Matchmakers Box Set: Matchmakers, Encore, Finding Hope (23 page)

“You’ve already done a lot of work to ensure your success.” He shifted his eyes to her mother. “Sophia, I’m so impressed.”

“Well, I’m just the silent partner. This was really all Carissa’s doing. This is her dream.” Carissa smiled as her mother laid a gentle hand on hers.

She leveled her eyes with Thomas’s as he turned back to her. That intoxicating blue peered into her soul, and she felt her heart hitch. Against her will, the corners of her mouth turned up into a smile. He grinned at her, melting her resolve.

“Thank you for considering me for your staff. It is going to be an honor to work with you.”

That was it. Her heart was gone.

All she had to do was keep Thomas from finding out.

CHAPTER TWO

Carissa gathered dishes while Thomas sat on the back porch with David after dinner. Katie excused herself to bed for the night, and Hope wandered between helping Carissa clean up and diverting her father’s attention.

Sophia set the dishes by the sink.

“So, what do you think of Thomas?”

“He seems nice enough, and if you say he’s talented, then he should be a wonderful asset to our school.” Carissa flipped her hair over her shoulder and turned on the water to fill the sink. She didn’t want to tell her mother what she was really thinking of Thomas.

“I think we should all sit down on Sunday during dinner and start addressing some issues about curriculum and what we want to accomplish.”

Carissa snapped her head up and shifted her glance toward Sophia. She was loosely throwing around the words “our” and “we” when it came to the school, but it was, in fact, her school, and she had a clear plan on what she wanted to accomplish.

Sophia touched her hand, and Carissa knew her thoughts had been transparent.

“I know you and I have ideas, but we should consider what he has to say. He did come all the way back to the States for this.” And that was only one of her problems with Thomas Samuel. First, it was his failed career and his eagerness to leave Rome for Kansas City. Then her body’s reaction to him had her practical thoughts dissolving. Now Sophia thought he should have a say in her school when she thought he was just there to teach.

Carissa kept her misgivings to herself and nodded as she looked out the window to the back porch. The October sky had already turned dark, but the porch light illuminated the men like a spotlight.

She watched the interaction between the men and her sister. Hope had landed on Thomas’s knee and was showing him something. She couldn’t make it out, but he was giving her the attention she was demanding.

Sophia handed her a plate. “Are you sure you’re comfortable with him staying here? If you’re not, we can find somewhere for him to stay.”

“Mom, we’ll be fine. If you trust him, I have no reason not to.”

“I do.”

“I know that. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have asked him to be part of the school or stay here with us.”

“I think it’ll be good to have him here. It’s one more set of eyes on Katie.” Carissa turned to take the plate from her mother, but Sophia gripped it tightly as though she were afraid to let it go. “I’m worried about her.” She shifted her eyes to Carissa.

“I take care of her.”

“I know you do. But she’s getting frail, and after we lost Millie, I really worried about you.”

Carissa began an assault on the dish in her hand, scrubbing it hard enough she could have easily scrubbed a hole through it. “I’ll be okay. I know Katie isn’t going to be around forever. I just wasn’t ready for Millie to go. So, if you’re worried that I’m too attached, I’ll cope. But she’s not going anywhere soon.” Carissa shifted her moist eyes to her mother.

“If you’re all comfortable that will be good. We can’t pay him much. The least we can do is give him a place to live.”

Carissa nodded. A place for him to live—where he was only a few feet from where she’d be dreaming about him all night. She steeled herself against letting that thought go any further.

Sophia grinned at her. “And you know, he’s single.”

Carissa walked her parents to the door. Her father turned to kiss her good-bye and gave her arm a gentle squeeze.

“Call if you need anything.”

“I’ll be fine. But I promise.”

“He’s paranoid,” her mother said as she kissed her.

Hope ran past them and down the front steps to the car.

“Don’t forget. You promised me a juice, too,” she called back.

“How could I forget?” Carissa laughed as she waved from the porch.

