Perfect Match

Amber Aitken

The Cupid Company

Perfect Match

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Chapter 1 - finders, losers

Chapter 2 - the trouble with love

Chapter 3 - lessons in love

Chapter 4 - love in Many languages

Chapter 5 - On the Case

Chapter 6 - Picture Perfect

Chapter 7 - Chasing the dream

Chapter 8 - team talk

Chapter 9 - On target

Chapter 10 - reverse Psychology

Chapter 11 - three’s Company

Chapter 12 - the Prize

Chapter 13 - lost and found

Chapter 14 - Crazy in love

Chapter 15 - desperate times

Chapter 16 - Can-oe!

Chapter 17 - Puppy love

Chapter 18 - the best laid Plans

Chapter 19 - Summer’s Winter

Chapter 20 - SAM1

Chapter 21 - Hearty Party

Chapter 22 - Uh-Huh

Chapter 23 - lights, love

Chapter 24 - a Summer of love

Also by Amber Aitken

Copyright

About the Publisher

Chapter 1

finders, losers

The trees along the seashore were flattened at the front and looked like a line of tall, thin ladies with their hair blown back. It was a very windy day, which was quite unusual. Sunday Harbour was definitely more of a calm, balmy sort of seaside town, especially during the summer. But then it was nearing the end of August, so there really wasn’t very much of a summer left.

“I’ll never manage to brush these knots out,” grumbled Coral, whose right hand had disappeared in the mass of reddish-brown curls on her windswept head. Finally she gave up trying to batten down her hair. She extracted her hand and rolled her eyes back so that she could watch her crazy curls break-dancing in the wind.

“Mad, mad hair,” she grumbled some more.

Sensible Nicks had plaited her long blonde hair so that it hung, neat and tidy, down her back. She was calmly flipping through some drawings in a box on a bare wooden table with a sign that spelled: ALLY’S ARTWORKS.

Every six weeks – no matter what the weather – the colourful tables of the seaside market made an appearance on the stretch of grass near the foreshore. These would be carried from the boots of nearby parked cars and unfolded in tidy, even rows. From these tables the people of Sunday Harbour (as well as some visitors from the next seaside town along) sold things like second-hand books, potted plants, freshly baked breads and pastries, clothes, arts and crafts, homemade jams and pickles, pottery, sweets and bric-abrac. Everyone loved the seaside market; you would need a pretty good reason to stay away.

Suddenly Coral spied a table with a sign saying GIFTS BY APHRODITE and quickly made her way over. She wasn’t in the market for a gift, but Aphrodite was the Greek goddess of love and there was not a lot that Coral loved more than love itself. It was the central theme in her life. Love was the reason for almost everything, including the Cupid Company. It had inspired Coral and Nicks to become matchmakers.

She surveyed the table with her hands on her hips, searching for a heart-shaped this or a heart-decorated that, but the table was mostly filled with painted clay dragons bejewelled with colourful bits of glued-on glass.

“Hello, I’m Aphrodite. Can I help you?” said the woman on the other side of the table.

Coral stared at the woman, who in turn stared up at Coral. And then Coral shrugged at the woman called Aphrodite who was definitely not the Greek goddess of love and sold dragons instead of hearts. Coral was just about to move on when Nicks suddenly appeared and squeezed up close beside her.

“I have a present for you, take a look,” she said in a conspiratorial whisper, holding up a clenched fist to her friend.

Coral loved surprises and did not need to be told twice. Prising Nicks’s fingers apart, she found her present – a hair band. But not just any hair band – one with a candy-pink, heart-shaped bobble attached. Coral grinned and in a matter of moments had her crazy curls tied up and bound with a heart. She laid an arm across Nicks’s shoulders.

“You know, you really are the best friend a girl could have.”

Nicks shrugged and nodded.

“Ooooh, look over there.” Coral pointed to a table stacked with elaborate wigs on polystyrene heads. There were also trays of costume jewellery, old-fashioned leather shoes with big buckles and bows, colourful masks, pots of face paint, a few feather boas and a large silver shield. Beside the table stood a clothes rail that was heavy with hanging bits of bright, decorative material. A folded sign on the table explained it all: SUNDAY HARBOUR THEATRE COMPANY. The items were obviously from their prop cupboard and being sold to raise funds on their behalf.

