The Matchmaking Pact

“I’m not hungry.” Betty closed her eyes and sighed. “You can do my hair right away.”

“I’ll need to get some elastics from my room first.”

“Why didn’t you think of that in the first place? I always have my hair done in the morning. You know that.”

Josie walked to the room she shared with Alyssa, closed the door behind her and leaned against it.

“Please, Lord, give me patience,” she whispered, clenching her hands into fists. “Please help me to love her as You love her.”

She waited a moment, then pushed herself away from the door and walked to her dresser.

She shook her head when she saw the framed photograph sitting front and center on the dresser.

Her niece had come home from school one day with this picture of her best friend, insisting on putting it on the dresser.

In the picture, Lily held the reins of the horse and grinned at the camera, her hair brushed and braided. She wore a cowboy hat and blue jeans. Silas was on the horse, his mouth tilted in an unfamiliar smile. He wore a cowboy hat pushed back on his head and he leaned toward the camera, his arms resting on the pommel of the saddle, as if about to divulge some secret.

When Alyssa had brought the picture home she said it was so she could remember her friend when they weren’t together in school.

Josie picked up the picture. Lily looked a couple of years younger than now, which made Josie suspect Lily’s mother had snapped the picture. Hence Lily’s neat hair. And Silas’s warm smile that transformed a face that Josie had seen only scowling or frowning.

He wasn’t a happy man, and she wondered what it would take to see that smile again.

She set the picture back on the dresser, snatched the elastics she needed out of a basket holding Alyssa’s hair stuff and hurried back to her waiting and impatient grandmother.

“You took a long time,” Betty said, scowling at her granddaughter.

As Josie brushed her grandmother’s hair, she wondered what it would take to get a smile from Betty Carter, as well.

“Did you give your dad the picture?” Alyssa slipped her backpack on and tugged her braids loose from the straps. They always got caught. Sometimes she wanted to get her hair cut, but then she wouldn’t look like her friend Lily anymore. Lily’s dad would never let her cut her hair, so Alyssa kept her hair long, too.

Tommy Jacobs bumped her as he ran past them, heading out the door to catch the school bus. Alyssa was a bit angry with him, but then she remembered that he was a foster kid and he had lost his dog. When she thought about that, she felt sorry for him and wasn’t mad anymore.

“Yeah. He looked kind of funny when I did, though.” Lily dropped her books in her backpack, but didn’t zip it up before she put it on.

“Like funny laughing or funny weird?”

Lily tugged on her hair and tightened her ponytail. “Funny weird.”

Alyssa thought about this a moment. “Do you think that means he likes her?”

Lily shrugged as she grabbed her coat. “I asked him if he thought she was pretty and he said, “She’s as pretty as she needs to be.’ I don’t know what that means.” She sighed. “Now what are we supposed to do?”

Alyssa bit her thumbnail while she thought. “Maybe just wait a day or two? Then we can try something else?”

“Maybe. But this matchmaking is taking a long time. I know my dad is lonely, because I see him looking sad when he’s sitting on the porch drinking his coffee and I’m supposed to be sleeping. And I want a mom again. Like Josie.”

“And I want a dad. But I don’t know how to make getting them together go faster,” Alyssa said, taking Lily’s hand.

Auntie Josie was already at the church, so she and Lily walked down the street from the school. The town didn’t look as messy as it had the day of the tornado, but the trees still looked sad. At least that’s what Auntie Josie always said.

“I’m tired of waiting,” Lily said as they turned onto Main Street. “And I’m tired of eating grilled-cheese sandwiches and hot dogs.”

“My aunt makes good suppers. We had something called pesto with our pasta last night. I liked it, but Gramma said it had too much garlic. Gramma doesn’t like much of the food Auntie Josie makes.”

A truck drove past them with a bunch of wood in the back, and Alyssa’s heart skipped. That looked like Lily’s dad. Was he in town already to pick up Lily? Was their plan going to get wrecked already?

But the truck kept going down the street.

“Did you phone your dad and tell him the program is going an hour later today?” Alyssa asked.

“Yeah.” Lily swung her jacket back and forth, the cuffs of her sleeves dragging over the ground. “Will we get into trouble for fibbing? Your aunt told him it was over at six.”