Sadness washed over her as they drove away. As always, she hated to see people she loved go, even for the night. She turned to go back inside and ran right into Thomas, who was standing behind her. His arms came up. He grabbed her with his hands on her hips, holding her until she regained her balance, then slid his palms up a few inches till his fingers brushed her ribs.

“I didn’t know you were standing there.” Her voice shook as her hands lingered on his shoulders and his on her waist. The lean musculature, separated from her skin by a thin layer of fabric, drew a soft gasp from her.

“Obviously.” He smiled, and her knees went weak. She’d hold on to him a moment until she felt more stable, but not a second longer.

“I guess I’ll call it a night.” Her eyes locked into his. The porch light shimmered in them, making the warm flecks of gold sparkle within his blue irises. “I want to get to the school tomorrow and start cleaning it out before contractors start working. The last tenants left behind a lot of trash. I need to get a jump on it because I have students on Saturday morning.”

Thomas nodded, his hands still sending tingles across her skin. “Saturday morning? I’ll need coffee before that first piercing note, but I could help you get started on the cleaning, if you’d like my help.”

She smiled and took the necessary step back so he’d release her, though distance between them wasn’t what she wanted at all.

“That would be wonderful. Would you mind if we start out about eight thirty?”

“I’ll be ready, with my cleaning clothes on.”

“Great. I’ll repay you Saturday morning with coffee before that first squeaky note. I know a little diner.” Her voice was airy and husky, and she realized a bit too seductive for someone she’d just met, but she kept talking, not wanting to leave his presence yet.

“Can’t pass that up.” He pulled back his hands, raked his fingers through his hair, and her eyes followed his long fingers from his hair until he tucked them into his pockets. “What time do I need to be up for that?”

“That depends. Do you run?”

“Run?”

She nodded with a smile. “Yes, do you run?”

“I should have understood the question better. After all, you are Sophia’s daughter.” She smiled as he shook his head, and his perfect lips curled into a smirk. “Does she still run all over the damn place?”

“Not so much anymore. She hurt her knee a few years ago. But Saturday mornings, I take a nice run before that first squeaky note.” It was that first squeaky note, she thought, that made everything she’d ever dreamed of worth the effort. Her school would be full of squeaky notes, and they would progress into beautiful music someday. She settled at glance at the man who shared her passion for music. Would they too work through their squeaky notes and make beautiful music together?

“Okay then. A run and the promise of good food, good coffee, and good company on Saturday in return for a Friday full of cleaning.” His acceptance of her offer snapped her back from her impromptu daydream. “I have a pair of running shoes that haven’t been used for running in a long time,” he said.

“It’s a date then.”

“It’s a date.” He backed up to the door and held open the screen for her as she sauntered through.

Thomas paced the floor in his room. He hadn’t returned to the States to find a woman, but one had landed, literally, right on his doorstep, or at least he on hers. And she was his friend’s daughter. He hissed out a breath. It was going to take control he’d never had before to keep his hands off Carissa Kendal.

He sat on the edge of the bed, interlaced his fingers together, and tapped his hands against his head. No matter what he did, the image of her wouldn’t fade, and the desire for her only grew. It wasn’t going to be any use to fight it. He’d met her less than twelve hours earlier, and never in his life had he felt what he was feeling at that moment. When Carissa looked at him, his skin was set into flames, his stomach did flips, and he knew his heart rate had never been so fast. He’d have kissed her right on that front porch, if he were someone else.

Thomas rubbed his hands on his pants. He wasn’t someone else. He had to think about his music and his mission. He wasn’t here to seduce the daughter of his dear friend. No, he was here to share music with others. That he knew he could do. The question was could he do it with Carissa next to him, making him realize that he longed for those things he’d refused himself. A career. A family. A woman to love.

Carissa pulled out of the driveway Friday morning feeling physically drained. Her night had been restless because she was too aware of the man in the room down the hall. And there was no doubt, when she’d handed him his cup of coffee in the kitchen that morning, that he’d lost some sleep, too. He’d all but jumped and dropped the mug when she’d touched his hand with hers. How could a man as handsome as Thomas Samuel be so skittish around women?

