The Matchmakers (22 page)

 
`What’s next, if not ice cream?´ `I
have one more thing to show you today. I think you’ll like it better than the
chili dog.Ánother short drive took them even farther out of town to where the
single lane highway gave way to partially unpaved roads. Nick’s truck took the
trip in stride, rumbling over hardening slush and packed ice to a sharp
turn-off about twenty minutes away from the truck stop. The vehicle angled up a
rutted lane amid a leafless apple orchard. At the top of a small rise, Nick
pulled over and got out. He walked around the truck and helped Callie climb
down to the unfinished gravel drive. `Close your eyes,´ he said. `Why?´ `Because
I have a surprise for you.Śhe obeyed, and he led her in unsteady steps
through virgin snow. It seemed like an awfully long way to Callie who clutched
Nick’s arm more in anticipation than fear. When he finally stopped walking, she
suppressed a shiver that had nothing to do with the cold. `Okay, you can look
now.´ The house was white with royal blue shutters and a wide brick chimney at
either end of a deeply sloping roof. The wraparound porch sported matching
Adirondack chairs worn to a silvery finish with age. Between the house and the
whitewashed front gate sat a tiny wishing well painted to match the shutters. A
real estate sign on the snowy front lawn bore the words: UNDER CONTRACT
emblazoned in bold red. Callie clapped her gloved hands. `What a pretty house.
Who lives here?´ `I will soon. Burns and Wright bought it last year to
renovate, and I convinced John to sell it to me since he can’t spare the
manpower right now to work on it. The closing is next month.Ćallie’s heart
thumped as she followed Nick up the cobblestone walk to the front door. `You
bought a house?´ The question seemed silly. He’d just said as much, but Callie
couldn’t believe the drifter was finally settling down in a place he loved, in
a home that seemed to cry out for the loving attention of a big, noisy family. `It
smells a little musty inside. No one’s been living here for a while. John gave
me the key so I could start making some sketches and plan the renovations I
want to do.Únmistakable pride laced Nick’s voice as he opened the front door
and led Callie inside. `The floors need refinishing, and the hot water heater
should be replaced, but it’s got a good foundation and sturdy walls,´ Nick
explained while Callie wandered through the wide living room toward an old stone
fireplace. Neatly cut logs sat in a wire basket beside the hearth, giving off
the faint scent of fresh cedar.

