SEATTLE CINDERELLA: FOUR-IN-ONE COLLECTION Read online

  Matt looked at Farrah. He’d heard about The Flying Nun but never seen it. His parents hadn’t got their first VCR until he was in middle school.

  Kat looked down at the cover jacket again. “I’ve heard of Michael J. Fox.”

  Matt grinned. “He starred in my favorite movie series when I was a kid. Back to the Future. I think it was one of the first movies they made into a video game for NES.”

  “NES? What’s that?”

  Inwardly, Matt cringed. He wasn’t quite forty, but sometimes the teens made him feel like he was fifty. “Never mind. It was state of the art in its day. Let’s put the movie on. It used to be Tyler’s mother’s favorite movie.” He neglected to add, “when she was little” on purpose.

  Kat’s eyes widened. “If it was your mom’s favorite movie, I want to watch it. I don’t know what my mom’s favorite movie was.” Her voice dropped down, and she spoke with a tremor. “I wish I had paid more attention to stuff like that. Now I’ll never know.”

  Tyler’s eyes softened. “I’m sure she would have liked it just like my mom did. Let’s watch it.”

  Now Matt knew he’d picked the wrong movie. He hadn’t meant to make Kat sad. He’d actually thought parts of the movie were pretty funny. The funniest was that his sister cried every time it looked like Shadow wasn’t going to make it, regardless of how many hundreds of times she’d watched it. No matter how old he was, he always thought it was funny making his sister cry. But he hadn’t wanted to make Kat cry.

  Farrah tapped his arm again. “This was a good choice. It will be good for Kat to think of her mother watching this movie.”

  All he could do was stare at Farrah, wondering if she’d read his mind.

  As the movie progressed, Matt was relieved to see that Kat and Tyler enjoyed it and amused that Farrah commented on certain parts she remembered watching with Cindy.

  By the time the movie was nearly over, in exactly the part where his sister had always started to cry, so did Kat. He didn’t know whether it was good or bad that Tyler slipped his arm around Kat while she sniffled. Since he and Farrah were watching, he wrote it off as harmless, but this was something he would tell his sister to keep an eye on. To give Farrah credit, she didn’t sniffle, but she chose that very moment to clean up the remnants of the nachos.

  They sat around and chatted for a little while, but it didn’t take long for Matt to start feeling tired. He’d been up at 6:00 a.m. to do a surgery at the clinic, and after he’d worked all day, he’d gone to the shelter. It was now nearly midnight, and he was feeling every minute.

  Beside him, Farrah stifled a yawn.

  Matt stood. “Come on, Tyler. It’s time for me to take you home. I’m tired; it’s been a long day.”

  Farrah and Kat escorted them to the door. He kept an eye on the two teens, as did Farrah, to make sure there were no parting smooches. Although, strangely, he wanted to give Farrah a little peck on the cheek.

  He might have, too, if Tyler and Kat hadn’t been watching him.

  It had been a long time since he’d spent an evening in the company of a woman, and even though she didn’t know it was supposed to be a date, it had almost felt like one. Actually, no, tonight hadn’t been a date, it had been an entrapment. Except that he’d enjoyed himself and wished they could do it again.

  He turned to Farrah. “This was good. Thank you. I guess I’ll see you the next time we cross paths at the shelter.”

  She nodded, mumbled a good night, and the door closed as Matt and Tyler walked to the car.

  “Well? Wasn’t she nice? Did you like her?”

  Matt sighed. “You promised me you were going to drop this. I’m not getting involved in any matchmaking schemes, so you can stop it right now.”

  “Sorry, Uncle Matt.”

  The trouble was, Matt was sorry, too. Farrah was a nice woman, and if he’d been in the market for a match, he had a feeling that Farrah would be a keeper. It was almost too bad that the chances of their crossing paths again at the clinic would be small. Probably for the best.

  “Aren’t the puppies cute?” Kat nearly purred as she picked up the runt of the litter and gave it a gentle squeeze.

