Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Samantha
At the two-hour mark, we finally pulled up to a postcard-perfect white Victorian farmhouse surrounded by rolling fields plowed into tidy rows. As we got out of the truck, even the air smelled fresher this far out in the country. The D’Angelos weren’t a perfect family, but they were close-knit. Beth and Steven always treated me like one of their own kids, and I loved spending time with them. I’d never been here without Mia though. And while Caleb might have been tolerable on the drive, I had no desire to hang out with him.
As I followed Caleb through the front door, a little wiener dog dashed out to greet
him. I reflexively recoiled, clinging to the door in case I needed to bolt.
Caleb bent down to pet the dog, who immediately rolled over for a tummy rub. “Hey, Coop, how are you, buddy? How’s my little brother doing? I missed you, buddy, yes I did.”
Hearing a giant grown man talk baby talk to a little dog made me relax a—but just a little.
“You can shut the door,” he said. “I promise the only thing he might do is lick you to death.”
Dog saliva. Ew. “Does he jump?”
“The only thing he does is try to cuddle up with you. I swear.” He watched me close the door as if I wished I didn’t have to. “Are you okay with him being loose?”
“Um, yeah. No problem.” I wasn’t okay, not really. But I braced myself for impact.
“Okay, then. Here goes.” He stopped petting the dog. Cooper immediately rolled over, stood up, and bolted right over to me, sniffing my legs and looking up at me with big brown doggy eyes.
“You don’t have to pet him,” Caleb said. “But maybe just say hi.”
“Hi, Cooper,” I said. “You’re—you’re a good dog.” Could this be over now?
The dog gave a little whine and then lay down, resting his head on my tennis shoe.
Caleb burst out laughing.
“What? What’s he doing?” I glanced apprehensively from the dog to Caleb. Neither seemed especially concerned.
“I think he’s telling you that everything’s going to be okay.” Then he grabbed my hand. “Come on. Come see Mom. She’s making us lunch.”
As he tugged me away, the dog bolted off my foot and ran ahead of us. We walked through the foyer, past a grand oak staircase, and into a big bright kitchen. Mrs. D’Angelo was chopping something green on the large island. Caleb greeted her with “Hi, Ma!” and swept her up in a huge hug.
I had time to process something—did Caleb just hold my hand? He’d just reached over and pulled me away, his grip strong and warm and decisive. I decided that no, he did not. He was only trying to help me to get away from the dog.
Laughing, Mrs. D. wiped her hands on her apron and gave him—and then me—the biggest hug I’d had in a long time. Well, since Oma. That hug triggered all my feelings about missing her, but I quickly banished them before any tears could sneak in.
I didn’t know why I still felt so emotional. I guess being with this family made me miss the tiny family I did have. And I was seriously hug deprived.
“Oh, Samantha, honey, so wonderful to see you.” Mrs. D. held me at arm’s length. “And you’re so thin. Good thing lunch is ready.”
I grinned. “You’re the only person who ever tells me that.” Actually, Oma used to as well, usually right before she served me a plateful of her sweet, sticky baklava.
“Where’s Dad?” Caleb asked, scanning the kitchen in that predatory way young males do for any freestanding food but only finding lettuce on the cutting board.
“He’s working the south field,” Mrs. D. said. “He’ll be back soon. I made strawberry pie, so you’d better be hungry.” As she finished chopping, she nodded toward the door. “I set up everything on the patio.” The patio was actually a raised deck that overlooked a long, deep blue lake just fifty feet from the house. A little pontoon boat sat docked near shore that seemed to be begging to be taken for a ride packed with family, whom I knew included Caleb and Mia’s oldest brother Liam, his wife Dina, and their little daughter Emma. I wondered if Ani would notice if I skipped the farm weekend and just stayed here.
“Caleb Michael, what is with that beard?” Mrs. D. asked as she gestured to his scruffy cheek. “You look like a woodsman.”
