McMillian's Matchmaker Read online

  A chorus of frantic barking echoed from the living room.

  “Uncle Josh!” Ryan hollered and bolted from the room. Rather than sit all alone in Ryan and Kyle’s bedroom, she followed Ryan to the door.

  “Hey, Cleo,” she heard Josh say. “Ryan, that looks like Miss Klassen’s car in front.”

  “Miss Klassen is here, Uncle Josh! She came to help with my homework!”

  “Your homework? But. . . ,” his voice trailed off as she rounded the corner into the entranceway. “Melissa? What are you doing here?”

  She tried to keep a straight face. “I was just on my way home, and I received a very frantic call on my cell phone from a little boy very anxious to finish his homework.”

  Josh glared at Ryan, whose little face had turned very red.

  “Homework, Ryan?”

  “Yeah. It was real hard, but Miss Klassen helped me. I gotta go pick up my toys. Bye.”

  In the blink of an eye, Ryan and Bradley, who had been silent the entire time, disappeared, leaving Melissa and Josh alone beside the front door.

  Josh turned his head, staring at the deserted doorway to the living room where the boys had exited. “I think something is rotten in the state of Denmark,” he muttered.

  She could no longer hold it back. Melissa allowed her laughter to break free. Josh didn’t even crack a smile.

  “Oh, come on, Josh,” she said through her giggles. “You’ve got to admit that was pretty good.”

  “Not really. I wonder where they learn such stuff from? I’m going to have to monitor what they’re watching on television a little closer.”

  Finally, she managed to keep a straight face. “Forget it, Josh. While I’m here, we might as well make the best of it. Are you going to make me some coffee, or do I have to make it myself?”

  She tried not to laugh again as she followed Josh into the kitchen, grumbling every step of the way.

  “Tell me what you had to get at the store for Bradley.”

  “It wasn’t a big thing. He broke a shoelace, and he can’t go to school tomorrow without laces in one shoe, so I had to run out and buy a shoelace. Strange, though, that it broke right where it was too short to make do for a day or two.”

  She sat at the kitchen table while Josh ran the water to start the coffee. She plunked her elbows on the table and cradled her chin in her palms, biting her lip so he couldn’t see her grin. “Really? Don’t you think that’s a bit strange?”

  “Hmm. . . Now that you mention it, I can’t remember ever breaking a lace at that age. I wore out my shoes long before the laces gave out.”

  “Yes, it’s pretty amazing, isn’t it?”

  “Oh, well, I have more important things to worry about than broken shoelaces. I got an E-mail from Brian today.”

  All the humor of the situation dissipated. “Is it good or bad?”

  “A little of both, actually. He said Sasha’s responding well to treatment, but she still has a lot of progress to make. I got really mixed feelings from his message. On one hand it was really encouraging, but at the same time it was a reminder of how far she has to go and how long this could take. Brian sounded both encouraged and discouraged at the same time. I didn’t know how to respond.”

  Every Bible study meeting, either Melissa or Josh had brought forward Sasha’s condition and Brian’s struggles to help his wife as a weekly prayer concern, as well as everything Josh had to deal with in taking over the everyday running of the household and family. This time, Josh needed a little extra help and support in trying to be encouraging to his brother, who was having a tough time. “Would you like to pray about it?”

  He flipped the switch to start the coffee brewing, and turned to stand in front of her while she remained seated. “Yes, actually, I would. Thanks.” His voice dropped to barely above a whisper. “I’d like to go into the den and close the door. I don’t want the kids to interrupt; you know what their timing is like. I also don’t want them to hear us. After all, we’ll be praying for their parents, and I don’t want to have to edit my prayers for their ears today.”

  She glanced to the opening between the kitchen and the living room, listening to the usual activities and the mayhem that accompanied it. “Yes, that’s a good idea.”

  Without drawing the point that they didn’t want to be disturbed to the boys’ attention, Melissa quietly followed Josh into the den.

