Kat Brookes - His Holiday Matchmaker

“I’ll do that. Thank you.” Tears pricked at the backs of her eyes as the older woman stepped from the room, closing the door behind her. No, she would not think about her mother and the love she’d never been able to show Alyssa. That was something that would never change. Her mother was gone now, so there was no use wishing for what could never be.

Instead, she would strive to focus on only the good things God had blessed her with in Braxton. Like the kindhearted sisters who had so generously opened their home to her. Like the adorably inquisitive Katie Cooper and her stick-pony-riding father.

* * *

Nathan glanced toward his daughter, who appeared to be thoroughly captivated by the rain outside. As long as it wasn’t storming with gusting winds, she was fine. Let the wind pick up and Katie became panicked. Understandable, all things considered.

He thought back to what she’d said earlier. Since losing her mother, Katie had never once voiced her discontent with the way things were. He’d assumed that Mildred’s presence in her life, and then that of Audra’s, satisfied any need his daughter might have for a mother figure. And maybe it had in the past, but something had changed. His little girl was looking for a mom.

That tugged at his heart. He would give his daughter the world if he could, but giving her another mother was asking for more than he was ready to do. And what if he did remarry again, for Katie’s sake, and things didn’t work out? Where would that leave his daughter? Motherless again. Heartbroken. Emotionally withdrawn. No, it wasn’t worth the risk.

So how was he supposed to handle this situation? Ignore it? Tell Katie to stop wishing for what she could never have? It was moments like this that he missed Isabel the most. She always knew the right thing to say.

He pulled up to Mildred’s place and shifted the truck into Park.

“Daddy, look how big the puddles are outside,” Katie exclaimed, her lightly freckled nose pressed against the passenger window.

“It’s coming down in bucketfuls,” he acknowledged with a nod. Crazy weather patterns. High sixties and sunshine that afternoon. Cold rain that evening.

“I wanna jump in them.”

At least his daughter’s thoughts had moved on to something other than Alyssa McCall’s marital status. He tossed his partially soaked cowboy hat onto the backseat to dry, then stepped out into the rain. As he rounded the back of the truck, he shrugged out of his coat. Then, opening the passenger door, he gathered his daughter up in his arms, wrapping her up in his coat to shield her from the rain’s onslaught. “The winds are picking up. We don’t want you blowing away.”

Katie stiffened in his arms with a muffled gasp. “I don’t wanna be blown away,” she cried out, her arms clutching his neck.

He mentally chastised himself for his careless choice of words. He tightened his hold on her with a sigh. “Don’t you worry, honey, Daddy would never let that happen to you.”

“But it happened to Mommy.”

And there wasn’t a day that went by that he didn’t blame himself for Isabel’s death. He’d been off with his brothers working on a job site. He hadn’t been there when his family had needed him the most.

Before he had a chance to reply, the front door swung open and Mildred walked out. “There you two are. I was beginning to worry.”

He set Katie on her feet. “We had to swing by The Cat’s Cradle first.”

“Yeah,” Katie joined in, her mood shifting back to its normal carefree state. “We had to give Alyssa a ride there.”

“Miss McCall,” Nathan corrected as he shoved a hand back through his wet hair.

“Miss McCall?”

He nodded. “Apparently, she’s gonna be helping out with the decorative touches to the rec center.”

“She’s real pretty,” his daughter added with a glance in his direction.

The older woman smiled, her gaze shifting to Nathan, as well. “Oh, is she now?”

He shrugged. “I didn’t pay that much attention.” But he had. Enough to know that Alyssa’s hair was an unusual shade of red-gold that seemed to come to life under the light. Enough to know that her thick lashes framed eyes the color of warm honey.

“I see,” the older woman said, but her expression said that she didn’t quite believe him. “Come on in out of that rain and you can tell me all about this Miss McCall.”

“I’m soaked clean through,” he said, nudging his daughter into the warmth of Mildred’s house. “I need to swing by the house and pick up some dry clothes before I head back to work.” What he failed to add was that Miss McCall was the last person he wanted to talk about. She was invading his thoughts with those honey-colored eyes and disarming smile, and was taking over part of the job he should have been overseeing and making his daughter want things, like a new mother, even more, which she couldn’t have. Reaching out, he ruffled his daughter’s hair. “I should be back to pick Katie up around nine thirty.”

“Why don’t you just leave Katie here for the night? No sense traveling on these roads any more than you have to on an evening like this.”

Katie clapped her hands together. “Can I stay, Daddy? Please! Please!”

Mildred was right. The rain coming down as hard and fast as it was could make for unexpected flash floods. Better safe than sorry. “All right, Cupcake. I’ll swing by at lunch tomorrow to check on you.”

“Yippee!”

He bent to kiss the top of her baby-fine hair and then straightened, turning to Mildred. “Call my cell if you need me.”

“We’ll be fine. You just concentrate on getting the rec center done. The town is counting on you.”

He nodded. “I’m doing my best.”

He was the kind of man who put his heart into every job, but this time was different. Every minute, no every second he spent working toward finishing the rec center in time for the town’s Christmas Eve party was a painful reminder of what he and Katie had lost. Of the Christmases they would no longer share as a complete and happy family.

Despite the turmoil that filled him, he had committed himself to seeing the job through. At least, as far as the building’s structure was concerned. Rusty had procured help putting up the holiday trimmings from the church’s Bible group as well as the local ladies’ bingo club. Katie would go to the party with Nathan’s brother Carter and Audra and their kids, allowing him to avoid all that holiday cheer. Then afterward, they’d drop Katie off at home and the two of them would have a quiet Christmas Eve at home, just the two of them.

Pushing all thoughts of Christmas aside, Nathan turned his focus back to the road ahead. Water covering the pavement made hydroplaning a possibility. He eased up on the gas as he drove down the wet road. Leaving Katie at Mildred’s for the night had definitely been a wise decision.

As soon as he arrived at his place, Nathan called Carter, leaving a message on his brother’s cell phone that he was on his way. Then he hurried upstairs to his room to change out of his wet clothes.

When he finally arrived at the rec center, nearly half an hour later, Nathan slid out of the warmth of his truck and back into the cold, wet rain. Raising the collar of the dry coat he’d switched over to, he hurried across the rain-soaked parking area to the newly erected building. One that housed an indoor swimming pool, a TV and game room, an arts and craft room as well as several other recreation-devoted rooms. In the spring, once the weather cleared, an outdoor basketball court, a couple of shuffleboard courts and several picnic tables would be added.

He swung open the front door of the newly constructed building and stepped inside. Removing his jacket, he hung it over a nearby sawhorse, set his still-damp cowboy hat atop it and then moved farther into the room, spotting his brother atop a ladder. “Sorry I’m late.”