Alyssa didn’t want to think about that. “I don’t think so. Because if your dad comes late, and he comes to my aunt’s house to pick you up, maybe you both will eat supper with us. And that’s good for our cause.”

Lily brightened. “That would be cool. How will he know I’m at your aunt’s place?”

“Aunt Josie will put a note on the door. Guaranteed.”

“But would your auntie Josie invite him for supper?”

“You just have to say how hungry you are. And make sure you let my aunt know how good the food smells. Say something again about how you usually eat hot dogs for supper. She’ll feel sorry for you for sure.”

“Right. I forgot.”

“And maybe you shouldn’t drag your coat and make it so dirty. You don’t want your dad to get mad about that.”

Lily shrugged. “My dad doesn’t care. I never get in trouble ’cause my clothes are dirty.”

“Really? My aunt doesn’t like it when I get dirty.”

Lily giggled. “One time Daddy forgot to put soap in the washing machine and my shirt didn’t get clean. I didn’t tell him, ’cause I didn’t want him to feel bad.”

“Maybe Auntie Josie can give him some hints,” Alyssa said.

“If our plan works, then maybe he won’t have to do the laundry anymore.”

“That would be so cool,” Alyssa said with a grin.

Chapter Three

“He’s not coming.” Lily stood by the door, clutching the plate of cupcakes she had made for her father’s birthday.

“He’ll come, honey. Don’t worry.” Josie stroked Lily’s hair, shooting an anxious glance down the street.

It was 6:36 p.m. The rest of the parents had come and gone, but no sign of Silas. A phone call to his home netted her a terse request to leave a message from the answering machine. So she did, but here she was, half an hour after class and still waiting.

Anxiety clawed at her. Her grandmother had been complaining all last week about how long she had to wait for supper. As it was, Josie couldn’t leave her grandmother alone too long.

“Is Mr. Marstow coming?” Alyssa asked, her voice surprisingly perky in the circumstances. Josie was glad the children hadn’t picked up on her worry.

What if something happened to him? As far as she knew he was all alone on his ranch.

Another quick glance at her watch: 6:37 p.m. She had to get going. Now. “Are you sure you don’t know your dad’s cell phone number?”

Lily furrowed her brow, her nose curling up at the same time. “I’m sorry. I forgot. I used to know it.”

Josie thought for sure Silas would have drilled that information into his daughter’s head.

“I’ll write a note for your father and leave it on the door. I also left a message on his home phone. Stay right here and don’t move one inch,” she said, adding a stern note to her voice so the girls knew she was serious. “I’m getting some paper.”

The girls were exactly where she had left them when she returned with the note. She pinned it to the door, hoping it would stay. “Okay. Let’s go.”

She slipped her purse over her shoulder and held her hand out to Alyssa.

“Lily wants to hold your hand, too,” Alyssa said. “She doesn’t have an aunt’s hand to hold. Or a mother.”

Josie glanced down at the mismatched clothes Lily was wearing and felt a touch of regret for the young girl. Though Josie had taken the liberty of brushing Lily’s hair and fixing up her ponytail, it was obvious to Josie the little girl had chosen her own clothes.

“I can carry my cupcakes in my other hand,” Lily said, shifting them and holding out her free hand.

Josie took it and smiled down at the young girl. “Then let’s get going.”

The walk along the river to their temporary home was quick. Thankfully the girls were willing to step up the pace and they got there in a few minutes.

“Is that you, Josie? What took you so long?” was the first thing Josie heard when she opened the back door to the cottage.

“Sorry, Gramma,” she called out, dropping her briefcase on the floor and helping Lily set her cupcakes on the counter. “One of the parents hasn’t come yet.”

She hurried to the living room. Betty Carter was sitting in her wheelchair, looking out over the river, her hands clenched over each other in her lap. Josie paused when she caught a fleeting glimpse of sorrow in her grandmother’s face.

What went on behind those sharp blue eyes? Did she have regrets? Did she miss all the people she had lost in her life?

Josie would probably never know. Her grandmother never opened up to her. Never showed anything that might be construed as weakness. And never told Josie that she loved her.

“I would have liked to know if you were coming,” Betty said, the condemning tone in her voice sweeping away the moment. “A simple phone call would have been considerate.”