Coral grabbed Nicks’s cardigan and towed her over to the table. There was a red satin half-mask with feathers, nestled amongst the costume jewellery. She quickly scooped it up and pressed it to her eyes.

“How do I look?”

“Like you’ve got feathers growing out of your ears,” replied Nicks.

Suddenly, a man with a curly moustache appeared from behind the clothes rail. “Oh, that is fabulous on you, girl!” He applauded Coral, who grinned and fluttered her eyelashes behind the mask.

Nicks made a ‘mmm’ sound and wandered over to the rail. The hanging clothes were colourful and detailed with delicate embroid ery, rose ribbons, lace, fringing and sensational sequins – if you were into that sort of thing. And Coral clearly was. She quickly abandoned the mask and pounced on a vintage-style waistcoat in faded denim with silver piping. It had pockets and a neat row of pressed metal buttons featuring some sort of coat of arms. Coral eyed it up carefully. This waistcoat is military meets high fashion, she thought. She put it on and posed, hoping the man with the curly moustache might notice her fabulousness once again. But this time the man was very busy seeing to some other girl who had a white ringlet wig on her head.

“Oh, that is fabulous on you, girl!” cried the man once again.

Coral’s eyes narrowed, but she was not put off. “I think I’ll definitely take the waistcoat,” she said to Nicks, choosing to ignore her friend’s frown. “Waistcoats are fashion’s key item for layering,” she explained (just as she’d read in one of her mum’s magazines).

Nicks smoothed her forehead and sighed. Experience had taught her that there was no point in arguing with her single-minded friend. “Well, give the man his money, Coral. The game of beach volleyball is starting up and I want to cheer on the Sunday Harbour Spikers. They just have to beat the Biscuit Bay Bombers!”

Of course Nicks was right. Everyone in Sunday Harbour supported their local volleyball team, and today was the semi-finals. The team that won today’s game would go on to play the mighty Dune High Decoys in a few weeks’ time. This tournament final was the main attraction at the Farewell to Summer Beach Party, but the Sunday Harbour Spikers had to get through to the finals first. They needed all the sideline support they could get. So Coral handed her money over to the man with the moustache. He smiled as he admired her new waistcoat. “Oh, that is fabulous on you, girl!”

Coral smiled politely and turned on her heel. The game had already started but the girls managed to squeeze into a small gap in the crowd. They had a good view of the game too. The Spikers were down by three points.

“C’mon, Spikers!” hollered Coral enthus iastically. A few more minutes passed and the Spikers managed to make up a few points, but the players still appeared to be out of sync with each other. And there was none of the usual encouraging back-slapping and high-fiving between the team members. The boys in particular appeared very straight-mouthed and stern, while the only two girls on the team seemed to hide behind nervous smiles.

The players were older than Coral and Nicks, but the girls still knew each one of them by name. Everyone at school knew the Spikers – they really were popular. Just at that moment the captain – a boy called Rory – jumped in the air and served the ball over the net. One of the Biscuit Bay Bombers jumped even higher and volleyed the ball right back at Rory. But Rory wasn’t quite ready and the ball landed with a smack on his forehead and he fell to the ground.

“Augh, Rory!” cried his teammate – a boy called Jasper. “You’re not meant to catch it with your head!”

Rory looked furious and embarrassed at the same time.

A Bomber quickly served and this time two Spikers both jumped for it. They collided midair, missed the ball entirely and scowled at each other.

“What is going on?” whispered Nicks in Coral’s ear. “The Spikers are famous for their teamwork!”

But there was no time for Coral to reply. A Bomber served the ball over the net and a Spiker called Jack made a dive for it. But instead of hitting it back over the net, he hit the ball out.

“That was an easy shot!” cried his teammate, Duncan.

“Then why didn’t you make it?” replied Jack, furiously dusting beach sand from his bottom.

Suddenly almost every Spiker seemed to have something angry to say, and loudly too. Coral and Nicks stared at the teammates who had been best friends not too long ago but now only seemed to growl at each other. Friendship was not something to be taken lightly, and nobody knew this better than Coral and Nicks. Best mates (and love of course) made the world turn. So where exactly had it all gone wrong?