 
The walls were dusty but solid, and
old brass fixtures begged for polishing. In the formal dining room, Callie
reached up to touch a small chandelier laced with cobwebs, and the dangling
crystal drops tinkled like wind chimes. `There are three bedrooms and two
bathrooms, but one needs to be remodeled. There’s a full basement I want to
turn into a workshop.´ `It’s wonderful, Nick. It feels like a home already.´ He
laughed as he switched on the light in the kitchen. Ancient appliances set
haphazardly on cracked linoleum tiles filled the small space. `Home for a barn
owl, maybe. Like I said, it needs a lot of work, but I love it.´ He caught her
gaze. `I wanted to enjoy that feeling while I could.Á silvery ripple of
sensation went through Callie at Nick’s words. She held his gaze for a moment
then flew into his arms. He crushed her against him and captured her lips in a
kiss that would have set her wings fluttering. `Be with me tonight, Callie,´ he
whispered against her ear when he broke the desperate kiss. In that moment,
Callie’s resolve failed her. She wanted Nick. She wanted to feel completely
human and to revel in it before she lost it all. Either way, in the morning,
she would be different. Nick might not remember this night, or even remember
her presence in his life at all, and she might not remember she loved him with
all her heart, Fae or human. She nodded, and she let him kiss her until the air
around them warmed, and the snow started up again outside. `Let me show you
something else.´ Nick led her through the house to the bedrooms. Two small ones
toward the front and the large master bedroom in the back. This one boasted a
fireplace similar to the one in the living room. Crisp sheets of powder blue
linen covered an old brass bed. A cord of fire wood sat ready next to the
hearth. Callie felt a blush creep up her cheeks. `You’ve been busy, haven’t
you?´ Nick built a fire, and when small flames began to crackle in the freshly
swept fireplace, he turned to her and smiled. `I really wasn’t expecting
anything. I just want to be with you today.Ćallie reached out, and Nick
took her hand. She pulled him toward the bed, and together they removed their
coats and damp work boots and stretched out on the clean smelling sheets. The
fire crackled, and Callie snuggled against Nick, seeking refuge from the cold
emptiness that threatened to engulf her. `The apple trees will bloom in a few
months, and the house won’t be visible at all from the road. There’s a long
trail that leads down the hillside back to the skating pond, about half a mile,
and the north end of the property borders a stream with a little waterfall,´ Nick
said, wrapping his arms around Callie. `It sounds magical. It’ll be a beautiful
place.´ `The kind of place I’ve always wanted. I guess I’ve been looking for
this for a long time. I’d just been looking in the wrong places.´ `Tell me
about your wings, Nick.Ćallie looked up, waved away his quizzical
expression. `You told me that someone took away your wings, but that didn’t
stop you from flying away.´ `I didn’t fly away. I ran. Not much to talk about.
My ambitions weren’t enough for my father. He thought I was lazy, spent too
much time daydreaming about places I wanted to see and things I wanted to do.
He felt a man should be grounded. A good education, a decent job with room for
advancement, then a proper wife and lots of money socked away for retirement.
That’s how he did it. I couldn’t argue against stability and security. He wasn’t
wrong for wanting those things.´ `But you didn’t?´ `I didn’t want to spend four
years studying how to put numbers into little boxes, and then spend thirty years
doing a job that bored me to drink. I didn’t want to marry a girl who’d get
tired of watching me leave the house every day wearing the same gray suit and
the same red tie and be waiting for me at the end of the day with the same sad
expression on her face.´ `Your mother?Ćallie put her head on Nick’s chest.
She felt the tightness as he drew in a slow breath before answering. `They
stopped having anything to say to each other. Nothing new ever happened.´ `So
you left to find something different?´ `I left thinking I’d never want to tie
myself to one job, one house, one woman.´ Nick looked down at her, brushed her
hair from her eyes. `I don’t know if I’ve finally learned my lesson or caved
in, but now I want someplace to go home to at night and someone to be there for
me.´ `You’ll find someone.Ćallie’s voice broke. `I found her.´ `Not me,
Nick. It can’t be me.´ `For tonight, it’s you.´ He kissed her again, gentle at
first, then with an urgency that arrowed to Callie’s center. She felt it, too.
This was goodbye and one way or another, it didn’t matter what tomorrow
brought. She needed to feel everything for the first time and the last time
with Nick tonight.

Chapter Twenty-seven

 
         
Nick
felt Callie surrender, her resistance fading beneath his kiss. She became
pliant in his arms. By the comforting glow of the fire he’d built, he wrapped
himself around her and reveled in the sensation as she yielded to him. She met
his urgent kisses eagerly and led his hands down her body. Every inch of her
felt real, and he wanted to remember each soft curve. He took his time
exploring, peeling off her sweater and lacy bra she wore beneath it. He filled
his hands with her and swallowed her moan of pleasure when he ventured lower to
help her slip out of her jeans.