“That’s the look I was going for, Ma.” He grinned and flexed, making a big show for his mom, then rubbed his three-day beard against her face. She laughed and shooed him away.
Caleb was one of those men who could be clean-shaven or scruffy and still look handsome as the devil in a natural, unforced way. But what really got me was the easy, fun way he interacted with his mom.
Lucky. He and Mia were so lucky. Both of them referred to their parents as Beth and Steven when they talked about them to us and often joked about the funny or quirky things they did or said. Maybe it was that they’d lost Grace or that Beth had beat breast cancer last year that had given them a special appreciation for each other that seemed to surpass any petty annoyances. All I knew was that I was fortunate to be in their orbit.
That was the thing though. I’d always be a little on the outside looking in no matter how wonderful they were about including me.
“Isn’t that beard a little hot for June?” Mrs. D. asked, now chopping spinach.
“Keeps the bugs away,” he retorted.
“Okay, whatever. I just love seeing your face, and with all that hair… well, never mind.”
Without warning, she took his hand and then, horrifyingly, mine as well, and led us out together through a sliding door to the deck. “I am so thrilled you two rode together. I always knew you’d find common ground.”
Ugh. Mrs. D. and Oma would’ve gotten along great together. I decided to punt on that comment though. As I met Caleb’s gaze, he looked determined to shut that right down as well.
I took in in the picnic table with a bright green umbrella stationed over the reddish-stained deck. As I was checking out the breathtaking view, Caleb reached over and grabbed a carrot out of a bowl. “We don’t get along any better than before, so don’t get too excited. You know I’m meeting Lilly later on today.”
She cleared her throat. “Oh yes, of course,” she said in what might have been a faux-perky tone. “Well then, I’m glad you two have agreed to disagree then.” Then she wisely changed the subject. “I thought Quinn was supposed to drive with you to Waukasaw.”
“He had to take call tonight, so he’ll get here tomorrow morning in time to drive out to the farm with us.” He grabbed another carrot and addressed me. “Quinn is Tyler’s friend from med school, and he’s doing a gastroenterology fellowship in Chicago. You’ll like him. He’s a great guy. And he’s single.” He made sure to emphasize that last word.
“I’m sure he is, but I’m not interested.” Was he seriously trying to fix me up?
“In nice guys?” he asked in a saucy tone.
“In any guys,” I said.
“Oh dear,” said Mrs. D. with a look of concern, “I mean, whatever your preferences, we’re fine with it.”
I laughed. “What I meant was, I do like guys, except I’m not interested in being fixed up with anyone.” I turned to Caleb, who was standing in front of me, staring down at me, too close for comfort.
“Okay, I get it.” He raised his hands in defense. “I was just trying to be helpful.”
I dropped my voice. “Maybe you were just trying to get your mom off your case.” I wanted to ask him if there was a problem with his family liking Lilly, but it wasn’t my place.
“Are you always so cynical about everything?”
I shot him a look of annoyance, but inside, that blow hit a little too close to home. I often felt that life had hardened me. Beat all the fairy-tale hopefulness right out of me. “No,” I said with a sweet smile. “But there’s just something in you that drives me to it.”
“Okay, you two, cut it out,” Mrs. D. said, holding a pile of plates as she went around setting the table. I grabbed some napkins to help. “Caleb, since when do you try so hard to fix people up?”
“That was Mia’s suggestion, but I fixed up my friends Gerry and Christian, and they just got engaged.” He turned to me. “I think I’ve got a little knack for matchmaking too.”
I tried not to roll my eyes at his cockiness. “Not so fast. They broke up last month.” Also, it had been Mia’s suggestion to fix me up with this guy Quinn? I’d for sure be speaking to her about that.
“What?” he exclaimed. “That’s a shame. They were perfect for each other.”
I shrugged. “Maybe you should leave the matchmaking to the professionals.”
