Page 17 of Daddy's Little Matchmaker

“No problem. Can I go take a quick peek upstairs to see what’s left?”

She gestured to the stairs. “It’s your house.”

“Thanks.”

He went up the stairs, and as soon as he stepped into the living room, his shoulders slumped. It didn’t look as though his sisters had gotten rid of anything other than the pictures on the wall. He went into the bedroom and opened the closet. At least the clothing was gone. And even though the dresser was still there, all the drawers were empty.

Connor shook his head, went back downstairs, and found Tessica dishing up several bowls of cat food.

“All done?” she asked.

“Yeah.” He tried not to sound defeated.

She paused and scrutinized him. “You sound upset.”

Connor leaned against the front counter. “Not upset. Just… I don’t know, maybe I am upset. There’s still so much left up there.”

“But like I said before, there’s no rush. The furniture can stay there for the next two months without any problems.”

“I guess.”

She continued to dish up the cat food.

“Can I help with anything?”

“No thanks, I’m almost done. Unless…” she grinned at him and held out a dish of cat food, “…you’d like to feed Butch.”

He chuckled. “I know what you’re doing.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said with false innocence.

“Oh really?” He raised one eyebrow.

Her cheeks turned pink. She shrugged, and set the dish down by him instead of answering.

“Manipulation or not, I’ll still feed him,” Connor agreed. When he put the food in Butch’s cage, the big cat butted Connor’s hand demanding more pets.

When Tessica was done feeding all the other animals, Connor stopped petting Butch, and locked him in his cage with his dish of food.

“Ready to go?” he asked.

“I am.”

Tessica grabbed her jacket and purse from under the counter. Then she turned off the lights as he opened the door. She locked the door behind them. “See you next week?”

“Hopefully on Thursday again if my schedule works out.”

“Sounds good.”

He followed her down the walkway and waited until she got in her car before he continued down the street to his.

CHAPTER SIX

Tessica arrived at Connections right at nine o’clock and parked near the front. The lobby doors opened as she stepped out of her car. She waved at Gwen, Susan, and several other friends as she went to the back of the line. Paul and Tucker had put up a post on the club’s website letting everyone know that tonight’s theme was Disney, and she was eager to check it out.

Once she’d paid her entrance fee, she put her coat in a locker and scanned the room. Mulan was playing on the television in one section of the room. Half of the snacks were princess-themed with lots of pastels and sprinkles. The other half of the snacks were bug-themed. There were sandwiches cut into strips with pretzels sticking out of them to make them caterpillars. A serving dish in the shape of an upside-down ladybug was filled with chips where its back would be, and dip where its head would be. Over in the craft area, there were stacks of printed black-and-white images of all the classic Disney characters waiting to be colored.

Tessica walked over to the bookshelf where she usually spent most of the evening, and noted that her normal selection of books had all been replaced with Disney stories. She had no idea where Paul or Tucker had gotten the new books, but she wasimpressed with the amount of effort they had put into the night. She knew it made the Littles feel special.

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