Joan Pickart – Soon To Be Brides: The Marrying Macallister / That Blackhawk Bride (страница 2)

“Hell,” Matt said, then strode out of the office.

By Wednesday night Matt’s attitude was well on its way to being adjusted.

He parked his SUV behind the last car in the row in front of the Mathises’ large ranch-style house, crossed his arms on the top of the steering wheel and glowered into space.

China, here I come, he thought. The last two days had been a study in frustration as he’d started the process of bringing the hospital’s attorney up to date on the pending files that needed to be brought to closure. There was no doubt in his mind that the attorney would be calling him every two seconds to double-check something, causing him to want to march back over there and do it himself.

Stress to the max, that’s what it would be, and his blood pressure would probably go off the Richter scale, making it impossible to get a passing grade on Bud’s crummy physical.

Did he want to go to China and starve to death because he couldn’t master the use of chopsticks? No. Was he in the mood for tours and sight-seeing trips with the typical bit about “On your left you will see…”? No. Did he feel like being surrounded by a slew of nervous new parents and babies who would no doubt wail their dismay at the sudden changes taking place in their lives? No.

Hey, he loved kids, which was a good thing since he was a MacAllister and was in proximity to the diaper brigade in vast numbers at every family gathering. But the scenario with these babies and these parents was far from the norm, and the new mom and dad’s tension would be sensed by the munchkin and they’d all be wrecks.

Nope, he didn’t want to go to China with this group, Matt thought as he rang the doorbell, but the opportunity was there and it certainly would put distance between himself and the attorney from hell. So be it.

The front door opened and a smiling Marsha Mathis greeted Matt. She was a tall, attractive blonde in her early thirties, who immediately kissed Matt on the cheek, then slipped one arm through one of his.

“I’ll give you a quick introduction to everyone, Matt,” Marsha said, “but if no one remembers your name the first time around don’t take it personally, because we are coming unglued. Carolyn arrived just moments before you did and she’s about to pass out the match pictures. I can hardly believe this is really happening after all these months.”

“I’m very happy for you and Bud. That little lady waiting for you in China is a fortunate kiddo to be getting parents like you two.”

“Oh, we’re the ones who are counting our blessings,” Marsha said as they entered a large family room beyond the living room. “Everyone, this is Matt MacAllister, who will hopefully be accompanying us on the trip. He’s Carolyn’s cousin-inlaw, or some such thing.”

“Hello, Matt,” Carolyn said, smiling at him from across the room.

“Hi, Carolyn,” Matt said. “How’s Ryan?”

“Super.”

“Okay, I’ll make this fast,” Marsha said, “so we can get our match pictures. Matt, that couple on the love seat is…”

Within seconds Matt gave up even comprehending what Marsha was saying, let alone being able to remember the names of the dozen-plus people, because she was rattling them off so fast it was a blur of sound. He just smiled and nodded, then nodded some more.

“And last but not least,” Marsha said, “is our single mommy, Caitlin Cunningham. That’s it. Find a place to sit, Matt.” She hurried across the room to settle on a chair next to Bud and grab his hand.

Caitlin Cunningham, Matt mused, still looking at her where she was sitting on the raised hearth in front of the fireplace. That name belonging to that woman was now etched indelibly in his mind.

She was absolutely lovely.

With short, curly dark hair, delicate features and the biggest, most expressive eyes he’d ever seen, combined with a slender figure clad in pale blue slacks and a very feminine flowered top, Caitlin Cunningham was, indeed, worth remembering.

Matt made his way across the room and settled onto the hearth about three feet away from Caitlin, whose gaze was riveted on Carolyn. He slid a glance at Caitlin, and realized that she was clutching her hands so tightly beneath her chin that her knuckles were white. She drew a shuddering breath as Carolyn opened a large envelope and removed five envelopes containing the match pictures.

“The big moment has arrived, huh?” Matt said, directing his statement toward Caitlin.

She did not respond, nor give any indication that she had even heard him.

Way to go, MacAllister, Matt thought. He’d sure knocked her out with his good looks and charm. She was speechless with awe. Yeah, right.

He could tear off all his clothes and do a hip-swiveling dance worthy of a male stripper and he seriously doubted if Caitlin Cunningham would even notice.

