Chapter 4

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"I can't see them; they're walking behind the trees." Allison turned to Jamie and said, "You and Ron need to hire a gardener or something. They are way too overgrown."

"Shut up and just tell me what you see," Jamie whispered as she hovered behind Allison trying to peek out the backdoor window. She was eager to see how her match-making skills were working.

"Okay, he's gesturing with his hands. Oh, God, I think he's talking about fishing." Allison groaned. "Wait a minute, she's actually laughing. She must really like him if she thinks talking about fly fishing is funny."

"Move aside, it's my turn." Jamie pushed her younger sister aside so she could press her face up to the window. "Okay, now they're sitting on the patio furniture. Hey, they're sitting right next to each other. How sweet is that?"

"Maybe you guys should give them some privacy," Martin commented as he leaned against the kitchen counter watching his cousin's nosiness bemusedly.

Both Jamie and Allison looked back and stuck their tongues out at him. He returned the gesture before laughing.

A few months ago, Jamie ran into Francie Newman at a church function. She was widowed around the same time as her dad, Roger, so she arranged for the two of them to get together for coffee. It seemed to have worked because Roger had been seeing quite a bit of her in the last few months. He even invited her to join the family for Thanksgiving at Jamie's house which, in and of itself, was quite a big deal. As much as Martin and his cousins missed Bonnie they knew that she would want Roger to be happy and not mourn for the rest of his life. They were pleased that he seemed to finally be moving on.

"Ava is out like a light," Ron, Jamie's husband, announced as he walked into the kitchen carrying a baby monitor. He took in the scene playing out in front of him before turning to Martin. "They're still at it?"

"Yup," Martin laughingly replied.

Jamie moved away from the door and walked back into the kitchen. Allison resumed her post.

"It's just so nice to see dad be cheerful again," Jamie said as she walked back to the kitchen island to finish storing the leftovers.

"Plus, you like taking credit for it," Ron replied.

"And there's that too," Jamie happily chimed.

"Maybe you could use some of those matchmaking skills on Marty here," Ron said as he moved to wrap his arms around Jamie from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder.

"She's not allowed because Aunt Katherine would kill her," Allison commented aloud.

"She's still ticked off at you about Samantha, huh?" Ron asked.

"You could say that. She stopped calling me Martin and now refers to me as 'idiot,'" Martin replied without humor.

"Well, she's got a point," Jamie said as she glanced over at Martin while spooning yams into a container.

"He is an idiot," Allison added.

"I can't believe that there isn't one single woman on my side about this. I would have thought that you would appreciate my reasons but instead you guys are constantly attacking me," Martin responded defensively. There were only so many times a man could take being called an idiot.

"We don't think you are an idiot for your reasons just for your method. Face it, Martin. You handled the entire situation terribly." Jamie put the lid on the container and burped it. "I only met Sam as your partner but I saw how easy she was with Ava. She may say she doesn't want kids but there is something maternal in her."

Martin looked at Jamie and considered what she said. He recalled how tender Sam was with him as he broke down. She didn't make him feel embarrassed about grieving and crying in front of her. It was one of the reasons he was so attracted to her. Suddenly he lamented that it never occurred to him to talk to one of the many women in his life before doing something as rash as breaking it off with Sam.

He gave Jamie a slight tilt of his head indicating he understood what she was telling him and couldn't help but appreciate how much she was like her mother. Wordlessly he walked to the counter and got a big piece of pumpkin pie and stuffed it into his mouth. At times like this he needed some comfort food. He was mid-chew when Allison jumped back and ran into the kitchen in a tizzy.

"What is it?" Jamie asked worriedly.

"Dad is kissing Francie Newman!"

The four of them went wide-eyed and looked around at each other before running to the back door laughing so they could see for themselves.