The Matchmakers Read Free Page A

he had watched her pull away. With a last wave and a thrown kiss, she eased the car back out into the street. Such a little guy. Such a sweet little guy. And so much like his daddy.
    She felt cheated that she wouldn’t get to spend more time with him on the weekend. She had so little time with him anymore, and he wouldn’t be her little boy for long.

    “You going to the craft show today?” Judith asked as they sat at the Koffee Kup the next morning.
    Cynthia shook her head. “I don’t think so. I had thought the boys might like to go. See some of the models and things.” “They don’t?”
    “Daddy took them ice-fishing.”
    “Ice-fishing? Isn’t it a bit cold for that?”
    “That’s what I thought. But they took a thermos of hot chocolate and lots of sandwiches. If they get cold, they’ll go to the diner just off the lake. They have video games there. Todd is crazy about video games.”
    “Why don’t you go anyway?”
    “To the craft show?” Cynthia shook her head. “Not much fun going alone. I’ve decided to stay home and catch up on some of my cleaning.”
    “Not much fun cleaning alone either,” said Judith dryly.
    Cynthia smiled and nodded her agreement. She turned back to the topic of the craft show. “You going?”
    “Yeah. Soon as I get home from grocery shopping. Why don’t you come with us?”
    Cynthia was uncertain. “Taking the kids?”
    “We’re all going. Cal says I just take him along to tote the things I buy, but he does a bit of buying himself. Last year he bought this humongous birdhouse. We could hardly get it in the van. The kids had to sit all cramped in there around the big thing. Not a single bird used it all summer, but it does look cute. Cal keeps reminding me of that.”
    Cynthia felt a little twinge somewhere deep inside. It sounded like so much fun to be a family.
    “By the way, I asked Cal to sort of… keep an eye out. You know, for a nice widow or—”
    “Oh, Jude,” Cynthia gasped. “You didn’t tell him—”
    “’Course not. I told him nothing, except that I thought it would be a wonderful idea if your dad found a nice woman—”
    “Oh, Jude. I wish you—”
    But Judith was looking at her with an impish grin. “Listen,” she said. “If your daddy’s lonely, we need to help fix it.”
    A twinkle shone from her eyes. Some of the distress left Cynthia’s mind. Judith always made a game out of life. Crazy Judith. But she had a loving heart. One that sought to take care of friends.
    “Well—” Cynthia began, smiling in spite of herself. “Perhaps he isn’t that lonely. Maybe he’s quite happy the way things are.”
    Judith reached across the table and took hold of Cynthia’s wrist. She gave it a little shake. “You’re not going to have a life until he has a life,” she said with unusual seriousness.
    “I have a life.”
    “But not the kind of life that you deserve. Not the kind you are  … wanting. I’ve been thinking about it ever since our talk. I should have seen it sooner. But I didn’t. Cynthie, you are left out of everything. The Couples Club because you aren’t a couple, the Mom’s Day Out because you are working, the Valentine Dinner because you don’t have a Valentine, and it goes on and on.”
    “But how will marrying off my daddy change any of that?” asked Cynthia bluntly.
    Judith shook her head. “I’m not sure,” she admitted, “but we have to take things one step at a time.”
    “Sure. Take away my built-in baby-sitter and I’ll never get out of the house—not even for shopping.”
    “You can leave the kids with Cal. He’d never notice he had another two there. I think he just lets them go, anyway, the way the house looks sometimes when I get back home. Good thing it’s a mess to begin with. At least I don’t notice much difference.”
    Cynthia smiled again and picked a cherry from her Danish. Judith was not a fussy housekeeper, but her home never looked that bad.
    “Anyway, I told Cal to just… sort of