  At the sound of the snick of the lock, a bad case of the jitters attacked her sensibilities. They prayed together often, not just at the weekly Bible study meetings, but also in private at her house. They were less alone here behind the locked door with the boys running around than they were at her house in the wide open spaces of the living room or kitchen. Somehow, this felt. . .different.

  She didn’t know why now, of all times, she was letting him affect her like this. This was Josh. Over the past few months they had developed a friendship unlike any other she’d experienced in her life.

  Not long after they’d met, she once had the cockamamie idea that she’d fallen in love with him. However, Josh never indicated to her anything other than pure friendship, both in receiving and in the many ways he gave of himself to her. It didn’t take long for her to come to her senses and tell herself that it wasn’t really love.

  Love was excitement and fireworks. She’d never experienced any of that kind of thing with Josh. He’d never been romantic in any way. Over time they had become almost a daily part of each other’s lives, together for ordinary, normal day-to-day happenings, taking the ups with the downs. Instead of the tender affection she expected in a love relationship, Josh was exactly the opposite. With Josh there were no pretenses and no guesswork and no surprises. When he was happy, he showed it, and likewise, when he was angry or irritated, he made no attempts to hide it. Everything he said and did was with pure and open honesty; it was simply the way he was—a wonderful, honest, and God-fearing man.

  Of course she couldn’t help but like him, but love? No. Love took two people, and what Josh felt for her could only be termed as an affable friendship. Therefore, what she returned to him had to be the same.

  And that being the case, she had no reasonable explanation of why she was reacting this way in his presence, simply because of a locked door.

  She had three choices of where to sit—on the beanbag chair the boys lounged back on when they played their video games, on the office chair at the computer workstation, or on the love seat beside Josh.

  He smiled from his side of the love seat and patted the cushion beside him.

  Melissa’s heart went wild.

  Not wanting to give him any idea of what a ninny she was being, she hustled into the empty spot, backing as far into the corner as she could.

  She nearly had a heart attack when he reached over and grasped both her hands. His rough, callused hands covered hers completely, and their warmth radiated all the way to her soul.

  He smiled, lowered his head, and closed his eyes.

  With her heart in her throat, Melissa did the same. During the time Josh took to compose himself and think of his words before he said them aloud, Melissa tried to regain control of her thoughts.

  He only wanted to pray, and while she did too, what she wanted more at that moment was not merely for him to hold her hands, she wanted him to hold her—to wrap his arms around her and hold her tight and to whisper sweet nothings in her ear—to kiss her and tell her he loved her.

  Melissa squeezed her eyes shut and sucked in a deep breath, completely ashamed of herself.

  He gave her hands a gentle squeeze to signify that he was ready. Melissa quickly did her best to wipe all thoughts out of her head except for prayers of agreement as he poured out his heart to God with her as his witness. His words served to deepen the bond that had been growing daily since they’d met.

  After his closing “amen” they remained silent, their hands joined, simply gazing into each other’s faces. If Josh were the type, and if they had that kind of relationship, Melissa might have
called the moment “romantic,” if they hadn’t just been praying.

  At the same time, they heard a shuffle on the other side of the door, followed by whispering.

  “They aren’t anywhere. They have to be in here.”

  The doorknob turned very slowly and silently, and Melissa could see in her mind’s eye, a grouping of little boys testing it.

  Josh opened his mouth to respond, but before a sound came out of his mouth, the whispering resumed.

  “What do you think they’re doing? It’s awful quiet in there.”

  “Do you think they’re kissing?”

  “Kissing? Uncle Josh and Miss Klassen?”

  “No, duh. . .”

  A chorus of gasps sounded, immediately followed by the scampering away of six little feet.

  Josh released her hands as quickly as if she’d burned him and buried his face in his hands. “I don’t believe this.”

