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She winked at her yoga-fabulous friend. “One day, Sebastian will find out that the hot dog torpedoes he and the kids think are toys are actually giant vibrators created by his beloved Mibby, who just happens to sit atop a spiritual, sexual pleasure empire.”
“Spiritual, sexual pleasure empire?” Libbs repeated.
“Fine,” she quipped. “Call it a dildo factory.”
“My vote is for spiritual, sexual pleasure empire,” Raz said and wrapped his arm around his raven-haired fiancée.
“We get it, H,” Penny remarked. “We all have our quirks.”
“Indeed, you do,” came a woman’s voice with a rich Eastern European accent.
“Madelyn, it’s so good to see you,” Charlotte said, embracing the woman as the others welcomed the nanny-match maven.
“Your message said that you needed to speak with us,” Rowen remarked as the matchmaker smoothed her trademark red scarf, and took a seat on the empty bench.
“And that you were bringing someone along,” Penny added.
Madelyn gestured to a gray SUV parked behind Charlotte and Mitch’s candy apple red Lamborghini Urus. “Yes, she’s in the car finishing a call with one of her daughters. She’ll be with us shortly.” The woman took in each couple, then glanced at the children on the playground. “I must say, I do excellent work. It will be hard saying goodbye to Denver.”
“You’re leaving?” Landon asked.
“My work here is done, and my services are required elsewhere. It’s part of the matchmaker’s life.” Madelyn turned her attention to the kids gliding through the air as they whooped and laughed on the swings. “I wanted to see you before I left. I wondered if you had any questions for me.”
That would be a yes!
She shared a glance with Landon, then looked at each of her girls. She could tell they were thinking the same thing.
“The scarf,” the four couples blurted in unison.
“Ah, the scarf. This piece of my nanny matchmaker attire has garnered interest.”
“When you lent it to me a few months ago, I definitely picked up a powerful energy coming from it,” Libby offered.
“It’s magical, right? You found it in some temple on a mountain tucked away in the Himalayas?” Rowen posited.
“Babe, that’s a great idea for a video game,” Penny chimed as Madelyn laughed.
“It’s an Hermès scarf. I believe it was purchased in Crystal Hills a little more than twenty years ago.” She touched the silky material reverently. “What makes it uniquely enchanting is that it connects the four of you young women to me,” Madelyn continued.
“Us?” Charlotte questioned.
“Yes,” the matchmaker answered, then turned to Libby. “I’m sure you can enlighten everyone about the color red.”
Libby leaned forward. “Red holds powerful energy. It demands action. It’s the color of passion, strength, and courage.”
“Correct,” the matchmaker agreed. “This scarf was a gift—and gifts carry their own magic. It arrived with a letter and a photograph during a difficult time in my life two decades ago.”
“What happened?” Landon asked.
“I was living on the East Coast and was in a terrible car crash. My injuries were quite serious. There was damage to my spine, and I suffered a broken collarbone.” Madelyn removed the red scarf. She gently pulled at the collar of her blouse, revealing a jagged silvery-white line. She turned her head and showed them a scar on the back of her neck. It started just below her hairline and continued down. “The doctors weren’t sure if I’d be able to walk again. Every time I looked in the mirror, I grew angry and impatient. One day, a package arrived from my niece in Denver. It contained this scarf, a letter, and a photograph.”
“I still don’t understand how Harper, Libby, Charlotte, and I could be connected to a red scarf you received twenty years ago from your niece. We were young girls back then—only five or six years old at the time,” Penny remarked.
“The letter contained a story about a young girl who wrote a song to cheer me up and her three friends. It seems this foursome was quite precocious and endlessly entertaining. Their teacher was quite fond of them.”
It all made sense now.
“You’re Miss Miliken’s aunt? Is she still in Colorado?”
