Mattie's Meltaways Read online

  The thought of such injury to her sisters, of the possibility of their harm or—worse yet,—losing them—brought on a violent bout of trembling. Mattie drew a gulp of air and gripped the counter while she waited for the fear to pass.

  A knock at the back door startled her from the funk. Her head snapped up, and Tyler stared through the window. His chin was covered in stubble, his gaze tired. Yet his eyes smiled at her from beneath light brown waves of hair.

  “Come in.” She motioned with a spatula that was covered in a smear of pudding and chocolate shavings. “The door’s open.”

  Tyler wiggled the knob, and then slipped through the door to enter the kitchen, along with a blast of cold air. Though the snow had let up around midnight, the nip of an arctic wind still lingered like an unwelcome visitor.

  “Hey, Mat.” Tyler’s boots thudded over tile as he crossed the floor. “Sure smells good in here.” He peered into the mixing bowl. “Is that chocolate?”

  “Yes.” Mattie reached over to lower the volume on the radio. “I’m baking Jessie’s cake.”

  “Oh?” Tyler nodded slightly as he peeled off his gloves and tossed them on the table. “I didn’t think, with the fire and all…”

  “I promised you a cake, Tyler, and I won’t break my promise, even for a fire.”

  “I know.” He brushed a stray hair back from her forehead. “But you look tired.”

  “So do you.” She handed him a mug and motioned toward the coffee maker, willing her heart to take on a more natural cadence. His fingers, blistered from the lick of flames he’d conquered merely hours ago, raked her skin, causing her to shudder. “Creamer’s in the fridge, and there’s a bowl of sugar on the counter.”

  “Thanks.” He stepped over to the coffeemaker to fill his cup. “I can use a hit of this. The start of school was delayed, due to the snow, but Jessie still woke at the crack of dawn, raring to go. She’s excited as all get out about going skating tonight, but she’ll understand if you don’t want to come, Mat.” He lowered his gaze. “I…told her about the fire.”

  “Of course I’m coming.” Mattie unrolled fondant, split it into portions, and began to add food coloring. She ignored the ache between her shoulder blades, the uneasy feeling in her belly. “You’re not uninviting me, are you?”

  “Of course not. I just thought…” He slipped a hand into the pocket of his jacket and drew out a piece of copy paper. “Jessie drew you a picture last night, after we made Sebastian.”

  “Sebastian?”

  “A rather plump snowman that talks up a storm, at least to Jessie.”

  Mattie laughed. “That’s some imagination.”

  “Tell me about it.” He rolled his eyes, but his grin was contagious. “Anyway, Jess wrote a note on the back of the picture, too, while she was waiting for me to walk her to school.”

  “What? Oh!” Mattie took the paper and unfolded it to find a likeness of three of them on the frozen, snow-covered pond at the town square, holding hands, their feet clad in ice skates. Jessie’s were a dull brown—the signature rental skates that were loaned out of a small outbuilding at the pond. She had no idea of Mattie’s intended gift—neither did Tyler.

  Mattie turned the drawing over to find a note Jessie had scrawled in tidy print. She read aloud, her voice shuddering:

  Mattie,

  I know you feel sad about Sweet Treets getting on fire. Daddy told me. But don’t worry cuz he will help you fix it. He is a good fireman and he knows lots about fixing stuff.

  Love,

  Jessie Jacobs (7 today)

  “Let’s see.” Tyler took the paper from her, studied each side. “She loves to draw, and she’s right—I will help you put the bakery back together again.”

  “Thank you. The note…the drawing…they’re both lovely, Tyler.” A lump formed in Mattie’s throat, and she wondered if she was destined to cry the day away. “I’m going to tack this to the refrigerator. Will you tell Jessie that for me?”

  “You can tell her yourself…tonight.”

  “Oh, right.” Mattie smoothed the picture and added it to the collection on the front of her refrigerator—pictures of Adam in his soccer uniform and photos of Kate’s daughter, Micayla and Grace’s twins, Natalie and Nathaniel, who’d just turned two. Soon photos of Tessa’s baby would join the collage. “It fits just perfectly.”

  “I’d have to agree.” Tyler sipped coffee. “But there’s always room for more.”

