Read ENCORE PERFORMANCE (THE MATCHMAKER TRILOGY) Online
Authors: Bernadette Marie
With her wrapped in his arms in the parking lot of the
hospital, Thomas realized he needed to do some mending.
He’d warded off love and commitment his entire adult life.
He’d promised himself he’d never fall in love, get married
and—heaven forbid—he’d never have children. However,
with Carissa, he felt different. As though a battle were
brewing inside of him that he was afraid he wasn’t going to
win.
Thomas swiped his hand over his forehead as he
headed back outside for another two-by-four from the bed
of the truck. For hours, they had measured, cut, and
pounded nails into wood. Jeremy and Thomas framed
doorways while Carissa and David built the walls that
would separate the individual classrooms. He’d mentioned
a theory room once more, but the eye roll from Carissa had
him zipping his lip and going about his work with Jeremy
in silence.
Again, his crisp white shirt was not holding up to the
task of construction. From now on, he thought to himself,
he’d pack a bag for spur-of-the-moment manual labor.
David sipped from a bottle of water Carissa had
brought back from 7-Eleven. He wiped his brow with his
hand and looked around the half-constructed walls of the
school.
“When does the electrician come in?”
“Tuesday.”
“I think we’re ready for him.” David nodded, looking
around. “He should be done by the end of the week. I fly
out on Friday and I’m back by the following Tuesday. That
should give him plenty of time for inspections and then we
can start drywall.”
“I think we’re making good progress,” Jeremy added.
Carissa surveyed the school.
“Well, tonight we’ll spend some time and brainstorm
“Like you said,” David interrupted her, “we can talk
about that tonight.” He kissed the top of her head and
followed Jeremy outside to start packing up.
Thomas stepped in closer to Carissa as she continued
to gaze around the school.
“Feel better now that you pounded some nails?” He
absentmindedly ran his hand down her hair, which she’d
secured into a ponytail with the help of a carpenter’s pencil.
“Yeah. A run before dinner and I think I’ll be ready to
move on to the next step.” Her eyelashes swept upward as
she looked up at him. The soft appearance of a dimple in
her cheek sped up his heart rate and he caught his breath.
Thomas only nodded. He assumed she meant the next
step of the planning of the school, but her tone could have
been construed as another meaning altogether. He pulled
back his hand and tucked it into his pocket.
Again his fingers were itching to play, which meant he
was uncomfortable in the situation. He needed to get a
grasp on his feelings. Either he was all in or he needed to
get out.
Carissa’s run hadn’t taken the edge off her attitude as
she’d hoped it would. Between the construction at the
school, the planning that went into it, and her new coworker—who she was having difficulties concentrating
around—she felt as though everything was piling in on her.
She’d called Katie only to have her tell her to leave her
alone and spend some time getting to know Thomas. That
certainly hadn’t helped the situation. So she dragged her
butt back to the house after only a few miles, showered
quickly, and they arrived at Sophia’s house promptly at
five-thirty, which was mandatory on Sunday evening as far
as Sophia was concerned. Family dinner around Sophia’s
table was every week whether David was in town or not. It
would be, however, the first time they didn’t have Katie
there, and that broke Carissa’s heart.
Thomas had insisted on bringing a bottle of wine he’d
saved from Italy. It was a celebration of sorts.
“I knew this was one of your favorites.” He handed the
bottle to Sophia.
“Thomas, this is wonderful. I’ll put it in the fridge to
get a chill on it.” She kissed him on the cheek as Carissa
slid past him to find her sister. She saw the extended table
set in the living room.
“Oh, looks like we’re having a few more for dinner,”
Carissa commented.
“Mary Alice, Jeremy, and the boys. They’ll be along in
a bit.”
“All of the boys?”
“Parker and William are home for the weekend. Elijah
thought bringing his three boys would be too much. But we
thought this would be fun.”
Hope was busy folding napkins and laying them next
to each plate. “Grandma showed me how once,” she
explained. “I thought I’d give it a try.”
“Okay, show me.” Carissa sat down next to her sister
and let her instruct her on the finer art of napkin folding.
She sat down at the table and Hope explained how to
fold each napkin so that it would stand in the center of the
plate. Carissa paid attention to every detail, but she was
fully aware that when her mother had moved to answer the
front door Thomas stayed, leaning up against the doorjamb
and watching them. It sent a surge through her, kicking her
heart rate up again.
