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MATTHEW
Matthew closed the door to the trailer and flipped on the light. He’d walked all the way back to the construction site where he’d left his truck and then driven back to the R.V. park where he’d parked for the last few months while working on the gazebos for the main park.
They were close to finishing up and he could head back to Missoula where his home and headquarters were. Sarge had given him a knowing look before he’d left for the trailer, but Matthew had ignored him. He finally had a mission to look forward to.
He had to find the owner of the drive before they left for Missoula. That gave him a deadline and a task.
A flush covered his skin and he took a shaky breath. Unexplainably, Matthew felt like everything rested on what he discovered, as if the secrets on that drive could save him from the terror of his dreams and the pain of the losses he’d endured.
He wasn’t dumb. He knew nothing could, but hope... ah, hope, was enough to drive out even the worst of nightmares.
And this drive was giving him hope.
Claiming a seat at the dining table that also doubled as a bed or an office, Matthew pulled out the laptop he carried with him for work. While the computer booted up, he used the restroom, washed his hands, and grabbed a protein bar to snack on.
He rubbed the smooth lines of the drive in his hand while waiting for the laptop to be ready to accept a new USB. Plugging it in an available port, he grinned when the folder popped up. It was a good sign that it worked.
Organized even further with easy to understand labels, Matthew started clicking around. The ease of use was remarkable. He wished his offices in town were half as organized. There was no doubt where things were without there being too much labeling.
A folder labeled Pictures was one he had to wait to do. He didn’t know if he wanted to know what she looked like. What if she was a ninety-year-old woman or a six-year-old girl? He didn’t to be labeled as a creeper. Wait, why did her age matter? All that mattered was getting her the drive back. Her age shouldn’t play a role in that.
He just needed to figure out who she was. That was the most important thing. Then he could search for her and get her back her drive. Matthew ignored the curiosity rushing through him that had been growing since he’d found the drive.
Deep inside he couldn’t help wondering who had saved him.
Clicking on Poetry, he found multiple documents filled with poems.
Alone
I’m alone.
I cry alone.
I plan alone.
I’ll die alone.
I am one.
Just basic poetry that seemed to understand exactly what Matthew was thinking. He didn’t have any one to talk to about the way he was feeling. He was lonelier than the essays claimed her to be.
He clicked on the Pictures folder after he couldn’t fight it any longer. The woman who was in them consistently was a brunette with green eyes. She had to be a consummate actor as she smiled for the camera in repeatedly different circumstances. Her smile was wide and bright and filled with opportunity. But the poetry gave a clue to who she was underneath the shell of optimism.
Who was she and what was she looking for?
In the main folder under the collection of folders, a lone spreadsheet that declared itself the keeper of matchmaking site information brought a grin to Matthew’s lips.
If she was on matchmaking sites, then she was single. A girl like that shouldn’t be out on the market for long. She’d be snapped up by the wrong guy in no time.
Matthew had to save her from the wrong guy. Falling for her would be the best thing for both of them.
The last site on the list was highlighted with bright green. Matthew clicked it and went to a ClickandWed.com site that declared dating was one thing, but showing commitment from the get-go was the only way to show you were serious.
Serious. Could he get matched to her without cheating on the test? It looked like her answers were all on the spreadsheet. Each step had been filled out. Her attention to detail was extraordinary. He could use her skills at the office with managing the multiple sites and multiple tasks that Lance had mostly been in charge of.
If he took the chance and didn’t do well with the answers, didn’t match her, he could always go again and check her answers to make sure they were matched. He nodded. Yeah, at that point, being matched with her was more important than anything else.
He was in it for real.
Until he’d realized that being matched to her was an option, he hadn’t realized just how serious he’d become about needing her in his life. One way or the other, he had to meet her. If they were matched, it was like one more message from the universe that they were meant to be together.
Hands shaking, he rubbed his fingers up and down the tops of his thighs. Taking a deep breath, Matthew answered each question like it was the most important one he’d ever been asked.
What started out as being a standard search job to find the owner of a drive, became wrapped up in defining who he was as a person, a man, and possible groom and husband. The questions were straightforward and not too prying, although the honeymoon gave him pause. He was a warm-blooded man – of course, he wanted the honeymoon right away. He just didn’t want to put that kind of pressure on anyone.
Finally, he hovered over clicking submit, already doubting the answers he’d given. He should have checked on some of them, but he wanted to know just how much they actually would fit together. He needed to know that there really was a person out there for him. He felt like he was connected to the woman in the photos and the writer of the poetry.
What if they weren’t matched? He could use Lance’s email, if this wasn’t right. How would Lance know? Lance wouldn’t care. Matthew tapped the table and lifted his hand to rest his chin in his palm. When would he find out who he was matched to or even if he’d been matched? He’d paid the two grand without blinking. Maybe his card hadn’t gone through, although, there was so much extra money in that account, there was no reason it wouldn’t have.
A dialogue box popped up with a chime, declaring “You’ve been matched!”
His heart triple beat. Matthew stared at the computer. Matched. Was it with the girl he’d learned was named Kristie? Was she the one he’d been matched to? If she wasn’t, then what? He’d been matched... if Kristie wasn’t the one, then maybe this other person was. If nothing else, the drive had given him something to hope for, something to try for. The drive had saved him and when he’d thought he’d be alone for the rest of his life, the option to try a matchmaking site had popped up.
Matthew’s gratitude overwhelmed him. In that space of time where he didn’t know for sure yet who he was matched to, he was just grateful for the continued hope.
If Kristie was the one, then they really were meant for each other and he could allow his heart to latch even more onto the hope her drive and information had given him. He could release his worry about being alone and he could save someone else from the aching pit of loneliness he suffered from.
The cost wasn’t a problem at all. Two grand to marry the woman who could pull him out of his issues and give him someone to take care of? That was exactly what he needed.
Taking care of someone else would give him a reason to go on. He clicked on the match and accepted the terms.
The profile picture of his match popped up and he released the breath he’d been holding on a whoosh. The image was one he’d already stared at for a while. Her brunette hair and green eyes said something vastly different from the curve in her lips and the tilt to her head.
Kristie Gayle. She was the one he could count on. They’d been matched. They were meant to be together. He hadn’t even needed to check her answers because they were already compatible.
Now he just had to hope she’d accept the match. As soon as he met her, he could give her the drive.
Wait, he couldn’t give her the drive now. If he did, she’d think he cheated on the matching questionnaire. It would be too much of a coincidence.
Matthew pushed the laptop forward and folded his arms to rest his head on the table. What had he done? He could have found out where she worked or something and contrived a way to meet her. He could have even found her and just given her the drive, said he’d had to look on it to make sure he could find the owner and then realized he had to meet her. That would have been easy. There’d be no guarantee that they’d end up together, but at least he could give her the drive.
Now, if she accepted the match, they’d be married. That was a huge step to take. How was he going to get her the drive without her knowing he’d had the idea to even go on the site because of her drive?
Oh, what a fine mess he’d gotten himself into. If she accepted the match, then he would have a wife out of it, but he didn’t know when an appropriate time would be to give her the drive back.
How did he fulfill that mission without compromising the newest one? Because, yeah, marrying Kristie had become his sole reason for going on. He couldn’t see any other solution to his problems.
If he had her in his life, maybe things would be easier. Maybe the demons would disappear. He could solve both of their lonely issues.
He closed his eyes and prayed hard that she would accept the match. What would he do, if she didn’t?