Page 13 of Always the Matchmaker

“With a happy ending?” I ask between panting.

“You tell me?” She looks concerned for a moment, looking back at me, as if I would kick her out of bed at any moment.

I move us both to properly lay in the bed, pulling the covers up over us. I kiss her forehead, damp with sweat and nuzzle her cheek, spooning her short frame in my arms. So soft, so special. I squeeze her gently, sighing.

“I love you,” I let the words slip out. I suppose there’s no better way to tell someone you’re happy other than admitting love. I close my eyes and breathe easy holding her next to me. This is how she should always be, in my arms, temper and tension soothed by love making. Bodies entwined and hearts, hopefully, too.

She’s waiting for something, unmoving in my arms except for her hitched breathing, several minutes pass and she turns a little in my arms. Gently she finger brushes my hair off my sticky forehead and she kisses the spot. I don’t open my eyes, cherishing the moment.

“I love you too,” she whispers so quietly it sounds like a thought narrowly escaping her lips.

Candy

I roll over in bed to find it empty. I panic only a moment, grabbing sheets and pulling them up to my neck. Then I remember, I’m at his home, my old home, and I relax. Bracken barks and bounds from the doorway to the bed, jumping onto it and greeting me with laps of his tongue.

“Haha, good morning to you too, sir,” I cordially speak, pushing his kisses away between laughs.

The smell of bacon and sweet maple syrup lure me from bed. Grabbing my dress from the night before, slipping it on and not bothering to throw my hair up, I simply run my fingers through the mess for some semblance of grooming.

I tread down the stairs slowly, taking care to not make my footsteps known. I stop on the last step, tilting my head at the sounds of more than one voice amongst the sizzling of bacon and a pan moving on the stove.

“So the deed’s been done?” a man’s voice asks, not Ben’s but not unfamiliar.

There’s not immediate answer and I sigh in relief. Cohen was right intimate details of true love are kept secret. And after saying the words last night, I’m ready to match them with my actions today.

“It wasfuckingamazing, Abe,” Ben says, after a slurp of coffee and my stomach drops.

Not true love, I chastise myself for even thinking it was.How could I be so naive?

Even if hewasa virgin andissweet to my father, it doesn’t make Ben any different than any other man I’ve slept with. He let the personal moment slip away to become some locker room talk, and I would slip away, too. I grab my shoes and don’t bother with the rest of my clothes, running out the front door. It’s cold but I could care less, even as my tears grow into icicles in the wind on my cheeks.

“Candy?” It’s Cohen’s voice behind me, as his truck pulls up beside me. “Can I give you a ride?” He stops and jumps out. “What the hell? You’re half-naked!”

It’s an exaggeration but for the temperature I might as well have been half naked.

I’m able to climb in on my own.He has a logical foot bar for his truck!I shiver as I settle into the warm cab, curling my hands up into my lap.

“Are you okay?” he asks me, worry etched in his tan features. “Did someone do this to you?”

“Nothing I didn’t already know was going to happen,” I answer, turning away to stare out the window,

Ben

The front door slams shut.

“Candy?” I call out, jogging into the living room. Silence. Abe walks up beside me. “Shit,” I hiss looking over at him.

I pull out my phone.

Ben: Where did you go?

I text her quickly. There’s no immediate response and the wait is torture.

The phone buzzes in my hand when she answers me finally.

Candy: To the inn, where you can tow my car.

Ben: Why? What’s wrong? I was making breakfast and I heard door?