Chapter 2

the trouble with love

There may have been a small miracle involved, but somehow the Spikers managed to pull themselves together and beat the Biscuit Bay Bombers by one teensy point. There should have been cheers, hoots and hugs from the winning team, but they were strangely subdued. The two female players – Jemima and Emily – seemed happy enough, giving each other and the rest of the team congratulatory pats on the back, but the lads skulked around, pretending to search for their sports bags instead.

Coral stared and tugged her earlobe thoughtfully. What was going on? It was very frustrating. Not only was she nosy, she also didn’t like to see their favourite volleyball team so down in the dumps. Just what had come between them?

“I don’t like this one bit,” she murmured.

“Me neither,” replied Nicks. “If this continues the Spikers don’t stand a chance of beating the Dune High Decoys in a few weeks’ time. Sunday Harbour will lose the tournament final for sure.”

The girls’ shoulders slumped. The volleyball trophy had been in Sunday Harbour’s trophy display cabinet for three years running. At this point it looked unlikely that it would make a fourth year. This was bad news. Not only was beach volleyball the town’s favourite sport, but it was also the only sport they were pretty good at. The volleyball trophy had had a rather lonely time in the trophy cabinet, but the thought of the cabinet sitting entirely empty for all to see was almost too much to bear. It was even more unbearable for Nicks, who had begun assisting the editorial team on the local newspaper. She’d been helping with picture selection for the sporting section of the magazine, although it was less of a sporting section and more of a volleyball section. Nicks felt like she was practically one of the Spikers.

“Jemima and Emily might have the answer!” she announced determinedly. Coral nodded her agreement and marched alongside her friend until they found the two female volleyball players plopped down on the beach sand, kneading their weary legs.

“Hi, Jem. Hi, Em,” they said in unison.

The older girls glanced up and squinted into the sun. “Oh, hi there,” they said. It was clear that they recognised the younger girls, but did not know their names.

“I’m Coral and this is my best friend, Nicks.”

Jem and Em nodded. And then Jem smiled. “Interesting waistcoat, Coral.”

Coral glanced down at her waistcoat and looked almost surprised (she’d forgotten all about her bargain find). “Yuh, thanks,” she replied quickly. “Jem and Em, is… um… everything all right with the Spikers?”

Jem and Em stared at the girls for a few moments and then shrugged and chewed on their lips unhappily.

“It’s just that… well, it’s obvious that something is up,” said Nicks.

“We’d really like to help if we can,” added Coral.

“We just cannot lose the volleyball final!” declared Nicks, who knew just as well as anyone that Sunday Harbour was a small but very proud seaside town.

Finally, Jem spoke up. “Yes, something is definitely up. And her name is Cecily.” The older girl seemed almost relieved to finally say the name out loud.

“Cecily the head cheerleader?” cried Coral and Nicks at once. She was only the prettiest and most popular girl at their school.

Em nodded in an I’m-afraid-so sort of way.

“But what has Cecily done to the Spikers?” asked Coral.

“What has she not done!” harrumphed Jem with fury in her eyes.

This didn’t really answer her question so Coral turned to Em hopefully.

“That Cecily,” muttered Em dismally, “has spent this entire summer holiday madly flirting with Rory, Duncan, Jack and Jasper, and now they aren’t even talking to each other any more.”

“Madly flirting?” murmured Coral and Nicks.

“Oh yes!” replied Jem with a nod. “On Friday she went to the cinema with Rory. And on Saturday she met Duncan at the Milkshake Shack.”

“The next day she was giggling with Jasper on a bench at the beach,” added Em with a frown. “And every Thursday afternoon she keeps Jack company while he works at his mum’s garden centre. The girl is diabolical. But the boys blame each other, not her. It’s so out of order.”

“They’re all so in love with her,” agreed Jem hopelessly. “They’ve always been competitive, but before it used to be for the team. Now they’re all intent on working against each other.”

Coral and Nicks listened to every word spoken by the two older girls before turning to face each other. It was obvious they were thinking exactly the same thing. Finally they turned back to Jem and Em.

“Cecily isn’t exactly a bad sort,” said Coral out loud.