  “Your hair’s singed.” Mattie turned to touch his beard-shadowed cheek. He probably hadn’t even bothered to shave before coming to check on her. She doubted he’d slept more than an hour or two. “And your eyes are shadowed. Did you sleep at all last night?”

  He lifted a hand to brush hair from his forehead and shrugged. “I may have dozed a little.”

  “You jumped right in last night, fighting the flames.” The odor of burned hair lingered, and Mattie’s belly roiled. “But you should have waited for help to come, Tyler.”

  “The whole bakery might have been engulfed by then.” His dark eyes studied her. “I couldn’t take that chance.”

  Her voice caught. “It was dangerous.”

  “You’re one to talk.” He brushed a tear from her cheek. “You were right there by my side, wielding a fire extinguisher.”

  “It’s my bakery, Tyler. Mine and my sisters.”

  “So.” He shrugged. “And you’re my…friend.”

  The word startled her…the way he lingered before using it. Was there more? Could there possibly be more?

  “It was foolish.” She sniffled and turned away as more tears fell. “What would happen to Jessie…if you got hurt?”

  He touched her shoulder, drawing her back to face him. “I’m not going to get hurt.” His voice was a murmur filled with conviction that calmed the storm in her belly.

  Mattie hiccupped back a sob as she smoothed fingers over the ridge of scar at his hairline. “What about this?”

  “It’s nothing.” He tilted his head, narrowed his gaze. “I was much younger—and foolish.”

  “You’re still foolish, Tyler.”

  He captured her hand and brushed a finger over the inside of her wrist. The light touch made Mattie shiver. His gaze danced with hers. “Are you trying to pick a fight, Mattie?”

  “What? No!” Her spine stiffened as her breath caught in a little gasp. His gaze lingered, and she glanced away. “I mean…maybe. At least then I won’t feel so…lost.”

  “Oh, Mattie.” He shrugged from his jacket and drew her to him. She pressed her cheek to his chest, and beneath layers of cotton and soft flannel, she took comfort in the steady beat of his heart. He smoothed her braid with a strong, sure hand. “Sweet Treats will be back up and running in a few weeks, maybe even less. Brent and Logan are already over there, assessing the damage. And Colin took a police report last night, just in case the insurance company needs one. So don’t waste time fretting over what can’t be undone.”

  Her voice muffled against fabric as tears spilled over to dampen his shirtfront. “I should have made sure that oven was repaired, Tyler. It was my responsibility.”

  “Kate, Grace, and Tessa each said the same thing when they came by the shop this morning to deliver what they could of your orders. Everything was still viable, except for the muffins that got charbroiled, of course. And I think Grace and Kate pitched in to make a fresh batch of those at Tessa’s house. So there’s no real loss, Mattie. The insurance company will take care of the rest.”

  “But I feel…lost without Sweet Treats, Tyler. I already miss it.”

  “I know.” He sighed. “You’ve worked so hard, for so long, to grow the bakery into the most popular business in Mount Ridge. But maybe you can rest a little while the repairs are being done, do some of the things you’ve missed out on. The town can survive without your sweets…for a little while, at least.”

  “And what about you?” She stepped back and brushed tears from her cheeks. “You stop in for coffee every morning.”

/>   “Maybe I’ll just have to drop by here, instead.” He crossed his arms and leaned back against the counter, raising his coffee mug. “If that’s OK with you. This brew is pretty good.”

  Mattie nodded and blotted her face with a paper towel, then drew a deep, cleansing sigh. The clean scent of pine clung to Tyler’s skin, and now the scent belonged to her, as well. “I’d…like that.”

  “OK, then…” He nodded. “Cake looks good—like a chocolate paradise. Jessie’s gonna love it.”

  “It’s not finished yet.”

  “No?”

  “I still need to decorate it.” Mattie reached for the box of food coloring. “My mom used to make this cake for me.”

  “You’re a chocolate lover, too, huh?” He dipped a finger into the batter bowl, sampled, then moaned with appreciation. “Delicious.”

  “Want to help me make the smiley faces?” Mattie squeezed a few drops of neon-pink food color over a roll of fondant and began to work it in with her hands while Tyler peered over her shoulder.