“Maybe you should kiss my?—”
“Too?” Mrs. D. interjected before I could hear the end of that. “Did you say ‘I’ve got a knack for matchmaking too ?’”
“Sam comes from a family of matchmakers,” Caleb said. “Right?”
“Well, my—my grandmother was very good at it. She had—methods.”
Caleb looked very interested. “What kinds of methods?”
I sensed that his next question was going to be if I’d use them on him and Lilly, which I absolutely was not going to do. “Like, she’d put one hand on each person’s shoulders and close her eyes and then somehow be able to sense if they were a match or not. She was really good at it.”
Caleb scrunched up his face. “Like, magic or something?”
I shrugged, because it was often something I wondered myself. “It was just something I grew up with and didn’t question much.” I should have questioned Oma a lot more, because I didn’t understand enough about what she actually did during the matchmaker test, how she felt, if she’d simply trusted her instincts, or was there more? I mean, I didn’t want to say magic, because I didn’t believe in that, but there was so much I didn’t know.
Caleb still looked way too interested. “Can you do that?” He wiggled his fingers as if he were casting a spell.
“No,” I said in an abrupt tone meant to stop his questions.
The truth was, the closest I’d come was once when I was sitting in a restaurant in between Mia and Brax, and I did happen to touch each of their arms at the same time. And I swear I felt… something. A current, an energy, an excitement. It could’ve been simply being in the presence of two people in love. Or… absolutely nothing but wishful thinking. “I’ve never really tried.”
As for the five couples I’d predicted would head to the altar, I didn’t know if there was anything special about that. I tended to think of it as instinct—sort of like a predictive empathy. Of course, that instinct didn’t tend to work with myself or with any other problems in my life, like how to handle Wynn.
Both of them, mother and son, stared at me with the same fascinated expression. I realized that they both had the same identically shaped eyes, but Mrs. D.’s were blue, not pale green like Caleb’s. The green looked pretty against the backdrop of trees lining the lake. A man with pretty eyes.
Ugh. I should’ve kept quiet about my family quirk. And I needed to stop analyzing his eyes.
“Maybe you can try out some of your skills with me and Lilly,” he said, returning himself to total annoyance level.
“That’s not a good idea,” I said, shutting that idea down quick. “I’m not my grandmother. I can only help you using my brains like normal people.”
But I could tell the wheels of his mind were turning. Stubborn man that he was, he wasn’t going to let this go.
“And I suppose it’s bad luck to match yourself?” Mrs. D. asked.
“No, it’s impossible to match yourself.”
Caleb tossed me a puzzled expression.
“It just doesn’t work. Matchmakers are as blind to their gift as everyone else.”
I was talking about myself as if I believed in my grandmother’s abilities. As if I believed that I possessed them too.
In truth, I’d scoffed at the process. Evaded Oma’s attempts to teach me. And while I still didn’t believe it was a thing, I regretted not learning what she was trying to pass along to me. For the family folklore part of it at least.
“Tell you what,” Caleb said. “You help me and Lilly, and I’ll fix you up with Quinn. How’s that?”
I held up my thumb and index finger and pinched them together. “With you, there’s such a teeny-tiny line between help and torture.”
“I think it would be fun to give you a dose of your own matchmaking medicine. You never know. It could be fun.”
“I feel right at home,” I said to Mrs. D., still looking at Caleb. “Caleb endlessly tortures Mia, and since she’s not here, me.”
Caleb looked surprised. Taken aback. “Well, I’ve got to keep my skills up for her, right?” He glanced at his phone. “Looks like Quinn’s decided to drive right to the farm. So no worries about getting to know him during the long drive to Waukasaw.”
“Great. I’ll just focus on sitting in the back seat and doing my hocus-pocus on you and Lilly.” I wiggled my fingers in the same way he had.
Mrs. D. burst out laughing. “You two are the cutest.”
