into trucks,” Matthew explained as he bent to haul Ian out of the chair next to Hope, where he clearly didn’t belong.
“So am I, as a matter of fact.” She laid her warm fingers on his forearm to stop him from lifting the boy away, and her touch and words surprised him. “Ian, guess what? I saw a dump truck yesterday.”
“I seed a fire truck and…and it had water and everything.” Ian looked proud of himself.
Mom, at the end of the table, shot a happy look at Nora and beamed as if she’d discovered a big pot of gold.
“Okay, that’s enough.” Matthew grabbed Ian around the middle. Hope might be a good sport about his mother’s meddling and she was being kind to his son, but she clearly wasn’t into children. It wasn’t as if, at her age, she was married with kids of her own. “Little fireman, let’s get you over here with Gramma so you can’t bother Hope.”
“He can stay, Matthew.” Her words were velvet steel. “If you want to move him, fine, but he’s not bothering me.”
“He’ll be like this through the whole meal.”
“I like Ian. He’s a fellow truck lover.” The truth shone in her eyes—she seemed to really want Ian beside her. “Look, if you don’t trust me with him, sit right here with us and make sure I don’t start a food fight.”
“Are you kidding? Look at those two old meddling women.” He looked up to find both Mom and Nora watching him.
“Watch who you’re calling old, young man,” Nora admonished but looked undaunted as she winked at him. “Look at how your little boy takes to Hope.”
Help. That’s what he needed. Big-time help. Before he could protest, Hope spoke up.
“Nanna, you know I like children, so stop torturing Matthew or I’ll burn your supper tonight.” Hope flashed her grandmother a warning look, but her words held no real threat.
The door behind him snapped open and Helen walked through, escorting Harold. As the older women turned to greet the newcomers, Matthew knelt beside Hope and lowered his voice. “If we don’t protest this with a united front, they’ll think their matchmaking tricks are working.”
“So? Let them.” There were shadows in Hope’s eyes, too, and he watched her press a hand to her stomach, as if she were in pain. “Sooner or later they’ll figure out the truth and they’ll be happily married by then.”
She looked confident and somehow unhappy, too, and that troubled him. He wasn’t the only one hurt by this. As Helen and Harold made their way to the table, settling down on the far side of Nora, Matthew couldn’t help leaning close to whisper in Hope’s ear. “What about Helen?”
“Good question.” She swept a lock of hair from her face, an unconscious gesture that drew his gaze, and he couldn’t look away from her beauty. Her skin looked silken-soft, and she smelled like sun-kissed wildflowers.
Why couldn’t he stop noticing?
Hope caught Matthew alone in front of the egg trays at the buffet server. Grabbing a plate, she slid into line behind him. “Those women are incorrigible, using little children to further their matchmaking plans. Look at them.”
Matthew peered over his shoulder toward their table situated near the front of the café, where Patsy straightened up from pouring ketchup on Josh’s plate. His mom flashed him a triumphant smile that might mean, “See, I was right.” Seated next to Helen, Nanna laughed, caught in the act of spying.
“I see.” He reached for a serving spoon, trying to control a building anger. “They look pleased with themselves.”
“Too darn pleased.”
“You’re encouraging them.” Matthew spooned a heap of scrambled eggs onto his plate. “And I don’t like it. It’s not like I want Mom to think there’s a chance I would want—”
He paused. No, those words hadn’t sounded right. That wasn’t what he meant.
“Oh.” Hope heard his words and her fingers knocked against a serving spoon with a clatter. “That’s fine, Matthew. I’ll straighten things out once we get back to the table.”
He’d spoken without thinking, out of anger and hurt and frustration. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean I wouldn’t want to be seen with you.”
“It’s okay. You have every right to your opinion.” She scooped up a poached egg and plopped it on her plate, concentrating very hard so she didn’t have to look at him. “I wasn’t the nicest person in high school, I’ll grant you that. But I was young and with the way my family behaved, I didn’t know any better. That must be what you see when you look at me.”
“That’s not what I see.” His gaze shot behind her to where customers were grabbing plates from the stack, and moved forward to the heated trays of crisp bacon and spicy sausages. “I meant, why would a beautiful woman who has everything want to hang out with me.”
“Really, it’s okay.” Hope grabbed blindly for the tongs and dropped a bunch of sausages on her plate, then circled around Matthew, leaving him alone.
It wasn’t okay, and she didn’t know why, but a horrible tightness was squeezing into her chest. When she reached the table piled high with fruit and breads, she set her plate down and took a deep breath.
This was irrational. Completely insane. She should get a grip before someone noticed how upset she was. Taking a deep breath, she ladled melon slices onto her plate and tried not to take flight when Matthew eased beside her, reaching for a few sweet breads.
“Cinnamon rolls, for the boys.” His shoulder brushed her arm as he arranged the sweet-smelling pastries onto his crowded plate. “Hope, I’m sorry. I just meant that it’s not like either one of us wants half the town thinking we’re together. Rumors spread fast in a small town.”
“I see your point.” Trying to hide her hurt, she released the spoon too quickly, and metal clattered against the glass bowl. “For your information, I’m not all that bad to be around, at least, I’ve had other people think so. I might not be the best person in the world but I’m not the worst, thank you very much.”
Without looking at him, even as he was opening his mouth to say whatever it was that would just make her angrier, she grabbed her plate and stormed toward the table, no longer caring who noticed.
“Have a nice chat with Matthew?”
Hope set the plate on the table in front of Nanna and glared at her grandmother. She caught Patsy with a withering look and willed her voice to be quiet but firm. “No more matchmaking. I’ve had enough of it, and so has Matthew. Believe me, there’s no chance in a blue moon that we’ll ever have anything in common, so not another word. Not one more word.”
“She’s right.” Matthew towered behind her, square jaw clenched, broad shoulders set and a look of fury in his eyes. But his anger was controlled as he looked from his mother to Nanna, and then it seemed to fade away. “You heard Hope. We’re from different worlds and whatever you two have in mind is never going to work.”
“Don’t they say that opposites attract?” Patsy looked ready to launch into a full-out, charming defense but
