"I don't understand that," Dahlia said. "Don't you look at the toothpaste tube before you put it on your toothbrush?"
"You do when you're at my house," CJ said from behind the bar.
"Your wife know that?" Mikey asked.
He grinned. "Nah, I'll let her figure that out on her own when the time's right."
Lindsey's gaze was stuck on something across the room. Will followed it, and discovered she was watching a preppy guy and a bookish-looking girl. The dude was trying hard to get the lady's attention. And by the soft smile on Lindsey's face, and by the shivers on Will's neck, he was betting the dude had a good chance. "Playing matchmaker?" he murmured to her.
She started. "Just watching."
"Good match?"
She frowned briefly, then turned to him with mixed messages shooting out her pores. "They're not bad." She shrugged, but it wasn't a casual shrug. It was a stepping-out-of-the-comfort-zone shrug.
Will watched the lady shake her head at the guy, then slide off her stool and gather her coat.
Lindsey didn't move.
Will nudged her. "You should say something."
She slid a glance at him. "I don't know them."
"But they're a good match."
"No, they're not bad. There's a difference."
Mikey and Dahlia were sitting there, happy as lovebugs in spring. And Lindsey was the only one who saw that coming. Will nodded toward them. "Pretty sure you're better at this good match stuff than you give yourself credit for."
"Nice try. I don't know them, but I'm well-known around here. They'll think I'm trolling for clients."
"Or she might think twice about leaving."
"If it's meant to be, they'll find each other again." She turned her attention to her wine.
"Hey, Billy, tell Dahlia she needs to come see the show at Gellings," Mikey said.
Will absently nodded at Dahlia, even though he was tracking the other girl's path toward the door. "You should come. Be a good time."
"We still got VIP tickets?" Mikey asked.
"Think so. Call Cassidy."
Will could stop the girl. But she hadn't made any sign she recognized him, which put him in a worse spot than it put Lindsey. Because a guy setting up another guy-especially one he didn't know-was about the same as a divorce lawyer playing matchmaker. Awkward, unexpected, and more than a little uncomfortable.
He could see Lindsey's problem here.
"I can't take time away from The Milked Duck," Dahlia said.
"Sweet pea, time off's necessary for your creativity," Mikey declared. "Can't keep making perfect ice cream without new inspirations. Ain't that right, Billy?"
Will spun on his stool. He was fixin' to stop the girl walking out, because somebody had to.
His reputation could take the hit. If it helped show Lindsey that she needed confidence in the good as well as the bad of what she saw, then it was what he'd do.
But the door swung open, and a mess of chaos walked in the door.
Kimmie balanced two boxes in her mittened hands. Her gait was clipped and dread dragged her lips into a frown that set Will's shoulders to hunching.
"Sorry we're late," she said. "Mom had to mash someone's potatoes, and then the cupcakes fell over in the car."
The girl Lindsey had been watching slipped out the door. Kimmie slid the boxes between Will and Mikey, and she popped the lid open on the top one. "Sorry about your face," she said to Mikey.
Dahlia squealed and clapped her hands. Mikey's jaw came unhinged. And Lindsey laughed the sweetest peal of laughter Will had ever heard.
A dozen cupcakes were in the box, all decorated with a remarkable likeness of Mikey and his bald head. Except for the smushed-up part on some of them.
"Darlin', those are perfect." Will pulled out his phone to snap a picture. He let go of his own plans of matchmaking, saying a prayer Lindsey was right and her good match would make it work for themselves. "Mikey's momma's gonna be right proud."
"I had a dream you had a psychic mongoose who could control the weather, but then it started raining turtle shells, and the ninjas knew if they could get the mongoose to eat bacon, it would snow fairy dust instead."
"Kimmie." Lindsey smiled. "Will's a friend."
She emphasized the Will and the friend part, and he had a moment of thinking she was still doing him the bigger favors in their relationship. Wasn't often he got to be him out in public.