Mr. D’Angelo appeared at the door. He walked over and smooched his wife on the cheek. “Hey, Beth, sorry I’m late. Tractor stalled on me. I’ve still got to wash up.” He saw me and broke out into a big smile. “Hey there, Sammy. I owe you a big hug. Except I’m covered in tractor grease.”
I made air hug motions, and he made them back, chuckling. He was the only person who called me Sammy, but I didn’t mind. I liked how he said it in an endearing way.
“I’ll come with you.” Caleb hightailed it after his dad, his enthusiasm to leave apparent.
“Hurry back,” Mrs. D. called. “I’m about to take the frittata out of the oven.” She linked her arm with mine as we stood there. Then she patted my arm. It felt awkward and sweet at the same time. “I can’t really see you and Quinn together,” she said in a conspiratorial tone.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to date anyone you’re in a wedding with.” That seemed like a safe thing to say. Mrs. D. had this way of making you talk, and I really didn’t want to open myself up to any questions. So far, I’d been immune to her attempts to get Caleb and me together. I was hoping she’d give up, now that Lilly was back in the picture. And she was so nice—but did she not like Lilly? If that was the case… why? I mean, sometimes Mia referred to her mom as Saint Beth. If she didn’t like someone, then we were all in trouble.
“I don’t usually weigh in on these things, but I’m not sure you want to be fixed up with him,” she said.
I took a seat at the island. “I can’t wait to hear this.”
“Oh, he’s nice enough.” She put on mitts and peeked in the oven. “Needs a few more minutes.” She closed the door and pulled off her mitts. “I’d wager to say he’s too nice.”
I lifted a brow. Did she think I didn’t deserve nice men?
“What I mean is, he’s—well, he’s quite agreeable. Like, extremely agreeable.”
I couldn’t repress a giggle. “That’s a bad thing?” I envisioned a man who didn’t buck me at every turn, like her son. A peaceful coexistence would be delightful.
She sat down and took a sip of coffee, which was in a mug that said Kissin’ Don’t Last—Cookin’ Does . “Honestly, I wouldn’t be able to survive with a spouse who agreed with me all the time. I think disagreeing leads to more passion.” She gave me a wink. “Poor Quinn recently had a bad breakup. I think he feels a little desperate for love right now.”
“Good to know,” I said. “How do you… know all this?”
She shrugged. “Mia tells me.”
“Mia usually tells me .” Also, she wanted to fix me up with a desperate man? She was definitely going to hear about this.
“Well, I think she didn’t want you to judge him. I mean, he really is a nice guy. I probably just said too much, didn’t I?”
“I’m personally grateful that you did.”
“Well, I’m not a matchmaker, but I do know that you should never say never. When you least expect it— wham .” She clapped her hands together. “That’s when it hits.”
“I really don’t want anything to hit.”
She flicked her gaze up at me. “Why, Sam, how do you know?” I was taken aback. Before I could think about it, she said, “I have another confession. Something I haven’t told Mia. But you have to promise not to tell her.”
My imagination whirled—and not in a good way. More matchmaking shenanigans? “What is it?” I asked carefully.
“I don’t have a dress for Ani’s wedding. Everything I have is from before the cancer. You’re such a stylish dresser. Maybe you’d help me look online later?”
“Of course. But why don’t you want to tell Mia?”
“Oh, Mia’s always trying to get me to dress outside my comfort zone, be more fashionable, that kind of thing. She keeps saying that I should spend more money on myself. But for me the thrill is in the hunt. The bargain hunt, that is.”
A woman after my own heart. “We can fix this,” I said. Caleb planned to meet Lilly this afternoon, so maybe Mrs. D. could sneak away for a while? “Isn’t there a cute dress shop downtown?”
“I haven’t gone in. I’m afraid I’ll be pressured to buy if I’m by myself. You know how some of those places are.”
I reached over and patted her hand. “When would you want to go?”
She glanced at the kitchen clock. “How about right after lunch?”
“You got it.” If it got me away from discussing my love life—and from Caleb—that would be fine with me.