Page 21 of The Matchmaker Club

So that’s the kind of man he was. Someone who wanted to sweep us under the rug to protect his family’s image.

“Is that why you apologized last night and came over to fix Blush this morning? Get on our good side, so we don’t decide to embarrass your family?”

“That was my original intention when I came to this town, yes.”

I curled my fingers into my palms. “Because God forbid aReedwoman would be associated with the high and mightyFreemans.” I stood on the tips of my toes, though failing to match his height. “Well, let me tell you something,Mr. Freeman, my great-grandmother wasn’t a stripper, she was a burlesque dancer and one of the most incredible human beings your great-grandfather ever had the privilege to know.” And with that, I took off down the path, crushing pebbles under the soles of my sandals with every stomp.

* * *

I was still on mixtape #9 side B. Today was supposed to be our meeting withDaddyFreeman, Lucas, and Jack. I wanted nothing to do with it.

“Taylor, get your behind down here,” my grandmother yelled from the stairs.

I got up and closed the door in response.

In less than a minute, my door swung open. My grandmother stood there with a hand on her hip. “You don’t get to hide from this.”

“I don’t want to see Lucas.”

“This isn’t about you and Lucas. This is aboutus.”

“You don’t need me there to accept their bullshit deal.”

She sighed and sat down on my bed. “Is that what this is about?”

I turned down the music of my mother’s old dual cassette player. “The way he talked…like Great-Grandma was some cheap stripper to be ashamed of.” I turned away. “I can’t hear that again.”

“Do you believe that’s who she was?”

“Of course I don’t.”

My grandmother shrugged. “Then that’s all that matters. They don’t know my mother the way we do.” She slipped her hand in mine. “The Reed women never let someone else’s opinions divide us. If we must leave our home, we do it together, not apart.”

My grandmother always had a way with words. She knew exactly what to say and the right moment to say it. It was no wonder she was the best Matchmaker in our club.

“I’ll go to the meeting,” I said. “But if they put Marlena down like that, I’m speaking up.”

“I would expect nothing less from you.” She held her arms out to me, and I accepted. She tucked my hair behind my ear and swiped the tip of my nose. “Sometimes, I don’t think you realize how special you truly are.”

“No more than any other Reed who has lived in this house.”

Lainey knocked on my opened door. “They’re here.”

I stopped the tape as the song “You’re So Vain” started. Fitting for a Freeman’s arrival.

We made our way downstairs. My grandmother and I headed straight for the parlor, while my aunt stayed in the foyer.

“We’ll sit on the sofa together,” Grandma said. “The Freemans can sit in the side chairs, but we’ll need a seat for their lawyer.”

“I’ll grab a chair from the dining room.” By the time I got back with the chair in hand, they were walking in.

I didn’t look Lucas’s way once but acknowledged Jack, whose apologetic look told me this was about the last thing he wanted to be doing.

My grandmother directed the men as to where to sit. “Can I offer you something to drink?”

The father, William Freeman, answered first. “No, thank you. We don’t plan on staying long.” He was tall, even taller than Lucas, and just as intimidating. He had perfectly trimmed and styled salt-and-pepper hair. He wore black slacks and a tucked short-sleeved cream-colored oxford. His skin was just as pale as Lucas’s, but both looked as if they could tan any time they wanted.

“I’m sorry for your father’s passing,” my grandmother said.