Well, maybe he was being too hard on himself. After all, Ms. Cunningham was about to see a picture of her new child for the very first time. Nobody could compete with that.

Matt continued to scrutinize Caitlin out of the corner of his eye while being vaguely aware of the sound of excited reactions as well as sniffles in the background as Carolyn passed out the envelopes.

Carolyn moved to where Caitlin was sitting and gave her one of the coveted envelopes.

“Congratulations, Mother,” Carolyn said, smiling.

With a trembling hand Caitlin took the envelope from Carolyn.

“Thank you, Carolyn,” Caitlin said softy.“I… Thank you.”

“Open the envelope.” Carolyn laughed. “Staring at it like that isn’t going to give you your first glimpse of your daughter. Okay, off I go. This is such fun.”

“Well,” Caitlin said, now gripping the envelope with both hands. “My daughter’s picture is in here. Oh, my goodness, my daughter’s picture is in this envelope. This is wonderful and terrifying and…oh dear.”

Matt scooted about a foot closer to Caitlin on the hearth.

“Do you need some help opening that?”

“Aakk,” Caitlin said, her head snapping around. “Who are you?”

“Matt MacAllister,” he said, frowning. “Marsha introduced me when I came in. Remember? No, I guess you don’t. This is quite a moment in your life. Go ahead. Say hello to your daughter.”

“Yes, yes, I’m going to do that,” Caitlin said, nodding jerkily. “Right now.” She slid a fingertip under the flap of the envelope, lifted it, hesitated, then reached inside and took out two pictures. A lovely smile instantly formed on her lips and her eyes filled with tears. “Oh, look at her. Just look at her. She’s the most beautiful baby I’ve ever seen. My daughter. This is my baby.”

Matt craned his neck with the hope of getting a peek at the photographs but couldn’t see them. He moved closer to Caitlin, just as she turned the pictures over to read what was written on the back.

“She’s… Oh, I’ve forgotten every bit of math I’ve ever known. Okay, let’s see. She’s six months and…two, three…yes, six months and four days old.” She looked at Matt. “Isn’t she gorgeous?”

Matt chuckled. “I’m sure she is, but I haven’t seen her yet.”

“Oh,” Caitlin said, turning the photos back over and holding them side by side for Matt to see. “Look, here she is.”

A funny little sensation of warmth seemed to tiptoe around and through Matt’s heart as he studied the pictures of the baby.

She had black hair that was sticking up in all directions, dark almond-shaped eyes that were staring right at the camera, a rosebud mouth and in both shots she was scowling with not even a hint of a smile. In one picture she was wearing a pink blanket sleeper and in another a faded red one.

Matt’s palms actually began to tingle as he had the irrational urge to reach out, lift the baby from the photograph and nestle her close, hold her tight, tell her everything was going to be just fine.

“She’s…” He cleared his throat. “She’s a heart-stealer, Caitlin. Congratulations. Your daughter is…well, she’s really something. What are you going to name her?”

“I can’t decide between Mackenzie and Madison,” Caitlin said, gazing at the pictures again. “I think I’ll wait until I actually hold her in my arms before I pick which one is right for her.”

“Is everybody happy?” Carolyn said from across the room.

A chorus of affirmative replies filled the air.

“Some of you may have gotten more than one picture of your daughter,” Carolyn went on. “There’s never any rhyme or reason to what they send. I know you could spend the rest of the evening just gazing at those photos, but we have a lot to cover. Marsha, why don’t we have our potluck supper, then we can get down to business. Let’s take a few minutes to share the photographs with everyone before dinner.”

“Okay,” Marsha said, getting to her feet. “Matt, come see the picture of your goddaughter. She’s eleven months old and she’s standing alone in this photo. She’s fantastic. Oh, I’m going to cry again.”

Matt crossed the room and grinned when he saw the picture of Marsha and Bud’s baby. She was wearing a dress that was much too large for her, was obviously not very steady on her feet, as she was holding her arms straight out at her sides, but had a broad smile on her face as though she knew that standing alone was a very big deal. She had a little fluff of dark hair on the top of her head and her smile revealed four teeth—two on the top and two on the bottom.