Prologue

      “Hi, Mom.”

      Maizie Sommers stopped short as she entered the ground-floor office of the real estate business she had lovingly nurtured and guided into a thriving enterprise over the last decade and a half. She was just returning from helping a young couple find the home of their dreams, something that always gave her an immense amount of pleasure.

      The very last person she expected to see in her office, sitting in front of her desk, was her daughter, Nikki. Nikki, a pediatric physician and her only child, was responsible for Maizie initially dipping her toe into the—at that point—very unfamiliar waters of matchmaking.

      She and her lifelong best friends, Cecilia Parnell and Theresa Manetti, had done so well finding a match for Nikki that they were encouraged to continue in their endeavors and find perfect matches for Cilia’s daughter and Theresa’s children.

      When that worked out, they decided to continue matchmaking as an occasional hobby.

      The hobby caught fire, and while all three women went on to maintain the separate businesses they had built over the years, matchmaking became very near and dear to their hearts—as was their determination to remain quietly behind the scenes. They were in it for the satisfaction, not the recognition—and certainly not the money since there was never any charge.

      Maizie and her friends were quite proud of the fact that the couples they had brought together over the years never knew they were being skillfully guided to come together.

      But that certainly wasn’t the first thought that entered Maizie’s mind when she saw her daughter sitting there.

      “Is something wrong with Lucas or one of the children?” Maizie asked, giving her daughter a quick kiss hello.

      Concerned, she dropped into the chair behind her desk, scrutinizing her daughter’s face and looking for some sort of indication as to what had brought Nikki here in the middle of the day.

      “What makes you think there’s something wrong with one of them?” Nikki asked.

      “Well, let me see. You’re a highly regarded pediatrician whose hours are only slightly shorter than God’s. You’re a wife and the mother of three very energetic young children. That alone uses up every moment of your day and night, and I haven’t seen you since Ellie and Addie’s party,” Maizie reminded her, mentioning the twins’ fourth birthday last month. “My guess is that only an emergency of some sort would bring you here to see me in the middle of the day.”

      Nikki sat up a little straighter in the chair, although she was unconsciously knotting her fingers together. “Well, you’re wrong.”

      Maizie continued to watch her daughter’s hands. “Good.”

      “It’s not an emergency,” Nikki emphasized.

      “Happy to hear that.” Although, Maizie thought, something was definitely wrong. Those were not the hands of a carefree, untroubled person.

      “Not exactly,” Nikki amended.

      “Ah.” Now they were getting to it, Maizie thought. “And what is it, exactly?” she asked her daughter.

      Just then her phone rang.

      Nikki looked at the landline on her mother’s desk. “You want to get that?” she asked.

      “No,” Maizie answered. She didn’t want her daughter using the call as an excuse to suddenly change her mind and leave. “That’s why God created answering machines.”

      Nikki appeared guilty. “I feel bad, taking up your time like this.” She looked at the phone. The call had obviously gone to voice mail. “You worked really hard to get here.”

      “One delayed call isn’t going to torpedo my business, Nikki. Besides, Susanna, my assistant, is due back from lunch soon. She can call whoever it is back. You are, and always have been, my first priority,” Maizie insisted. “I’ve expanded that to include Lucas and the children, but you are still in first place. Now, what’s this all about? And why are you about to twist off your fingers?” She nodded at her daughter’s hands.

      Stilling her hands, Nikki sighed. “I don’t quite know how to say this, Mom.”

      “One word at a time is usually the way to do it,” Maizie encouraged. “At this point in my life I’ve heard just about everything,” she added, “so just spit it out, my love.”

      “I know—” Nikki began and then she paused, at a loss how to continue.

      “You know what, dear?” Maizie asked, waiting.

      Nikki took a breath, then blurted it out. “That you arranged to bring Lucas and me together.”

      Maizie smiled. She was surprised that it had taken Nikki so long to come to this conclusion. “I see. Well, those were just the circumstances that arranged themselves, dear.”

      “That you took advantage of,” Nikki said, knowing the way her mother operated.

      Maizie tried to understand what her daughter was getting at. “You’re not telling me that, after all these years of marital bliss, you’re going to get upset with me for meddling in your life, are you?”

      Untangling her fingers, Nikki gripped the chair’s armrests to keep her hands apart. “No, I’m not.”

      “Well, I’m glad we cleared that up.” Maizie smiled at her. “Anything else?”

      Nikki still hadn’t gotten to the reason she was here. “Yes, um...”

      “Go ahead, dear,” Maizie urged patiently.

      “I need you to meddle again, Mom.”

      “You’re looking for another husband?” Maizie asked wryly.

      Nikki’s eyes widened. For a moment, she didn’t realize that her mother was kidding. “No!”

      “Good, because I really do like Lucas.” Still smiling, Maizie became serious. “Talk to me, Nikki,” she encouraged. “It never used to be this hard for us to talk. What’s on your mind?”

      Nikki decided to choose a roundabout approach instead of being direct. “Do you remember my friend Michelle McKenna?”

      “Mikki?