Nicks also looked confused. “Yes, she’s always seemed quite careful with other people’s feelings before now.”

They both paused and stared up at the blue sky for a few moments. Coral was thinking about the time Cecily didn’t laugh at her for walking straight into a lamppost in front of (practically) the entire school. Nicks was remembering the day that Cecily personally thanked her for selling the most raffle tickets to raise money for the new school flag.

“That may be, but she’s still a troublesome flirt!” growled Jem.

“And a ferocious four-timer!” grumbled Em.

But they didn’t have time to say more because suddenly there came the sound of loud laughter near them. The day was getting on and cooling quickly and the beachfront was emptying rapidly, so it was not difficult to spot who was making the noise. Coral and Nicks turned to see Duncan and Cecily sitting on a picnic bench in the shadow of a very low tree. The laugh had belonged to him. Cecily was just as amused, but hers was more of a delicate giggle. The girls watched as she brought her sparkly nails to her mouth, her eyelashes fluttering like butterfly wings. She then swung her glossy, strawberry-blonde curls over one shoulder and lifted her chin so that the soft, pale skin of her neck flashed in the fading sunlight. There was no doubt about it – the girl was in full-throttle flirting mode.

But perhaps Jem and Em were wrong. Maybe Cecily really did love Duncan. Just Duncan.

It was like Jem had read Coral’s mind.

“Don’t be fooled,” she groaned. “She behaves like that with the rest of the team too.”

Coral’s shoulders slumped. She felt let down. She’d always liked Cecily. In fact, she had been working on being just like her one day. But as a dedicated champion of romance, she now realised that Cecily clearly had the wrong idea about love. Unless…

“Einstein moment!” she announced loudly. “Just leave it to us, we’ll sort this out.”

Chapter 3

lessons in love

“It’s fate!” declared an excitable Coral to Nicks as they walked double-time in the direction of Nicks’s house. It would be dark soon.

“Really…” murmured Nicks with a vague nod (because it was not always wise to encourage Coral).

“Definitely! We have been personally summoned by Aphrodite the goddess of love.”

“Personally, huh?” Nicks quickly sidestepped a boy on a skateboard without slowing down.

“Well, maybe not personally, but it was absolutely our destiny to witness Cecily’s behaviour for ourselves. It made me realise just how desperately the poor girl needs the services of the Cupid Company. She should most definitely become our next client.”

Nicks did not look convinced. “But we’re matchmakers, remember? Cecily doesn’t seem to have any problems finding a boyfriend, Coral.”

“Matchmakers!” replied Coral indignantly. “We are far more than just matchmakers. We are Cupid’s arrow. We are Aphrodite’s coworkers. We are love’s sat nav. And it’s all suddenly very clear to me. Only this time our mission is quite different. This time we have to help Cecily, er… love a little less.”

“Mmm. So instead of helping her find romance, you mean we help her to find less romance?” replied Nicks, looking confused.

“Exactly,” said Coral. “We have to point Cecily in the right direction and help her to find true love. Right now she is simply love-struck with four boys at once. It would be much better for the Spikers if she gave up on all of them altogether and found someone completely new.”

Nicks gave this some more thought. It would certainly be a different direction to the one they were used to. But there was the volleyball team to think about. By helping Cecily they would put the Spikers back on track and unite the team to victory.

“Coral – this time you have definitely experienced an Einstein moment!” declared Nicks finally. She then put her head down and starting thinking through ideas to jot down. This really would be a different sort of challenge. Just how would they get Cecily to focus her affections?

“Hello, Romeo!” Coral called out. They had arrived at Nicks’s house to find the caramel and white terrier pup waiting on the top step of the porch. The Westie dog, Miss Honey, was not far away. The two pups were still hopelessly in love.

Coral knelt down and fussed over her pet. She scratched his head, tickled his chin and gave him a squeeze. Truth be told, she’d missed him today. They used to go everywhere together, but now Romeo often hung back and canoodled with Miss Honey instead. Of course Coral was pleased he’d found love. After all, wasn’t that what life was really all about? Still, it had taken some getting used to, though it helped that Miss Honey belonged to Nicks’s mum’s boyfriend, Ben, so Coral always knew where Romeo was.