She was beginning to despise that he could do that to
her.
Carissa looked up from the table and met his eyes.
“You should learn how to do this.”
“C’mon, Thomas, I’ll teach you,” Hope offered.
“Can’t pass that up, can I?” He walked to the table and
sat down next to Hope.
Thomas stood as Sophia entered the room carrying the
wine he had brought for dinner. Her smile thanked him as
she pointed to her guests and gave them a specific seat
around the table.
“Thomas has brought us my most favorite wine
straight from Italy.”
Thomas quickly stood and reached for the bottle.
“Here, let me pour.”
Mary Alice took a sip. “Oh, this is wonderful.”
“Only the best for Sophia.” Thomas felt the sting
David’s eyes on him.
Sophia assessed the table as he continued pouring the
wine.
“You forgot your glass.”
“Oh, I’m saving the last drop for you.” He topped off
Sophia’s glass then sat down next to Carissa, who looked
up at him with smiling eyes over the rim of her wineglass.
Thomas couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a
family dinner that included friends. Sure, in Italy eight
years ago, the family was Sophia, Pablo, Pierre, Sandra,
and himself. They ate together, rehearsed together, traveled
together, and often lived communally. However, it was
nothing like sitting at the dinner table with the family he
was quickly falling in love with, and their dearest friends.
Jeremy leaned back in his chair and patted his stomach
when he’d finished his second helping. “Sophia, you
absolutely make the best lasagna. I swear I gain three
pounds each time I eat it.”
David laughed at his friend. “At least she can cook. I
just get indigestion when we eat at your house. I mean
seriously, how many years does it take one man to learn to
cook a steak?”
“He’ll never learn,” Parker piped in. “That’s why I had
to have you teach me.”
David lifted his glass of fine Italian wine in a toast.
“And that’s why my godson loves me best.”
Jeremy threw his napkin across the table at David.
David smiled broadly. “I’d say dinner next week
should be at your house, then, and we’ll let Parker cook.”
“Can’t do it. I’ll be in Vegas.” Parker raised his
eyebrows playfully.
“Vegas? Why?”
“Got a girl. She wants to go.” He looked around the
table. “Do I have to go on?”
Mary Alice covered her ears with her hands. “Please
don’t.” She shook her head and laughed. Then she turned
toward Carissa. “Let’s talk about this school of yours. Tell
me about it.”
“Well . . .” She wiped her mouth with her napkin and
replaced it in her lap. “Dad, Jeremy, and Thomas have all
the walls framed. The electrical contractor comes Tuesday
and after inspection, we can drywall. After that it's flooring,
painting, and the finishing touches.”
“And students,” Sophia added.
“Yes, and students.” Carissa’s eyes dipped down to her
plate.
Mary Alice shifted her arms to rest on the table.
“You’re worried about that part?” “Of course I am. I’m
worried that I won’t have enough students the moment I
open the doors. I’ve done the number crunching and it
scares me. But if I didn’t think it was possible, I wouldn’t
have bought the building.”
Thomas shifted in his chair. “I was giving that some
thought. You have a few students of your own and I know
your schedule is full for after school. But we have the
untapped market of adults too. And I was thinking if we
moved the piano out of the study I could start taking on
students too. Two students at one time is better than one.
What if parents took piano lessons while their child took
cello lessons? There’s no reason we should wait to build.”
He sucked in a breath. “Or maybe you could teach the
physical playing and I can handle the theory.”
David gave an approving nod and gestured in his
direction, stopping him from the rant he felt coming. “He’s
got a point.”
Sophia began to gather plates.
“So, we should do some advertising and get flyers into
the schools now.”
Carissa smiled as she listened to everyone’s excited
ideas.
“I think it’s a good idea to take on multiple students.”
Her eyes settled on Thomas’s, but she hadn’t accepted his
proposal of theory, yet again.
Carissa sat quietly at the table while David, Jeremy,
and the boys escaped to the patio for a beer.
She waited as Thomas gathered her notebook full of
ideas and notes for the school and then waited for him, her
mother, and Mary Alice to join her at the table.
