Read Online The Perfect Christmas by Debbie Macomber - Free Book Online Page B

wryly.
    “Did I mention Simon refuses to talk about himself? That’s probably why he’s so brilliant at this. He doesn’t want to cloud the relationship between him and his clients. His sole focus is on finding the right person for them.”
    “Seems to me you’ve got him all figured out.”
    “I think I just might. Now wipe that smirk off your face,” she said. Now that she’d thought seriously about Simon, and she’d been doing that for the past twenty-four hours, it all made a crazy kind of sense.
    Simon made sense.
    Simply put, he wasn’t encumbered with the need to please others. His skill at matchmaking was based on his knowledge of psychology, as he claimed, but he obviously had good instincts, too. His success rate was impressive, and if he honestly felt John-the-engineer would make her a good husband, then Cassie didn’t doubt it for an instant.
    “He’s an engineer,” she murmured.
    “Simon?”
    “No, my match. Simon offered me a crumb of information yesterday.”
    “An engineer,” Shawn echoed. “I guess your kids will be left-brained.”
    “That’s what Simon said,” she returned excitedly.
    Shawn looked surprised. “You told him about your IQ?”
    “No, but it was on the questionnaire.” In high school, her high IQ had been an embarrassment rather than an asset. She always used to insist that scoring well on a test didn’t make her any different from everyone else. She still felt that way—although it did get her through two chemistry degrees in four years instead of six.
    “Mom was always proud of your intelligence,” Shawn reminded her.
    “It didn’t matter to our father, though, did it?” As a child, Cassie had thought it was her fault their father had left the family. Although it made no sense for a seven-year-old to assume that kind of blame, she had. Later, she’d learned this was fairly typical in situations like this. They’d all been devastated, but she’d unconsciously taken on the role of scapegoat.
    “Speaking of Dad…”
    Cassie already knew what was coming. “He called you?” Shawn nodded.
    “His yearly sojourn into fatherhood! Lucky you. This year it was your turn to receive the great gift of his phone call. What did he have to say?”
    “He saw one of my murals and wanted to tell me he was impressed.”
    Cassie shrugged. “That was nice.”
    “A surprise, actually.”
    Cassie knew how long Shawn had waited for any praise from their father. They rarely discussed him; the subject was still too painful for them both.
    “Where was he?” The last she’d heard, he was living aboard his sailboat somewhere in the Caribbean.
    “Hawaii.”
    Cassie chuckled. “Really? Wouldn’t it be amusing if he ran into Mom on the streets of Honolulu?”
    Shawn shook his head. “She’s over him. She forgave him a long time ago.”
    “Mom’s a better woman than I am.” Talking about their father depressed her. “Can’t we discuss something else? Something more cheerful—like bank fore-closures?”
    Shawn snorted. “Very funny.”
    “I don’t know why he bothers,” she said.
    “I thought we weren’t going to discuss Dad.”
    “Right. Sorry.”
    Shawn drank the last of his coffee and stood. “I’ve gotta go.”
    “You mean you aren’t going to stay and help me trim the tree?”
    “Can’t. I’ve got an…appointment.”
    From the gleam in his eyes, this so-called appointment involved a woman. “You’ve got a date.”
    “I’m not telling.”
    It really wasn’t fair. Cassie had to pay tens of thousands of dollars to meet men, and her brother had women falling all over him. It must be those piercing blue eyes of his—plus, of course, the fact that he was talented, rich and eligible.
    Cassie walked him to the door.
    “Are you coming back here tonight?” she asked.
    “Nope. I’m taking the red-eye to Phoenix.”
    “Will I see you at Christmas?”
    “Sure. Where else would I go?”
    “Call me, okay?”
    “Will do. Besides, I want to hear all about