Page 7 of Daddy's Little Matchmaker

“Tessica?” Erin’s voice called.

Tessica opened the stall door to see her best friend’s concerned expression.

“Are you okay?”

Tessica nodded, as more tears slipped down her cheeks.

“Hey now.” Erin pulled her into a hug. “None of that. I told myself I wouldn’t cry today, and you know I cry when you cry.” Her voice cracked on the last word.

“Sorry.” Tessica hugged Erin tight and let go. She pulled some more toilet paper off the roll, handed the wad to Erin, and got more for herself.

Once they’d calmed down and made themselves presentable, Erin said, “Ready to go back?”

“Do you think Connor hates me now?”

“What? Don’t be ridiculous. Of course not. It’s not your fault Mom was a sucker for every animal she ever met.”

“I guess,” Tessica agreed, but she doubted she’d be happy if she was in Connor’s shoes.

“Come on.” Erin gently put an arm around Tessica’s shoulders and led them out of the bathroom.

“Have I told you how happy I am that you’re back in town, even if the circumstances suck?”

Erin gave her a little squeeze as they walked back into the conference room.

Connor was busy reading and didn’t look up.

Half an hour later, as the meeting wound down, Tessica got up to leave. Connor moved to face her.

“I’d like to stop by the shelter tomorrow afternoon so we can discuss our options and make some decisions.”

“That’s a good idea.”

“What time works for you?”

“Five-thirty?” she suggested. “I feed the animals right before I go, so they’ll all be settled for the night.”

“Five-thirty works for me. I could bring dinner,” he offered. “Pizza? Chinese?”

Tessica smiled at the gesture. Maybe he didn’t hate her after all. “Dinner sounds great. Chang’s Palace is right around the corner, and their pork chow mien is good.”

“Chinese it is. See you tomorrow.”

“Okay.” She checked the time on her phone. “I really have to go. The animals are waiting.”

He nodded and opened the conference room door for her.

The next evening at Fiona’s house, Tessica had just opened a can of cat food when Connor walked through the front door holding a large bag of takeout.

“Is it five-thirty already?” She glanced at the clock. “Sorry I’m running a bit late. Someone stopped by right at four-thirty, but they adopted a cat, so that’s a plus.”

Connor set the bag on the counter. “No problem. Anything I can do to help?”

“Oh, you don’t have to?—”

“I want to.” He smiled. “I won’t start dinner without you, so the quicker we get it finished, the quicker we eat.”

“Okay, thanks.” She put a spoonful of the canned cat food in a bowl along with a scoop of kibble and handed it to him. “You can feed Butch. He’s the big orange cat in cage three.”

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