  Farrah couldn’t help herself. She picked up one of the larger pups and hugged it. “Yes, they’re adorable. And you’re right, it’s a lot of work to look after all these puppies. Tyler’s grandparents were very generous to commit to taking care of all of them.” Although Theresa and Bill weren’t the frail old couple she’d been led to believe. They were only a dozen years older than she was and excited about all the fun things they were going to do when they retired. They’d clearly been active; Theresa looked every day of her sixty-two years, either from too much time in the sun or simply genetics.

  Farrah had never been one to suntan, and she’d been lucky with her genetics. Like her own mother, she always looked ten years younger than her actual age—something she’d really grown to appreciate. She didn’t have any wrinkles yet, and the last time she’d checked, she only had one gray hair, which she hadn’t bothered to pull out, despite the mortification of her friends. And now that she’d turned fifty, Farrah had also been thinking of what she was going to do when she retired. Probably not much traveling, considering her teacher’s pension, but she had good friends and family.

  Theresa reached into the basket and also picked up one of the pups. “Are you and your daughter considering keeping one of these?”

  Farrah smiled graciously at Theresa. The tragedy of losing Kat’s parents and the complicated relationship between them was difficult to explain to strangers, so they’d both learned to respond politely rather than let the situation become awkward.

  “No,” Kat said. “I already have a dog. I’m just here to help.”

  “Good morning, ladies,” a smooth male voice sounded behind them. “Fancy meeting you here. Hi, Mom. I see you’ve met Kat and Farrah.”

  Farrah turned to greet Matt. She shouldn’t have been surprised to see him. Now that she thought about it, Tyler’s grandparents were, of course, Matt’s parents.

  Theresa handed the pup in her arms to Matt. “I see Tyler is here. Where’s Stephanie? Or did you bring him?”

  “I brought him. He wanted me to have a look at one of the pups. He says that one’s not gaining weight as fast as the others and I should have a look at it.”

  Kat jumped up. “That would be this one. She’s so little.”

  Matt handed the large pup back to Theresa and took the small one from Kat. “This is the runt of the litter. She’s probably getting outmuscled because she’s outnumbered. Being the smallest, she has the least fight. Sometimes we have to help by giving the smallest ones a bottle.”

  Kat’s eyes widened. “Can I do that?”

  “You certainly can.” He reached into his pocket and handed her his car keys. “There’s a box on the backseat.”

  Kat grabbed the keys and was already on the run before Matt finished his sentence.

  He smiled at her disappearing figure. “She’s a good kid. I can see why Tyler likes her.”

  “She also likes Tyler, but I don’t know Tyler well enough to comment.”

  “He’s a good kid, too. Because he’s so tall and the girls watch him, he plays the part in front of his friends, but he’s really not like that. I keep telling him that if he acts like that in front of his friends, that’s what everyone’s going to think.” Matt paused and tickled the little runt. “But he’s only got eyes for Kat. Ever since she first joined the hockey team.”

  Farrah sighed. “Hockey. I’m afraid to mention hockey around Cindy, especially since her love of the game has rubbed off so much on Kat. I’m afraid I’m not really a fan.”

  “Me neither. I’m more into baseball myself.”

  Kat returned with the box Matt had instructed her to get, and Tyler followed close behind. Farrah stood aside and watched as Matt instructed them how to mix the formula ingredients, warm it in the microwave, and pour it into the bottle that was especially for puppies.
/>   It made Farrah wonder why a man who was so gentle and caring with animals wasn’t married and doing the same for children.

  As he stood back to watch Kat feeding the pup, Farrah moved closer to Matt. “I know you see everyone else’s pets all day long, but do you have any pets of your own?”

  “Yeah. It’s a proverbial zoo at my place. I have a dog, a cat, a lizard, and a rabbit. No birds, though. I couldn’t stand the noise. Besides, I don’t think a cat and a bird make compatible housemates.”

  “What about the cat and the rabbit?”

  “It’s a really big rabbit and a very small cat.” He turned to her and grinned. “What about you?”

  She shook her head. “No pets, just a couple of fish. I don’t like to leave pets home alone while I’m at work.”