“Hi, Ben!” said Nicks just a little too loudly. She had a really wide grin on her face that looked completely forced. Coral recognised the signs. Nicks’s mum and Ben hadn’t been dating all that long and Nicks wasn’t sure about him. Coral liked him though. He was the manager at the aquarium and had all sorts of interesting things to say.

“So Ben, how is that blowfish getting on?” Coral asked now.

Ben chuckled and his kind eyes crinkled up at the corners. “Still shooting straight to the top of the tank every time it gets a fright!” he replied.

“Scaredy fish!” Coral and Ben both laughed together loudly. Nicks tried to join in but made more of an uneasy chug-chug sort of sound.

“Hello, girls.” Nicks’s mum stepped through the screen door of the house and on to the porch. Miss Honey sat up straight and wagged her tail instantly. Soft and round, she was a girly sort of girl dog who loved Ben very much but clearly enjoyed having another female around too. She especially loved the new pink bow in her fringe and the sparkly-studded collar around her neck.

Nicks’s mum stared at Coral’s shiny waistcoat for a moment and then smiled. “That’s a rather distinctive-looking waistcoat,” she commented.

Coral glanced down at her new fashion item and then turned back to Nicks’s mum with narrowed eyes. Was that a compliment? she wondered.

“I just mean that I haven’t seen one quite like it before,” added Nicks’s mum.

“That’s because it’s a theatre masterpiece – a work of art,” explained Coral.

“We bought it second-hand from the theatre company’s stall at the seaside market,” added Nicks matter-of-factly.

“This waistcoat has seen its share of the bright lights – it’s vintage,” added Coral whose face said ‘SECOND-HAND, PAH!’ ).

“It’s eye-catching and quite unusual,” said Ben with an interested nod.

“It certainly is,” agreed Coral. “And look, it even has a pocket.” She rubbed her fingers against its satin lining. This waistcoat was useful as well as eye-catching. “Ooh, hold on, this pocket isn’t empty,” she suddenly murmured.

“I hope you haven’t found a used tissue,” yelped Nicks with a wrinkled-up nose. Miss Honey wrinkled her nose up too, as if she understood everything.

“There’s more than one thing, there’s…” added Coral in a breathy voice, “a piece of paper and a coin.” She held both up in the air and then brought them close to her nose for inspection. The coin was copper with a star on one side and the words ONE PENNY pressed into the other. It didn’t look familiar. Next she unfolded the paper, square by square. “It’s got writing across it,” she whispered out loud.

“It’s probably a shopping list,” said Nicks, who was fed up with the waistcoat already and desperately wanted to get back to Cupid Company business. They had so much to do!

“It looks like a letter,” revealed Coral. She began reading:

My dear Sam,

This letter is a difficult one to write but the time has come for me to say goodbye to you and this lovely little seaside town. I am not getting any younger and there is still so much I need to discover about myself. And it is something I need to do alone. I will miss the company and closeness we have shared for the past six years but will always keep your love and those memories alive in my heart. How I shall miss old Mr Morris Minor! Do take care of yourself and perhaps we will meet again one day – in this life or the next. Be happy always.

Yours,

CBA

For a few moments nobody spoke. Even the pups remained stock still, their furry ears stirring slightly in the cool evening breeze.

“Poor Sam,” murmured Ben thoughtfully.

“What were the chances of you finding a letter like that?” commented Nicks’s mum. She was a schoolteacher and quite used to giving most things careful consideration.

Nicks set her jaw and rested her chin in her hand. She sighed. When it came to Coral, the chances of finding something out of the ordinary were usually rather good. Drama and her best friend went together like salt on a sea breeze. And of course Nicks knew exactly what was coming next.

“There’s only one thing for it,” declared Coral. “We must track poor heartbroken Sam down and help him – or her – find love again!”

Nicks groaned. She really had hoped to make the Spikers their priority. Sunday Harbour depended on it.

Chapter 4

love in Many languages

Coral Hut always looked its brightest and most beautiful first thing in the morning. The pale-gold early sunlight shone down on the beach like a light from heaven and the hut’s yellow, mint-green and pale pink painted stripes sparkled like sugar crystals in the glow.