Worth the Fall(50)
“Hello?”
“Hey.”
“Hey,” she said.
“It’s Matt.” Idiot.
“I know.”
“I just wanted to give you a better idea of when I’d be there. I’ll be leaving here in about fifteen. Should be to your house by five.”
The other end of the phone was still and quiet. “Abby?”
“I’m here.”
“You still okay with me coming?” Please don’t say no.
“Matt…um…the text you got…It wasn’t from me.”
The happy feeling in his chest turned to tar.
“It was from Jack.”
A black sludge slid toward his stomach. He heard her breathing, pictured her face. He needed to see it. Touch it.
“I lost my phone, and…Well, Jack just told me he found it, and that…you…uh—”
“I don’t have to come. Just tell me what you want me to do.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to see you. I just…I…”
He imagined her flustered, probably biting down on her delectable lip. The pink little mouth he was dreaming of kissing…“Just say it. Do you want me to come, yes or no?”
The seconds were marked by the heavy beat of his heart as he waited. The plane engine started with a loud whine. Shit. Did she say yes or no? “What?”
“Yes! I want you to come, okay?”
She’d screamed her answer into his ear, and he wasn’t sure but she didn’t exactly sound happy about that.
He laughed. “I’ll be there soon.”
She didn’t want to want him. He was about to change that.
—
Matt double-checked his directions and made a right on a tree-lined street. Oaks and maples, so dense he couldn’t get a good look, secluded the houses set far back from the street. He matched the number on the mailbox and followed a winding drive through overhanging foliage until a large gray brick house came into view. Massive cedar beams framed the front door, and he couldn’t help admiring the architecture. It suited her.
He pulled the black Lexus rental to the top of the circular driveway and got out. Heart pounding, he climbed the wide stone steps to the front entry accented with the same gray stone. The big house she’d have happily given up to feel loved.
He blew out a long breath like he was seconds from a jump. Over water. At night. Another deep breath and he raised his hand to knock. But before his knuckles hit the wood, the big door swung open.
And there she was. Even more beautiful than he remembered. Her face sweeter, her eyes greener. She blinked and gave him that shy, sexy smile that had grabbed him by the heart that very first day.
She wore a short, flowing skirt with a black tank top outlining every curve of her breasts and belly. He could barely breathe. This was not a reunion of beach-fling lovers. They’d never been lovers, and it was more than a fling. Much more.
He’d waited two weeks and all he could think to say was “Hey.”
“Hi.”
She opened the door fully and stepped back. “Do you want to come in? The kids are outside playing.”
As he walked behind her through the house, a smile spread. Abby’s house. The decor reflected the woman, her taste and her talents. Nice but not flashy. Neat and organized without being stuffy, a place kids could play without worrying about breaking things. Abby had never struck him as a woman who asked for a lot.
The kids’ framed artwork decorated the walls interspersed with candid photographs. It was another level of intimacy, being in her house. Seeing her private things. Her life away from vacation. And he remembered her saying she would have given it all up. It hurt to think she’d been lonely.
“Something smells good.” Something other than Abby, though she smelled plenty sweet.
“The girls made you some brownies. Though I wouldn’t recommend the ones with tiny finger holes filled with sprinkles.”
“No?”
“No. I can’t vouch for the ones after Charlie got involved.”
There was a smile in her voice, then, hesitantly, it spread to her lips and he fell for her all over again. Just that fast. Just that easy.
“They’ve asked me a million times when you would be here.”
She moved to call the kids, but there was one thing he wanted her to know first. “Abby.” He stopped her with a light hand on her arm and couldn’t keep himself from sliding his fingers over her soft skin just a little bit. “This can be whatever you want it to be. I have a hotel room. I don’t even have to stay for dinner if you’re not comfortable.”
He felt the tension ease out of her, which is what he’d wanted.
“Come on. The kids are dying to see you.”