ENCORE PERFORMANCE (THE MATCHMAKER TRILOGY) (18 page)

Jane carried the mugs to the table and set them down,
then pulled out the chair next to Thomas. She could still see
the boy that had been so frightened. The image of him
hiding in the closet, bloodied and unconscious, had kept her
up nights, and had disturbed her dreams. Now a man sat in
the shadow of that little boy. Her little boy.

“Where is your friend?”

 

“Carissa?” he asked, and she nodded. “Back in Kansas

City. She’s home.”
“She seemed like a lovely girl. Just a friend?” She held
on to her coffee mug as she eased into a conversation with
her
adult
son.
“I’m sure you know she’s very special to me.” He
rolled his mug between his hands. “She’s told me she loves
me.”
Jane sucked in a breath of pride. This woman loved her
son, and what wasn’t there to love? “I could see that she
meant a lot to you, and you to her.”
“Well, we haven’t known each other very long and
quite frankly . . .”
“You’re too afraid you’ll hurt her like your father hurt
all of us.”
He let out a sigh. “Yes.”
Jane put down her mug and placed her hands over her
son’s. “The alcohol did that to him. He wasn’t always that
way.”
“It’s the only way I remember him.”
She nodded, understanding that. “We were married
four years before you were born. He was a hardworking
man who had a thirst for success.”
Jane saw his eyes change as he shook his head. She
realized he didn’t know that man. “I know, not the man you
think of when I talk about him that way.” Thomas nodded
and Jane felt the sadness of it down to her stomach. “We
lived just off the lake in a beautiful apartment downtown,”
she reminisced, thinking of their first home together. How
young, happy, and in love they were once. “He showered
me with gifts and he wrote poems.” She smiled at the
thought, and feeling heat in her cheeks, knew she’d
blushed.
Thomas shifted his head and the confused look that
crossed his face had her laughing. “Yes, believe it or not
your talent comes from your father. I have no talent,” she
laughed. “He, at one time, was an amazing person.”
Jane released her son’s hands and eased back in her
chair. “When I found out I was pregnant he panicked. He
began withdrawing our savings and investing heavily. I was
young,” she said with a shake of her head. “I didn’t realize
what he was doing. I thought he was just trying to do right
by our pending family.” Her eyes shifted to his. “He lost
everything he’d worked so hard for. We had to move. I had
to get a job, and he began to drink.”
She sat up and drew in a deep breath. She hadn’t
thought about her first husband in years. Not in the way she
was thinking of him now.
Jane noticed her cup was empty. She stood and walked
to the coffee carafe, then carried it to the table and filled
her cup. When she held it out for Thomas, he shook his
head and she put it down on the table.
He was a handsome man, had outgrown the
awkwardness that had only fueled her husband’s disdain for
him. She wanted to help him understand that many things
had contributed to his father’s abusive behavior.
“Things never got easier. He got more run-down and
our family suffered. He hit me for the first time when you
were six. He hit you for the first time shortly after that.”
Guilt rose in her and threatened to strangle her like it had
for years. She should have stopped it then, she knew. Taken
her son and run, but she’d stayed.

When he saw the tears form in his mother’s eyes, he
took her hand and gave it a squeeze. He’d come to find
himself, to reconnect, to get answers. He’d hoped his
travels hadn’t hurt his mother more.

“I stopped drinking a little over a year ago,” he
admitted. He saw her raise her other hand to her mouth to
keep in her sob. “Things had turned and that’s where I
turned. Just like him.”

He raked his fingers through his hair and then scrubbed
them over his face. “I hurt myself, nearly killed my friend,
and destroyed a relationship that meant the world to me. I
killed my career. Now my past, my mistakes, holds me
back from the woman I love.”

