Matchmakers Box Set: Matchmakers, Encore, Finding Hope (19 page)

The entertainment section of the paper sprawled over the table. Photos of Sophia and Pablo, hand in hand, made his chest tighten. Their fingers were interlocked. The story went on about a rock on her hand and a wedding in their future. Someone had even caught them on the plane sleeping. Her head rested on his shoulder and his on her head, and a blanket covered them both. Very intimate.

He’d been such a fool. He crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it in the trash. Within the week, he and Carissa would be taking Hope to their new home and starting a chapter of his life he’d never anticipated. And it was obvious he’d be doing that without Sophia.

Mandy called later in the afternoon, and David felt his stomach flop.

“I’d like a ride to the doctor.”

“Are you okay?” Panic vibrated through his voice.

“I’m fine. Seems I can’t get behind the wheel of that old car anymore.” She laughed. “I thought maybe Carissa could take me.”

“She moved her audition. She’s there now. I’ll come get you.”

Within the hour, he was driving Mandy to her doctor’s appointment. His palms were sweating, and his heart was racing. He should have been doing these things when she was pregnant with Carissa.

“Why do you have a doctor appointment in town?”

“I’ve never been far away from you guys. Not physically, that is.”

“You’ve been in Kansas City the whole time?” His eyes darted from the road to her.

“Yes.”

He almost said,
It would have been nice if you’d come by to see your daughter,
but it wouldn’t have been true. He shook his head. The woman would never cease to amaze him.

He helped her out of the car, and she checked in at the desk. She was escorted back to the exam room within a few moments of arrival.

David made himself comfortable in the waiting area. The receptionist puttered around the room, tidying up the kids’ toys in the bucket and the magazines on the tables.

“Oh, he’s a sexy one.” She smiled as she laid the magazine on the table beside him. “Wouldn’t mind him burning my eggs in the morning.”

David couldn’t help but look at what seemed to be a perfectly mannered woman. What would make her say such a thing? He looked down at the magazine she’d laid by him, and, as big as life, there was Pablo in his black tuxedo, mouth open, no doubt an amazing sound escaping it.

Curiosity had caught him. He opened the magazine, which was dated a week earlier.

The article was all about Pablo DiAngelo and his lover, Pierre Van Volden. He tucked his lips between his teeth and read. Caught with the flutist in an intimate situation, he’d denied the rumors. The article went on to talk about the quick dismissal of Sandra Valdez and the absence of Sophia Burkhalter.

David shook his head. He certainly had never cared for Pablo DiAngelo. The man had given Sophia a life she otherwise would never have had, but he was deceiving the world, too. Sophia would figure that out eventually. He was just afraid it was going to be too late.

His attention snapped back to the matter at hand when a nurse entered the waiting room.

“Your wife would like to see you.” He stared at her blankly as she spoke. “Mr. Kendal?”

“Yes.”

“Mrs. Kendal would like you to come back and see the pictures of the baby.”

Mrs. Kendal?
There had to be a mistake, and he’d put an end to that!

The nurse opened the door and Mandy lay on the table, her enlarged stomach exposed. The doctor in his white coat slathered her stomach with a gel and rubbed a wand over her skin.

“Mr. Kendal, you’re just in time.”

Mandy held her hand out to him, and he took it. The image came up on the screen, and his heart was gone.

“Isn’t she beautiful?” Mandy asked. David could only nod.

“Is she okay?” He directed his question to the doctor.

“She looks really good. Your wife is dilated at a three. You should see this little one in a day or so.”

David’s eyes and heart were lost to the image on the screen. Would she look like Carissa? Would her hair be black as coal like hers? Would she have her brown, puppy-dog eyes?

“Okay, Mrs. Kendal, go ahead and get dressed. I’m going to speak to your husband in my office.” The doctor patted her knee.

David followed the doctor to his office and sat down in the chair opposite the doctor, who laid Mandy’s file on his desk.

“I’m glad to finally meet you. This has been a long road for your wife. She’s been very strong about it all, but I know she’s scared.”