  “I leave the cat and the lizard and the rabbit at home all day, and they’re fine. But I take Rex to the clinic every day. He thinks he’s our mascot, and he gets really upset if he thinks I’m going to work and not taking him with me. Here, Kat, try this.”

  When he hunkered down to give Kat a little help with the pup, Farrah studied Matt. She couldn’t count the times Kat had told her how hot Matt was for an older guy. She had to admit that he was a handsome man, and not so old, probably a decade younger than she was. But more than good looks, he had a soft heart for both pets and the teens. She wondered again why he wasn’t married with a dozen kids of his own instead of spending so much time with his nephew and, now that she knew, a plethora of pets.

  After Matt showed Kat how to burp the puppy, he once again stood and stepped back.

  Still sitting on the ground and not looking like she wanted to put the puppy down, Kat looked up at Farrah with big, wide eyes. “I don’t want to go home yet. Can I stay here? I also just thought of something. I think I forgot to let Tippy out. Maybe you and Dr. Matt should go back to Uncle Luke’s and let her out. And I’m getting hungry. The two of you could stop somewhere for lunch and then bring back a couple of burgers or a pizza or something for me and Tyler.”

  Matt’s eyes narrowed and he glared at Tyler, whose cheeks and ears turned a brilliant shade of red. “Tyler?” he muttered between his teeth.

  Tyler cleared his throat. “I never thought of that. I really didn’t. But I think it’s a great idea. Can we stay with the puppies and Gramma and Grampa? You guys can come back later for us.”

  “You know Gramma and Grampa will give you lunch.”

  “Yeah, but maybe it would be a nice treat for you to bring them lunch, too. After all, they’re doing a lot of work with these puppies. Don’t you think?”

  Matt slumped. Farrah could almost see the waves of guilt stabbing at him.

  Then he sighed. “That’s fine with me, what about you?” He turned to Farrah. “I don’t mind driving you back to let Tippy out then picking up lunch for everyone.”

  Tyler grinned, and some of the color faded from his cheeks. “No rush. You two can take your time. Right, Kat?”

  Kat nodded. “Right.”

  Farrah didn’t understand why the two teens were trying to get rid of them, but she did know that they were in good hands with the puppies and Matt’s parents watching them. Maybe she needed to talk to Matt about this, although she wasn’t quite sure what to ask.

  She turned to him. “That sounds good. Your car or mine?”

  Chapter 5

  Matt bit his bottom lip so Farrah wouldn’t see him smiling and pretended to watch something out the car window as she drove to Kat’s uncle’s house.

  He couldn’t help himself. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so relaxed in the company of a woman—if he ever had—or if he’d ever enjoyed himself so much when they weren’t really even doing anything. Of course, this situation was different than any he’d ever been thrust into. This was another blind date carefully orchestrated by Kat and Tyler, and again, Farrah appeared to have no idea that they’d been set up. But, unlike most women, it didn’t matter if the meetings were planned or not. Every time he found himself alone with a marriageable woman, it soon became obvious that marriage was on her mind.

  But not Farrah. So far the things she had on her mind were Kat and Tyler’s relationship, the puppies, the gas mileage of her car, the rising price of gas, the parent-teacher meetings at her school, the upcoming Mariners season, the shopping trip to Canada she was planning with her friends, the possibility of snow this winter, and, of all things, that she was looking for a guitar so she could take lessons. All that in a fifteen-minute trip.

  He turned to watch her as she reached for the switch to open the garage door and turned into the driveway. She was in no way a hermit, but she’d made no reference to seeing him again, nor had she expressed any desire to establish a relationship. She’d done nothing to try to impress him, and she’d even asked if he was aware he had a hole in his T-shirt. Then she pointed out that he’d missed a spot when he shaved that morning.

  He followed her into the house then to the back patio door, where they stood side by side while waiting for Tippy to do her thing in the backyard.

  “I had a feeling,” Farrah muttered. “She’s not doing anything except checking the last sock she buried.” She pointed to a few raised mounds of dirt. “I don’t know how she does that. How does she balance to dig?”

