by Sarah Hegger
Phi’s eyes widened. She didn’t need to be told who Chris Germaine was. The most powerful woman in television needed no introductions. Starting as a talk show host, Chris has grown her brand on the principles of inner growth and authentic living, leveraging that into a massive industry. “And?”
“I need a drink.”
“Darling.” Phi spread her fingers over her bosom. “You’ve come to the right place then.”
“Make that a few drinks,” Pippa said.
“This calls for whisky.” Phi got to her feet and did a quick double take out the window. “And look, here is dear Matt.” She raised a brow at Pippa. “Again.”
Pippa swung round to see Matt getting out of his truck. His face looked drawn and tired as he let himself in the kitchen door.
“Hey.” He jerked his chin at her, and stuck his hands in his jeans pockets.
As pissed as she was, he was still the person she wanted to share her news with. And he shouldn’t be. “Hey, yourself.”
Phi’s head swung between them like she was watching a tennis match. “I sense a little malcontent,” she sang out.
“Can you give us a minute, Phi?” Matt managed a smile for her grandmother.
“Indeed.” Phi patted his cheek. “A man should always know how to grovel. And once you are done, Pippa has received some stupendous news.”
She bustled out the door in a cloud of patchouli.
Matt jammed his hands in the back pockets of his jeans. “Stupendous, huh?”
“You here for anything particular?” Pippa wiped her damp hands on her jeans. Still sweaty from how tight she had been holding the phone. The fluttering in her belly was all Matt, though.
Matt tilted his head. “Yeah, I’m here to grovel. Dick move on my part storming off like that.”
“Gee, Meat.” She played it cool on the outside. Inside, total mess. “That’s big of you to admit.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” His shoulders dropped a bit. “It’s been a helluva day.”
“What happened?”
He shook his head, as if clearing his head. “Tell me your stupendous news instead.”
Pippa tucked away the part of her that wanted to pry and gave him her news. Telling Matt brought the excitement bubbling to the surface again.
“That’s great, babe.” The big grin he gave her filled her cup to the brim. He waved his fingers at her phone. “Will it fix the other thing?”
“Not right away.” Pippa took another mood swing to the dark side. “But it does mean my career isn’t dead.”
“Then, you’re golden. Back on track.”
That was exactly what it meant. Back on an even better track than before. So, why wasn’t she doing a victory lap of the kitchen. “Yeah.”
“So, when do you leave?” He bunched his shoulders around his ears and dropped them on an exhale.
“Leave?” Pippa sunk into a chair. Of course she would leave. Chris Germaine’s offer meant she was out of Ghost Falls again.
“Sure.” Matt came closer. “Your future is out there. This town has always been too small for you.”
“I don’t know,” she said. “We didn’t talk about the details.”
“I’m very happy for you, Pippa.” Matt crouched at her feet. Grabbing her hands, he raised first one and then the other for a kiss. “You’ve worked hard for this. You deserve it.”
Beautiful topaz eyes stared at her, his sincerity clear for her to read. But lurking at the back, something she was afraid to acknowledge, a sort of resignation.
“I was never coming back for good,” she said.
“I know.” He squeezed her hands. “You never made any secret of that. I guess, I let that detail slip my mind.”
The elephant charged into the room and squatted between them. “But I’m not gone yet.” Pippa tried for perky. “We still have a bit of time.”
“Babe.” The regret in Matt’s gaze took the air out of her. “I’m happy for you, really I am, but I need to get real with you here. Earlier, the reason I stormed off was because I’d had a shitty day, and all I wanted to do was be with you. And you . . . you have your own stuff, and I’m not part of it.”
“My career is everything to me.” His life was Ghost Falls, hers was LA, and they were further apart than the miles that separated the two places. Stuck here, hiding from her world, Pippa had allowed herself to be pulled into a bubble of her and Matt. Their fairy tale had come to an end.
“We both knew what we were getting into. Nobody made any promises,” Matt said. “But I gotta level with you. I never expected to feel the stuff for you that I do. I think we need to call this one before either of us . . .” He grimaced. “Before I get in too deep.”