“We need a detailed list of the instruments we need to
purchase. For now we’ll have to keep them in house until
we begin to turn a profit, and then we can rent them out
long term.”
“We need to make sure to talk to the insurance
company about that too. We’ll need that in the policy for
replacement,” Thomas added, and Carissa wrote it down on
her list.
“Where are you getting the instruments?” Mary Alice
asked.
“I’ll have to go to Chicago. I’ve been working with a
dealer there and he has the best prices for what we need. I
plan on going out before Christmas.”
Thomas sat forward on the edge of his seat.
“What about theory? Do you have a beginning theory
book picked out?”
“I have a basic one that will go with my lessons.”
“I think theory should be the first thing you teach
before they touch anything.”
Carissa set her eyes on him and noticed how his jaw
had set when he spoke. She’d hoped he’d forget about his
damn theory room and teaching it. She did teach theory, but
she didn’t see the need to cut into student playing time with
it. It was part of the hands-on teaching.
Thomas shifted, resting his clasped hands on the table
and keeping his stare on her.
“Half the problem with students is they start to fool
around on the instrument and never learn the music
properly. They try to pick out songs by ear and then you
can’t go backward and make them do it right. If they aren’t
sat down and taught what’s what first, then the lessons
don’t mean much.”
“But if you don’t let them touch the instrument and fall
in love with it, theory is useless.”
“Fact remains you can’t run until you walk. You have
to learn how to read music and then touch the instrument.”
“It’s open for interpretation.” Her voice was low and
resonated her irritation.
“Not in my classes.” He sat back and folded his arms
over his chest. “No finger touches a key until they know
how to read the music I’m going to put before them.”
Carissa narrowed her eyes on him. Was he really
sitting in her mother’s house telling her how he was going
to run a class? Wasn’t he the employee?
“You’re going to bore them to death first?”
“I don’t think theory is boring. Not if it’s done
properly.”
“Well then you really don’t understand young minds,
do you?” Carissa too sat back in her chair and folded her
arms across her chest.
He wasn’t going to win this argument. It was her
school.
Sophia stood. “I think I’ll get us some coffee.
Mary Alice gathered plates and followed her.
“Oh, is this our first lover’s spat?”
“Looks that way.” Sophia tried to listen as she started
The tones from the other room became softer but more
heated. It took straining on a trained ear to catch the
conversation, but when Carissa stood with a huff and the
front door slammed shut, Sophia knew the argument had
finished and neither side had won.
“Well, did you get that worked out?” she asked Carissa
who had her head on her arms against the table.
“He’s so stubborn!” She flung her hands in the air.
“He’s got those stupid things in his head and then spins
them all around. Every time we’re in the damn school he
mentions a theory room. Theory this. Theory that. Dammit,
it’s my school.”
Sophia poured a cup of coffee and set it in front of her
daughter.
“Did you at least say you’d consider thinking about
it?”
“You’re going to side with him?” She shook her head.
“This is my school. I’ll run things the way I see fit. I can’t
believe you’re just going to side with him.”
“I see valid points on both sides.”
“Of course you would. Wouldn’t want to ruffle the
feathers, would you?”
Carissa knew the words she was using were hurtful,
though she hadn’t meant them to be.
Her mother set down the coffeepot. “Well, I see we’re
in a nasty mood. I think I’ll go sit with the boys out back.”
She stepped out onto the porch.
Carissa sat at the empty table with only Hope looking
on at her in disgust. She’d have plenty to say to her too if
she didn’t look like Carissa had just crushed her world by
fighting with Thomas. She decided it was better to say
good night and head back home. Besides, it was dark and
she only could assume he knew his way back to the house
on foot. God, she’d been an idiot, and her stomach was
churning because of it.
She poked her head outside and found her mother,
seated on her father’s lap. Her sad eyes looking back at her.
“I’m going to go. Thank you for everything.”
Sophia stood and walked toward her.
“I love you.” She cupped Carissa’s face in her hands
and kissed her cheek.
“I know. I’m so sorry.”
Sophia pulled her into her arms and held her.
Carissa kissed her sister good-bye and gathered her
notebook and purse. Maybe she had been too hard on him
and it would be worth listening to his side. Maybe.
Carissa let the door slam behind her has she headed
home. Why couldn’t it just all work out the way she
planned it to? Was she really wrong about her approach?