When they got home from shopping, she put him to work finishing the decorating and setting up the big glow-in-the-dark snowman they had purchased.
The snowman was silly and a little tacky. But it reminded her of the few years she’d spent in Michigan at college. Those had been happy years, before Mother had come down with rheumatoid arthritis. Before Dad had died. Before her future had been hijacked by circumstances beyond her control.
Matt had fallen in love with the snowman too. He said if he couldn’t have real snow in Last Chance, he’d go for the fake kind.
Of course, Mother would never have approved of the snowman, the cat, or the soldier, which made all of them welcome additions to Annie’s holiday. Nothing about this Christmas was going to be like last year.
And having Matt around, lapping up all the holiday cheer, made everything seem a little more joyful. He had so many reasons to be sad, having lost his dog this year and his best friend last year, but he seemed determined to let the joy of Christmas in. And his joy was infectious.
Nita Wills was the first member of the book club to arrive at Annie’s dinner party, with Cathy close on her heels. Both of them seemed more impressed and surprised by the snowman than the cat or the soldier.
“Well, Annie,” Nita said as she put a plate of gingerbread cookies on the buffet table, “it sure does look like Santa has been good to you this Christmas.”
Annie didn’t have a minute to respond before Elsie and Lola May arrived, followed very closely by Jenny Carpenter. Jenny, of course, came bearing apple and shepherd’s pies. Jenny’s pies were to die for, and Matt seemed more than a little interested in both of her offerings.
Annie stifled the strange, unwanted wave of jealousy. And she was soon busy playing hostess when Kaylee and Nomi arrived each bearing matching bean casseroles.
The women gathered around the buffet and filled their cups with eggnog and Christmas punch-two things Mother would never have allowed in her home at holiday time. They laughed and chatted about Barbara Kingsolver’s latest book. All in all, the house hadn’t seen so many people in years, and Annie was feeling happy and free and flushed with Christmas spirit.
Then Nita scooped Holly up from the easy chair and sat down. She held the kitten up for inspection. “Well, aren’t you just the cutest, dirty-faced matchmaker in Last Chance?” she said aloud.
The women of the book club collectively laughed, and Annie felt suddenly stripped naked. She glanced over at Matt to see if he’d heard what Last Chance’s librarian had said.
Apparently he had, because Nita hadn’t used her librarian voice. Matt’s dark stare zeroed in on Nita, and his eyebrows bunched up in the middle.
Elsie gave him a pat on the back. “Don’t you mind Nita, now. She’s just talking about how Miriam Randall told Annie that she needed to get a cat.”
Matt’s frown deepened.
“See,” Cathy explained, “Miriam has a pipeline to the Lord, and when she gives advice, it’s always right.”
“Exactly,” Lola May said. “And that just means that you and Annie are a match made in heaven.”
Matt turned his dark gaze on Annie. Her heartbeat raced, but whether in embarrassment or desire she wasn’t sure. It was insane to think that Matt was destined to become her lover, just because he’d found a cat in a manger.
But hadn’t she been behaving like that all day?
“Uh, ladies, I think there’s been some kind of misunderstanding,” Matt said. “I just came here to deliver a gift to Ruth Clausen.”
“And have you delivered it yet?” Nita asked.
Matt scratched the back of his head and glanced at Annie. “Uh, no. I kind of got involved with a bunch of errands. I’m going up to Orangeburg tomorrow for that chore.”
Nita spoke again. “Do you think that’s wise?”
“I don’t know. But I’ve been lugging that thing all over Afghanistan. I think it needs to find its way home.”
Nita nodded. “Well, I guess I can understand that. And I admire you for bringing it to Ruth personally. You didn’t have to do that.” She gazed at the kitten. “Well, one thing is for sure, this cat is cute,” she said.
The members of the book club went back to chatting and grazing at the buffet.
Matt strolled over to where Annie was standing, his dark eyes filled with emotions that weren’t very merry.
“I can explain about the matchmaker,” she said. “See-”
“I know all about Miriam Randall,” he murmured.
“What?”
“Nick told me all about her. He seemed to think she was infallible. He told me once that he was very sorry Miriam hadn’t matched him up permanently with you. You should know that Nick really regretted what happened between the two of you.”
“He wanted to be a soldier. He wanted to leave this town, Matt. That’s all he ever talked about. And I wasn’t sure I wanted to be in love with a soldier or a man with wanderlust in his soul.”
“I know all about what happened. I know how you guys fought that night at the motel. I know how he walked away in a huff. He told me everything.”
“He told you all that?”
“He told me a lot of things. You talk about things when you’re getting shot at. And God knows, we got shot at a lot when we were in Baghdad on our first deployment. You were the girl he never forgot, Annie. You’re the girl he regretted. The one he missed. He never married, you know.”
They stared at each other for a long emotion-filled moment; then he leaned in to kiss her on the cheek. She saw what was coming and turned her head to meet his lips. It was a pretty brazen thing to do, given the fact that Matt had been talking about how Nick had loved her. But Nick had walked away twenty years ago and never come back.
Annie tried, for all she was worth, to take the kiss a little deeper, but Matt pulled back. He looked up. “So, ah, that’s what mistletoe is all about, huh?”
Annie followed his gaze. Sure enough they were standing under a sprig of the stuff. Disappointment swallowed up her Christmas merriment.
“Sorry, I couldn’t resist,” he said in a voice loud enough for everyone in the room to hear, “seeing as you were standing there under the mistletoe.”
“Do you remember what you said last night?” she whispered.
“Yeah, I remember. I was insane last night. I don’t know what came over me.” He let go of a long breath and turned to look at Mother’s parlor, filled with the members of the book club.
“I don’t belong here. This is Nick’s place, not mine.”
“But-”
He turned and held up his hand. “I’m a guy from Chicago, Annie. And they don’t have snow here. I’ll probably go back to the Midwest and see if I can get a job as a dog handler someplace like Milwaukee or St. Louis. There isn’t anything for me in Last Chance. I just came here because I wanted to see if Nick’s stories were true. I wanted to meet his grandmother. So I’m going to go up there to the nursing home tomorrow. I’ll pay my respects, deliver Nick’s present, and be on my way.”
“But-”
“Annie, I’m not your soul mate, no matter what Miriam Randall says. And don’t you go mistaking me for Nick Clausen either. Because I’m not him. If you believe in what they say about Miriam, you should keep the cat. I’m guessing that there’s a handsome veterinarian in your future.”
Matt went to midnight services along with all the members of the book club. He sat in the back of the church. He wasn’t a believer. He was out of step with the people who came to celebrate the birth of Jesus that night.
The only thing that kept him in his place was the choir.
When they sang the “Hallelujah Chorus,” Matt’s skin prickled. But that reaction was nothing compared to what happened when Annie sang her solo, especially when she got to the last couple of lines.