Josie pressed back a reply. Her grandmother didn’t like answering the phone, as she had often told her granddaughter. “I see Sally got you set up nicely,” she said, her eyes skimming over the table beside her grandmother. A teapot, cup and plate of cookies sat within easy reach as did a book and a couple of magazines.

While Josie was at work, a few women from the church took turns stopping by to check on her grandmother. Sometimes they had to help her out of bed.

“That Fenton woman doesn’t know the first thing about helping invalids. She jostled me so bad, my pain came back.”

“Did you take the pills the doctor gave you?”

“They don’t do anything.” Betty flapped her hand in a gesture of dismissal. Then she straightened as Lily and Alyssa slipped past the doorway. “It’s not polite to ignore your Gramma, you know,” she called out with a sharp tone. “And who is that with you?”

Alyssa stopped, and Josie saw her give Lily an apologetic look. Then she turned and trudged into the living room, holding Lily’s hand.

“Gramma, this is my friend Lily Marstow. Lily, this is my Great-Gramma.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Lily said.

“Is your dad Silas Marstow?” Betty turned her chair around to face the girl.

Lily nodded.

“Your mother died two years ago?”

“It makes me sad to talk about her,” Lily said. “But someday I’ll get a new mother.”

Her assertion made Josie wonder if Silas had a girlfriend, which then made her wonder why she cared.

“If you’ll excuse me, Gramma, I have to go make supper.” Josie felt bad leaving Alyssa and Lily with her grandmother, but she had to start.

“We’re going, too,” Alyssa said, grabbing Lily by the hand.

“Don’t you want to stay and talk to me?” Betty asked, sounding peeved.

“I want to show Lily my room before her dad comes.” Alyssa beat a hasty retreat, giggling with Lily as they scurried down the hallway and into the room she shared with Josie.

Josie paused in the doorway, feeling a moment’s sympathy for her grandmother. Betty had never been a pleasant person, and Josie was sure her injuries gave her a lot of pain. However, she didn’t blame the girls for not wanting to spend more time with her. Betty was unfailingly critical. While her grandmother might have just cause to criticize Josie, given her wild past, Betty had no right to reproach Alyssa.

“Alyssa is turning out to be more and more like you all the time,” Betty snapped.

“Alyssa is a good girl, Gramma.”

“You better hope so” was Betty’s only reply.

Josie sighed and returned to the kitchen, her brief moment of sympathy melting in the heat of her grandmother’s glare and reinforcing, for Josie, the need to stick to her plan of leaving. That Betty disapproved of Josie was one thing, but to turn that disapproval to Alyssa, Josie couldn’t allow. And she knew her grandmother wasn’t going to change.

She got the rice cooking, made some more tea for her grandmother and was stir-frying the vegetables when a truck rumbled to a stop in front of the house.

Josie glanced sidelong out the window in time to see Silas Marstow come striding up the walk. Beneath the brim of his cowboy hat, she saw his face set in the same grim lines she had seen that day of the tornado.

Why did she feel a rush of guilt? It wasn’t her fault he was late.

“Lily, your father is here,” she called out, rinsing her hands and drying them off on her apron as she walked to the door. When she pulled it open, Silas stood on the step, one hand raised to knock on the door, the other on his hip, his eyes narrowed.

She had a feeling of déjà vu as his disapproval swirled around her.

“I thought this thing went until seven” were the first words out of his mouth.

Josie slowly shook her head. “No. I was sure I told you six.”

Silas pushed his hat back on his head, scratching his chin with his forefinger. He hadn’t shaved and his finger made a rasping noise against the stubble shadowing his jaw. “Lily told me seven. I wouldn’t be so irresponsible as to leave my daughter waiting for an hour.”

Josie bit back her next response, trying not to get baited by his anger. “You’re here now. Come in, and I’ll get Lily.”

The cabin was an adequate size for Josie, her grandmother and niece, but as soon as Silas entered the kitchen, it seemed to shrink.

“Have a seat, I’ll be right back,” Josie said, pulling out one of the chairs she and Alyssa had managed to salvage from their home.

Lily and Alyssa were perched on Alyssa’s bed when Josie entered the room.

“Your dad is here,” Josie said again.

“Okay.” Lily glanced at Alyssa who lifted her hands in a pushing motion, then Lily turned to Josie. “I like supper, you know.”

