Matchmaking Mona. Diana Mars

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      Obviously the man was not buying her explanation, because he gave her a knowing look. “Knowing fourteen-year-olds, Mona won’t be much help to you. But it’s nice to give her a job to make her feel important, and let her get a taste of what the field might really entail.”

      “Wrong on both counts, Mr. Channahon,” LJ. said. “This is not a mere ‘Let’s give the kid some busy work to keep her happy and out of your hair’ job. While I always like to raise a child’s self-esteem, I do have a job to do. And while you may not think much of the field of anthropology and its useful applications in the modern world—” apparently another trait he shared with Nick “—I love what I do. And I also respect a teenager’s capacity for work... especially in something that obviously appeals to her so much. I’m merely killing two birds with one stone.”

      LJ. did not give Cooper Channahon a chance to launch into another apology. She was cold herself, and wanted to blow-dry her hair before she went into Coal City for some groceries.

      And dinner.

      Her stomach growled just as she was closing the door, and L.J. experienced a momentary embarrassment before her mind moved on to everything she had to do today before she could be ready for further fieldwork tomorrow morning.

      

      

      Cooper heard the sound of hunger emanating from L.J.’s stomach, and wondered why he felt so attracted to a woman he had just met.

      She was not breathtakingly beautiful. She might almost be considered pleasingly plump. Except that her breasts—and he’d had pleasant firsthand knowledge—were on the small side.

      His normal preference was for petite, top-heavy blondes. LJ.’s hair was a nice brown, but nonetheless what the guys at work termed “librarian brown.” And she was tall. And her green eyes totally devoid of makeup.

      Hearing himself cataloguing a very vital, attractive woman’s attributes, Cooper winced. No wonder many women considered men Neanderthals.

      He had just taken her apart as if she were some car, and had labeled all her advantages as if he were weighing a stock portfolio.

      When had he become so jaded and insensitive? He’d beat the guy who would ever discuss Mona in such terms—or for that matter, Corliss, even though he knew full well his younger sister could take very good care of herself.

      Shaking his head, Cooper headed toward the car parked on a drier section of land some yards away. He’d picked up Mona from basketball practice straight from work, and his only concession to the surroundings had been to change from his imported leather shoes into the newly purchased sneakers. His suit jacket was no match for the remaining bite of an Illinois winter.

      Cooper reached his car and got in with a sigh of relief. He warmed up the car a bit before leaving the site marked DIG IN PROGRESS. Visitors Please Sign In At Trailer Office.

      The sign was a rustic, homemade affair that indicated funding was indeed being cut. He’d taken part in a dig back in college to fulfill his science requirements in what he’d considered the easiest way. He’d hated science. But he’d found out anthropology was not easy, nor totally boring. But for someone like him ready to take Wall Street by storm, it had been totally irrelevant.

      But even he, with his untrained eye, could see that funding was obviously tight.

      Pulling away from the site, Cooper frowned. It had to be really tough having to constantly scrounge to perform one’s job. And discouraging.

      Yet L. J. Livingston was obviously giving it everything she had.

      Cooper could not remember when he’d last felt such enthusiasm for anything—especially his own job as a stockbroker. It no longer seemed a career choice. A highly rewarding job, financially. But a job, just the same.

      Accelerating as he reached the main highway—actually, a two-laner, with maximum speed allowed of forty-five miles per hour—Cooper thought of Mona back in the hotel room. Rather than drive back to Chicago, since they had to be at the site at such an early hour, he’d called his brother and asked him if it were okay if they stayed at a hotel overnight

      Corbett had gladly given his approval. He really needed to get his head together because, although he loved his daughter dearly, he’d not been much of a supportive father lately and had leaned heavily on Cooper to take up the slack.

      Cooper wanted to take L. J. Livingston to dinner, but was afraid she’d dismiss the idea out of hand if he proposed it But would the severe Ms. Livingston summarily reject the offer if Mona were involved?

      Cooper didn’t think so. He had not seen a ring on Ms. Livingston’s long, capable finger. And he was sure LJ. would be a stickler for the rules—including wearing a ring if she were either engaged or married.

      Any significant others that were not significantly committed did not bother Cooper.

      It did bother him that he was going to use Mona as a shield when asking the prickly L. J. Livingston to dinner.

      But he soothed his own conscience with the knowledge that Mona would love the idea. She already liked going out to dinner with her favorite uncle—since he was an easy touch who let her order whatever her junk-addicted little heart desired.

      His niece would enjoy the experience even more with her idol present.

      Three

      “You really think she’ll go for it, Uncle Coop?”

      “Monie, unless you call her, we’ll never know, will we?” Cooper answered for the third time as he carefully hung his suit jacket on the chair facing the somewhat decrepit desk. He took off his cuff links, and laid them by the tie that was already neatly folded on the desk. He wished he had other clothes to change into, but the best he could manage was a quick shower. Ms. Livingston did not strike him as a woman who spent too much time getting ready. But he had not had a chance to go shopping and get some casual clothes.

      Mona moved toward the phone. “What if she says no?”

      “Then you go over tomorrow, work your little fanny off and hope she asks you to the site again. And tonight we’ll rent movies and gorge on pizza and ice cream.”

      “You know I can’t eat too much junk, now that I’m a starter on the team,” Mona began, chewing her lip as she played with the receiver. Seeing storm signals in her uncle’s eyes—a rare but definitely serious occurrence—Mona began dialing. “You’ll bring me another time if she says no?”

      Cooper suppressed a sigh of impatience. Had he ever been such a combination of cocky self-assurance one moment, and then jellyfish indecision the next? Smiling at his niece, he decided, yes, he had. And probably worse.

      “Cross my heart and hope to die,” he intoned, laughing at Mona’s dramatic rolling of eyes.

      He went toward the bathroom, getting towels and soap ready—thoughtfully, Mona had asked for fresh towels, as three large fluffy ones lay in total disarray on the bathroom floor—and listened to the conversation briefly. When Mona’s eyes lit up like Buckingham Fountain on a clear summer night, he waited...

      And watched his niece pump her fists in the air, СКАЧАТЬ