Christmas in Cupid Falls (12 page)

Malcolm and Kennedy?
Maledy.

Malady.

Yes, that about said it all.

“You sighed,” Nana Vancy said with a prosecutor’s sort of tone. “What are you thinking about?”

He was saved from trying to explain the hybrid name fad to the woman he’d just explained
baby daddy
to when they arrived at the woman in question. Kennedy had a hand pressed into the small of her back. He’d noticed her doing it before and wondered if her back was bothering her.

On the heels of that thought, he realized that of course it was. If he taped a bowling ball to his stomach, then stood around all day arranging flowers, his back would be killing him, too.

Kennedy narrowed her eyes as she spotted him, but she pasted a fake I’m-the-mayor-and-have-to-be-nice-to-everyone smile on her face. He could almost read her thoughts. She was thinking he had better not ask her to marry him here.

He winked, hoping she understood it meant he’d try not to ask her, but he wasn’t sure she could count on his ability to control the question.

She shot him a warning look, and he was pretty sure she’d understood him just fine.

“Kennedy, kedvenc, how are you?” Nana Vancy asked.

Kennedy’s gaze dropped from him to the small woman he’d brought with him. She smiled, a genuine smile this time. “Nana Vancy, it’s so nice to see you.”

“I came to do some shopping at your craft show and to see how the building looks when it’s all set up. This is wonderful, kedvenc.”

Mal wasn’t sure what a
kedvenc
was, but it was obviously a good thing.

“I’m glad you think so. I ordered a rubberized flooring that’s recommended for pets. I called a friend, Nikki, who runs a doggie day care, and she said they use it. It’s easy on the dogs’ paws, and if there are any accidents, it’s easy to clean up. And—” She glanced at Mal. “I’m sorry. I need to make an introduction. Nana Vancy, this is Malcolm Carter, the owner of the Center. Malcolm, this is Vancy Salo, the driving force behind the Everything But a Dog Foundation.”

“We’ve already met,” he said.

Kennedy nodded and went back to talking to Nana Vancy as if he were invisible.

“I hardly recognized you without your Silver Bells,” she said with a laugh.

He’d only just met the older lady, but he had no doubt she’d be the kind of lady who’d wear bells, silver or otherwise. There was some poem about old ladies and purple. Nana Vancy was exactly that kind of lady.

“Annabelle and Isabel have new boyfriends,” Nana Vancy told Kennedy. “They didn’t want to spend a day away from them.”

Oh, her friends, not actual silver bells. Mal smiled. He was still sure Nana Vancy would wear bells if she were so inclined.

The older lady continued, “Since they were busy, my Bela came with me. He’s walking down your Main Street, looking at the shops. He says craft shows give him hives. But the truth of the matter is, he didn’t want to leave the dogs alone all day, so we brought them and he’s taking them for a walk.”

“Oh, the dogs are here? Can I meet them?” She turned to Mal, as if remembering he was there, and explained, “Nana Vancy’s dogs, Madame Curie and Clara Barton, are the reason she started Everything But a Dog. She rescued them—”

“In order to help two people find their happily-ever-after. But don’t worry, I’ve given up the matchmaking people hobby. Now, I only matchmake for dogs and their forever families.”

Mal was glad she was out of the matchmaking business, because Nana Vancy was looking from him to Kennedy, studying them both like lab rats.

Kennedy didn’t seem to notice. She nodded and added, “Her dogs have had their stories written up in the paper. They were even on the news a few times. They’re famous.”

“Oh, don’t let the dogs hear you say that. Their fame might go to their heads. My grandson made a joke about the dogs being worried that the
puparazzi
would
hound
them. Get it? Paparazzi—
pup
arazzi?” She laughed at the rather lame play on words. “Let’s go find them and I’ll introduce them to you.”

As if he were an afterthought, Kennedy looked at him and said, “You’re welcome to join us.”

She didn’t have to say the words “but I wish you wouldn’t” for him to know that’s what she was thinking. He smiled and shot her a look that said,
if wishes were horses—or in this case dogs
, and he smiled broadly as he said, “Don’t mind if I do.”

Kennedy didn’t look pleased at the prospect.

“How did the dogs help you start the foundation and why are they famous?” he asked as they wound through the tables of crafts.

“Now, that’s a story,” Nana Vancy said. She took his arm. “I probably should start at the beginning.”