David hated Mandy for making him take part in this charade. But in order for him to get custody of the baby, they had to think he was her father.

“She’s made up her mind. She knows what she wants.”

“I think we can sustain her life, at least for a little while, and we can get her on a donor’s list. It wouldn’t be pleasant for her.”

“And she’s agreed to this?” David moved to the edge of his chair. His jaw clenched.

“No. She’s sure that when the time comes, she wants to go.”

David couldn’t decide if the settling of his stomach was relief or understanding. He wouldn’t want to be kept alive, but still be dying, either.

“I’ll go with her wishes.”

The doctor nodded. “She said the two of you have a seventeen-year-old daughter.”

“Yes.” Even though that was the truth, he didn’t like the way it sounded.

“Well, I’m sure she’ll be a big help to you. But Mr. Kendal, please consider helping her change her mind. She’d want to see the baby.”

David said he’d discuss it with Mandy, and he left the office and returned to the reception area. Mandy joined him a moment later, looking paler and more fragile. She took his hand and steadied herself. He had to wrap an arm around her shoulders to help her to the car.

He lowered her to her seat and walked around to the other side. He slid behind the wheel and took a deep breath. “Why am I’m listed as your husband?”

She turned toward him and spoke softly, “I thought it would be easier.”

“You’ve had me down as your husband since the beginning, haven’t you?” She nodded with her eyes averted. “You knew I’d take this baby?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t see the harm. I figured if you took her, they couldn’t question me. If you didn’t, no one would know any better.”

“Show me your driver’s license.”

“What?”

“Show me!” He watched her as she pulled it from her wallet. “Mandy Kendal. How did you pull that off?”

“I just changed my name. I thought...”

“I don’t want to hear it.” He gripped the steering wheel. “You’re right. It will make it easier.”

When they reached the motel, he helped her out of the car and noticed she was gasping for breath. “Will you be okay?”

“I’ll be fine. I’ll call 911 if I need something.” She stumbled past him to her door.

“Why are you staying in a motel?”

She unlocked the door to her room and pushed it open.

“I sold everything off so there wouldn’t be anything left when I died. The papers in my purse explain it all. I even have my burial expenses paid for, so all you’ll have to do is sign me over, and they’ll take care of the rest. Nice and tidy, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, nice and tidy.” Hope would be his child—and her mother was staying in a fleabag motel. It wasn’t right. He moved toward her. “You know, you could stay with...”

“No. I know you’re wary and think I’m going to do something at the last minute and mess up your life. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have drawn up papers.” She laid her hand on his chest. “I’ve changed. I’ve lived a life of lies, and I’ve paid for them. My children, however, never deserved to have to pay for my mistakes. You’ve seen to Carissa, and she turned into a wonderful woman. I could never have given her the life you have. I want Hope to have that same chance. Give that to her, David.”

“I will,” he promised.

Mandy took a shallow breath. “Sophia will be a wonderful mother.”

The words punched David in the gut.

“We’ll see.”

He helped her into her room and got her situated. “I’ll be around if you need me. Tomorrow I have a meeting. So if you need anything...”

“I’ll be fine.” She held out her hand to him. “David, thank you again.”

He only nodded and left her.

She was right. He was leery as hell over her change of heart. He’d never been too convinced that someone as messed up as Mandy could have changed. But he was witnessing firsthand a complete turnaround. In fact, he was beginning to feel sorry for her. Shaking the thought from his head, he drove away. He’d felt sorry for her last time, and it had cost him the woman he loved. He winced at the thought. It just might have done it again.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Carissa watched her dad hang up the phone as she blew on her fingernails. The color of the polish only irritated her now. She should change it, just for spite.

“What did Ms. Foster say?”

“The house on Cherry Street sold already.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I guess we should just keep ours and decide what to do.”

“Dad, I can go to school out by the new house. I know it’s too hard to commute. Besides, I can be there to take care of Hope.”

“It’s not fair to ask you to do that. You’d have to give up your job and first chair. You earned that chair. You worked hard for that. Sophia would be proud.”