Alyssa poked Lily and frowned.

Lily slapped her hand on her mouth. “Umm—I mean, I’m really hungry.”

“Of course you are. It’s supper time.” Josie glanced from Lily to Alyssa trying to read the unspoken messages flashing between the two. Because, sure as kittens grow up, they were planning something.

“Let’s go see your dad,” Alyssa said, jumping off the bed and dragging Lily along behind her.

“Auntie Josie, can Lily and Mr. Marstow stay for supper?” Alyssa was asking as Josie entered the kitchen.

Josie was momentarily taken aback. Talk about putting her on the spot.

“I don’t think we can,” Silas said.

“But I’m so hungry,” Lily said, glancing over her shoulder at Josie. “I don’t think I can wait until I’m at the farm.”

Josie hesitated, convinced Lily and Alyssa were up to something and not sure she wanted to be a part of it.

“Oh, don’t be so rude, let the man and his little girl stay,” Josie’s grandmother put in.

Somehow Betty had worked her way to the kitchen and had decided to add her voice to the fray.

Josie felt torn between appearing to be rude and feeling as if she was being manipulated.

“You’re welcome to stay, Mr. Marstow,” she said, giving him a polite smile that let him know she didn’t expect him to.

“Thank you, but I should get going.” He read her perfectly.

“But I’m so hungry, Daddy. I can’t wait.” Lily tugged on Silas’s hand, rubbing her stomach with her other hand.

Silas glanced from Josie to his daughter and she was convinced he was feeling as manipulated as she was.

“And it’s your birthday,” Lily added. “And I don’t want to eat hot dogs again. Not for your birthday.”

Now Josie felt like a real cad. Making the guy go home and make hot dogs for his birthday meal. “Please. Stay. I insist. We’ll have more than enough.”

“Auntie Josie always makes enough so we can have leftovers,” Alyssa put in. “And we had leftovers yesterday even though Gramma doesn’t like it.”

Josie shot her a warning glance. Mr. Marstow didn’t need to know the minutiae of their everyday life.

“Please, Daddy,” Lily pleaded, sensing her father’s weakening.

“Alyssa, why don’t you and Lily set the table. Make sure you have five place settings put out,” Josie said, putting an end to the awkward discussion. She gave Silas a cautious smile. “Now, you have to join us.”

“And we have birthday cupcakes for dessert,” Lily added.

“You come talk to me in the living room,” Betty put in from the doorway. “I remember your wife.”

And so, step by step, Silas and his daughter were pulled into the Cane family dinner.

As Josie directed the chattering girls, she put the finishing touches on supper. While she worked, her own emotions veered from annoyance with Alyssa and Lily for putting her on the spot and a curious sense of muted anticipation.

It had been six years since she had a man over for supper.

Six years since her responsibilities completely altered the course of her life.

Six years since she carried Alyssa away from the hospital, a little, confused girl of two, an orphan, with only her aunt to take care of her.

An aunt who, up until then, had lived life on her own terms and in her own way. Josie’s life had taken a 180-degree turn and there were many times, since then, that she thanked God for a second chance to redeem herself. Both in His eyes and in the eyes of the community.

But she was determined to be a good mother to Alyssa, to focus solely on the little girl and her needs. As a result she seldom dated and, in the past three years, had only gone out a handful of times.

Now a man’s voice reverberated from the living room, answering questions posed by Betty. A man was joining them for dinner.

“Tell Gramma and Mr. Marstow dinner is ready,” Josie said, setting the pot of rice on the table. She glanced over the settings, a feeling of self-pity loomed. The extensive china collection, inherited from her sister, had been reduced to a few chipped plates, a couple of cups and four bowls she and Alyssa salvaged from her broken house under the watchful eyes of a crew who was sent to remove debris.

The plastic chairs hunched around the rickety table had been donated, scrounged from various households whose possessions were still intact and who had extra to spare.

Her dining room had once boasted an antique dining room set, also inherited from her sister, a hutch that her parents used to own and a living room set that Josie had saved up for dollar by precious dollar.

All gone, she thought with a pang of remorse as she straightened the faded tablecloth she had bought at a rummage sale put on by the town for the tornado victims. Sure she had the insurance money, but dollars could never replace what she had lost.