“So you do love her?” When he nodded his response,

Jane smiled. “Why should a past mistake hold you back?”
“I lost control, Mom. I nearly killed a friend and
myself. What’s to stop me from hurting her physically? Just
by being here I know I’m hurting her.”
“But hearing you talk, I know you’ve learned from
your mistakes.” She reached for him, placing a warm, soft
hand on each side of his face. “We’ve all made mistakes.
We will all make more of them.” She smiled through her
tears. “Look around you.” She dropped her hands. “I’ve
moved on from mine. And trust me, when you lose a child
so violently, it’s hard to move on.”
Jane stood and paced the kitchen. “Oh, Thomas. I lost
so much that night.” She covered her mouth and sobbed.
He stood and gathered his mother in his arms and held
her.
She wrapped her arms around him and held him tight.
“I lost both of my children and my husband that night.
Everything I’d known and loved was gone.”
“I’m sorry, Mom. I’m so sorry.”
“Please tell me you’re back in my life.” She looked up
into his eyes. “I can’t lose you again. It was too painful the
first time.”
He held her tighter to him. “I didn’t mean to hurt you
so much.”
“I know, but you’re back now.” She kissed his cheeks.
“I should let you get on to bed. Your family needs
you.”
“You are my family,” she reminded him. “Do you
already have a place to stay?”
“I was going to check into a motel. I thought I’d stay a
few days and catch up. I need to decided what I want to do
and I need time to let Carissa simmer. I owe it to her to at
least go back and let her tell me she doesn’t need me in her
life.” He let out a laugh. “My guess is that I’m fired.”
“You’re selling her short.”
He didn’t have anything to say to that. Maybe he was.
She took his hand and led him through the house.
“C’mon, I have something to show you.”
There was a small home office, a washroom, and a
white, six-panel door that closed off another room.
Jane stopped in front of the door and looked up at him
before she pushed it open.
His eyes flew open as he stepped over the threshold of
the room. “Oh-my-God.” He let out the breath he was
holding. “These are all my things.”
Jane nodded as she watched him. This room was a
collection of his and Sarah’s childhood. The material items
that had once been important.
His rocking horse from when he was a toddler and his
Matchbox cars were there. Sarah’s teddy bear and her
princess wand sat in a small rocking chair next to the bed.
His bed.
How many hours had Jane sat in this room and
mourned the children she had lost? The life she had lost.
Thomas looked at her again and she smiled a warm,
gentle smile. It had been worth it to her to save their things
so that she’d have them near.
She picked up a doll that sat on the dresser and stroked
its hair. “I brought everything that was yours and Sarah’s
with me. Parker made sure the house we bought would
have an extra room for you when you came back.” She
looked up at him. “And here you are.”

Carissa wandered through her day at the school,
exhausted after having stared at the ceiling of her bedroom
all night long. The carpet was down in the parents’ area,
and the laminate wood floor had been finished in the rest of
the school.

She’d opened the door just in time for the shipment of
instruments to arrive. Things would be ready for the school
to open within a week. It was much further ahead of
schedule than they had planned. The thought should have
made her happy, but instead the opening of the school and
the enrolling of students had tears welling in her eyes.

Carissa fell into one of the parent chairs and stared at
the boxes that cluttered the room. She rested her elbows on
her knees and her face in her hands and looked around.
There was no desire to tear into them and fondle every
instrument. She simply wanted to crawl into the corner and
sob.

“Excuse me.” A man’s voice called to her and she
snapped her head up. She hadn’t even realized anyone had
walked in, and there stood the stranger only feet from her.

She stood and looked him over. He wasn’t tall, but
dark and handsome fit the bill. Wavy dark hair covered his
head and the shadow of a beard darkened his chin.