But what if both were already in too deep?
“Neither of us is naïve enough to believe we have a future. It wasn’t what we signed on for.” He shrugged. “I don’t want to ruin your big news, babe, because I really am happy for you. But the selfish part of me, the bit that needs to protect me, thinks it’s best for both of us to get out before we start wanting things we can’t have. The things we want, Pippa, they don’t mesh. Both our lives are too complicated.”
“You’re right.” Pippa managed to find her voice. It tore a strip off her to admit it, but he was right. She was leaving. He was staying where he’d always been. “We’re keeping this light, remember.”
His eyes called the lie for what it was, but he still managed a smile. “Sure. Keeping it light.”
“And you’re not the only one in danger of . . . feeling more.” Her voice wobbled and she cleared her throat. “It’s stupid to carry on and risk . . . more.”
“Yeah.” He rose and moved away from her, staring out the window through the heavy silence. “For what it’s worth, I wouldn’t change a thing. Getting to know you, Pippa, making love with you, one of the best things I’ve ever done.”
Tears gathered beneath her lids and she blinked them away. “Me too.”
It wasn’t supposed to be this hard to walk away from Matt. When she’d gone into this thing, she’d thought she could handle it. A quick, hot-as-hell affair with Matt Evans and then back to life as normal. Except, she had the sneaking suspicion that normal was never going to feel the same again.
“Whisky!” Phi swept through the door. She stopped with the bottle raised. Her gaze skittered to Pippa and Matt and back again. “Too soon?”
“No.” Pippa dredged up her voice. “But I really don’t feel like a drink anymore. I think I might be coming down with something.” Like a massive dose of heart-sore. “I think Matt has to get home anyway.”
Matt stared at her, silently asking all sorts of questions, and Pippa nodded. This was the only way it could be. They’d had their time. Short and sweet as it had been, it was over. She’d make a list, pros and cons, possible scenarios and solutions. Lists always helped her sort through the confusion.
“Mathieu?” Phi took a step toward him. “Have you done something you shouldn’t have?”
Matt met her stare, his eyes dark and unreadable but his face set in grim lines. “I’m more of a beer guy.”
Pippa got to her feet, her limbs clumsy and not working right. She was relieved she made it through the door without banging into anything. “I’ll see you around, Meat.”
“Take care, Agrippina.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Pippa woke from the two hours of sleep she’d managed to get the night before. Yesterday had started as a disaster, gotten worse, and then that call from Chris Germaine. Her dream had been handed to her on a platter. If anything, she should have been up last night, her mind cycling with ideas for the new show.
She spent most of the night obsessing over Matt, which was so dumb it made her teeth ache. Not even after his betrayal had she spent this much time thinking about Ray. Matt had called it right; they were drifting into dangerous territory. Far better, and less messy, to make a clean break now while they both still could. Except, it didn’t feel clean to her. It hurt, dammit.
She was so pathetic it made her want to puke. Pippa stomped into the bathroom and snapped on the bath faucets.
The pipes clattered and groaned and . . . nothing.
“Really?” Pippa glared at the dry faucet. A small trickle of water tinkled out and stopped. Damn this ridiculous house. It was as temperamental as its owner.
Pippa tried again, just in case. The pipes groaned like a lactose intolerant after a cheese binge. Pippa stomped over to the bathroom door and yanked it open. “Phi!”
Phi was not the only one in this house with an impressive set of pipes on her.
“Mon ange.” Phi’s voice floated up the stairs from the kitchen. Sweet enough to bring Pippa’s hackles up. Phi was up to something.
“There’s no water.”
“Of course there is,” Phi said.
Pippa opened her mouth to yell her complaint down the stairs and snapped it shut again. Phi could hold a bellowed conversation all day if she had to. Pippa tramped down the stairs and shoved open the baize door.
“Angel.” Phi beamed at her. “You’re not dressed.”
Pippa glared at her grandmother. “Really? How am I supposed to get dressed if I can’t have a bath? And can we please put in a shower?”