  Melissa folded her hands over her chest, hoping the position would stop her hands from shaking. “Come on, Josh, what did you expect? In the kids’ eyes, Bradley managed to get us to date, and now, as soon as we decide to taper it off, Ryan pulls that little stunt getting me here to help him with some alleged homework. I’m sure Bradley was in on it too. Can’t you see what they’re doing?”

  “Of course I can see through their little matchmaking attempts. They’re not exactly being very subtle.”

  “Now, according to them, they’ve succeeded. Instead of showing them that we’re going our separate ways, they think we’re hiding and, uh, well, you know.”

  Josh leaned back into his corner of the love seat, stretched his legs out in front of him, and raised his arms, linking his fingers behind his head. Devilment shone from his smiling eyes, and his amused little grin made one dimple appear in his right cheek. “No, Melissa. Tell me. What do they think we’re doing?”

  She swatted him on the arm and stood. “Stop it. We have to get out of here and show ourselves. I hope that coffee’s ready. I think I need it.”

  ❧

  Josh walked Melissa to her car, then stood on the curb and waved as she drove away. He couldn’t believe the way the evening turned out.

  When he heard the kids whispering, asking each other if he was kissing Melissa, instead of a protest, at the time his first thought was that kissing her wasn’t such a bad idea.

  And that was wrong.

  She was Bradley’s teacher. Her boss had caught news that they’d been seeing each other, and trouble was on the way if they didn’t cease and desist.

  He didn’t want to cease and desist, but he had to.

  Melissa was his friend, probably the most special friend he’d ever had in his whole life.

  They understood each other. They could share anything. They could both be at their worst, and they still liked each other, anyway. Best of all, when they were both at their best, they really had fun, and they didn’t have to do anything extraordinary or elaborate. One of the most enjoyable nights of his life had happened at the grocery store. He’d always hated grocery shopping, but Melissa had made it fun, at least she had that one night. He hadn’t even cared that people stared at them as they walked down the aisles pushing their carts, laughing, and acting silly.

  Melissa was everything Bradley said she was and more. He’d never met anyone like her in his whole life, and he never would again.

  That was why he couldn’t kiss her. Kissing her would change the key focus of their relationship, and he couldn’t take the chance that once it changed, they could never go back.

  Besides, Melissa had never indicated anything else in their relationship besides pure friendship. If he tried to push her to a point she didn’t want to go, he would break her trust. He would rather die than risk doing anything that might damage all they’d come to be to each other.

  He found himself still standing on the curb long after her taillights disappeared around the corner. Josh stiffened and walked inside, got the kids ready for bed, then sat down at the computer to e-mail his brother, and following that, Josh would crawl into bed.

  Tomorrow was another day.

  ❧

  “Josh? What are you doing here? My car is working just fine.”

  Josh couldn’t stop his grin as he held out the plastic grocery bag. “I’m not here about your car. I got a phone call from Tyler just as I was about to leave work. It seems that yesterday you left a bag of groceries in our freezer. You have to realize that food doesn’t last long at our house. Tyler phoned, very concerned, to tell me that they ate it all after school, and that I should go to the grocery store on my way home to replace everything immediately.”

  “They ate all that in one day?”

  “Can I come in before this melts?”

  Her cheeks turned that charming shade of pink he liked so much as she accepted the bag from him. He followed her into the kitchen and watched as she unpacked the bag and transferred everything into the freezer.

  “We go through a can of that frozen juice concentrate in a day, sometimes less. Frozen waffles make a great snack after school. One box lasts approximately fourteen minutes. Bradley opened the frozen asparagus. He wanted to see what it looked like—you know his interest in ‘vegabulls.’ They cooked it after school, but Tyler said nobody would eat it, by the way. I have a feeling Cleo won’t be very hungry for her dinner tonight. I won’t mention those ice cream bars you bought. There’s only six in a box, and when you gather five boys and one dog, well, we’ll just say there isn’t anything left for me.”

  “A long time ago, you made me angry when you said that Cleo was too fat. Now I know why, and I can understand.”

