LITMIR.BIZ

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or his mother said those same words while they were all staying at the beach condo in Hilton Head or in that mountain rental in Gatlinburg?

      “After you, ladies.” Matthew gestured gallantly.

      “Just make sure you’re right behind us,” Trina said.

      When he and Haley were alone again, Matthew paused, searching for the right words. Something wise, he hoped. Something that would make her feel better. But when he peeked at her, Haley was watching him.

      The side of her mouth lifted. “You heard them. Now get to work.”

      “Yes, ma’am.” He saluted, but he must have failed to hide his surprise that she’d played along with the old family game because Haley crossed her arms over her chest.

      “I’m not made of blown glass, you know.”

      “Never said you were.”

      “Then stop looking at me like I’m about to shatter.”

      “I didn’t mean to—”

      She waved away his apology before he could finish it. “Forget it. I’m getting used to it. Everyone I’ve talked to today…even mom’s new neighbors—they all feel sorry for me. It’s a real blast.”

      “I can imagine.”

      “I always wondered what it would be like to be a celebrity.” She moved her head back and forth, as if weighing her opinion. “It has a downside. Anyway, we’d better get in there before they send a search party.”

      Haley started down the hall, Matthew falling into step behind her. Outside the swinging kitchen door, he gave in to the earlier temptation and rested a hand on her shoulder. She stiffened but didn’t shake away his hand.

      “I’m sorry about…everything that happened,” he said.

      “Yeah, me, too. But what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.”

      She had to be speaking of today and the loss of the person she’d cared about enough to consider making her husband. Matthew understood that. The hurt he’d played a part in had been a long time ago and nothing compared to what she’d experienced today.

      Still, he’d been apologizing for both.

      Chapter Two

      As Haley scanned the length of the Warren family’s formal dining table, she felt warm for the first time all day. Yes, a few of the maple dining chairs were empty, and a pint-size newcomer sat cross-legged in another, but the place offered the same comfort she had remembered.

      She’d always loved coming here, hearing her mother and Mrs. Warren tell the same stories that never lost their sparkle. There was stability in the sameness, comfort in the familiarity.

      Even seeing Matthew again hadn’t felt as awkward as she’d expected, so her excuse for staying away from Scott-Warren gatherings seemed silly now. Matthew had always been a decent boy, the one who’d insisted that she and Logan be allowed to play board games with the older kids. She should have known he wouldn’t grow into the type of man who would embarrass her over the past. That sweet little girl across the table, the one with two sandy-brown braids and caramel-colored eyes that mirrored her father’s, reminded her that Matthew had more important things on his mind these days.

      Though Matthew had changed some since the last time she’d seen him, she still would have recognized that baby face anywhere. At twenty-eight, he’d filled out his lanky frame, and the peach fuzz that used to dust his upper lip and chin had been replaced by a five o’clock shadow, two shades darker than his hair. He probably chose those mod-shaped glasses rather than contacts to make him look older.

      “Remember the time that Haley fed soap shavings to Logan’s fish?” Mrs. Warren was saying when Haley returned to the conversation.

      “Poor Crunch,” Caroline said and made a sad face.

      “Am I ever going to live that down?” Haley frowned. “Who names a fish Crunch anyway?”

      Seated next to her father, Elizabeth looked up from the pile of peas she was scattering on her plate. “Miss Haley killed Crunch?”

      Everyone laughed at the horror in the child’s voice before her grandma explained that Crunch had survived his sudsy ordeal. “You and Logan always were like oil and water whenever you were together.”

      “Didn’t bode well for your old matchmaking scheme,” Caroline chimed. She must have realized it was poor timing for one of her dry side comments because she met Haley’s gaze and winced.

      Trina and Amy missed that exchange as they grinned at each other across the table.

      “Wow, the plan,” Trina said, shaking her head. “We haven’t talked about that in years.”

      “Matched sets!” The two mothers exclaimed the words in unison, and with equally precise timing, the three Scott sisters and the lone Warren brother groaned.

      Haley rolled her eyes. She should have known that even on a day like today the two moms would reminisce about their silly idea to arrange marriages among their six children. Their plan had been a running family joke, but it was far less funny today.

      “It was worth a try, anyway,” Amy said. “Since your mother and I were pregnant together for at least a few months three different times, and she had the girls while I had the boys, we figured we might have a shot for at least one proper matchup.”

      “God made it easy by giving us even pairs,” Trina supplied. “Two oldest, two middle and two youngest.”

      “I sure messed that up then, didn’t I?”

      This wasn’t the first sardonic comment Matthew had made tonight, but this time he didn’t get a laugh. Jenna cleared her throat, while the others took renewed interest in their food. Even living in Michigan, Haley had heard all about Matthew’s brief marriage to his college girlfriend who deserted him and their infant daughter.

      “Messed up what, Daddy?”

      “Just a game,” he assured her. “Now eat your peas.”

      Amy tugged one of her granddaughter’s braids. “Sure, it was just a game.” She looked farther down the table to her son. “But two moms could dream, couldn’t they?”

      “Moms never stop dreaming,” Trina said. The meaningful look she gave first to Matthew and then Caroline left no doubt that she hadn’t given up on their matchmaking plan, especially where those two were concerned. Caroline’s cheeks were pink as she concentrated too intently on her roast beef.

      Haley had a strange impulse to raise her hand and announce, “Hey, this is supposed to be about me.” If their mothers were going to start matchmaking again, at least they could have waited for another day. Not the day of her broken engagement.

      Anyway, if they only knew. She’d never told them then, and she certainly didn’t plan to now, but at one time, one of the Scott sisters had longed for a matchup with a certain Warren brother. At the memory of her crush from long ago, Haley coughed into her napkin. Her cheeks burned. She felt fourteen again, the embarrassing images repeating in her mind like a love story performed in a Three Stooges episode.

      “You okay?” Matthew asked when her gaze darted his way again. His eyebrows were drawn together above the frames of his glasses.

      She nodded. The others studied her with the same concern they’d focused on her most of the night. If they’d known what she’d been thinking about just then, they really would have been worried. She had no business ruminating on an adolescent crush when the real love of her life had deserted her only hours before. It just went to show how muddled her thoughts had become tonight.

      “Is anyone ready for dessert?” Matthew asked, breaking the silence.

      Elizabeth shot a hand into the air. “I am. I am.” She leaned in and announced in a stage whisper, “Do you want some, Miss

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