Dorien Kelly - The Littlest Matchmaker

“Good to see you, Lisa.”

She might not want to see him, but she had to admit he was fun to look at, with his tall frame, well muscled from the years he’d spent doing construction work, and the chiseled features of his face, saved from being harsh by an almost incongruous dimple that appeared when he smiled.

“Good to see you, too,” she replied, settling on yet another half-truth.

He gave her a smile that didn’t quite match the awareness of her evasion she sensed in his gray eyes. Or maybe she was just projecting her own uneasiness on him. He had this way of making her feel emotionally naked.

Naked…

She was just close enough to catch the clean scent of his skin and imagine that she could feel the warmth emanating from him. Heaven knew she missed being close to a man, but in her experience, the cost for that comfort was more than she was willing to pay.

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Dear Reader,

A few years ago I ventured to Davenport, Iowa, for the first time. A very special man in my life was moving there to start a new job. I wasn’t exactly inclined to love the place, since it was so far from my home in Michigan, but love the place I did! I visit Davenport—and that special man—whenever I can.

Davenport’s lovely neighborhoods nestled along the Mississippi River, combined with its rich history, make it an ideal setting for a Harlequin American Romance novel. It’s also perfect for the story of a couple with a lot of history between them. I hope you enjoy the warmth of the village of East Davenport and the growing attraction between harried single mom and bakery owner Lisa Kincaid and maybe-friend, maybe-something-more Kevin Decker. Sometimes love is right in sight; it’s just a matter of opening one’s eyes!

When your visit with Lisa and Kevin has ended, I invite you to stop by my place at www.dorienkelly. com, or say hello to me on Facebook, where I can be found at www.facebook.dorienkelly.com.

Wishing you all the best!

Dorien Kelly

Dorien Kelly is a former attorney who is much happier as an author. In addition to her years practicing business law, at one point or another she has also been a waitress, a bank teller and a professional chauffeur to her three children. Her current (and very romantic) day job is executive director of a lighthouse keepers association.

When Dorien isn’t writing or keeping lighthouses lit, she loves to garden, travel and be with her friends and family. A RITA ®Award nominee, she is also the winner of a Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart Award, a Booksellers’ Best Award, a Maggie Award and a Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence. She lives in a small village in Michigan with one or more of her children and three crazed dogs.

To Kathleen Scheibling. Thanks for the

warm welcome to Harlequin American Romance!

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Lisa Kincaid specialized in three things: shortbread, scones and sleep deprivation. She preferred the first two over the third, but as a bakery/coffeehouse owner and single mom of a four-year-old, lack of sleep came with the territory.

“Are you ready?” she called to her son, Jamie, who sat at one of Shortbread Cottage’s café tables polishing off his last bits of breakfast. “Miss Courtney’s going to think we slept in.”

“Ready,” he said.

Lisa came around the display counter and checked out his half-finished cup of orange juice. “Almost ready.”

He grinned, picked up the cup, and then chugged its contents in championship style. When he was done, instead of using the napkin that still rested neatly folded to his left, he wiped his mouth with his hand.

Lisa ruefully shook her head. “Manners, mister.”

He pushed away from the table. “Gotta go see Miss Courtney. It’s build-a-castle day.”

She pointed toward the entry to the bakery’s kitchen. “You know where the dishes go.”

From her spot at the coffee bar, down at the far end of the counter, Suzanne Jacobs, Lisa’s sole employee and all-around lifesaver, said, “I’ll take care of it.”

Generally, Lisa considered it her duty to womankind to raise a son who could find and use a dishwasher. Today, though, she was willing to cave. It was nearly time for Kevin Decker to arrive for his morning scone and coffee.

Kevin was one of her best customers. Smart man. Great sense of humor. Hardworking. Kind to children and stray dogs…all that good stuff. There were countless reasons why a woman might want to be in his company, but lately he’d begun to make her feel edgy. Of course it wasn’t his fault; Kevin was the same as ever. This was her weird issue. All the same, she needed a fortifying dose of Iowa autumn sunshine before seeing him.

She took Jamie’s hand. “Thanks, Suz. I’ll be right back.”

“No hurry,” Suzanne called over the slow, waking hiss of the espresso maker.

Lisa might have agreed, but Jamie had other plans. As they exited the rambling old clapboard house that served both as bakery and their home, he tugged on her hand.

“C’mon, Mommy.”

She smiled as she looked down at her son, who so resembled James, her late husband. Jamie had been not quite a year old when his father had died in an accident. James never had the chance to see that when his son left infancy, he’d grow to look all Scot, like Aberdeen-born James. Jamie had wild, sandy-brown hair and pale skin prone to freckles. Already, his build was beginning to echo his father’s—sturdy and athletic. But her son also possessed her push-on-though determination, as he was displaying right now, practically dragging her down Shortbread Cottage’s winding brick pathway in his rush to get to Miss Courtney’s Day Care, where he spent weekday mornings.

Three afternoons a week he attended preschool at the rather posh Hillside Academy, courtesy of her parents. It had been a gift Lisa couldn’t refuse, much as it had nicked at her pride and independence. But part of being a mom was basing her decisions on Jamie’s wellbeing, not her ego. She could do it, despite the occasional twinge.

When Lisa had become pregnant with Jamie at the age of twenty-one, she’d been shocked and totally unprepared, yet now she couldn’t imagine life without him. No longer could she imagine a life away from Davenport’s east village, either. Lisa loved the business she’d built for herself in this little wedge of Iowa history overlooking the Mississippi River. Funny, because when she’d been in high school, all she’d wanted was to get the heck out of here. Now she understood that quaint did not necessarily equal boring.