Matchmakers Box Set: Matchmakers, Encore, Finding Hope (22 page)

“You must be Thomas Samuel. I’m Sophia’s daughter, Carissa Kendal. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

When Sophia Kendal had said her daughter would meet him at the boardinghouse in Kansas City, he hadn’t expected she’d look like the woman standing before him. The woman before him stood erect as a dancer. Her hair fell to the middle of her back like an ebony waterfall, and her dark eyes were soft. She wore a flowing, orange blouse and a long skirt of the same orange, mixed with earthy browns that swirled around her calves when she moved.

She was mesmerizing.

“Please come in.” She stepped back through the door. Heat rose on the back of his neck as he passed by her. “My mother says you’ll be staying with us until you get settled.”

“Uh. Yes.” He felt like his tongue had swollen. “I’m sorry if I seem out of sorts. I knew Sophia for so long that to think of her as your mother, well, that’s a stretch for me.”

Carissa smiled at him again. “I was seventeen before she adopted me, so I can understand. I’m sorry you couldn’t make it out for their wedding.”

“Yes, so am I.” Had he made that wedding, he’d have made it his business to become more familiar with the dark beauty who, with the most subtle gesture of tucking her hair behind her ear, had his pulse climbing.

Guilt halted his thoughts. He should have been at the wedding because he’d promised Sophia he would be. It was just another broken promise, and he feared he would let her down again. And given his past, he had no business fantasizing about Carissa—or any woman. It could end only in heartache—or worse.

“So you’re a teacher?”

“Yes. That’s my dream, to bring music to the masses through their own fingers.”

“You play the cello, right? Just like your mother?” He asked nervously.

“Yes. Even before I met her, she was my inspiration.”

“Why are you only giving lessons? Why aren’t you in the symphony?” From what he knew, Carissa’s talent was as superior as her mother’s.

“I’m a caregiver. My mother needed to look after my little sister, and I chose to take care of the women who took care of me growing up.” Her dark eyes clouded with sadness. “My aunt Millie had cancer, and we lost her about six years ago.”

“I’m so sorry.” He fought the urge to reach out to her.

“Thank you. Now I’m taking care of my grandmother, who will be ninety-two soon.”

“She lives here? With you?”

Carissa nodded. “Well, I live with her. But yes, and she’s still feisty as ever.”

“I heard that,” an elderly woman called as she walked from the kitchen, slowly, balancing with a walker.

“Katie,” Carissa said, “this is Mr. Samuel. The man mom sent over.”

“Mr. Samuel, it’s nice to meet you.” He shook her hand with a gentle grasp. “Thank you. And please call me Thomas.”

“All right, I will.” She turned to Carissa. “I’m going to go lie down. Get Thomas settled. I think your parents will be over soon for dinner. Wake me when they arrive.”

Thomas’s belly clutched. Sophia and David were coming for dinner. Suddenly he felt dizzy. He hadn’t sat down to a meal with a family in a very long time. It shouldn’t bother him; this was Sophia, after all. He’d spent plenty of time with Sophia.

What would she think of him now? Now that he was washed up, broke, and had failed at everything he had always hoped he’d accomplish.

Carissa kissed her grandmother on the cheek. Thomas watched the exchange. He’d known them both but moments, yet he knew what they meant to each other. He was envious.

“Thank you again, Mrs. Burkhalter, for letting me stay here with you.”

“You can stay as long as you call me Katie.” She gave him a stern nod.

“Yes, ma’am, Katie.”

Katie made her way down the hall to a bedroom and shut the door behind her.

“Wow.” He shook his head. “I feel like I’ve just met a legend. For years I heard about Sophia’s grandmother. I feel like I’ve known her forever.”

“Next to my mother, she’s one of the most amazing women to me.” Carissa’s eyes followed the path her grandmother had walked, her devotion to the older woman glistening in her expression. “Why don’t I show you to your room, and you can get some rest before dinner.” She turned back to him, catching his stare. “I’m sure it was a long flight from Rome.”

“Yes, it was.” Too long. Every minute of the flight he’d fought with himself over whether it’d been right to accept Sophia’s job offer. He followed Carissa up the stairs.