“Showers are vulgar.” Phi pursed her lips and tapped her forefinger against her chin. “I see the problem. I know!” She snapped her bedazzled fingers. “Coffee. We will start with coffee and then apply our minds to the solution. See, we have a visitor.”
Pippa stared blearily at Jo, sitting at the kitchen table with a smirk on her face. “Hi. Nice pj’s,” she said.
“Thanks.” At least they matched and didn’t have anything embarrassing on them. Pippa threw herself into a chair at the kitchen table.
Phi put a mug in front of her. “There we are, darling. You’re always so much more charming when you have some caffeine.”
True that. Pippa took a careful sip of her coffee. Thank God, June must be here somewhere because the brew didn’t strip her throat on the way down. “The water isn’t working in my bathroom.”
“Really?” Phi did that chin tapping thing again.
Pippa smelled a Phi-shaped rat. She may be one of the greatest voices in the world, but Phi was a truly horrible actress.
“My water was fine,” Phi said. “Josephine, would you see if we have water here in the kitchen?”
Jo opened her mouth to protest her new name. Pippa shook her head at her. It wouldn’t do any good. Phi had decided Jo was a Josephine, and not even the arrival of a valid birth certificate would change that.
Jo stood up and turned the faucet on. Water gushed out. It reminded Pippa of the time when she doused Matt as he—
“I’ll use your bathroom,” she said to Phi. She was worse than pathetic. Next thing she’d start doodling his name all over her notebook and decorating it with hearts. What she needed was a list. A list of all the reasons why taking the Chris Germaine job was the best thing for her. For good measure, she’d follow that up with a list of all the reasons why her future was not in Ghost Falls. Then she could combine the two and prove to herself that Matt calling this thing quits was the best decision for both of them.
“June is cleaning in there.” Phi pulled a regretful face, so false it made Pippa want to laugh. The old bag was up to something.
“Then I’ll wait.”
“Or,” said Jo, coming in right on cue. “We could call Matt and ask him to get over here. Urgently.”
Pippa glared at her, then turned the glare on the real culprit, disemboweling fruit at the counter.
“What?” Phi opened her eyes wide.
“Is that why you’re here?” Pippa turned back to Jo. “Because Phi dragged you into one of her schemes?”
“What scheme?” Jo had good game face, but Pippa was an old hand at Phi and her antics. She kept her level stare going and Jo blushed and dropped her eyes. “Only partly.” Jo rallied but her blush stayed. “I wanted to tell you that I broke off my engagement this morning.”
“Really?” Pippa studied her face for signs of heartbreak.
Jo looked composed, relaxed even and missing that tiny storm cloud over her head.
“Are you okay?”
“Yup.” Jo smiled. A little wobbly around the edges but still there. “I think he was relieved, to be honest.”
“Stupid ass.” Phi hacked a strawberry in half, and threw the good bit into the trash. “He has no idea the treasure he has tossed away.”
Pippa got to her feet and took the knife away from Phi. She’d never get any fruit for breakfast at this rate.
“Men,” Phi declared as she took her seat at the head of the table, “often need to be reminded of what they really want.”
Ah, here it came. Pippa kept slicing the tops off the strawberries. Phi had a built-in radar for what she called “troubles of the heart.”
“Yes,” said Jo. “They’re very stubborn about what they think they want.”
Pippa dropped her strawberries into the colander and moved on to the pineapple. Jo had potential, she’d give her that. Delivery needed a bit of work, but she was quick to take her cue.
“You’re so right, Josephine.” Phi raised her voice until the horses must be able to hear her. “They tend to act impulsively, and often require a push in the right direction. Do you know any men such as this, Josephine?”
“Er, yes.” Jo jumped on her line with gusto. “In fact, I do. You know the other day I was saying to my brother, Eric, that our brother Matt—”
“Seriously?” Pippa turned to stare at them.
Big eyes from Phi, but Jo had the grace to drop her gaze to the table.
“I appreciate the effort.” Even though it felt like dragging fishing hooks under her nails. “But Matt and I are fine.” She turned back to her pineapple. Almost did a Phi on it, her hands were shaking so badly.