“I’m looking for Sophia Burkhalter.” He shook his
head. “Sorry, Kendal. I’m looking for Sophia Kendal.”
The accent should have given him away, but it took
Carissa a few more moments of careful studying the man to
realize who he was.
“You’re Pablo DiAngelo.” Her eyes widened as she let
the name roll from her tongue.
“That’s what they tell me,” he said, and his smile
winked a dimple in his cheek. “And now we are at a
disadvantage. You know me, I do not know you.”
She held out her hand. “I’m Carissa Kendal.”
“Ah, bella!” He bent in and kissed her on one cheek
and then the other. “You are a beauty. An absolute beauty!”
A smile finally slid across Carissa’s lips and her tears
dried. “Thank you. My mother should be here any
moment.”
“Mother. Not a word I associate with my dear Sophia,
but I’m sure she wears it well.”
“Yes, she does.”
“So . . .” He scanned the school from where he stood.
“What have we here?”
“This is my school.” She swung her hand through the
air. “It’ll open in a few weeks. We just received our
instrument shipment.” She looked at the boxes that
surrounded them. “It’s my chance to pass music to others.”
“Your mother and father are very proud, yes?”
“Yes.” She swallowed back the disappointment that
Thomas wasn’t there to see his old friend and show him
their pride and joy.
“Oh, my! Pablo?” Sophia’s voice came from the door,
and a moment later the gorgeous Italian turned and scooped
her into his arms.
“Bella! Oh, my bella!” He set her on her feet and
looked her over. “You are happy?”
“Oh, Pablo, I’ve never been happier.” She looked
across at Carissa. “You’ve met my beautiful daughter?”
“
Si
, she’s a beauty.” He took another long look at
Carissa and then back to Sophia, who stepped to the side
when Hope tugged at her blouse.
“Oh, Pablo, this is my other daughter, Hope.”
Carissa’s little blonde sister looked up at him, and his
dimples creased his cheeks. “Hope, it’s so nice to meet the
young girl who took this talented woman away from me.”
Hope drew her eyebrows together. “Away from you? I
thought my daddy took her away from you.”
“Hope,” Sophia silenced her.
“Yes, he did. Your mother loved him more than she
loved me,” he said with a hint of humor in his voice.
“She loves my daddy very much.”
“She always did.” He shifted his eyes back to Sophia.
“Why are you here?” Sophia took his hand and led him
to a chair.
“I’m here looking for you.” He rested her hand on his
knee and then covered it with his own. He took a deep
breath. “We’ve been invited back to the Vatican.”
“Oh, Pablo!” Sophia flew from her seat and wrapped
her arms around his neck. “Oh, God! That is wonderful!”
“It’s like the encore performance we never got. I’ve
come back for you, bella. Tell me you can come with me.
Your husband should be able to handle everything for a few
weeks.”
“Oh, Pablo, I can’t.” She sank back into the chair
beside him. “I haven’t played seriously for eight years. Oh,
you don’t want me.”
“Of course I want you. You’re all I have left.” There
was an anger brewing in his eyes. He stood and paced the
small area, raking his fingers through his hair. “I need
you.”
“But Pierre? Thomas?” she asked, and his face
hardened as his brows drew together.
“No! No! Pierre can’t play and Thomas . . .” He threw
his hands in the air. “I want only you. If I can’t have you, I
walk.”
“Pablo, wait.” She stood and rested her hands on his
arms. “I can’t go, but I know someone who can.”
She turned toward Carissa, who stood just a step away,
her mouth gaping open.
“Me? Oh, no. He wouldn’t want me.”
“I wouldn’t want her,” he repeated. “I want you.”
“And who do you think has taught her everything?”
Sophia raised her brows. “Listen to her play.”
“Mom.”
“Carissa, go get your cello,” she instructed without
shifting her eyes from Pablo’s.
Carissa hesitated for a moment then retreated to the
back of the school and returned with her instrument.
“Now sit,” Sophia told Pablo and turned to Carissa. “
Il
mio perso amore.
”
Carissa nodded and took a deep breath. She closed her
eyes for a few seconds and then pulled her bow across the
strings, letting out the first low note. Pablo straightened in
his seat.
Carissa’s body moved into the cello and her mind
filled with the music. Her eyes closed and the world fell
away. The notes flowed from the instrument as though she
were making love with music.
When the last note faded, Carissa lowered her bow and
shifted her eyes to her mother, who merely smiled.
Pablo sat quietly and kept his eyes steady on her. He
made her nervous. There wasn’t a sign on his face that said
he loved or hated the piece she’d played. Then slowly his
dimple appeared in his cheek, and his lips spread into an
enormous smile.
“You will play the Vatican with me.”
“Me?” Her voice shook with the absurdity of the
conversation. “But my school. What about . . .”
“You come.” Pablo stood. “Bella, you will take over
the school until she returns. I want her with me.”
Sophia smiled with a nod, batting away what Carissa
knew were tears of pride, but she wondered if they were
tears of pain as well.
Sophia had wanted to play the Vatican. She’d spent ten
years playing with Pablo DiAngelo trying to earn that
coveted invitation. It had never come until Sophia had
given her heart to David and Carissa. Pablo had come back
for Sophia and she’d gone. Had they played the venue,
which had then been canceled, everything in Carissa’s life
might have been different.
Carissa felt the pang of guilt pierce her. She’d thanked
God for taking away Sophia’s chance to play at the Vatican
because it had sent her home and they had become a
family. And now, unselfishly, Sophia was giving the
opportunity to her to live out. He’d offered the position to
Sophia and she’d refused it.
The pang of guilt pierced further into her before she
noticed the look in Sophia’s eyes. It was the look of love.
Love that she had for Carissa. Just as a mother would,
she’d give up her dreams for her daughter and hand them to
her to fulfill.
Carissa swallowed hard and fought the tears that stung
her eyes. Not only was it a chance to do something new and
exciting, a chance to leave Kansas City and the thoughts of
Thomas and what might have been, it was a chance to
fulfill Sophia’s dream for her.
Still, she wasn’t sure she could do it. She’d never left
home before, or the people she loved. Hope needed her and
so did her parents. What about Katie? Katie was her
responsibility. And what if Thomas came back?
She sucked in a breath. They’d all be there when she
got back, wouldn’t they?