 
He did the same and the room warmed
as their bodies fused. He covered her, lacing his fingers in hers and guiding
her hands above her head so that she arched under him. He slid his fingers
under the pale pink panties she wore, and met her questioning gaze. He hadn’t
thought of protection. He’d thought only that tomorrow she would be gone and he
might not even have the privilege of remembering her. `It’s all right,śhe
breathed with her lips against the skin of his shoulder. She kissed him there
and nipped gently, and he shuddered at the sensation and the finality of her
words. `None of this will matter tomorrow.´ The words would have broken him had
he not been so close to the edge of reason. He ignored the black cloud of
despair that threatened to obliterate him. Of course nothing would matter
tomorrow. Without Calliope, nothing would matter ever again. He whispered her
name, and she opened to him, warm skin against skin. Joined with her finally,
he held her for a moment, still and silent, listening to the flames crackle and
her breath quicken. In the amber light, her eyes were gold and green and her
hair shone with burnished highlights. `You are beautiful.´ He sighed the words
as he moved in her and kissed away her gasps of pleasure. She surrounded him,
held him deep and, with a subtle tilt of her hips, urged him to begin. He’d
never loved like this, gentle and deliberate. Each thrust meant the world and
he’d give her everything he had, confident she’d accept him willingly. Her
pupils dilated, and her lips parted as he worked his way to the top of a wave
of sensation. She clutched him, her fingers kneading his shoulders, her legs
twined with his. The crest of the wave was close. With any other woman he might
have teased her, played her out until she begged for him to take them both over
the edge, but this time was forever with Callie and he didn’t want to play. He
slowed his movements and kissed her hard as he brought them both home. She
sighed beneath him, then cried his name as the wave took them both and blended
them together. When they lay spent, the firelight glinted off the sheen of
sweat on her limbs as he stroked her hair. `I’ll miss you, Tink. Even if I can’t
remember ever having met you, I think I’ll miss you for the rest of my life.Á
bright glow seeped past Callie’s eyelids, drawing her reluctantly from a
contented sleep. At first she thought they’d slept until daylight. She’d been
so sleepy in the aftermath of making love to Nick twice by the light of the
fire. Now the room had cooled. Surely the flames had died after all this time.
She shivered and huddled under the thin sheet, searching for Nick’s warmth
beside her, but the bright light distracted her. This wasn’t daylight, or
moonlight, or firelight. She sat up, her spine rigid with reluctant
anticipation. She didn’t fear the goddess, for Freya was love and light. But
she feared the cold void next to her, the place where Nick had been was now
empty.

 
She dared to open her eyes and saw
him standing by the hearth. He’d put his jeans on and held a fireplace poker in
one hand. He’d risen to stir the embers and when he did, Freya appeared. Her
brilliant light began as a ball of luminescence in the center of the room. By
the silvery glow, Nick’s features looked cast in stone. The poker dropped from
his grasp and his gaze shifted to Callie, who moved to kneel on the bed, the
rumpled sheet clutched against her chest. Why would Freya choose to show
herself to Nick? Callie thought as she raised her hand in a reassuring gesture.