“What does fine mean?” Jo asked.
Good question, and Pippa shrugged. “We were a fling, a for-now thing. There’s no big relationship or anything. I’m leaving, he’s staying, end of story.”
“Then why is Matt in such a bad mood?”
He was? Pippa put the knife down before she took a finger off.
“Do you hear that, Agrippina?” Phi was not going to give this up without a fight. “Mathieu is aggrieved. Why do you think that is?”
“Probably has to do with his mother.” Damn! Stupid thing to say with Jo sitting at the table. Pippa spun around to apologize. “Jo, I’m sorry. I meant—”
“Oh, please.” Jo waved her off. “You don’t need to pretend with me. I’m an old hand at the Cressy guts-in-a-vice style of parenting. She’s launched a hunger strike over my broken engagement.”
Phi gave a sigh that shook the rafters. “That woman needs to find something else to fill her mind.”
“Couldn’t agree more.” Jo toasted Phi with her coffee mug. “Right now she is demanding Eric and Matt dance around her. I left before she could start on me.”
“Did she like your fiancé?” Pippa wasn’t sure why she asked, but she needed to know more.
Jo made a rude noise. “She can’t stand him. She wouldn’t even have him in the house.”
“Then why?” Pippa turned back to her fruit and washed it all under the working faucet. Cressy had always been difficult to figure out.
“Power,” said Phi. “Information is power and she loses it when she is not the first to know.”
“You could be right.” Jo got up and refreshed her mug. She brought the pot over to Pippa and topped her up as well. “The guys get the worst of it. Eric laughs her off, but Matt . . .” She ended on a shrug. “He’s so used to taking care of her, he’s buckling into his armor before he even thinks about it.”
“Very noble,” Phi murmured.
Jo snorted. “Actually, I think it’s a bit pathetic. Matt is nearly forty.”
Thirty-six was not nearly forty, but not the point.
“It’s time he broke the chokehold she’s got on him
,” Pippa said. She didn’t want to leave here and think of Matt stuck in his mother’s boa constrictor grip.
Phi heaved another window-rattling sigh. “This, I cannot disagree with. It is the curse of the nice guy.” She perked up straight in her chair. “Did I ever tell you about that Italian lover I had?”
“Which one?” Pippa sipped her coffee and brought the fruit to the table.
“Massimo.” Phi stared off into the distance with a tiny smile. “Wonderful lover, so creative and caring, really inventive with his—”
“Anyway.” Pippa got in quick because Jo looked a little green.
“Yes, indeed.” Phi gave a bordello chuckle. “Anyway, he had a mother such as yours.” Phi tapped the table in front of Jo. “She did not want him consorting with a performer, such as me.”
“What happened?” Jo plucked a hunk of pineapple out of the bowl.
“He moved to Milan,” Phi said.
“Because of his mother?” Jo chewed the pineapple and snagged another piece.
“Oh, no.” Phi flapped her hands in the air. “He had a house there, and he was engaged to a young girl who lived two streets over from his house.”
Jo blinked at Phi and then Pippa.
“And your point is?” Laughter built inside Pippa. Jo had no idea of the mental gymnastics of Phi.
“That nice men are often taken advantage of by grasping women.” Phi finished with a hand flourish. She wrinkled her nose at the fruit. “Are we not having eggs?”
Pippa rose and grabbed a pan from the cupboard. The caffeine had soothed the rough edges off. “Are you staying for breakfast?”
“Of course she is,” Phi answered for Jo. She leaned in to the other woman and winked. “Pippa is a marvel with the egg.”
Pippa bit back her snort as she grabbed the eggs from the fridge, adding a few more for June, who was likely to appear at around the time they were ready.
“Call your brother about the pipes,” Phi said from behind her.
“Phi.” Pippa turned to glare at her grandmother. Her heart sank as she caught the fanatical gleam in Phi’s green eyes. Phi might break the entire house to get her own way. She sighed and went back to her eggs. “At least give me a chance to get dressed first.”