the door. Animal races inside. “Yeah. You should see his puppy pictures. He doesn’t look real.”

  We stand at the door for a moment, watching the dog who has dropped his leash and is now drinking from his water bowl.

  “Thank you, Claire,” Thomas says as we stand in his doorway. He’s close enough for me to catch a hint of his woody cologne.

  “What for?” I ask, watching his face.

  He shrugs one shoulder and I can tell he is not sure what to say. “For being so understanding. About Animal. You’re very… nice.” His cheeks are red and he stares at his keys in his hand.

  I touch his hand and he looks at me. His eyes are warm brown in the light of the hallway and he seems serious.

  “You’re very nice, too, Thomas,” I whisper, looking up at him.

  He turns his hand so he can hold mine and he bends to kiss me. Our li
ps touch and his mouth is soft on mine, gentle, testing. He pulls back and looks into my eyes, watching me. He doesn’t move.

  I stand on my tip toes and I put my free hand on his hip for balance. I kiss him again and feel his hand on the small of my back, pulling me to him. Something inside me, something that had been quiet for some time, wakes up and comes alive. I haven’t felt like this in… three years.

  “Claire?” Thomas whispers, his voice husky and raw.

  “Yes?” I ask between kisses.

  “I wonder.” He kisses me again, and this time we find a rhythm there that feels natural and sweet.

  I pull away. “You wonder?”

  His mouth is on my neck and his kisses send a chill through my body that lands in my belly. “I wonder…”

  I put my hands on his cheeks and make him look at me. “Yes?”

  “I wonder if you want to skip the movie tonight?” His chest rises and falls with his rapid breath.

  I smile. “Are you sure Animal is ready for this?”

  He nods quickly, glancing into his apartment. “I think he can handle it.”

  We kiss again and this time he presses me against the door jamb. I gasp under the pressure. He’s so much bigger than me.

  “Claire?” His mouth is next to my ear and my name comes out like a breath.

  “Yes, Thomas?”

  “Would it be okay if I lifted you up? It would be easier with you at eye level.”

  I put my arms around his neck and giggle. “I thought you’d never ask.”

  THOMAS

  She’s light in my arms and I lift her easily. She wraps her legs around me and I carry her inside. Once the door shuts I move to the wall and lean against her, unable to get enough of her mouth.