Secretly Matched by Marie Higgins

Author:Marie Higgins [Higgins, Marie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Marie Higgins
Published: 2019-02-07T06:00:00+00:00

EIGHT

Calvin didn’t want her pity. Now he wished he hadn’t told her of his deepest yearning. If only he could take it back. Feeling foolish, he released her hand and quickly took another bite of his food. For some reason, it didn’t taste as good as it had a few minutes ago.

“Calvin, I—”

He held up his hand, stopping her. “No. Don’t say anything. Just eat.”

She took a small bite, but her gaze wouldn’t leave him. “I didn’t know that about your mother.”

He shrugged. “Only close friends of the family know. It was obvious she was more involved with her circle of friends than caring about her family. My father tried to make our family look normal for as long as he could, but when Karen ran off to Paris with a painter and divorced my dad, that’s when he started losing his mind.” Calvin sighed as he stared at his food. “Over the years, it became quite noticeable. It was all we kids could do to hide it from everyone. I think he finally lost the will to be normal, so he didn’t care what happened to his sanity.”

“Do your brothers and sisters feel the same way you do?”

“Yeah, but we don’t talk about it anymore. It brings up bad memories – those we wish to leave buried.”

“Thanks for telling me,” she said sweetly.

When he met her eyes again, his heart softened. The terrible memories of his childhood disappeared quickly. He enjoyed her pleasant expression as she stared at him. He couldn’t see pity on her face at all. Hope leapt inside his heart, but he pushed it away. He knew he’d inevitably be shot down.

“Well, it’s getting late and we both have early days tomorrow.” He pushed away from the table and grabbed the half-empty containers of food.

She rose and reached to take his. “I’ll clean up. You go to bed.”

“It’s okay. I already have them.” He held them up and winked. “And the garbage is on my way out.”

She met him at the garbage, depositing her containers. Their arms accidentally brushed against each other. Ripples of delight ran through his body. Her touch had always done that to him. But he noticed she had felt something, too. Why couldn’t she admit that she was attracted to him – if only a little?

He started to move past her, but she loosely took hold of his hand. His heart shot up to his throat and he couldn’t swallow. Her eyes were so blue. He could stare at them all night long and not become bored.

“Hey, Calvin. I just wanted you to know that I really appreciate what you did for me. If not for you...” She shrugged. “I guess I’d still be selling one dress a day.”

He swept his fingers along the side of her face, moving away her damp hair. “I was happy to do it. One of these days, you’re going to be a big fashion designer. In fact, I’m sure sales will only grow from this point forward.

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