The room was as large as his apartment in Rome, yet more homey. It had a brass bed that looked as old as the house. Two chairs sat on either side of the window with a marble-topped table between them. A door stood ajar, revealing an adjoining bathroom, so he wouldn’t need to share facilities with others in the house.

The room felt masculine, and that pleased him. He’d been worried about staying in the house of an old woman, with doilies under everything and untouchable collectables, and had almost called a hotel and made reservations. He was glad he hadn’t.

“This room was my father’s while we lived here. I think you should find it suiting.” Carissa pushed back the sheers, and the afternoon light filled the room.

“I think this will be wonderful.”

“Good.” She pushed open the bathroom door. “Your bathroom is through here. It adjoins to the other room, but no one uses that room anymore.”

“Anymore?”

She let out a laugh that was as mesmerizing as her looks. “That was my room, on the other side. When I moved back in to take care of my grandmother and aunt, I took my mother’s old room. It was her room growing up. It’s really big and has its own bathroom.” The smile that danced on her face was childlike. “So if you need anything, I’m just down the hall.”

Her innocent offer punched him in the gut. He only nodded as he watched her leave. He already knew he’d be in need of her. And because he couldn’t allow himself to have her, his nights here would be miserable.

He forced himself to focus on Sophia’s school. An entire school dedicated to bringing music to children. Too many school districts had ripped it out of schools because of funding. The idea was stellar! Her request for his help in putting it together had sent his dragging self-esteem through the roof. It hadn’t taken but a week to pack his few belongings and board the one-way flight to America to start a new chapter in his life, right there in Kansas City, Missouri.

He had learned so much from Sophia when he’d started playing with Pablo. To work with her on something as great as a school made his heart pound.

There was a snag, of course. Carissa Kendal would assuredly be one of the teachers.

He squeezed his eyes shut and pushed away the thought. He wasn’t looking for a woman. He wasn’t looking for the complications of a relationship. He didn’t come from the kind of family that embraced love and commitment. That, he knew, had to run deep enough to run through one’s blood. Thomas Samuel was an amazing musician and composer—but lover, husband, or father material? He’d never know. He’d never bring a woman into his circle and hurt her like that. Because that’s what he’d do. He’d hurt her, just as his father had hurt the ones he was supposed to love.

He blew out a breath. They had a lot in common, the members of Pablo’s ensemble. Pablo had run from whom he was. Sophia had run from what she thought. Thomas had run from what he might become.

He’d run for a long time. He’d left the States when he was only seventeen and started touring with Pablo almost immediately. He’d been Pablo’s prodigy. Far away from his family, if you could call it that.

His family didn’t live too far from where he currently stood questioning his very being. Fear fluttered in his heart. Occasionally he let himself dream of being part of a family again, but he knew it could never come true.

As it was, he was going to wash up, go downstairs, and dine with Sophia’s family. A family he already knew a great deal about. But the nerves wouldn’t subside. They were a family and he was an outsider, just as he’d always been. A commotion filtered through the house, and Thomas followed the sound toward the wonderfully large kitchen. With her back turned to him, Carissa stood at the sink beside her mother. Heat rushed through him.

They were laughing, joking, and bumping into each other over the sink.

“If you’d move your big behind…” Sophia directed the insult to Carissa.

“Oh, excuse me, Miss-I-Haven’t-Seen-a-Treadmill-in-a-Year,” Carissa boosted back, and they both laughed.

He could see that happiness had landed on Sophia. She’d always been a firm and taut person, but the few pounds that had crept onto her let him know she was truly joyous in her role of wife and mother.

“Who are you?” a small voice asked from the table.

The laughter died, and Thomas turned his head to the table where Katie sat. A young girl with rosy cheeks, deep blue eyes, and mounds of blonde curls sat next to Katie, looking up at him. He smiled cautiously at her.

“I’m Thomas. Who are you?”

“I’m Hope. I’m eight.” Her expression clearly said, you should have known that.

“Thomas!” Sophia squealed as she grabbed for a towel to wipe her hands on, and then she raced across the room and wrapped her arms around him.

He breathed her in.

She pulled him back at arm’s length to study him, and he did the same. Her auburn hair was a bit longer, but her brown eyes were just as welcoming. When she smiled at him, he knew he’d found a home. One thing about Sophia, she could always make him feel at home.