  “Chocolate…coffee…time with you?” Tyler pressed his hands to the fondant, joining with hers. Together they worked the mass into something useable. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

  5

  “Daddy, can you help me?”

  Tyler turned to see Jessie tugging on the skates Mattie had given her. “Sure, honey.” He knelt at the bench and lifted her foot, clad in rainbow-striped toe socks. He wiggled the leather boot across her toes until it slipped over her heel. He imagined Mattie at the same age, filled with the same measure of excitement that Jessie radiated, as her father eased the skate on her foot at this very pond…maybe even the same spot where he and Jessie now shared a precious moment.

  Mattie sat on the bench beside Jessie, working her feet into a larger pair of skates, of a style similar to Jessie’s. She laced the boots with ease, and then watched as he finished helping Jessie into hers.

  The pond was quiet—most of the kids had gone home for the evening, since it was a school night. And Tyler imagined couples who often gathered to skate were huddled over candlelight, sharing secrets as they also shared a Valentine’s Day meal, just as he and Lydia had done before Jessie came along and the holiday became more about celebrating her birthday than enjoying quiet candlelight and romance.

  Tyler brushed away the thought as his gaze swept the pond. Soft light illuminated the ice from electric pole lanterns that mimicked old-fashioned gaslights. The soft, floral scent of Mattie’s perfume danced on a light breeze. He tied the laces of Jessie’s skates into neat bows and patted her head. “How’s that?”

  “Oh, Daddy, it’s perfect!” She wiggled her feet, then turned and tugged Mattie’s wool scarf. “Look, Mattie. They fit just right.”

  “Wow, your dad did a good job.” Mattie slipped a finger beneath the tongue of each skate’s boot, checking the snugness around Jessie’s ankles. “He must know a thing or two about skating.”

  “He used to play hockey.” Jessie’s head bobbed up and down. “For the Ice Bears in Knoxville, before he became a fireman.”

  “I know. He told me.” Mattie pressed a palm to Jessie’s cheek and stroked the soft skin. Tyler watched, mesmerized by the shine of her hair beneath the light of a full moon. Mattie had left it loose tonight, and the long, sleek mass spilled over her shoulders and down the length of her slender back like a dark wave. She leaned in and whispered in Jessie’s ear. “So it’s in your genes, you know, skating.”

  “What’s genes?” Jessie’s cocoa eyes narrowed as her cinnamon hair peeked from beneath a knit cap. “Are they like what you wear to school?”

  “No, these are different.” Mattie laughed and scratched her head, trying to string the words together to explain. “They’re like a code that’s inside you, your very own special code, and it tells your body what you’re good at.”

  “Like I’m gonna be good at skating?”

  “Exactly. Because it says so in your genes. Your daddy skates well, and your mama knew how to skate, too.”

  “She did?”

  Mattie nodded. “We used to skate together at the Ice Chalet sometimes, when we were in school. Once we were in the Nutcracker together, a very long time ago.”

  “Really? Wow.”

  “Uh-huh. Your mama and I were friends.”

  “I know. Daddy told me.”

  “She would be happy you have skates of your own, now.”

  “Do you think Mama can see me, Mattie? Do you think she knows I have pretty new skates?”

  “I…” Mattie glanced at Tyler, searching for guidance.

  He nodded slowly. “Yes, honey, I think she can see you.”

  Mattie smiled and smoothed Jessie’s hair. “So let’s show her how you can skate, OK?”

  Tyler’s gut twisted. He realized for the first time how much Mattie missed Lydia, too. They had been friends. In his grief, he’d forgotten that Lydia’s death had hurt more people than him and Jessie—it had hurt Mattie, as well.

  “Thank you, Mattie.” Jessie turned the skates this way and that, admiring the fresh white polish and blades that sparkled like the new-fallen snow. “I love them! Did you really used to wear them when you were seven years old?”

  “Yes, I did.” Mattie turned to glide backwards, so she could face Jessie as she gently pulled her over the ice. “My mama and daddy gave them to me on my seventh birthday.”

  “Just like me.” Jessie’s eyes widened with excitement. “And you learned to skate in them?”

