Soon To Be Brides. Joan Elliott Pickart

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      She was absolutely lovely.

      With short, curly dark hair, delicate features and the biggest, most expressive eyes he’d ever seen, combined with a slender figure clad in pale blue slacks and a very feminine flowered top, Caitlin Cunningham was, indeed, worth remembering.

      Matt made his way across the room and settled onto the hearth about three feet away from Caitlin, whose gaze was riveted on Carolyn. He slid a glance at Caitlin, and realized that she was clutching her hands so tightly beneath her chin that her knuckles were white. She drew a shuddering breath as Carolyn opened a large envelope and removed five envelopes containing the match pictures.

      “The big moment has arrived, huh?” Matt said, directing his statement toward Caitlin.

      She did not respond, nor give any indication that she had even heard him.

      Way to go, MacAllister, Matt thought. He’d sure knocked her out with his good looks and charm. She was speechless with awe. Yeah, right.

      He could tear off all his clothes and do a hip-swiveling dance worthy of a male stripper and he seriously doubted if Caitlin Cunningham would even notice.

      Well, maybe he was being too hard on himself. After all, Ms. Cunningham was about to see a picture of her new child for the very first time. Nobody could compete with that.

      Matt continued to scrutinize Caitlin out of the corner of his eye while being vaguely aware of the sound of excited reactions as well as sniffles in the background as Carolyn passed out the envelopes.

      Carolyn moved to where Caitlin was sitting and gave her one of the coveted envelopes.

      “Congratulations, Mother,” Carolyn said, smiling.

      With a trembling hand Caitlin took the envelope from Carolyn.

      “Thank you, Carolyn,” Caitlin said softy.“I… Thank you.”

      “Open the envelope.” Carolyn laughed. “Staring at it like that isn’t going to give you your first glimpse of your daughter. Okay, off I go. This is such fun.”

      “Well,” Caitlin said, now gripping the envelope with both hands. “My daughter’s picture is in here. Oh, my goodness, my daughter’s picture is in this envelope. This is wonderful and terrifying and…oh dear.”

      Matt scooted about a foot closer to Caitlin on the hearth.

      “Do you need some help opening that?”

      “Aakk,” Caitlin said, her head snapping around. “Who are you?”

      “Matt MacAllister,” he said, frowning. “Marsha introduced me when I came in. Remember? No, I guess you don’t. This is quite a moment in your life. Go ahead. Say hello to your daughter.”

      “Yes, yes, I’m going to do that,” Caitlin said, nodding jerkily. “Right now.” She slid a fingertip under the flap of the envelope, lifted it, hesitated, then reached inside and took out two pictures. A lovely smile instantly formed on her lips and her eyes filled with tears. “Oh, look at her. Just look at her. She’s the most beautiful baby I’ve ever seen. My daughter. This is my baby.”

      Matt craned his neck with the hope of getting a peek at the photographs but couldn’t see them. He moved closer to Caitlin, just as she turned the pictures over to read what was written on the back.

      “She’s… Oh, I’ve forgotten every bit of math I’ve ever known. Okay, let’s see. She’s six months and…two, three…yes, six months and four days old.” She looked at Matt. “Isn’t she gorgeous?”

      Matt chuckled. “I’m sure she is, but I haven’t seen her yet.”

      “Oh,” Caitlin said, turning the photos back over and holding them side by side for Matt to see. “Look, here she is.”

      A funny little sensation of warmth seemed to tiptoe around and through Matt’s heart as he studied the pictures of the baby.

      She had black hair that was sticking up in all directions, dark almond-shaped eyes that were staring right at the camera, a rosebud mouth and in both shots she was scowling with not even a hint of a smile. In one picture she was wearing a pink blanket sleeper and in another a faded red one.

      Matt’s palms actually began to tingle as he had the irrational urge to reach out, lift the baby from the photograph and nestle her close, hold her tight, tell her everything was going to be just fine.

      “She’s…” He cleared his throat. “She’s a heart-stealer, Caitlin. Congratulations. Your daughter is…well, she’s really something. What are you going to name her?”

      “I can’t decide between Mackenzie and Madison,” Caitlin said, gazing at the pictures again. “I think I’ll wait until I actually hold her in my arms before I pick which one is right for her.”

      “Is everybody happy?” Carolyn said from across the room.

      A chorus of affirmative replies filled the air.

      “Some of you may have gotten more than one picture of your daughter,” Carolyn went on. “There’s never any rhyme or reason to what they send. I know you could spend the rest of the evening just gazing at those photos, but we have a lot to cover. Marsha, why don’t we have our potluck supper, then we can get down to business. Let’s take a few minutes to share the photographs with everyone before dinner.”

      “Okay,” Marsha said, getting to her feet. “Matt, come see the picture of your goddaughter. She’s eleven months old and she’s standing alone in this photo. She’s fantastic. Oh, I’m going to cry again.”

      Matt crossed the room and grinned when he saw the picture of Marsha and Bud’s baby. She was wearing a dress that was much too large for her, was obviously not very steady on her feet, as she was holding her arms straight out at her sides, but had a broad smile on her face as though she knew that standing alone was a very big deal. She had a little fluff of dark hair on the top of her head and her smile revealed four teeth—two on the top and two on the bottom.

      “Dynamite,” Matt said, laughing. “You two better get your track shoes ready. This little lady is about to conquer the challenge of walking.”

      “Isn’t her hair funny?” Bud said. “I love it. Just one wild plop on the top of her head. Hey, Grace, I’m your daddy. Grace Marsha Mathis. How’s that, Matt?”

      “Perfect,” Matt said. “Grace. That’s nice. I like it. Caitlin is still undecided between naming her baby Mackenzie or Madison.”

      “Oh?” Marsha said, raising her eyebrows. “Caitlin told you that?”

      “Well, yeah, I was sitting right there and asked her what she was going to name her and… Marsha, don’t start your matchmaking thing. Okay?” Matt rolled his eyes heavenward. “I almost didn’t survive that bit the last time you did it. Concentrate on Grace Marsha Mathis and forget about me.”

      “What I want to know, ole chum,” Bud said, “is whether or not you’ve made up your mind about going to China with us.”

      “Count me in. I wouldn’t miss it for the world. When СКАЧАТЬ