The Matchmaking Pact. Carolyne Aarsen

not?”

      “I have something for you.” She scooted across the seat and threw her arms around her father’s neck. “Happy birthday, Daddy,” she said, adding a noisy kiss. Then she gave him the bag she’d carried into the truck.

      As he took the bag he felt a jolt of all-too-familiar guilt. She had remembered his birthday. Had planned for it.

      He remembered how he had completely forgotten hers.

      “Why, honey—” He swallowed down a surprising knot of pain. “Thank you. What is it?”

      “You’re supposed to open it and find out.” Lily sat back with a self-satisfied grin.

      Puzzled, Silas pulled out the package wrapped in a plastic grocery bag. When he unwrapped the framed picture, he did a double take.

      Why had his daughter given him a picture of Josie Cane?

      He masked his confusion and gave Lily a careful smile. “Thanks, honey. This is an interesting present.”

      “I got the picture from Alyssa for my birthday. And I think you need to have a picture of someone in your bedroom again. Like you used to have of Mommy.”

      The woman smiling back at Silas from the picture looked as if she was laughing at a secret joke, her long blond hair blowing away from her face. Her eyes held a hint of mischief, which made Silas think the stories about Josie’s wild past held some truth.

      “That’s very nice. Thank you, Lily.” He put the picture back in the bag, but didn’t tell his daughter there was no way he was filling the spot that once held a picture of his beloved wife with a picture of this woman.

      Lily sat back in her seat, her arms hugging her backpack, obviously not ready to leave yet. “Do you think she’s pretty?”

      “As pretty as she needs to be.”

      “I like Ms. Josie.”

      He gathered that. “I’m sure she’s very nice.”

      “And she’s a good teacher.”

      She gave him a sweet smile, which immediately made him suspicious. “I want to go to the after-school program again, Daddy. Can I? Please?”

      Bingo. Silas heaved a sigh, marveling at her persistence. “We’re not talking about that now, Lily.”

      Lily glanced over her shoulder again. “Can you please walk me to the school?”

      Where did that come from? She was usually out the door and down the sidewalk before the truck rolled completely to a stop. Now she wanted him to walk her to the door?

      “Of course.” He got out, still puzzled.

      The banging of hammers from various parts of town competed with the whine of saws as he walked around the truck to where Lily waited. Work was going on all over town, still repairing the damage from the tornado.

      Thankfully the school had been spared the worst of the damage and classes hadn’t been interrupted.

      “Lily. Hi.” A little girl’s voice called out over the noise in the town just as Silas caught up with his daughter.

      He turned and came face-to-face with a young girl holding the hand of the woman whose framed photo lay faceup on the seat of his truck. He shot a quick glance at his truck, wondering if Josie would have seen it as she walked past.

      “Good morning, Mr. Marstow,” Josie said.

      “Ms. Cane.”

      Her smile wasn’t nearly as friendly and open as the one in his picture and he was surprised at the touch of disappointment this created. But he tipped his hat all polite and gentlemanly, then smiled at Alyssa.

      As he always was when he saw her, he was surprised how much Alyssa and Lily were alike. Same red hair. Same tip-tilted nose. Same slight build. Even Alyssa’s sparkling green eyes held the same hint of mischief that Lily’s could, which was probably why they were so close.

      But the resemblance ended with their clothing. Where his daughter wore a faded Hannah Montana T-shirt, Alyssa wore a white button-up shirt so bright it hurt his eyes. Lily’s pants had grass stains on the knees while Alyssa wore a cute, ruffled pink skirt and striped white, pink and green knee socks.

      And Alyssa’s shining red hair was done up in neat, fat braids tied with green-and-pink ribbons.

      The girls looked like “before” and “after” pictures for laundry detergent.

      “Did you start baking yet?” Lily asked, catching Ms. Josie by the hand. “’Cause I asked my dad if I could come to learn how to bake, and he said maybe.”

      “We would love to have you come back to the class,” Josie said, shooting a puzzled glance his way.

      He knew exactly what the question in her eyes was about. Once the phones were up and running in High Plains, he had called her and told her Lily wouldn’t be attending the class anymore.

      He had been diplomatic enough not to accuse her of carelessness, but she seemed to have drawn that conclusion. She had offered more apologies, but he was firm. He had said he wasn’t going to compromise the safety of his daughter. Which made her mad. Which, in turn, made him mad.

      They hadn’t talked or seen each other since then.

      “What are you making today?” Lily asked, swinging Ms. Josie’s hand, her wide, happy smile creating a surprising spurt of jealousy in Silas. She never smiled like that at him.

      “We’re making cupcakes,” Alyssa, holding Ms. Josie’s other hand, put in.

      “I want to learn how to make birthday cupcakes. For my dad. It’s his birthday today, Ms. Josie.”

      “Is it, now?” Josie glanced back again at Silas. “Happy birthday, Mr. Marstow.”

      “Thank you, Ms. Cane,” he said, stepping aside to let a group of laughing children slip past him.

      “He’s not very old yet, you know?” Lily said. “Do you think he’s old?”

      “I think he’s exactly as old as he needs to be,” Josie said, tilting her head to one side as she looked at him as if making sure.

      “You sound like my dad,” Lily said with a grin. “He said that you’re as pretty as you need to be.”

      “Really?” Thankfully Josie didn’t look at him.

      “Do you want to come over to my house for a birthday party?” Lily asked. “Daddy, can we have a birthday party for you at our house? Can Ms. Josie and Alyssa come?”

      A gust of wind picked up Josie’s hair and tossed it away from her face and, as she smiled, she looked even prettier than her picture.

      And for a moment he couldn’t look away.

      Silas yanked his attention back to his daughter, frustrated with the vague reaction Josie had created in him. He had no intention of going down that road again.

      “We’re not having a birthday party,” Silas quickly added.

      “I don’t mind if she comes to the class,” Josie put in. “There’s enough room for her.”

      Silas thought of the work he had waiting at home and the convenience of working straight through until late afternoon before coming to get Lily.

      He scratched his temple with his index finger, trying to decide. Lily would be over the moon and out of his hair, and he wouldn’t have to feel guilty about her watching television all the time.

      “When he does that scratching his head thing? That means he’s thinking,” Lily said to Alyssa.

      Josie pressed her lips together, stifling a smile.

      “I’ve got a lot to do,” Silas said, feeling as if he needed to put up a bit more resistance. “I’m not sure it