“Really?” Miriam asked. Somehow Miriam didn’t sound very surprised.
Everyone turned toward Annie. Her face flamed. “His name is Matt Jasper, and he did find a cat in the manger. He came in on the bus from Charlotte last night, and he was looking for Ruth Clausen.”
“Oh dear,” Ruby said. “Is he one of Nick’s army friends?”
“Yes, he is. He’s come here to deliver Nick’s last Christmas gift.”
“What?” the women asked in unison.
“Evidently, Nick bought Ruth’s present before he died last year. Matt has been carrying it around Afghanistan for a long time.”
“Oh my,” Thelma said. “He has no clue, does he?”
“No, he doesn’t.”
“Did you tell him about Ruth?” Thelma asked.
“Well, I told him that she’d been sick and a little out of it. But I didn’t say anything else. He’s committed to making this delivery. It’s kind of sweet, actually. His heart’s in the right place.”
“So he didn’t spend the night at the motel, did he?” Jane asked.
“Uh, no, he didn’t.”
Miriam snorted. “See, I told ya’ll. Annie needed to get a cat. The Lord was very specific about that part.”
While Annie went to her appointment at the beauty shop, Matt showered and shaved and put on his civies. Holly kept him company, trailing after him like a little lost soul.
He and the cat were kind of alike. If anyone could understand how a man could come looking for a warm place by a holiday fire, it would be a stray cat.
But he didn’t really belong by Annie’s fire, did he? And what was the point of delivering Nick’s gift to his grandmother if she was senile and sick? How could that possibly brighten her day?
He’d come for his own selfish reasons, not to do any favors for Nick. And now, here he was, staying at Annie Roberts’s house, thinking things about her that he had no right to think.
He should leave, right now, and take the cat with him as a consolation prize. He started packing his bag. He had just brought the bag downstairs and set it in the corner when Annie’s key slipped into the front door.
She came prancing into the foyer like a young girl. She stopped just a few feet from where he was standing and gave him the biggest grin. She was red cheeked from the cold outside, and there was a spark of something in her eyes that hadn’t been there last night or even this morning. Something had changed. She seemed lit up from the inside.
“Uh,” he said, suddenly tongue-tied, “I was thinking that with Ruth so ill, it might be best if I just…” He couldn’t finish the sentence.
Holly pussyfooted across the floorboards and meowed a welcome. She rubbed up against Annie’s legs and tried to wrap herself around both of them simultaneously.
Annie laughed. The sound was so merry and full of life. She bent down and picked up the kitten. “You need some cat food and a litter box,” she said to Holly. “I hope you’re housebroken.”
She glanced up at Matt, and he had a feeling Annie was talking about something other than the cat.
“I understand your hesitation about Ruth,” she said, her blue eyes darkening with some emotion he couldn’t quite fathom. “But there’s no rush. The Ladies Auxiliary always visits up there on Christmas morning, and you could tag along with them. I offered to drive Miriam Randall and the rest of the ladies up there, since I don’t have a big family. So, if you want, we can all go together tomorrow morning. In the meantime, if you came to Last Chance for a Christmas like Nick loved, you’re free to stay here at my place. In fact, I could use some help with my errands.”
The tension he’d felt all morning suddenly eased. He’d been given permission to live out his deepest fantasy and let tomorrow slide. War had taught him the benefits of living in the moment. He didn’t have to think very hard about her offer.
“I’d be happy to help. But I’m warning you, I’m really inexperienced in this whole Christmas thing.”
“It’s okay. There are plenty of people in Last Chance willing to give you pointers on how to celebrate the season.”
Annie held out her hand, and he took it. It was small and warm, and it seemed to fit in his like it had been custom made.
They went to Orangeburg and practically bought out the Target there. Annie seemed to be hell-bent on taking advantage of every cut-rate deal on Christmas decorations. It being Christmas Eve, she made a few spectacular bargains-especially on a glow-from-the-inside snowman that had caught Matt’s fancy. She had refused to let him buy it for her. She told him she needed to spruce up her lighting display before the neighbors complained about her lack of imagination.
She also bought some new sheets and a blanket-a move that made Matt just a little bit uncomfortable, since she asked his opinion on every choice. When he’d wrinkled his nose at the girly flowers on one set of sheets, she’d changed her mind about them.
Shopping for sheets with Annie was definitely sexier than it probably should be. He kept thinking about what it might be like to lie down on those new sheets with this amazing woman.
He needed to watch it. She had been Nick’s girlfriend, and he was already perilously close to losing his grip on the real world.
Annie was brimming over with good cheer. Her day with Holly and Matt had been so happy. But then she could hardly fail. Miriam Randall hadn’t been speaking literally last week in church. She’d been finding Annie a match.
And Annie couldn’t be more pleased with the way things were going. Matt was tall, dark, and handsome. He was kind, and he seemed to understand the inherent problem associated with his grim chore. And yet she got the feeling he still wanted to deliver that present, even if he wondered whether it was the right thing to do. His conflict made him all the more loveable. And she knew she was falling for him. Maybe she did believe in love at first sight after all.
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