Matchmakers Box Set: Matchmakers, Encore, Finding Hope (48 page)

“So I see.” His voice had changed and she turned to see why.

He was staring at the drawing she’d made of him after she’d returned to the store. There was no doubt he recognized it.

The pounding her heart had been doing since she’d seen the stranger in the cemetery was nothing compared to the pounding she felt at that moment.

“I’m so sorry.” She wanted to take the canvas and slice right through it, but her feet were planted to the ground.

“Sorry?” His eyes shifted to hers and she gasped. “I’m flattered.”

“Really?”

“Oh, yeah. This is amazing.” He studied it again. “Why did you draw my face?”

“It was just, kinda… stuck in my mind.” She knew she sounded childish, but it was the truth. She bit down on her lip to keep it from trembling.

“Wow.” He was smiling. “Are you going to finish painting it?”

“I don’t know, I…”

“I’ll buy it from you. My mother would flip if I sent this to her for her birthday.”

Cautiously she moved toward him. Her body began to tingle as she neared him. What was it about the man that made her body tense, her words freeze, and her heart pump so rapidly?

“I’ve never drawn a face like that from memory. Do you really think it looks like you?” She turned her head to see him staring dumbfounded back at her. “I guess it does.”

“How much?”

“I’m sure we could work something out. I’ve never actually commissioned a portrait before. I usually save those for people I love.” The words had flown from her lips before she could retract them. “I didn’t mean I was in love with you. I only meant…”

“I know,” he reassured her. “For your family.”

“Yes.”

“I’d be honored if you’d finish it for me. I’m a bit stunned to see myself staring at me.” He was at least smiling and she took it as a good sign.

“You don’t think it’s stalkerish?” There was a feeling brewing in her she wasn’t sure she liked. She’d looked at birds and plants and successfully painted them. But having painted a man’s face, one who didn’t know she was creating his likeness, felt a bit sly.

Trevor stood back from the painting and crossed his arms over his broad chest. “I’ll be honest with you. Since I met you yesterday I haven’t been able to get you off my mind.” He shifted his eyes to the painting. “And I guess I’ve been on your mind.”

“Guilty.” She felt the heat rise in her cheeks.

“And my walking into your store this morning was a sign I guess.”

“An enormous one.”

“So maybe I should let you get to know your subject better. Have dinner with me.”

She stared at him, her eyes wide. “Dinner?”

“You do eat, don’t you?”

“Yeah.” She let out a nervous laugh. “I most certainly do. Okay, I’ll go to dinner with you,” she said, tucking her shaking hands into the pockets of her jeans.

“I’ll pick you up here. When do you close?”

“I’ll lock the door at six thirty.”

“Great, I’ll come back then.” He moved toward her. “I’m glad I stopped in to see your brother-in-law.”

“Me too.” He was so close the scent of his cologne washed over her. She could move in, kiss him, and melt into a pool of goo in the floor, but she resisted. Love, or lust, at first sight wasn’t realistic and Hope was much too practical for that.

Trevor smiled at her and walked back through the store.

“Hey,” she called out to him. “I don’t pick up men in the cemetery, by the way. I just thought I’d let you know.”

“I don’t usually go looking for women there either. Unless they’re my aunt.” He winked and left her alone with just his scent in the air and his sketched face staring back at her.

Trevor pulled away from the curb and beat his hand against the steering wheel. He’d just asked her out on a date. He certainly was taking his assignment to heart this time. Get to know her better, he reminded himself of Donald Buchanan’s instructions.

“Guess that’s what I’m doing,” he said to himself as he headed back toward his hotel room to compile the information he’d gathered. A knot of guilt twisted in him. Donald Buchanan was asking him to stalk her. He’d never really thought of his investigating that way, but now that he’d been affected by Hope’s charm, he wasn’t feeling very good about it at all.

As he walked through the lobby the woman at the front desk called to him. “This came for you today, sir.”

He stepped up to the counter and she handed him a thick manila envelope. He waited until he was in the elevator before opening it. As the door closed and he felt the lift of the cage, he unfastened the flap and looked inside the envelope.

“Holy shit.”

He was glad he was alone.

Tucked inside were six thousand dollars, in cash, and a note.