  “That’s right.” Mattie picked up the speed a bit and smiled at Jessie as they passed beneath a lantern. The glow illuminated the pair like they’d glided into a Currier and Ives painting, and Mattie’s voice carried on the whisper of a breeze. “Look at you, Jess. You’re a natural.”

  Jessie giggled as her blades kissed the ice. She clung to Mattie’s hands. “I feel like I’m flying!”

  “You are, Jess. Look, you’ve almost gone all the way around the pond.”

  “Oh, I have.” She craned her head. “Watch me, Daddy. Do you see me?”

  “I see you, honey.” He waved and smiled, filled with a newfound hope and energy. “Go ahead, I’m watching.”

  As the two glided by, he stroked across the ice to join them. The cold night air nipped at his cheeks but he felt warm inside…warm with the thought of making new and exciting memories.

  ****

  “Thank you, Tyler.” Mattie took the hot chocolate and sipped. The warmth soothed her throat, and she wrapped her hands around the foam cup as they sat on a bench at the edge of the pond to watch Jessie circle the ice. “She’s a natural.”

  “Gonna have to fork over some money for lessons now, I guess.” Tyler scooted closer, and the warmth of his body chased away the night chill. An hour had passed like mere seconds, and Mattie knew the evening would soon come to an end. Jessie had school tomorrow, and Tyler had already pushed back her bedtime a generous amount.

  “I could work with her some.” Mattie wiggled her toes inside the skate boots. The rush of wind on her face as she’d circled the ice, gaining speed with each long stroke of her legs, had been exhilarating. She hadn’t lost much in terms of skill, and was pleased her body chose to cooperate. “I could teach Jessie a few of the basics, at least for the next couple weeks, while Sweet Treats is under renovation.”

  “She would love that.” Tyler smoothed a lock of hair from her cheek. “But do you have the time?”

  “You said I should rest from the bakery a little, live a little. I love to skate, and Jessie seems to, as well. Look at her go, Tyler. She’s caught on very quickly.”

  “She has. It’s amazing.”

  “She looks so much like Lydia.” Mattie’s voice caught at the admission.

  “I know. Their hair…the eyes…sometimes I think—I wonder…”

  “Do you still miss her, Ty?”

  “I…” He stumbled over the words. “Yes.”

  “I do, too.” Mattie turned to look at him. “I’d never...I mean�
�I’d never want to take her place with Jessie…with you.”

  “I know.” He pressed a finger to her lips. “Mattie, I don’t want you to think—”

  “I don’t think anything.”

  “Let me finish, OK?” He drew a sip of hot chocolate and then trained his gaze on her. “This is hard…for me. But I know you understand, because you loved her, too. Maybe not the same way, but you know what it feels like to lose someone you care deeply for. Life doesn’t just stop because they’re gone. It goes on, and we have to, as well.”

  “But—”

  “What I’m beginning to feel for you…what I feel…it doesn’t diminish what I felt for her, not in any way. But I’ll never have that again. Does that make any sense at all?”

  “Yes.” Mattie nodded. “It makes perfect sense.”

  “I…feel something strong for you, Mat.” He took her hand, and his blisters reminded Mattie once again of how fiercely he’d protected her. “I’ve felt it for a while now, and it grows every day, every time I see you or think about you.”

  “I feel it, too.”

  “I’m falling in love with you, Mattie.”

  “Oh, Tyler, I…” She searched for the right words. “I’m falling in love with you, too.”

  He sighed and brought her hand to his lips, kissed her fingers through the wool mittens. “What are we going to do about it?”

  “I…I don’t know.”

  He took her cup of chocolate, set it beside the bench, and then did the same with his. Then he drew her close. “I think we should enjoy it, Mattie. You never know…”

  “No, you don’t.” She turned her cheek to his chest as he pressed his lips to the top of her head. “Is it wrong, Tyler, to want something more? I’ve waited…an awfully long time.”

  “It’s not wrong, Mattie.” His breath was warm against the nape of her neck as he smoothed the length of her hair with gentle hands. “It’s…perfect.”

  “We should take it slow.”

  “Yes,” he agreed. “And we’ll consider that option…right after I kiss you.”

  6