His too-long, blond hair kept falling over his eyes, and he’d brush it over the rim of his sunglasses.

“Why exactly are you cleaning the building before construction? Doesn’t construction make a mess?”

She laughed. “Yes, but the previous owners left a bigger one. You’ll see when we get there. We can’t do construction until the junk is gone.”

He nodded and shifted in his seat. “So, when do contractors start?”

“Tomorrow afternoon.”

“So this has to be finished today.”

“At least the bulk of it. We’ve done some. The electrician is the only one coming in tomorrow. Then when the plumbing is done, Dad can start on framing the walls.”

“Your dad is building the walls?” His voice carried an element of surprise, and she couldn’t help but smile. Just one look at Thomas Samuel and one would assume he wasn’t the handyman type of guy. Of course, when she’d seen him come into the kitchen that morning, she knew he wasn’t the kind of man to do manual labor. He’d worn a pressed white T-shirt tucked into his dark, pristine jeans.

“My dad’s no carpenter. The fine trim work will have to be contracted, but he can build a wall,” she said with love and admiration for her father.

“When your mother called and asked me to come help, I was under the impression that she was opening the school. I didn’t realize she was just helping you.” He shook his head and let out a slight grunt of a laugh.

Carissa tightened her grip on the steering wheel. Would he have come if he’d known, she wondered.

Her jaw tightened. She’d thought Sophia was going to be a bit more of a partner in the school too, but instead she’d called someone else in. Carissa wasn’t yet sure if she should be hurt or grateful. She slid a glance toward Thomas. For the moment, she’d give him the benefit and be grateful.

“She’ll always be my partner. Everyone needs someone to turn to.”

“What will she do at the school?”

She gave it a moment’s thought and shifted in her seat. “She’ll be everywhere for a while. She has a lot of contacts in the community, and we’re hoping to draw off that for enrollment. As for being active in the school, I don’t think she’ll be able to help herself, and she’ll be teaching more than she thinks she will. One of the things I want to offer is a music class for homeschooled students. She’d be able to teach in the daytime when Hope is in school.”

Thomas slapped his hands on his thighs and let out a gasp of excitement.

“What a great idea! Homeschooled kids whose parents can’t teach them music. That’s fantastic.”

His enthusiasm over her plan made her smile. It’s just what she’d wanted. Someone else who believed in her cause, believed in what she could do for the community. Perhaps her mother was right, and he’d have some good ideas.

“Well, someday down the road I’d like to have a band, an orchestra, and even a choir just for homeschooled students. There are more and more of them every year. I, alone, teach seven homeschooled children.”

“You teach out of your house?”

“I learned to perfect my skill in that study, and so did my mother. It seemed like the right place to teach others. During the summer, I teach during the day, but during the school year, I teach in the afternoons.”

“What do you do when you’re not teaching?”

“I practice. You never know when you’ll get the one golden opportunity to perform at some venue that would take your breath away.”

“Yeah, I understand that.” His voice trailed, and she heard the disappointment in it.

“The Vatican?”

“It would have topped them all.” He sighed. “It just wasn’t meant to be.”

Carissa remembered Sophia’s quest for the Vatican. She’d left Carissa and her dad to pursue the dream of the ultimate venue. Sophia’s dream-come-true moment had almost cost Carissa her own dream of having the perfect family.

Guilt rose in her. She’d been happy when Pablo DiAngelo had ruined Sophia’s chance at performing the Vatican. It had sent Sophia back to them, so they could be a family. She’d never given thought, however, that it may have ruined the careers of others—like Thomas.

“Well, this is it.” Carissa eased the car into the parking space in front of the old building. The building was like a child looking for a home. It needed to be nurtured and groomed. She’d do just that. With brooms and dustpans, walls and floors, and paint and trim. She’d give it a life, and in return, it would welcome others inside and they would make it their home, just as David had done for her so many years ago. “It doesn’t look like much, but it will soon.”

“What was this?”

“I think it was a pharmacy.” She climbed from the car. “I really never paid attention to it then.”