Miss. Matchmaker |✓

Chapter 20

I close my eyes and lower my head just as Dustin and Mabel had done, "Thank you, God for this food. For rest and home. And all things good. For wind and rain and sun above. But most of all for those we love. In Jesus name, Amen." Dustin finished the prayer and I can't keep the smile from crawling onto my face. Growing up our parents were never big on religion, we were taught to believe but hardly did we ever practice, this was a nice change.

"Amen." Mabel and I say in unison followed by Harper who hardly even mumbles it as she's already reached for the bread and butter. "That was lovely, thank you." I tell him and he nods his head in a, 'just doing my job' kind of way. Mabel fills her bowl with salad and douses it in the vinaigrette; she doesn't move to touch anything else.

"There's plenty of food here, Mabel." She doesn't even glance in my direction.

"I'm not hungry, I had a big lunch."

"Those school lunches are hardly enough to fill an ant's stomach."

"Well then I must be an ant."

"Mabel!" Dustin is gripping his fork with a painful grip and eyeing Mabel like a parent reprimanding his child for eating chocolate before noon. She huffs out a breath and returns to her salad. The sudden outbursts Mabel has towards me makes me uncomfortable and my mind automatically begins racing with possible reasons. I begin to rub Dustin's thigh in a reassuring manner before looking over to Harper who gazes downward as she twirls her fork back and forth in the pasta.

"So Dustin... What is it you do for a living?" Harper begins to converse with him to clear the air.

"I work in construction, and do little Mr. Fix-it jobs here and there." He answers before scooping a mouthful of spaghetti into his mouth, the sauces leaving a mark on his lips. His tongue darts out, cleaning up the residue and I bite down on my bottom lip, hard.

"How old are you exactly." Harper narrows her eyes at him, with his looks he could easily pass as a man in his late 30's. His stubble cheeks are left-overs from the beard he's shaven hardly a day ago, and his hair now the color of cinnamon roasted almonds due to the heat of the sun pounding on it day in and day out.

"I'm 26, soon to be 27 come May." He finishes off his plate and looks over to me like a child waiting to be praised for eating all his vegetables.

"Does it bother you that Rae is so young, I mean, 24 that's an awful big age gap." I scrunch my eyebrows together and Dustin gives Harper a funny look.

"That's not really all that awful." His twang coming through stronger with each word said. I run my bread through the remaining sauce on my plate before I notice Dustin staring at me. "That's a new technique." His comment causes me to laugh loudly.

"It's not all that original." I stand from my seat and begin to collect the plates to which Harper begins to help me. Mabel has had her head down this entire time, typing vigorously on her phone. We place the plates in the sink of the kitchen before returning to the dining area to remove more dishes.

"Need help?" Dustin offers to which I quickly shake my head.

"You're the guest, don't be silly." I reply removing the last of the dishes with the help of Harper.

"What's up with his sister?" Harper whispers to me as we enter the kitchen once more and I begin wrapping up the containers with plastic wrap so I can place them in the fridge for leftovers the next day. I shrug my shoulders, I can't manage an answer because quite frankly, I don't know.

Harper moves her lips to the side and puckers them out before releasing them, "I'm gonna do more investigating." She turns on her heel and enters the dining room. "Hey Dustin, what accent is that exactly?" I hear her voice from the kitchen and can't help the eye roll that's followed by a tight smile.

Turning to my refrigerator I take out the boxed-cake I had prepared earlier that evening, proud of the looks as I had sprinkled brown sugar and mini chocolate chips across the vanilla icing. Placing it on the table, "I'm gonna see if she needs help." I hear a voice say which is then followed by footsteps approaching. Mabel is suddenly in front of me with her foot tapping against the floor, anxiously.

"It's all your fault." Before I manage a greeting, she's already began talking. "If you hadn't paired me with that," she stops, and begins sputtering as she can't manage to find the correct word. "That, player! I wouldn't be feeling this right now." My mouth is open but no words are coming out.

"Mabel, I'm not sure what you mean." She doesn't explain, only shoves her phone into my eyesight and I'm stuck looking at a picture of Colton with his arm wrapped around another girl's shoulder. I immediately recognize the girl as Jeanne, a girl I had paired up with Abbie before. I feel my palms begin to sweat, they're looking off in the same direction and displaying wide grins, the caption reads 'Young Love' and I take note that it's been posted by Colton's brother, Carson.

"Have you spoken to Colton about this?' I look to Mabel and she slowly brings her phone down before gazing off to the side, her hair following in suit like a shadow.

"A pictures worth a thousand words." She countered before walking out of the kitchen and leaving me feeling like one of the worst teachers. I straighten up my back before lifting up the cake and I can't decide if it's this sudden weight on my chest or the cake that's weighing me down.