Make Me A Match: Baby, Baby / The Matchmaker Wore Skates / Suddenly Sophie. Melinda Curtis

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СКАЧАТЬ him. “Is this a game to you?”

      “No. Keep your voice down.” He took her arm and walked away from the vehicles. “These are my friends. I want them to be happy.”

      “But there’s a bet involved.” Her face pinched, and not from the cold.

      “Coop, let’s get this show on the road.” Ty climbed into the passenger seat of the lead Suburban.

      Suddenly, Coop was all too aware that the clock was ticking on his and Nora’s time together. “You’ll be here when I get back? I’ll explain everything then.”

      “Of course I’ll be here. Mary Jo is going with you.”

      “Good.” He leaned in and kissed Zoe’s nose.

      And then he kissed Nora’s, telling himself it wasn’t a final kiss goodbye.

CHAPTER SEVEN

      “WE’RE GOING TO LEAVE, Zoe, and that’s that.” Nora fastened the baby’s diaper tabs in the Bar & Grill’s bathroom a few hours after the matchmaking group had left. “Your father may not be exactly like my father, but he’s still a flake.” Matchmaking on a bet? “Who needs him?”

      Unfortunately her heart wasn’t on the same page as her declaration. She enjoyed Coop’s company. She wanted to talk about hockey and politics and Zoe’s future with him. She wanted to dance and kiss and laugh and smile with him.

      “But I want chocolate, too,” she cooed to Zoe. “And I don’t keep that around the house.”

      “I shaved my legs for this?” Mary Jo traipsed into the restroom, followed by a group of women. “I have mud up the legs of my jeans and down my backside.”

      Tatiana followed her in, took one look at her reflection in the mirror and shrieked. “I have helmet hair? Why didn’t someone tell me?”

      Nora snapped Zoe into her pink, footed jumper. The guys must be devastated. Not that they didn’t deserve some devastation for playing with people’s hearts. “I guess the trip didn’t go well.”

      “Go well? Did you see my hair?” Tatiana pointed to the flattened hair above her ears with a comb. She began teasing it back to life. Soon it looked more like a lopsided dove’s nest than a swanky hairstyle.

      “Look at my jeans.” Mary Jo showed Nora her mud-covered and unidentifiable-debris-spattered backside. “These were brand-new.”

      “My mascara iced over and my eyes nearly froze shut.” Nadine rubbed at her eyes and then did a double take in the mirror. “Forget your hair, Tat. Why didn’t you tell me one of my eyelashes fell off?” She held out her sweater, searching for the missing beauty accessory.

      “You sat in the front seat.” Tatiana went to work on the other side of her hair. “I couldn’t see your face.”

      “Ah.” Nora bit back a smile as she picked up Zoe. “That’s what’s on Mary Jo’s jeans.”

      “Ruined,” Nadine muttered, plucking the lash from her friend’s behind. With a sigh, she carefully peeled off the other eyelash. “Can I borrow your mascara, Tat?” Nadine didn’t wait for approval before digging in Tatiana’s purse. “This was stupid. The point of a social is to look good, be social and talk.”

      “With hotties.” Tatiana never paused her mad, fluffing rhythm.

      Mary Jo grabbed a handful of paper towels and wiped at her butt. “A place where you can hear what a man says.”

      The three women stopped what they were doing and looked at each other. And then they all started laughing.

      Nora missed out on the joke. “What’s so funny?”

      Tatiana edged Nadine out of the mirror space. “It was actually kind of nice not to hear them.”

      Nadine pumped the brush in the mascara tube. “All they talk about is fishing and hunting and hockey.”

      “And the weather.” Mary Jo gave up wiping. She threw the towels in the trash. “And the road conditions. And...I don’t know. Boring stuff?”

      “What would you like them to talk about?” Nora asked, rubbing Zoe’s back.

      Silence. More exchanged looks, as if they were afraid to spill some mighty secret.

      “Okay, I’ll say it.” Nadine turned to Nora, hand on hip. “I’d like to talk about me. And hear about him. What did he think of a movie we’ve both seen? What does he think about the roof that caved in from snow at the elementary school? It’s like their conversational skills are buried beneath their beards.”

      The women nodded. Nora silently agreed. That described a lot of men she knew.

      Except Coop.

      “What’s the point?” Tatiana gave up trying to fluff her hair. “The men in this town don’t try. They can’t even be bothered to shave beyond once a year. Ty and Mike don’t shave at all. It’s got to be better in the Lower 48.”

      Nora wasn’t so sure.

      * * *

      “THAT WAS A DISASTER,” Ty muttered, meeting Coop’s gaze in the mirror of the men’s room where Coop was cleaning up at the sink so he could hold Zoe.

      “A mushroom cloud of disaster,” Gideon added, leaning against the wall.

      “I hear you,” Coop said. “I might have salvaged the day if Mike made me an offer for that red Suburban.”

      “Are you giving up?” Ty’s beard practically quivered with anger.

      “No,” Coop said carefully, unable to ignore the gut-twisting feeling of impending failure. “But have you ever wondered if we were meant to stay here?”

      Ty’s expression turned mushroom-cloud dark. “You. Of all people.” He flung open the door hard enough to make it bang against the wall.

      “Seriously,” Gideon said. “It’s as though Nora came to town and you lost your edge. We need the shark who can sell a car to a guy who’s got twenty.” He stalked out.

      Had Coop lost his edge? He looked in the mirror. Beard? Check. Flannel? Check. Hadn’t he just taken an ATV through sloppy terrain? Yes, he had. There was no issue with his edge or salesmanship. Except...

      He washed dishes. He changed wet diapers. He had a car seat in his truck.

      It’ll all be worth it if Nora stays.

      His Y chromosome banged a protest in his chest, demanding the return of his maleness, of his drive for his dreams. Coop looked in the mirror. Twenty years he’d had this dream. He wasn’t ready to give it up yet. Did that make him a bad dad?

      Coop went out to face the music: twelve singles who’d complained bitterly about the cold, muddy conditions all the way down Sky Hawk Mountain and two good friends who deserved his all.

      Nora СКАЧАТЬ