“It would do you some good to get away from these rowdy boys of yours. Of course, with Cooper settled down and married now, he’s a whole new man,” Sherman said with a smile. “Not that he’s given any thanks for my help.”
“Our help,” Joseph said with a scowl.
“Of course, my friend,” Sherman said, grinning.
“No matter how it worked out, I’m just grateful it did. No one needs to get credit,” Evelyn said with a pointed look. “But with Cooper happily wed, I’ve been worried about my other boys.”
“A little credit would be nice,” Joseph said, but the group ignored him as they focused on the latter half of Evelyn’s comment.
“Even though those boys of yours have given us trouble through the years, they’ve also grown up more than I thought possible in the past five,” Sherman assured her.
“They are as stubborn as their father, aren’t they?” Evelyn said with a smile of affection.
“As much as I hate to admit it, that’s what makes them such fine men,” Joseph assured her.
Sherman’s eyes focused across the yard, and the rest of the group looked over to see what had captured his attention. Lindsey was out in front of the cottage watering the flowers just starting to come into bloom.
“That poor girl,” Sherman said with sadness.
“It’s been a year since the attack, but it might as well be yesterday,” Evelyn said. “I’m very worried about her. Such a sweet girl. What she went through is too horrible to even fathom.”
“I was at the hospital right after it happened. She was traumatized so badly,” Sherman told the group. “She tried going back to her life, but the nightmares were too much. Finally, Stormy and I talked her into moving into the cottage. She’s gone back to work, and she even gives that fake smile she thinks is fooling us all, but it doesn’t show in her eyes.”
“You and Lindsey have grown quite close,” Joseph told his friend.
“I had high hopes of her and Maverick making a go of it a couple years ago. I saw some definite interest from both of them at Cooper and Stormy’s wedding. But no matter how much poking and prodding I did, those two didn’t fall for it. And then that tragedy happened, and I didn’t want to push her anymore. But I’m worried because it seems she’s given up on life. I don’t want her to do that either,” Sherman fretted.
“I agree with you, Sherman. She needs to move forward or she might never get back on her feet again. I know that Maverick sure asks about her a lot. I haven’t ever seen him so concerned about anyone other than family,” Evelyn said.
“Maybe with her needing a shoulder to lean on and Maverick feeling the need to be a hero, the two might just come together and heal one another’s souls,” Martin said.
“Yes, Maverick definitely loves being a hero,” Sherman said with a laugh. “That boy was pretending to be a cop or a knight from the time he was just a tot.”
“That shows a man’s character—to be the one still helping others out when the world has turned its back on them,” Martin said.
“I agree with you, my friend,” Sherman told him. “Maverick is one of the good guys.”
“We’ve done pretty dang well so far in matching couples. I thought we might have been losing our touch,” Joseph said with a wrinkle between his brows. “But should we still be matchmaking with everything that’s going on?”
It shocked everyone in the group to hear Joseph even ask such a thing.
“Love is the best medicine of all, and what Lindsey needs right now is a strong dose or she might be too fearful to ever face the world again,” Evelyn said with a firm nod of her head.
“I couldn’t have said it better myself, dear,” Martin told her.
“I guess we do have an ideal track record to date. Haven’t lost one yet,” Joseph said, sounding more like himself.
“I’m at a loss for how to do this,” Evelyn admitted.
They all sat there quietly for several minutes as they tried to put their collective brains together. Then Sherman looked at the group with a huge smile. The rest of them waited to hear what he had to say.
“The fund-raiser!” Sherman told them with excitement.
They looked at him with confusion.
“Sherry got sick and called last week to tell me she had to step down from organizing the event this year,” Sherman said, barely able to contain his excitement. “Maverick’s raised hundreds of millions for injured vets since he started the foundation, and this is the biggest fund-raiser of the year. The money goes to veterans suffering from PTSD. If we got Lindsey to chair the event, she would meet so many people, and she’d be alongside Maverick for the entire journey. Maybe it will help heal her and show them both they are so much better together.”
“That is a great idea, Sherman,” Joseph said, his voice echoing off the house as he sat up straight in his seat, practically giddy.
“I’ll give Maverick a call right away.”
Sherman pulled out his phone and dialed his nephew. It didn’t take long for Maverick to understand what Sherman was asking him. When he hung up the phone, he turned to the group who were all eyeing him expectantly.
“It’s a go,” he said.
“Then it’s time for a toast,” Evelyn announced.
“We can now leave it in fate’s hands and get to other business. When are you coming to Montana?” Martin asked.