Little Matchmakers by Jennifer Greene

Author:Jennifer Greene
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2012-03-25T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Tucker balanced on a crooked hunk of granite, waiting for the girls to catch up. There were around forty in the group, all between the ages of twelve and fifteen.

The two-mile hike was expected to be a type of meditation walk. Every turn was unique, wildlife everywhere, some views darned spectacular. Of course, there’d been no sign of wildlife from the first footfall. Girls that age only spoke in shrieks, and likely never saw any of the views because they were too busy chattering nonstop with each other. Or complaining.

He figured this was penance. For falling in love with the wrong woman. For not being able to stop thinking about her. For worrying that she’d told him—in a zillion ways—that she was content being alone, not looking for a relationship. She seemed to have no happy memories of family—outside of Petie—so he could understand why she had no reason to be excited about joining into a nuclear blending family like his own.

Asking for more after all the things she’d said…well, it was like volunteering for heartache.

The cell phone in his shirt pocket vibrated. He frowned. He and the staff tended to use walkie-talkies during the workday, because cell phone reception was iffy at best on the mountain. But when he pulled out the phone and recognized the number, he punched it on immediately.

“Hey, Dad, are you busy?”

“Just doing a hike. About forty kids, halfway through. What’s up?”

“Oh. Nothing. At least nothing you’d have to stop a group for. It wouldn’t be easy for you to come right now, huh?”

Tucker frowned again, his paternal instincts on alert now. “I can come in two shakes if you need me. What’s going on?”

“Nothing, really. There was just this copperhead. And Garnet doesn’t let anybody in the vanilla greenhouse but her and me. So I don’t know how the snake got in here, maybe it just likes the heat, you know? Anyway, I got a bucket on it. I figured I’d go find a pitchfork. But I wasn’t sure if I should lift the bucket, because the snake was pretty mad, and if it got loose, there’s a lot of places for it to hide in here. And then there’s the other thing.”

“The other thing? There’s worse than the copperhead?”

“Well, not exactly. It’s just Mrs. G. Normally she’s pretty cool, you know? She’s no sissy. But I guess she isn’t so good around snakes. I told her to sit down, put her head between her knees. You know. Like we talked about when people feel dizzy and stuff. Actually I’m not sure she was dizzy. She was screaming pretty loud for a little bit. I think she could have just run out of breath.”

“But she has employees right there, doesn’t she?”

“Dad, I told you. She doesn’t let anybody in the vanilla house. Except for me. Because she trusts me. And it’s all secret, what she does in here.”

Tucker wiped a hand over his face. “Okay. This is what I want you to do.

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