She pushed her emotions aside, struggling to count her blessings. She had Alyssa. She had her health. She had the enduring presence of God in her life.

And Gramma? a tiny voice questioned.

Well that was another ongoing story.

“We’re here,” Alyssa said, leading the mini procession into the kitchen with a grin of pride.

“Smells good,” Silas said, pushing Betty’s wheelchair into the kitchen. “Where do you want us to sit?”

Alyssa directed traffic and a few moments later, they were all settled around the table.

“Shall we pray?” As Josie glanced around the full table, a curious sense of well-being sprung up inside.

It felt good to see new faces around the table. And as Josie’s eyes met Silas’s, she felt the faintest hint of possibilities.

Which she immediately quashed as she bowed her head. She had her plans. They had only been put on hold until her grandmother was settled.

“Thank You, Lord, for food. For a roof over our heads. For the blessing of Your love,” Josie prayed, “and thank You for the company that could join us this evening. May we be a blessing to each other. Amen.”

Josie waited a moment, then looked up.

Directly across from her, Silas was looking past her, his mouth set in grim lines. As if he was disapproving of something.

Chapter Four

“What made you move here if you didn’t know anyone?” Betty was asking, sounding unusually animated as she ate.

Maybe she should have supper company more often, Josie thought. Then she caught Alyssa pulling a face at Lily and she shot her niece a warning frown. Alyssa was getting positively giddy.

“I liked the size of the town. I liked the people I met,” Silas said, seemingly unaware of his daughter’s silly antics.

“And then you met Kelly, of course,” Betty said with a coy smile. “Your wife was in the same Bible study I went to. She was a lovely, lovely person.”

Silas gave Betty a tight smile but didn’t answer.

“I remember the first time she came,” Betty continued. “She wore a white dress. And the way she could quote Scripture. I’m sure her parents and grandparents were very, very proud of her, as were you,” Betty said with a faint sniff.

The admiration in her grandmother’s voice and the sidelong glance Betty shot her resurrected an unwelcome surge of self-pity. The underlying tone seemed to be that there were other children, grandchildren even, who could not create this pride. Who were unworthy.

Like Josie, for instance.

“Your wife was a treasure, Mr. Marstow,” Betty continued. “A blessing from God.”

“She was a treasure,” Silas said.

Josie glanced at him as she caught the pain in his voice. But his attention was on the few pieces of rice he had left on his plate.

“Daddy said that God took our mommy away from us, so we don’t talk about my mom or God,” Lily put in. “But I miss her.”

“I’m sure you do,” Betty said, but her eyes were on Silas. She opened her mouth as if to say more when Josie interjected.

“Lily, why don’t you get the cupcakes.” Josie raised her voice just in case her grandmother decided to voice the words hovering on the edge of her usually sharp tongue. “I think most of us are ready for dessert.”

“I’m not done,” Betty said with a peevish voice as Lily and Alyssa jumped off their chairs and Josie cleared a space for the plate.

“I made strawberry ones.” Lily set the plate with the assorted cupcakes on the table in front of her father. “But I didn’t put pink icing on them, because I know you don’t like pink.”

Silas gave her a rueful little smile. “What color did you use?”

“Purple. With yellow flowers. Ms. Josie helped me make the leaves. She makes really, really nice leaves.”

“We all have our talents,” Josie said, with a light laugh. “Can I take your plate?”

“How long have you been doing this program?” Silas asked, glancing up at her as he handed her his dinner plate. Josie felt the faintest flutter as their gazes met.

She pulled her attention back to his question. “For the past six years. I took some childhood-development courses through a community college in Manhattan.”

“And what made you decide to move back to High Plains?”

“Ms. Josie is a really good teacher,” Lily said, not giving Josie a chance to answer, “I learned a lot today.”

“That’s good,” Silas murmured.

Lily leaned forward, her hands folded in front of her on the table. “Can I please go again tomorrow? And tomorrow and all the time?”

Josie wanted to interrupt. Lily was really putting her father on the spot and she was sure he didn’t appreciate it. But before she could say anything Alyssa cut in.

“My aunt Josie is very careful. All the time, she’s very, very careful. And she would never let Lily run away like I made her do that day of the tornado.” Alyssa’s expression was so earnest it made Josie smile.