Mr. Jacobs:

As per our earlier conversation, please accept this as a good faith offering that I will indeed pay you any price for finding my daughter and getting to know her before I meet her. As you can see this amount is equal to what I’ve already paid you, and I assure you, I will double this when I have met Hope. I would like you to use this money to cover your extended expenses in Kansas City and shower my daughter with gifts. Though I am not ready to disclose myself to her, someday she will know these gifts have come from me. For the time being, please use the money to see that she is happy.

Sincerely, Donald Buchanan.

Trevor forced himself to take a deep breath and then when he felt lightheaded he realized he’d been holding it. The woman of his dreams had become his assignment. He’d already started the process of getting to know her better when he hadn’t revealed himself to her at the cemetery. Then he’d asked her to dinner, because Donald Buchanan had told him to get to know her. Now he was to buy her lavish things.

He slid the key into his door and entered. His life seemed almost perfect. What more could he want? He had a date with the perfect woman, and her biological father was happy to foot the bill. It was as if your prom date’s father handed over the keys to his new car. That had never happened, but he assumed this would be how it felt. But then again he wasn’t sure an openly offered courtesy would leave a bad taste in your mouth like the offer Donald Buchanan was making did.

“You’ve been busy today,” Hope called from the back when she heard the bells chime over the door at noon. It was no surprise that Thomas appeared in her back room seconds later. It was their routine that he would come by on his lunch break.

“Yeah, lots of new talent today.”

“Is that what you call it?” She laughed and he followed suit as he leaned against the doorjamb and watched her work.

She lifted her eyes over the canvas and he gave her a smile that she’d become accustomed to. He was proud of her and just a bit overprotective, which had him checking in on her several times during the day.

“Working on a masterpiece?”

“A commissioned masterpiece, thank you very much.”

“Ah, nothing like someone wanting to pay you before you’ve done all the work.”

“Exactly.” She swished her sable brush in the jar of solvent to her side then wiped the bristles on a rag and set it on the table.

“Can I look?” He playfully raised his golden brows at her and she sighed, crinkling up her nose.

“Yeah, you can look.”

Hope stepped to the side and let Thomas slide in between her and the canvas.

“Mr. Jacobs?” She winced when she nodded. “You’ve done this much today? He just was in the school this morning. He came over here next?”

“Yes, but I started this yesterday.”

“I didn’t realize he’d been in here before.” He raised his eyes to meet hers, and resentment poked at her when she realized Thomas was uncomfortable with the situation.

“He hadn’t,” she said on a sigh and reached for a rag to wipe the paint smudges from her hands. “I met him at the cemetery yesterday.”

“Carissa said she found you there.”

“Found me? She knew I was there.” She smiled, pulled open the mini refrigerator, and pulled out a bottle of water. “Want one?”

“I’m good, thanks.”

Hope nodded and opened the bottle. She took a long pull, hoping to gather her thoughts about Trevor Jacobs. It was organizing the thoughts that was giving her problems.

Thomas gave her a look of impatience. “Anyway, you met him at the cemetery?”

“Yeah. After Carissa left, I was still standing over Mandy’s grave and he walked up. He was looking for his aunt.”

“That’s some pick-up line.” He was smiling, but she knew he was being protective.

“C’mon, who picks up women in the cemetery?”

“Just seems odd that a man meets you in the cemetery and then finds you at work.”

“Well now you’re creeping me out.” She picked up the rag she’d wiped her hands on and threw it at him.

“I’m supposed to look out for you. I’ve been doing it most of your life.”

“Thank you, in case I forget.”

“Smart-ass,” he said throwing the rag back in her direction. “Seriously, did he know you were an artist? He asked you at the cemetery to do this?” He motioned to the portrait.

“No, actually I started the picture before he asked for it.” She walked over to the canvas and stood next to Thomas. “I know this sounds strange, but I couldn’t forget his face. It was cluttering my head. I had to sketch it. I had to get it out of there.”
 

“And he just happened to come in here today and see it?”

“Yep, that’s how it worked.”

Thomas considered it, but she could see it wasn’t settling. He frowned. “It’s creeping me out now.”

“Stop!” She slapped his arm. “Truth is I feel as though I’ve been waiting for him. As if he was supposed to come for me. Grandma Katie said he would.”