He glanced over at Kennedy, who was grinning. She’d obviously heard this story.

“Years ago, back in Hungary, I accidentally cursed my own family to bad weddings. Not on purpose, kedvenc. I thought I was cursing Bela’s family, which wouldn’t include me, since he’d left me standing by myself at the altar. But he finally made it home and married me right away. I was so happy to have him home and that he was my husband that I didn’t realize for a long time that it was my own family I cursed. We moved to the United States and built a life here. That’s when I learned what I’d done. And for years, I tried to undo those words I so carelessly uttered and break the curse.”

She looked at Kennedy, who as if on cue, said, “Words have power.”

Nana Vancy nodded, satisfied. “They do. That’s the lesson. I’d said the words and cursed my family. After my grandchildren married, I managed to break the curse, then I was bored, s
o . . .
” She looked at Kennedy again.

“She started matchmaking with her friends’, the Silver Bells, help,” Kennedy supplied.

“Isabel and Annabelle,” he filled in.

They reached the coatrack and all three of them pulled out their coats.

Nana Vancy smiled at him as she slipped hers on. She looked as pleased as if he’d aced a spelling bee. “Yes, my friends. I adopted Clara Barton and Madame Curie to help match Annabelle’s second cousin’s daughter by her third marriage once removed. Bela was so mad when I came home with the dogs, but they stole his heart. There have never been two dogs so loved. And when I decided that matchmaking people might not be my callin
g . . .
”

Kennedy’s laughter couldn’t be contained at that. “From what you told me, there were a few glitches.”

Nana Vancy grinned as she nodded and admitted, “Just a few,
kedvenc, but I did help bring together some very happy couples. But when I matchmaked Annabelle’s second cousin’s daughter by her third marriage once removed, who was a veterinarian—”

Kennedy laughed as she interrupted, “—with a man who was allergic to dogs.”

Nana Vancy said, “It all worked out, didn’t it? And I discovered my true calling was matching dogs to their forever homes. And with help from family and friends, I started Everything But a Dog Foundation.”

That was a long story made longer
, Mal thought but didn’t say out loud as they walked out onto the sidewalk. He glanced to make sure that Kennedy had zipped up her parka against the cold.

She caught him at it and glared at him. He didn’t need the words to know she was telling him she could look after herself.

He sighed. This time it wasn’t only Kennedy who looked at him, but Nana Vancy, too. She pointed down the street at a big man with two dogs. A large black one and a much smaller white one that had a very sausage-like build.

Mal looked at the big man smile as the tiny woman approached him. He wasn’t a romantic by any stretch of the imagination, but when Nana Vancy’s Bela joined them with the dogs, Mal could see how much love there was between them. It reminded him of Clarence and Joan. Or his grandfather and grandmother.

Nana Vancy walked up to the big man and their bodies brushed, as if drawn together like magnets.

“Kennedy, Malcolm, this is my Bela.” There was pride in her voic
e . . .
and love.

“Bela Salo,” he said, shaking their hands.

“And this is Madame Curie.” At the sound of her name, the black dog sat down and offered them her paw.

Kennedy knelt down awkwardly and took the paw. “Aren’t you a beautiful girl?”

The little white dog, not to be outdone, jumped up at Kennedy, anxious for some affection, too. But Kennedy’s center of gravity was extremely off because of the baby. The small dog hurtling in her direction was enough to topple her, but Malcolm sprang forward and grabbed her under her arms, steadying her.

She looked up. “Thank you,” she said, then turned her attention to the demanding sausage-like white dog.

Nana Vancy shot him a look that made him feel like a bug under a microscope, then she said, “And that rude dog is Clar
a . . .
Clara Barton. She has no manners and very little brains.”

Bela looked slightly insulted on the dog’s behalf. “But she is all heart, that one.”

As if to prove his point, Clara was busy kissing Kennedy, who hadn’t asked Mal to remove his hands, so he continued to steady her as she continued to kneel by the small dog.

“I love dogs,” Kennedy said, as Clara continued on her love-fest.

“Maybe I’ll find your dog at the adoption day?” Nana Vancy said. “I’ll find you the perfect dog.”

“She’s very good at it.” Bela laughed and added, “Better finding dogs their match than people.”

“Now, Bela,” Nana Vancy scolded, “I always managed to make things work out.”