           
In the next instant, a
form took shape in the center of the luminescent ball, and Freya stepped
through the veil of light into the human realm. Callie raised her face to bask
in the goddess’s presence. Showered in beauty and peace, she felt whole and
free and for the first time in so many weeks, she didn’t fear the outcome of
her trial. `Calliope.´ Freya’s voice flowed over her, soothing and sweet like a
mother’s caress. `I’ve missed you, little one.´ `My Lady.Ćallie steeled
herself for a moment, but her curious nature won out over propriety. `Have we
succeeded?´ Freya turned to encompass Nick in her benevolent gaze. He stood
utterly still, seeming barely to breathe. `You tell me, Calliope. Name the
lovers you have united.´ `R-Ria and Catfish«Ćallie bowed her head again. `I’m
sorry, but I don’t know Catfish’s real name.´ Freya smiled. `A true love,
indeed.Śhe waved her hand and an image of Catfish and Ria filled the room.
They sat by the edge of a moonlit pond. He played a melody on his harmonica,
and Ria beamed with pride at the man who had restored her faith in herself and
helped her put a painful past behind her. His joy and exuberance had given her
the courage to face her own numerous fears and insecurities and conquer them. Callie’s
Fae intuition told her this. She thought of her wings, wishing Freya had
restored them as well, but so far, she remained human, or mostly so. There
still remained a chance of failure. `And the next?´ Freya asked. Callie glanced
at Nick. She still wasn’t sure, though her instincts now pointed with more
certainty to one couple above the others. `Teresa and John.´ Freya nodded and
showed them John, sitting on Teresa’s couch, her injured ankle in his lap. A
plump orange cat rested under his arm, purring. `Still obstacles to overcome,
but they have the strength to persevere. A good choice. Your last?Ágain Callie
glanced at Nick. `Diane and Farley,´ he said, his voice strong despite the
paleness of his features. Freya made no comment. She waved her hand and Farley
came into view. He stood behind the bar, scowling. After a moment, Andrew
walked into the image. He thumped his brother on the back. `Go talk to her.
Make it work if you love her.Ćallie’s spirits fell. Diane and Farley were
still having problems. The issue was trust. She’d been alone too long to
believe in anyone but herself. Diane was afraid to give fully, and Farley didn’t
understand her hesitation to change her entire world for him. They’d fought and
made up so many times that they’d both begun to wonder if the outcome would be
worth the effort. `True perhaps in time,´ Freya said. `But not yet. You cannot
claim them to your credit.Ćallie seemed to deflate, and Nick’s heart
slammed into his stomach. They couldn’t have failed after all this. He stepped
forward, willing his feet to move him into the blinding sphere of light that
still encased the goddess. He’d never seen anything like her outside of a dream
or in one, for that matter. She glowed from within, like living light. In her
presence, he felt humbled but somehow protected. He sensed this ancient being
had the power to do exactly as Callie claimed she did, yet he felt no fear,
even though he should have. He tried to focus on her face, angelic, perfect and
he wondered if a mere mortal were allowed to look directly at her. Her beauty
was flawless, indescribable. Her eyes were crystalline and seemed to pour forth
wisdom and compassion when he met her curious gaze. `What about Andrew and
Hayden?´ he dared to ask. Freya tilted her head and her golden tresses
glimmered. She swept her arm before her and Hayden appeared, surrounded by a
visible cloud of conflicting emotions. Nick didn’t need to ask. Callie had been
right early on. Hayden was too young not that others her age hadn’t found true
love but she specifically wasn’t ready. Her feelings for Andrew burned hot, but
the fuel was waning. `Love indeed. But not strong enough to stand through time.
You have another offering?´ `We’ve been introducing couples for three weeks.
Surely one of them has the potential for true love.´ Nick tried not to sound
argumentative. They’d matched half a dozen couples personally. Freya shook her
head. Her smile was sad, yet still perfectly beautiful. `The potential is there
in many, but none of those seeds have blossomed yet. Are there any others?´ Nick
hung his head, unable to continue to look at Freya. `No. But it’s my fault
there aren’t. I didn’t work hard enough. Partly because I didn’t believe in
it.´ He shifted his gaze to Callie and wondered how her beauty could surpass
that of a goddess. His heart clenched, and a tight band of defeat wound around his
chest. `Don’t blame her for my failure. She tried. She did everything she
could, and I wasted time. I was too busy not believing. If you have to punish
someone, just punish me. She doesn’t deserve to lose love forever because of
me.´ Freya dipped her head, and it seemed as if a faint smile curled her
perfect lips. `Alone, either of you would have failed. The term of the trial
specified that both or neither suffered punishment. To have the fate of another
rest in your hands makes victory or defeat more valuable.´ `Then give us
another chance. A little more time. Please.´ `Nick, we can’t bargain. We
failed. We have to accept it. And it wasn’t all your fault.Ćallie’s voice broke.
She bowed her head again to Freya who reached out one perfect hand and laid
long, supple fingers on the crown of Callie’s head. `I cannot fault you for
failing. But I must question how neither of you realize that you did
not.Ćallie looked up as Freya’s fingers trailed off her hair. She’d
certainly heard wrong. `Did not what?´ `You did not fail. You
have
joined three couples in true love.
It confounds me that you cannot name them all.´ Freya’s smile was faint but
mischievous. Callie sought Nick’s gaze. Who could they have missed? He stepped
forward and reached his hand out to her. `Us. Callie told me she loves me. And
I love her. It doesn’t matter what you do to us. I’ll always love
her.Ćallie’s heart filled, paralyzing her lungs. She held her breath and
gazed at Nick, who looked almost as perfect as Freya, bathed in the goddess’s
silvery glow. `A third couple. A love that is true. This is much more than I’d
hoped for when I matched you.Á grin split Nick’s face as he twined his fingers
with Callie’s. `We surprised you?´ `Indeed.´ Freya smiled now, and the light of
it dazzled them. Tears stung Callie’s eyes, and for once, she didn’t mind the
human frailty. Nick loved her! She would have known instantly with her Fae
intuition in place. Now it seemed elementary. Freya waved her hand, and the
image of Nick dressed in his tuxedo filled the space before the bedroom hearth.
Callie shimmered in front of him, her wings aglow. When the light faded and she
swayed, he caught her before she crumpled to the floor. `It was in that
moment,´ Freya said. `A moment I took from you that I now return.´ Her perfect
fingers danced over Nick’s heart. `So you do have wings,´ he said. When he
turned his gaze back to Callie, he saw them again, fluttering behind her. Two
triangles of gossamer light competed with the goddess for brilliance.