  “I never said that.”

  “Yes, you did. Bradley said you said that.”

  Josh shook his head. He’d learned long ago never to have a battle of words with Melissa, although he’d been known to beat her close to half the time at Scrabble. One time he’d really wiped her because he got the bonus for using all seven letters on the word “chassis.”

  “Josh?”

  “Oops. Sorry. I was thinking about something else.”

  “I said, the boys obviously know you’re here. Are you staying for supper?”

  He grinned. “Only if I’m invited.” Without waiting for her reply, he sauntered to the stove, lifted the lid to the pot, and peeked inside. “Oh boy! Tuna Noodle Casserole!”

  She sighed. “Get yourself a plate.”

  As he reached into the cupboard to get everything he needed, he turned to speak over his shoulder. “By the way, I’ve got a change of plans for date night. I have to work some overtime on Saturday, and I know I’m going to be tired so I was going to cancel. Then the kids went and reserved a movie and asked if you’ll come and do date night at our house.”

  “They did, did they?”

  He sat at the table to wait for the last few minutes before the timer went off and the casserole was ready. “Have you noticed that when I told them we’d decided to cut back on seeing each other, they created a reason for us to be together every single night of the week?”

  “Yes. I also noticed it’s not just Bradley anymore, but every single one of them.”

  They shared a laugh and counted on their fingers for every day recently where each of the boys dreamed up some very sensible and necessary reason to get them together, with the exception of Boys Club and Bible study night. That night, Josh had been so tired he had contemplated not going, when he found them all waiting at the door with their shoes already on and even tied properly.

  It didn’t take much to convince him to stay and visit for awhile after they’d done the dishes together.

  On his way out, he paused and turned around. “See you tomorrow night at our house. Oh, have you got any popcorn? Also, the kids told me to pick the movie up on the way home from work, so come over early, and we’ll order pizza for supper.”

  Fourteen

  “I think there’s been a mistake,” Josh said as he handed the movie back to the clerk.

  “The
re’s no mistake.” The woman pressed her lips together, as if she was trying not to laugh, and gave it to him again. “I remember this. Six boys came in and picked it out, and they even paid for it. Out of their allowances, they told me. It’s yours for the weekend. Two-day rental.”

  Josh felt his face turn ten shades of red. The movie they’d chosen was a weepy chick flick, nothing he would ever have contemplated renting, never mind something a horde of boys would enjoy. Then he remembered Kyle saying that Cody helped them pick it out—the Cody whose mom was dating Erica’s dad.

  “I guess I’ll take it then,” he mumbled. “Since it’s already paid for.”

  When he pulled into the driveway, he noticed Melissa’s car already parked on the street. He grabbed the movie and hurried inside, but only Cleo greeted him at the door.

  He found everyone in the den surrounding Melissa, who was sitting in the kids’ bean bag chair with a game controller in her hand. The console had been set to four-player mode, and Melissa was racing as the princess character.

  “Remind me never to let you drive my car when I get it out of storage.”

  “Mmm,” she mumbled as she rounded a difficult corner, then spun out over a cliff.

  “See what I mean?”

  “I give up. I think it’s time to order the pizza,” she grumbled as she set the controller down.

  As soon as Andrew announced his championship at the finish line, they voted on the pizza toppings. Tyler took over Melissa’s player, and Josh took her into the living room, leaving all the boys to continue with their games until supper arrived.

  “You won’t believe what the kids rented,” he said as he pulled the movie out of the bag.

  Before he could complain about the schmaltzy story line, Melissa squealed with glee.

  “I’ve been wanting to see this! I heard it’s great!”

  Josh pasted a very forced smile on his face. “I can hardly wait to see it too.” He could hardly wait to see the credits.

  As a treat, he allowed everyone to eat the pizza in the living room while they watched the movie, which also acted as a distraction from the feeble characterizations and predictable plot.