The Meltdown Match (A Romance Novella) by Rachael Anderson Page A

thought of The Meltdown Match as a romantic, even magical, tradition. The so-called legend stated that on the day when the sun shined the longest, two unsuspecting hearts would be brought together in a union created by the universe. And if they later they married under the solstice sun, they were promised a lifetime of happiness.
    Or something like that.
    Every year during Heimel’s Solstice Days, on the morning of June 21, the first official day of summer and the longest day of the year, hundreds of vases made of ice, each holding a stick with the name of a man or woman between the ages of twenty-one and twenty-nine, were left to melt in the warm summer sun. The first male and female sticks to fall were then matched for a date.
    For Courtney, writer of romances with a magical twist, it sounded like a novel-worthy beginning to a wonderful love story. Who wouldn’t want to say they were matched by the greatest source of light? She’d always wanted to enter the contest and win, but one thing held her back. What if her vase didn’t melt first? What became of all the names the sun didn’t recognize as worthy of true love? She didn’t want to find out.
    Granted, only a handful of the matches had ever ended in a lasting union, but a part of her couldn’t help believe that the sun didn’t make mistakes—only people did.
    Lost in her thoughts, Courtney didn’t realize where they were headed until Hannah opened a door and pulled her inside the musty-smelling city office building. Courtney immediately planted her feet and tried to tug her hand free.
    “Are you deaf? I told you, I’m not entering the contest.”
    “Are too,” Hannah countered.
    “Are not.”
    “Too.”
    “Not.”
    “Well if it isn’t Salt and Pepper arguing in public,” said a deep voice behind Courtney. “Some things never change.”
    Courtney grinned as she turned around to meet Mitch Winter’s teasing eyes. Only a few years older and a good friend, he’d made a habit of giving Courtney a hard time over the years.
    “We hardly ever argue, especially in public,” said Courtney. “You just have bad timing.”
    Mitch chuckled as he engulfed her into one of his signature hugs, making Courtney feel warm, cozy, and more than content to stay there forever. Yet another reason she liked leaving and coming home. Mitch only hugged her like this when she came back.
    “Welcome home,” he said.
    Courtney breathed in the clean, outdoorsy scent that always seemed to surround him. Not for the first time, she found herself wishing she were Mitch’s type—willowy, classy, and a brunette—not average and blonde, something he loved to point out with the annoying nickname he’d given her of “Salt.”
    She reluctantly pulled free and studied his handsome, mischievous face. Green eyes. Dark, curly hair that hung just over his ears. A teasing smile that often taunted her. She slugged him lightly on his arm. “What’s it going to take to get you to stop using those awful nicknames? Dying our hair?”
    “Speak for yourself,” Hannah said. “My hair rocks, and I like being called Pepper.”
    Mitch tugged on a lock of Courtney’s straight, blonde hair. “Dye it red, and I’ll start calling you cinnamon instead. But I like Salt better, so I hope you’ll leave it alone.”
    “Someday I’m going to think of an equally lousy nickname for you, and you’re going to rue the day you ever started calling me Salt.”
    “I look forward to it.” Mitch grinned and glanced at Hannah. “You home for the summer too?”
    Hannah rolled her eyes. “Always the afterthought. And yes, I am home for the summer, maybe even for good. I’m all graduated, or haven’t you heard?”
    “Already?” Mitch shook his head. “No way you’re old enough to be a college graduate.”
    “You’re just bugged because it makes you feel ancient. What are you now, thirty?”
    “Twenty-nine,” Mitch returned.
    A large smile spread across Hannah’s face as she shot her sister a