Page 35 of A Very Merry Matchup
What’s the average career span? How many make it out of the Minor League? How many have children? What’s the average divorce rate? Is there any chance Beau will get over his infatuation with baseball and find a more stable job with regular hours by the time I’m thirty?
Google doesn’t provide the answers I want. And I’m too afraid to hear what God’s thoughts on the subject may be, so I climb out of bed determined to stick to the original plan.
Well, the new original plan after theoriginaloriginal planfell apart because Lucy had the audacity to fall back in love with her ex. Just as well. Now I can match Beau up with the real love of his life. Christina.
Wait. Is that her name? Christina? That doesn’t sound right.Crystal. That’s it. Crystal. I remember as I’m brushing my teeth in the bathroom a few minutes later. Beau’s one true love is named Crystal. I think.
Hamish is already downstairs. Lots of “Good boy!” exclamations as well as “Ah-ah-ah, you can’t have that. Drop it right now, mister!” scoldings float upstairs while I wash my face.
Beau’s mom must’ve opened the bedroom door while I was still sleeping and let Hamish free. She mentioned last night that she’s always up early and doesn’t mind watching the granddogs in the morning while the “exhausted parents” sleep in.
Seriously. Could Beau’s family be any more wonderful? Christina-Crystal-possibly-Christa is one lucky lady.
My phone’s ringing with a FaceTime call when I slip back into the green room to get dressed.Lucy.
Her grinning face greets me as soon as I answer, which makes me grin back. “Hey, Luce.”
“Done being mad at me?”
I lift a shoulder and pretend to mull it over. “I guess being here isn’t the worst.”
“I saw the picture Beau sent. Looks like you’re having a good time.”
I give up all pretenses and lean closer to my phone screen. “Honestly, I’m having a great time. Beau’s family is great, and everything is all snowy and wintry and Christmassy. Yesterday we delivered gift baskets and walked around this really cute park all lit up with lights. Last night we played Yahtzee. Today, once Beau’s cousin Janey’s family gets back to town, we’re supposed to go sledding, then maybe do karaoke later. I guess Janey has a karaoke machine. I don’t know, but everything’s been so much fun. This is exactly the type of family Christmas I want to have with my own family someday.”
“Aww, I’m so happy to hear that. Sounds wonderful.” Lucy’s warm smile drops and her tone changes to frigid. “But I need you to get down to Nashville. Now. This minute.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Everything. Lucas’s family is full of a bunch of weirdos.”
“What do you mean?”
“They’re all up by seven. Every morning. Nobody sleeps in. Nobody stays in their pajamas. Nobody drinks coffee. They don’t even have a coffee maker. Who doesn’t own a coffee maker? And when I suggested we play a game last night, they all looked at me like I was the weirdo. You want to know what Lucas’s mom said? She said,Well, we might haveScrabble laying around here somewhere.Scrabble. Can you believe that? Scrabble. And they don’t even know where it is. I can’t survive like this. You need to get here. I need an ally.”
“I thought Lucas’s niece had a dog phobia.”
“She’s cured.”
“I thought you wanted me to fall in love with Beau.”
“And I thought you said he wasn’t part of your plan.”
She’s right. Beau isn’t part of my plan. So why aren’t I jumping all over this? Why am I stalling? “What about Lucas? Aren’t you at least having fun with him?”
“A little bit. But he’s still having to log in to work every day, so he’s usually busy on his computer. He promised he’d get some time off once we hit Christmas Day. But I might lose my mind before then. I need you. I’m sorry for trying to play matchmaker. I’m officially turning in my badge. Can you please please please just get down to Nashville ASAP?”
I hear the front door open downstairs, followed by loud voices, squealing, and barking. I’m guessing it’s Janey with her husband Walter and their two kids, who must’ve made it back from visiting Walter’s family in Galena. A deep voice is singing “Carol of the Bells” with lots of extradingsanddongsthrown in, while the dogs continue barking amid all sorts of laughter.
I wet my lips, trying to figure out how to tell Lucy the truth. Which is that I don’t want to leave. Not yet. “Howabout if I drive down on the twenty-sixth? That’s only a few more days from now.”
I can tell that’s not the answer she wants when her gaze lifts toward her eyebrows and she gives two hard blinks. “Fine,” she says with a sigh. “The twenty-sixth. I’ll try to survive until then.”
“Good. We’ll talk more later, okay?” I’m anxious to get downstairs and meet more of Beau’s family. Especially now that I know I’m running out of time with them.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Every time a bell rings, a matchmaker gets his wings
