Page 21 of Matchmaking the Rival

“By the way, for Thanksgiving, I'd love for all of you to come here to celebrate. I want to be surrounded by all my grandchildren." Jake cleared his throat. "Oh, yes. Jake, I already invited your half brothers. I don't want to hear anything about it.”

“You won’t from me. Have you told Colton yet?” I asked.

“No, but he’ll come around,” Grandmother replied.

Colton and Jake were the most distant from our half brothers, although Jake had interacted more with them ever since Natalie started working for Maddox. Colton was another story.

"So, Cade, tell us about the contest. And how is Meredith? I heard she’s participating too," Grandmother said.

I stared at her. "The jig's up. You name-dropped her last time, and I thought it was a coincidence, but clearly you know something. What is it?"

Jake was looking in fascination at Grandmother. Natalie was chuckling, and Gabe looked stunned. Spencer shook his head when Natalie glanced at him, and when he frowned, I realized he knew something.

"Whatever's going on, I want to know," I said firmly, pointing at him. “I invoke twin privilege.”

Spencer held up his hands. "I don't even know that much. But when we were at Martha's Vineyard, it was obvious that Grandmother was planning something from the way she mentioned Meredith."

"I think planning is too strong a word," Grandmother said in an innocent tone of voice. "Several things just fell into place the way I wanted them to at the right time."

"And what are those things?" Jake asked.

She cleared her throat. “Her mom and I met two months ago when I joined a new book club. It was lovely catching up with her. Imagine my surprise when she told me Meredith was in the coffee industry too. Now, let’s all focus on this delicious meal I've prepared. We don't want it to get cold."

We were all silent as we ate. Clearly I wasn't the only one blindsided by our grandmother's craftiness. I also admired it.

After we finished eating, we each took as many plates as we could and carried them to the kitchen.

"You’re not mad at your old gran, are you?" she asked as I put the plates in the dishwasher.

"I'm just surprised that you openly admitted it. I know you schemed when it came to Jake, but you were more subtle about it." I winked at her. I couldn’t be mad at my grandmother.

"Ah, yes, but that was different. I knew your brother would fight me if I admitted to him that I was matchmaking him and Natalie."

My eyes bulged. "Matchmaking? That's what you're trying to do here?"

"Yes." Her grin was huge, and she put her hands on her hips. "I always thought you and Meredith could’ve had something going on in high school."

"Grandmother, that was years ago."

"My instincts never lie."

She looked so excited that I chose not to contradict her. Did I like Meredith? Hell yes. Was I attracted to her? Fuck yes. But that didn’t mean Grandmother was right. I was a flirt through and through, even though I’d been having a dry spell for almost a month. I owned up to my reputation. That wouldn’t earn me any points with Meredith, I was sure of it. As opposed to my father, I didn’t hide that I didn’t want to get serious about a woman. I told my dates that up front—and usually pursued women who only wanted something casual.

"And there. Seed planted," Grandmother said triumphantly. "My job here is done."

I shook my head, laughing as she walked away from the kitchen.

Spencer came in. "Should I be worried? Grandmother was a bit too cheerful, like she already got her way."

"Yeah, that's what she thinks," I informed my twin. "For some reason, she got it in her head that Meredith and I should be a thing. She even used the wordmatchmaking."

Spencer winced, rinsing the plates before I loaded them. "She's really determined about it lately, isn't she?"

I shrugged. "It's important to her. I get it. Just won't happen when it comes to me."

"I wonder why she's so fixated on you. I mean, she could've chosen Colton to focus on."

"Hardly," I said, starting the dishwasher. "The dude won't come out of his lab."

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