“Ask the people she matched if it was easy.” Bela guffawed.

“Love isn’t easy,” Nana Vancy said very seriously. She looked at Mal and continued, “It is not supposed to be. Because if it was, you wouldn’t appreciate it half as much. Look how hard Bela made things on me, and all these years later, I still appreciate that he’s mine.” She turned her gaze back to the big man.

Kennedy kept petting Clara as if she thought Nana Vancy had forgotten the idea of her adopting a dog, but the older woman obviously hadn’t. “I will find you the perfect dog, Kennedy.”

Kennedy started to rise, with difficulty, but Malcolm gave her a tug and righted her easily.

Kennedy rested her arms on her stomach. “Nana Vancy, I’ll come see you in a few years. I don’t think it would be fair to a dog to bring it home and then introduce a new baby. I don’t think I’d be able to give it the attention it deserved.”

“Well, maybe if someone were to give you a hand?” Nana Vancy looked directly at Mal.

Kennedy obviously caught the look, because she said, “Mal’s a friend and neighbor, but helping me with a dog isn’t in the cards. He will be going back to Pittsburgh soon, and I’ll have the baby, the flower shop, and a town to look after. In a couple years I’ll get the baby a dog. I promise.”

Nana Vancy didn’t look convinced, but she nodded and dropped the issue.

They stayed and visited with the older couple.

Mal watched Bela as Nana Vancy spoke. Bela was a quiet man and seemed happy to let her do the talking for both of them, but he watched her every move. And it was easy to see he was enchanted by her. She’d spoken of their children and grandchildren, which meant they’d been together for a long time, and still Bela watched Nana Vancy with love in his eyes.

Mal realized he’d been watching the older man watching Nana Vancy so intently that he’d lost track of the conversation. But it was obviously over, since Nana Vancy kissed Kennedy and said, “I’ll be here early on for the event. Me, Bela, our helpers, and all the dogs. And thank you for the helpers here. Oh, Angel is coming from the radio, too.”

“Radio?” Mal asked, feeling as if he were playing catch-up.

“It’s on the event listing on the computer,” Kennedy said. “The Everything But a Dog portion of the day is being covered by WLVH in Erie.”

“WLVH,
where love is more than just a song
,” Nana Vancy said with a chortle. “It took me a while to learn that.”

“Why would an Erie station cover something in Cupid Falls?”

“That is exactly what a man from a big city like Pittsburgh would ask,” Kennedy said. “They’d cover it because Cupid Falls is part of their audience. We get all the Erie stations out here, and that means if they’re covering the event, they’re mentioning Cupid Falls to their Erie audience as well. That’s what the town needs, more reasons for people in Erie and towns like Waterford, Union City, and Lapp Mill to come visit us. We’re a picturesque small town with so many wonderful attributes. Events like this will bring us notice. WLVH partners with
the Everything But a Dog Foundation in a lot of events. I remember that Angela adopted a dog with Nana Vancy’s help.”

“Adopted a dog and fell in love,” Nana Vancy informed him.

“You are out of the matchmaking business,” Bela reminded her, warning in his voice.

“Sometimes love just happens. If I give it a little nudge, wel
l . . .
” She shrugged.

He growled.

“Only a little nudge,” she insisted and leaned toward him. He tucked her up under his arm as if that’s where she belonged.

“The radio station won’t be a problem,” Kennedy said. “They’ll set up their mobile unit out front.”

“It’s fine, Kennedy,” Mal told her. She didn’t need to explain. She’d done a stellar job of coordinating events.

“See you in a couple weeks,” Nana Vancy said as Bela led her and the dogs down the block.

Mal wanted to say something to Kennedy. He wasn’t sure precisely what, but something. He wanted to comment on Nana Vancy and her Bela. He wanted to encourage her to get a dog because he could see that she wanted one.

But in the split second it took him to think about all the things he wanted to say, Kennedy went back inside the Center and was swept away within seconds. Mal watched as she flitted from table to table. He watched her. She gave each person her undivided attention, as if they were the only person in the room.

She was in a corner of the Center talking to a group of kids he didn’t recognize.

Her hands drifted to her stomach, caressing their unborn baby.

He realized he still hadn’t felt the baby kick. He hadn’t gone to a doctor’s appointment or attended childbirth classes.