Page 9 of A Match Made at Christmas

She pushed her plate away and folded her hands on the table. “Your Uncle Arthur has given me such a good life.”

“Is he dying?”

“Hayes,” she said, “nobody is dying.”

“Well, that’s a relief,” he said. “Next time you decide to be weird, maybe lead with that.”

“Can I finish?” She flashed him a wry smile.

He motioned with his hand for her to continue—as if he could stop her.

“Arthur doesn’t ever ask me for anything,” she said. “He does whatever I want, gives me everything I want, lives the life in the house that I wanted on the island that I love.”

“Well, he’s crazy about you,” Hayes said, though he wasn’t sure why. After all, Arthur showed about as much emotion as a dryer sheet. But even so, it was obvious how much he loved Nellie. Hayes was surprised to realize it, but he was kind of jealous of their relationship.

“Anyway,” she continued, “after all this time, he finally asked me to do something, and I simply can’t say no.”

“Okay,” Hayes said, still confused at what she was getting at.

“Christmas in Paris,” she said.

Slowly, he dropped his hands to the table and nodded. “So, you do need my travel advice.”

“No,” she said. “I’ve got the trip planned right down to the hour. We are going to have the most marvelous time, my dear, don’t you doubt that for a second.”

“I don’t,” he said. “Paris at Christmas is magical.”

“Magical.” She smiled. “Hayes, I need to show you something.”

He frowned. “Okay.”

“But I need your word that this will stay between us.”

“Now you’re freaking me out.” Although that wordnowwas misleading. He’d been on the edge of freaking out since she’d asked him to come over the night before.

She stood. “Follow me.” She started off in the direction of the stairs. “Do you know anything about Noni Rose?”

“Uh, yeah. She’s a Nantucket legend,” Hayes said, trying to remember. “A famous matchmaker. Some say she works in secret, behind the scenes, even now.”

“She does.” Nellie started up the stairs. “She has been for years.”

“You think she’s real?”

Nellie stopped and looked at him. “I know she’s real.”

Hayes paused on the steps and looked up at her, noting a strange twinkle in her eye.

“Years ago, I came to Nantucket seeking a new life. I was visiting your parents when I met a woman named Helen who took a shine to me right away.”

Helen. Right.

They were at the top of the stairs now, and Hayes realized he hadn’t been up here since he was a kid. “What does that mean, ‘took a shine’ to you? Like, she had a crush on you?”

“Hayes Michael McGuire.” Nellie swatted him across the arm.

“I’m just trying to make sense of what you’re saying.”

“Helen saw something in me.” She led him to the room at the end of the long hallway. “She said I had a gift. Said I could read people, that I knew what they needed even when they didn’t. She said the magic had found me.”

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