Isabelle pressed her lips together. Don’t say it. Don’t say it.
“Isabelle?”
“I kissed Rhett.”
Ellie stopped in her tracks in the middle of Main Street. “Wait. What?”
Isabelle closed one eye and winced before tugging her friend across the street to the courtyard. “I did. I kissed him. Well, actually, he kissed me. Or we kissed each other. I don’t know. It just sort of happened because it was New Year’s Eve. Then the world exploded. And I can’t believe I’m telling you this.”
Ellie shook her head and waved her hands in random circular motions. “Whoa. Slow down. My mind needs to catch up with your words. You and Rhett kissed on New Year’s Eve. That’s...” Ellie nodded then grinned. “That’s wonderful. Hurray!”
Isabelle glared at her. “No! Not wonderful. Not hurray. This is bad.”
“It is?”
“Yes!”
“Why?”
“There are so many reasons.” Isabelle shook her head as she led the way down a path strewn with dead brown leaves. “First of all, I don’t go around kissing men willy-nilly. That is not the kind of girl I am. Second, I had on a mask, so I thought he didn’t know who I was, but he did. He knew the whole time. Third, he’s living in the boardinghouse now, and it was my idea to have him there. Finally, if my parents find out any of this, they will not be happy at all. In fact, they will probably throw him out.”
Ellie grimaced. “Oh. Well, the only thing that really sounds like a problem is the part about your parents. The rest seems pretty romantic to me.”
Panic surged through her. “No romance. Absolutely not. This would be the worst possible time for one with everything so up in the air.”
“What is up in the air?”
“Nothing. Never mind.” Her parents were trying to keep their doubts about the fate of the boardinghouse in the family circle until a decision had officially been reached. “Most important, I refuse to even consider a man who was in love with my sister just a matter of months ago.”
“Hmm.” Ellie started walking again, albeit very slowly. “What does Rhett have to say about all of this?”
“He...” She could almost see the confusion and disappointment on Rhett’s face as she offered the courting lessons in response to his overtures toward...what exactly? She hadn’t let him finish. His words had started to sound too similar to what she’d been hearing from John and Chris, so she’d cut him off almost instinctively. “It doesn’t matter. I’ve made my decision.”
“I see.” Ellie’s knowing gaze said she probably saw far too much, at that.
“The reason I’m telling you this is because I need your help. Rhett’s a good man. He deserves to find someone.” She bit her lip. “What I mean is surely there is some other girl we can send his way to...”
“Distract him?”
“Yes!” Seeing the disapproving frown that earned her, she amended, “No. Ellie, you’re a matchmaker. Surely, you had someone in mind for him when you made the Bachelor List. I mean that’s what the list does, right? It pairs the town’s eligible bachelors with the women you think would be a perfect match for each of them.”
“Yes, that is what it does.”
“So?”
Ellie stared at her for a moment before shaking her head. “I’m no longer in possession of the Bachelor List. Quinn has it and refuses to give it back. He told me some nonsense about it belonging to the bachelors. He’s going to pass it along to someone else eventually, I suppose.”
“Well, we don’t need it. You created it, so you know everything that’s on it. Who did you match Rhett with?”
“That is a private matter between Rhett and me...and Lawson. Lawson knows.”
Isabelle lifted a brow. “And Quinn and whoever else happens to get their hands on that list.”
Ellie placed a calming hand on her arm. “Isabelle, I care for you dearly. You are one of my closest friends. However, I’m getting more than a little tired of being questioned about that list. My policy is not to discuss its contents with anyone. I’m afraid that includes you.”
“All right.” She pulled in a deep breath. “I understand. I won’t bother you about it again.”
“Good.”
Her mind scrambled to find some way around this new obstacle. “I’m all for letting Rhett choose his own woman anyway. At least, as long as it isn’t me.”
Ellie rolled her eyes. “Honestly, Isabelle.”
“I am being honest. The real problem here, and the one I need your advice on, has nothing to do with the list. In a moment of desperation, I offered to help Rhett overcome his trouble with women.”
“Did you, now?”
Ignoring her friend’s smirk, Isabelle nodded. “Yes, I did. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to do that.”
Ellie sighed. “Well, I hate to tell you this, but I already tried to help Rhett. I didn’t end up making it any better. In fact, I’m afraid I might have even made it worse.”
“Oh.”
“Hold on. Don’t give up on me yet. Let me think about it for a minute.” Ellie bit her lip and stayed in deep contemplation as they passed the steps of the courthouse. It was only when they turned back toward the boardinghouse that the matchmaker spoke again. “Perhaps Lawson and I skipped a step when Rhett asked us for advice. We gave him tips on how to communicate better. I think the problem is he never gets that far. He just panics.”
Isabelle narrowed her eyes and bit her lip. “So we need him not to panic.”
Ellie nodded. “Figuring out why he does it and where that fear comes from might help him get over it.”
“How do I do that?”
“Get him to talk about it. Listen. Support and encourage him as he faces it.” Ellie shrugged. “That’s my best advice.”
Thinking over the list of duties Ellie had prescribed for her, Isabelle nodded. “I can do that.”
Ellie gave her a knowing look. “And you really want me to believe you’re doing all of this solely to distract him.”
“Well, I’m also doing it to help him, so my motivation isn’t entirely selfish...only partially.” Isabelle opened the boardinghouse door then leaned back against it to allow Ellie to enter first.
Instead of walking inside, her friend lingered. “Right. All I have to say is... Never mind.”
Isabelle narrowed her eyes at her friend. “What? Go on, tell me.”
That was all the encouragement needed to prompt a grin on Ellie’s face which was followed by a quick wink. “That must have been some kiss.”
Isabelle leaned back against the open door and stared after her friend, who soon disappeared into the study. “Honestly, Ellie, of all the nerve...”
“Amy!” a man’s voice called.
Her heart jumped into her throat as she glanced around in search of her sister. Instead, she saw John Merriweather walking up the path to the front porch with a box of candy in hand. She glanced around one more time to make sure she hadn’t missed anyone, then released the door to meet John at the porch steps. She frowned at him in confusion. “Did you call me Amy?”
“Did I?” He smoothed his flawlessly shaped mustache. “That was her favorite color, you know.”
She followed his