  “You’d be surprised. With a little support, dogs adapt very quickly, even to tragedies. Unlike people.” Although, part of the reason for that was that unlike people, animals didn’t realize what they were missing. Matt lived with constant reminders of what he could never have.

  But now that he was getting older, that cycle of life had passed him by, and a new cycle was beginning.

  Maybe Tyler was right. He didn’t have to marry Farrah. They could be friends, and, yes, he could even date her. If nothing became of it, that was fine. And if something did, it felt good to discover that would be fine, too. That she was three or four years older than he was didn’t matter. All that mattered was she was past childbearing age, so he didn’t have to think too far into the future.

  For the first time in many years, he’d met a woman he liked. She was stable, responsible, and a firm believer with both feet on the ground, who was active in her church and even helped out at the youth group of another church, which happened to be his own. She treasured friends and family, and—if he had to fall back on an old cliché—she was both pretty and intelligent and knew how to do minor tune-ups on her own car. Plus she had a great sense of humor. And, apparently, a huge collection of shoes. He wondered if she had any of those strappy high-heeled things that looked so great when a woman wore a nice slim dress.

  “Matt? Hello? Earth to Matt?”

  Matt blinked as a hand waved in front of his face.

  He felt his cheeks grow warm. “Sorry. What did you say?”

  “I said Tippy is done checking on her secret stashes. We can go now. What do you want to do?”

  He grinned. “I want to go to the music store and buy you a guitar. Then we can go back to my place, and I’ll get my guitar out and get started on those lessons you want.”

  “Lessons?”

  “I’m pretty good, and as far as lessons go, I’m cheap, too.”

  “How good are you?”

  His smile dropped. When all his friends had been looking for the women they would eventually marry, Matt had stayed home and poured his energy and frustration into his guitar, when he wasn’t studying for veterinary college. He wasn’t just good, he was very good.

  “I’m good enough to give you decent lessons.”

  “I guess that’s okay, but I won’t let you buy me a guitar.”

  “When’s your birthday?”

  “It was a couple of months ago. Why?”

  “Consider it a late birthday gift. I know the store owner, and he always gives me a good discount. This is going to be fun.”

  “Wait. What about picking up some lunch for your family?”

  Matt’s grin returned. “I’ll order pizza and have it delivered to the
house. Come on. I’m starting to hear music in my head.” He leaned closer to her then twirled an imaginary mustache. “Come, my dear. We’re going to make beautiful music together.”

  Farrah mumbled something under her breath that he couldn’t make out, turned, and headed for the car.

  He followed, unable to stop himself from laughing. For the first time since he could remember, he was actually looking forward to a date, even if she didn’t know it was one.

  At least not yet. But it would be.

  Chapter 6

  I think this is enough. You’ve done well. You’ve learned some of the easier chords—E, A7, C, G, and D. You can now string them together to make a simple song.”

  “String them together? Is that a bad joke?”

  He grinned. “Sorry,” he said, but he wasn’t really. “Seriously, you’re doing great for a first lesson.”

  Farrah shook her left hand in the air to try to alleviate the stinging in her fingertips. “I can’t do this. This hurts. A lot.”

  “That’s normal. After a while you’ll develop calluses and it will only bug you after you’ve played for a few hours.”

  “Hours?” After half an hour her fingers throbbed, and she was sure the lines were going to be permanent. She hadn’t known it would be like this.

  Yet Matt had played more than she had, and he was fine. All she wanted to do was run her fingers under icy cold water.

  She stared at the aching, scored lines on her abused fingers.

  Matt held out his left hand, palm upward. “See? One day your fingers will be slightly roughened, like this.”

  In her mind’s eye, she pictured the rough hands of an old farmer, lumpy and knobby and scarred. Matt’s hands were nothing like that. His hands were normal. Soft. Large. Masculine.

  He smiled gently. “I meant for you to look at the tips of my fingers. See the calluses?”

  Farrah shook her head. He smiled again. “Let me show you what I mean.”

  With his right hand, Matt reached forward and grasped her left. He started to reach forward to touch her sore fingers but stopped. “I wish I had some of that moisturizing stuff women put on their hands. That would probably help. But if you keep it up, your fingers will be like this.”