“I can’t believe you’re here. I can’t believe you’re standing right here.” Tears formed in her eyes, and she pulled him to her again. He held her tight. Already, he was glad he’d come.

“How come there is some man hugging my wife in the kitchen, and you are all standing around watching?” Thomas stiffened at the sound of the man’s voice.

“Daddy!” Hope ran into the man’s arms and embraced him. Still in his pilot’s uniform, he bent down to hug his daughter. “This is Thomas. He knows Mommy.”

“Well, maybe you should introduce us.”

Hope nodded and walked her father by the hand to Thomas, who still held one arm around Sophia.

“Daddy, this is Thomas.”

“Thomas, it’s nice to meet you. I’m David Kendal.” He extended his hand, and Thomas shook it.

“It’s an honor to meet you. I feel like I know you very well.”

“Considering the time frame in which you got your stories, I’d beg for another chance to make a first impression.” He touched his wife’s cheek, and she moved forward and kissed him gently.

“Mr. Kendal, she never had a bad word to say about you.” He looked at Sophia.

“She should have come home sooner then.”

Sophia threw up her hands and shook her head with a smile. “You know, I’m not going to stand here and relive the fact I made a mistake years ago. Is there anyone in this kitchen who doesn’t think I’m a wonderful granddaughter, mother, friend, and wife?”

They shook their heads.

“Okay then, everything ended well, and we can eat.”

Thomas found himself seated between Hope and Carissa at the dinner table. If he let himself look at Carissa, he was sure he’d end up tripping over his tongue like a lovesick puppy, so he made an effort to take an interest in her younger sister. One look at Hope and he saw similarities to Carissa, though Hope was fair and Carissa’s complexion darker. The resemblance was amazing for an adopted child.

Katie passed the salad bowl over the top of Hope, who wrinkled her nose. With a nod from Katie, Thomas dropped a small spoonful onto her plate, and Katie smiled. She reminded him a little of his own grandmother.

“So, Thomas, you’re a pianist?”

“Yes, ma’am. I’ve been playing piano since I was three.”

“That’s awfully young.”

“Well, my grandmother insisted, and she taught me my very first scales.” The memory was one of the few from his childhood that could bring a smile to his face.

“Wise woman.”

David passed a plate of roast to Katie. “So, are you sure you’re up to helping these two with their school? They can be awfully demanding.”

“I can’t tell you how excited I was to get Sophia’s call. What’s happening with music programs in schools is pitiful. It doesn’t make sense to take the arts away. When you start doing that…” All eyes were on him, and he realized he was about to go on a rant. “Well, I think it’s foolish, and bringing music to others is what I do best.”

He felt Carissa’s eyes on him, and he turned to catch her stare. Her cheeks flushed immediately, and then she turned away. He sucked in a breath and lifted his water glass to his lips to try to cool off his racing mind.

Carissa dipped her head toward her plate and buttered her roll. He believed in the cause. Yes, that was what she’d hoped for. She wasn’t sure he was going understand the mission. After all, he was a down-and-out performer, and she was a teacher.

She’d been so conflicted with her mother’s idea of bringing Thomas into their school. And now that he was here, all she could think about was him, not as a musician or teacher, but as a man. A man whose passion for sharing the gift of music she found more than attractive.

She took a bite of her roast. Did Thomas feel the heat between them, or was that just her?

His hypnotic blue eyes and that disheveled sandy hair that he kept running his fingers through had her heart fluttering. Heat prickled her skin, and that mortified her. She’d felt like this before, just not over someone she’d barely met. And she’d been burned before. This time she wasn’t going to jump straight into bed with a guy just because he was hot.

“Don’t you think so, Carissa?” her father asked, and she darted her head up.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Don’t you think that school will be operational by the time the schools return from their winter break?” he repeated.

“Oh, yes.” She blew out a small breath. “We took possession of the building two days ago. There is a lot of work to be done, and that should take us through December.” Thomas’s eyes were on her, and she took the courage to look at him and finish, calmly and professionally—the way their relationship would be. “We’ll start enrollment in the first part of December. We’ve talked to the local schools about passing out our information and doing some assemblies for the students. I think we should be able to reach a lot of kids.”