Worth the Fall(49)
Matt figured he was joking, though with Parker it was hard to tell. He clapped a hand on the big man’s shoulder. “No, man. I’m all good in that department.”
But he was an idiot.
To think he could just walk away from her cold.
He needed to see her. For a day, an hour—just to convince him she was okay. Rolling the idea around in his head, it was suddenly inconceivable he would never see her again.
“So, what’s up? Don’t leave us hanging,” Rocky said.
It was close to 0100. He’d have to wait to call her tomorrow, or he could shoot her a text. Not give her a chance to say no.
“You guys can hang at the house if you want. I’ve got somewhere I have to be.” Matt walked out to the sound of whistles and kissy sounds and basically all manner of middle school taunting. He smiled as he left, at their brand of humor and at the thought of seeing Abby.
—
Abby sat at the kitchen table, looking at the pile she’d just unloaded from the kids’ backpacks. The amount of papers that came home with four children was inconceivable.
Jack stood by her chair. “Mom?”
“One minute.” She read over the field trip form, muttering to herself.
“But, Mom, I have to tell you something.”
“Okay.” She grabbed a pen and began filling out the form. “Get a snack if you want.”
“Mom?”
“Hmm? Sack lunch, kids wear jeans, no soda.
Jack inched closer to her and fiddled with the fabric of her shirt. “I did something.”
Abby stopped what she was writing and looked at her son.
Jack looked out the window as he spoke. “Well, see…”
Uh-oh. What was that look? “Jack. What did you do?”
“I found your phone.”
Her phone had been missing for two days. She’d checked all the usual places—the couch, the car, Gracie’s favorite pink purse. The only place she hadn’t looked was the playroom, and she’d cringed at the thought of her phone lost in that toy jungle.
“That’s great, sweetie. Where was it?”
“In the LEGOs.”
Nope. Never would have found it. “Thank you.” She put her arm around his waist and hugged him tightly. He was getting so big. “Would you be a big help and plug it in for me?” Abby went back to the form.
“Okay, I will, but…I kinda used it. I know I’m not supposed to, but…”
Emergency contacts. She didn’t mind putting Meredith, but having to write “Babysitter” next to “Relationship to child” was—Wait. She turned back to Jack. “You did what?”
“I texted someone.”
Great. She was going to get a text from some weirdo. “You know you’re not supposed to play with my phone. It’s dangerous to talk to people you don’t know.”
“But I did know him.”
“What? Who did you know?”
Jack looked down at his feet. “Matt.”
The pen fell from her fingers and clattered to the floor.
Jack’s head jerked up. “He did it first.”
Oh, Lord. It’d been twelve days, not that she was counting. “What did he say?”
Jack’s face brightened a little. “I can show you.” He pulled out her phone, which he’d been hiding behind his back.
Abby scrolled through the messages and there it was. Sent at almost two a.m. This morning.
Matt: I need to see you, OK?
Matt: OK?
Holy hell. Good thing she was sitting down. And he hadn’t said “I want to see you.” He needed to see her. What did that even mean?
“I couldn’t read all of it, but Matt said okay, so I said okay back. See?” Jack smiled proudly as she read her son’s response.
Abby: OK
Yes. She did see: Jack’s confidence that he’d done the right thing, and the next text from Matt.
Matt: See you Friday.
That’s…today.
Chapter 16
Matt paced the blacktop, waiting on Tony’s mechanic to finish his preflight check. The skinny man held a clipboard as he inspected the outside of his brother’s new Diamond Twin Star airplane. Every now and then Chaz the spaz bobbed his head to the beat playing through his earbuds. The man looked all kinds of incompetent, but his brother trusted him, so he’d trust him. To get me back where I need to be.
He hadn’t heard her voice in almost two weeks, but a text was something. He was glad no one had been around to see his fist-pumping Thank you, Jesus happy dance when he’d gotten her reply.
Just a simple “OK.” So like Abby, because she probably didn’t know what to say. Either that or she’d list all the reasons he shouldn’t come. His text hadn’t been time specific regarding his arrival, so he pulled out his phone and tapped her name. The one he’d programmed into his phone before leaving the beach. He was so screwed, and he stood there, grinning like a fool.