“You’re talking to Katie? I think you need some fresh air.”

“I walk with her in my dreams.” She dropped her shoulders. “I know, I know. It sounds strange.” Hope looked up at him and let out a breath. “Do you believe in fate?”

Thomas didn’t answer right away. He tunneled his fingers through his hair. Hope knew this meant he was thinking, it was one of those unique habits that made Thomas so endearing.

“I guess I’d be a hypocrite if I said I didn’t. We all take certain paths for certain reasons, and sometimes they lead us right to the thing we wanted most.”

“Had you not run away, you’d never have met my mom and she’d never have led you to Carissa.”

“Right. Just think, if your mom hadn’t left your dad and toured for ten years I wouldn’t have met her either. It seems like your mother’s stubbornness was to my benefit.” He pursed his lips and gave her a thoughtful nod. “So you think his finding you in the cemetery, your painting his face, and his walking in the door are all fate driven?”

Hope shrugged. “I don’t know what to think. But I know his face fills my mind. When we touch there’s electricity.”

“Touch?” His eyes opened wide.

“We’ve shaken hands,” she said with raised brows.

“Oh.” He sighed in a big brother sort of way.

“I guess I’ll see what happens tonight.”

“Tonight?”

“He’s asked me out for dinner.”

“And you’re going?”

“Creeping you out again?” she asked as she picked up the brush she’d cleaned earlier and tapped it into a dab of Prussian blue for the background.

He touched her arm. “Be careful.”

“I’ve never been anything but.”

“I know. I just have a very uneasy feeling about this.” He kissed her on the cheek.

“You would. You’re supposed to protect me, right?”

“Yeah, me and that medal you wear around your neck.” He gave a nod toward her necklace.

Hope touched the pendant. “It did okay by Mom and Carissa. It’ll keep me safe.”

Thomas gave her a wave goodbye and headed back to the school.

Hope lifted the Saint Nicholas medal from her neck and examined it. Her grandmother had given it to her mother when she was a child. Soon after, they’d been in a car accident and her mother was the only survivor. The accident had taken Sophia’s parents from her, scarred her physically, and made her barren. When she’d decided to marry David, she’d given the necklace to Carissa as an engagement present. Carissa, in turn, had given it to Hope when she was ten, shortly after their great-grandma Katie had passed away.

Hope had faith it would keep her safe, but she wasn’t sure she’d need it. Trevor Jacobs didn’t creep her out. On the contrary, he got her very excited about many things.

As promised, Trevor Jacobs walked through the door to Hope’s store just as she was ready to lock up.

She gestured to her faded jeans. “I didn’t give much thought to this. I haven’t even been able to go home and change.”

“I think you look great.”

She looked him over. His dark blue jeans and button-down shirt put her at ease. This was going to be casual. She quietly blew out a breath as she thought of the night ahead. It wasn’t creeping her out. On the contrary, she was growing more and more excited with the possibilities of what the night would bring.

He led her to the car and opened the door for her after she’d locked up. Luckily, she’d always kept makeup and grooming essentials at the store. She’d had a few moments before he’d gotten there to freshen up. A splash of perfume hadn’t hurt either. After all, she’d been working with paint all day.

He pulled the car from the curb. “I saw a place on my way over here this morning. Josephine’s? Ever eaten there?”

“I’ve been known to dine there a time or two.”

“Any good?”

“You won’t find better. Jo makes your dining experience just that. An experience you won’t forget.”

“Jo? You’ve been there more than a time or two, haven’t you?”

She laughed. “Yeah. She makes that very thin kind of pizza you find in Italy. Not the thick American kind we know and love. So Thomas would take me there often when I was growing up.”

He shifted in his seat. “You and Thomas are pretty close?”

“Very. He was my first love.” She felt him shift his eyes from the road to her and she met them with a smile. “I was eight.”

He nodded and turned his eyes back toward the road. “Does he know you felt this way?”

“Yes. He knows. He was crazy about my sister and I was crazy about him. I got over it in time and when they got married, I realized how lucky I was. I had a sister and a brother to look after me. By the time I was fourteen, I was an aunt with a baby to play with and then they just kept knocking them out. Now they have four beautiful children that I get to spoil and send home.”