Kimmie swiped at a curly blonde flyaway and shoved it behind her ear. "He's still smokin' hot, and I'm not convinced my mother hasn't made a voodoo Lindsey cake to destroy your chances so she can set me up instead."
Lindsey squeezed Will's thigh with her free hand, which he took to mean don't treat her like a weirdo. "He is hot," Lindsey agreed, "and he's also a friend, and we'll take care of your mother."
Kimmie glanced around the room, her gaze lingering on a table of men who played baseball for the Bliss Bachelors, the local minor league team. "Actually," she started.
"Aw, shit," CJ said.
Kimmie winced so hard Will thought even her hot pink shirt got in on the wincing.
Marilyn marched through the door, Lindsey's dad on her heels.
"Yeah," Kimmie said quickly. "Sorry. I tried to text you, but she had her cell-signal blocker on."
"She has one of those?" CJ said.
"She channels it naturally when she's displeased."
Kimmie shot another look at the table of men.
"They're all terrible matches for you," Lindsey said.
Kimmie blew out a breath and flashed a pained smile. "Thanks."
Marilyn descended on them. "Billy. So lovely to see you again." She did a fancy-lady air-kiss to his cheeks, then grimaced at Mikey. "And … you too. Lindsey, Dahlia. You're entertaining our guests?"
"Best hospitality I ever had," Mikey said.
"That's because you're getting laid again," Dahlia said. "But I'm warning you, it better not get all same-old, same-old, now that you're serious about me."
Marilyn made a strangled noise. Will choked on his own spit. Lindsey's shoulders shook with soft laughter. "I like her." She raised her glass to Mikey. "Well done."
Mikey stood and grabbed Dahlia by the hand. "I'll show you same old, woman."
"Not in my bathroom," CJ said. "Take it out back."
"Screw out back. I'm renting us an airplane. You're about to join the Mile High Club, sweet pea."
"I don't know if you should aim so high to start," Dahlia said. "You can only go down from there." But she still finger-waved to the group. "Kimmie, I'll call you later. Lindsey, I'll make him say five nice things about you before I put out." She grabbed the top box. "Can we take these cupcakes? Thanks so much!" And the two of them danced out the door.
"This is why I never enter this establishment," Marilyn said.
"Oh, I don't think that's the only reason," Lindsey replied.
Her dad slid a behave look in her direction, but Will grinned.
That was his girl. Cheeky and spunky and bright.
"Whiskey, Arthur?" CJ said.
The older man shuddered like he'd never met a whiskey he liked. "A coke. And I'm getting Noah a drum set for his birthday."
"Go great with the three sets my sisters already sent him."
"Pretty sure we're trumped for life, Dad." Lindsey patted the stool on her other side. "Might want to rethink that whiskey."
"No whiskey," Arthur reiterated.
"You sure?" CJ said. "Marilyn's buying."
"She's not allowed inside unless she buys a round," Lindsey murmured to Will. "I made her sign a contract."
Will got the feeling there was more to that story, but he didn't ask. Instead, he smooched her cheek, right in front of her father and the crazy cake lady and everyone in the bar. "A woman of many talents. I like it."
"Cupcakes, Billy?" Marilyn said. "Lindsey tells us you like peach cobbler, so Kimberly created these for you."
"I had a dream that coconut dinosaurs could play harmonicas made of fire icicles," Kimmie said.
Will looked between mother and daughter.
"No, she's not adopted," Lindsey said.
"You get used to it, man," CJ said to Will. "Life in Bliss." He turned and rang a bell. "Round on the QG," he called.
A halfhearted cheer went up in the joint, most of it from a guy deep in his cups at the far end of the bar. Three tables cleared out, their occupants dropping cash on their tables and darting for the door. CJ muttered something and left to take care of the baseball players and the few others who stayed.
If Marilyn noticed, she didn't give any indication. She simply smiled brighter-and scarier-at Will. "Did Lindsey mention she'll be judging the Battle of the Boyfriends alongside you?"
"Marilyn … " Arthur said.
"Think she mentioned she's washing her hair that night," Will said.