“She will be proud.” She put a positive twist on the words she spoke, which his were lacking. “Don’t give up on her, Dad. Pablo’s not in love with her. He’s in love with the flutist. I don’t think she’s ever thought of Pablo that way.”

Her father cringed and let out a sigh.

“She might come home to us, honey, but it won’t be just us, will it?”

Carissa shook her head. “Hope.”

“Yeah, Hope.” He fidgeted with his phone.

“Dad, if you want to back out…”

“No.” He shot his head up to look at her. “She’s mine.” A smile slid across his lips when he said it.

“You are the most amazing man. I know Sophia will see that.”

“You’re too kind.” He stood and kissed her on the cheek. “We’ll see what happens. Let’s see if she even comes home. But first I think we’d better go do some shopping.”

“Shopping? Dad, are you okay?”

“Mandy is going to have that baby any minute. We’d better have a crib, some diapers, and some clothes for her.”

“Oh, yeah. Wow, Dad.” Her own baby sister. She hugged herself, and then she hugged him. “I can’t believe we’re going to be three of us.”

He squeezed her hard. After a second, he turned away and wiped his hands under his eyes. “Neither can I.”

Within three hours, they had purchased everything they needed for the baby. They drove it out to the new house they’d had built. What was to be the spare room had to be transformed into a nursery.

“I hope she likes princesses.” Carissa deposited another armful of little outfits onto the stack of Hope’s bedding and clothing.

“Honey, you like them. She’ll love them.” He patted her knee from where he knelt on the floor, assembling a swing. “Little sisters think the world of big sisters.”

“Lots of pressure.”

“Yeah, so you’d better walk the straight and narrow. She’ll be watching.”

“I realize that now.” Would she be a good big sister? She hoped so. Carissa sat back on her heels. “Did you tell the ladies?”

“No. Only Todd and Jeremy know. It’ll be easier to explain when we have Hope and Mandy is…” He didn’t come out and say it, but Carissa was having the same thought.

“I guess we should think about moving things in here this weekend, huh?” The house looked so empty and bare. It needed to be filled…with people who loved it, and loved each other.

“I guess so. You know, maybe we should store the bassinet in the car and stay with the ladies for the first few days. I just realized I have no idea how to take care of a newborn baby.”

A laugh escaped Carissa. “Yeah, a seven-year-old was hard enough for you.”

“I did okay.”

“Yeah, you did. But c’mon, you have to admit it was a struggle.”

“I’ll admit it only because you want me to.” Her dad was such a goof, and that’s exactly the way she loved him.

“I think I turned out okay. It’s been years since the principal has called you or since I was in a fight.”

“You turned out perfect.”

“I did, didn’t I?” She touched his arm. “Thanks to you. And Hope will turn out perfect, too.”

Sophia boarded the plane in Pennsylvania and blew out a breath when she realized it would be the last leg of her trip. She’d made one phone call to Sally Foster from the airport. She was disappointed to find out that the house had sold. She’d find something in the future. For the time being, she’d live with her grandmother. She’d always be welcome in her grandmother’s home.

She looked at her watch. She’d land at two o’clock. The party would end at four. She would at least make it in enough time to make an appearance.

When she was in flight, she took out her mirror, fixed up her makeup, and did what she could with her hair. She’d tried to sleep on the previous flights, but still her eyes looked hollow. She’d worn a sundress, and the gauze material looked like it’d held up to the travel. Instinctively, she tapped her fingers to her Saint Nicholas medal.

Several hours later, she stood outside the church where her Katie and Millie—and David and Carissa—were celebrating the ladies’ eighty-fourth birthday. She gulped in a deep breath. Her heart hammered in her chest as she stepped inside.

The room was still full, and laughter surrounded her. Carissa had decorated with the few items they’d purchased together. Katie was leaning over in animated conversation, and she patted her tiara. The table of food was almost completely empty—they’d obviously made good choices.

Mary Alice noticed her and raced across the room. Sophia set down her bags and her instrument a moment before her friend enveloped her in a hug.

“God, I’m glad you’re home.” She stepped back and looked her over, her hands secured to Sophia’s shoulders as if to hold her in place. “You look good.”