by Amy Lyon
She sucked in a breath, but couldn’t see behind his sunglasses to read his expression. He was sure of himself, as always, and that was one of her favorite qualities about him. There was something comforting about knowing in her gut that he could get them safely through any situation they were in together.
Together.
Man, she liked the sound of that. Maybe a little too much. And she appreciated how he stayed at her side all morning while she unpacked the boxes in her mother’s room and later as they made their way to the dining room for lunch. He offered to pray over the large crowd and the food, and the organizers didn’t object. When he made his way to the front of the room where there was a microphone, Andi felt her heart swell with pride.
Just as he sat back down at their table, her phone dinged, and she flicked the screen to read a message from Angel: Do what you gotta do. #NotReallyAGoodTime #Priorities
And it was back, smacking her right between the eyes. The work-versus-family conundrum with Angel at the helm. Andi huffed and set the phone on the table. Who used hashtags in a text message anyway? Someone who used passive-aggressive tactics to manipulate people, that’s who. Someone who had no life except for her job and couldn’t fathom what it meant to have empathy for another person. Especially if it meant a hitch in her precious production schedule.
Matt leaned into her. “Everything okay?”
“Just Satan’s mistress on her broom,” she grumbled.
He nodded knowingly. “Not happy you’re here, is she?”
Andi shrugged. “Doesn’t matter.”
But it did matter. She knew she couldn’t please everyone and that bugged her. Sure, Angel was probably the hardest person on the planet to keep content—eggshells surrounded the woman—but Andi always managed to stay on her good side. She’d maintained a careful balance over the years, and she realized now there was only a balance because she brown-nosed her way into Angel’s good graces.
Until today.
Matt took her hand just as Ginger appeared.
“Good afternoon, Millie and family,” she said, her hands on her hips and a sweet smile lighting up her pale skin.
Something about Ginger’s angelic tone and the way she said family settled warmly over Andi and she absently squeezed Matt’s hand. He squeezed back and gifted her with a gentle smile. She looked around the table at Fancy, her mother and back at Matt, and that warmth in her heart spilled over, cascading down her body. This was what it looked and felt like to put family first.
She snatched her phone off the table, silenced the ringer and dropped it into her purse.
Typically she responded to Angel in record time. She slept with her phone on the nightstand, placed it on the back of the toilet when she took a shower, and had lines in the back pockets of all her jeans from taking the phone everywhere she went, just so she could be at Angel’s beck and call. And if her response time took more than a few minutes, a snide remark followed. Hello? or Waiting... Well, today Angel could wait.
Millie touched Ginger’s hand. “S’cuse me, dear,” she said. “What did you say your name was?”
Ginger didn’t miss a beat as she bent down and re-introduced herself. But Andi winced enough for both of them. She shared a look with Matt and he caressed her knuckles with his thumb. Somewhere inside she harbored hope that this dementia diagnosis was misplaced, even after her mother’s outburst two days ago. Because when she did well, she did really well, and Andi struggled to believe there was anything wrong. Physically, she got around just as well as ever, but mentally... well, it was always hard for her to grasp what she couldn’t see.
As they finished their lunch of beef barley soup and a tossed salad, Ginger reappeared with a tall, slender woman by her side.
“This is Gabrielle and she’s going to take Millie anywhere she’d like to go today.”
Millie turned to the woman, her face blank. “You taking me home?”
Wince. Andi pressed her hand to her stomach.
Gabrielle smiled and tilted her head so that her long, black hair hung in shimmering strands over her shoulders. “Not yet. I was thinking we could take a walk in the courtyard and see what some of our friends are planting today.”
Millie perked up. “Oooh, gardening?”
Gabrielle nodded and Millie rose to her feet to follow the woman.
Ginger pulled out a chair and sat next to Andi. “How’s the first day going?”
“Fine.” Andi’s standard response came out automatically. “I mean, she didn’t remember you, but her mood seems really good otherwise. Maybe this transition won’t be as hard as we thought.”
Matt and Fancy exchanged a look, so she asked Ginger, “Am I missing something?”
“Not at all. Each transition is different and I want the families to be aware that the first week can be the hardest. Anxiety, confusion, frustration—” she ticked off her fingers “—they can all be natural reactions to a new environment”
“She seems fine,” Andi said and pointed toward the double doors to the courtyard where her mother had gone with Gabrielle.
Ginger smiled. “She does. Today. But with dementia patients we really have to take it day by day. Hour by hour, actually.” She put a hand over Andi’s. “I hope this is one of our smoother transitions, but we need to be prepared for the hiccups.”
Andi’s shoulders dropped a few inches, and it felt like some of the excited air that kept her afloat this morning seeped out.
“Here’s what I want you to do before you leave today,” Ginger said. “Make us a list of Millie’s favorite and least favorite things. Food, music, activities, games and other interests. Also, anything you know of that agitates her.”
Andi reached into her purse for her notebook.
“List time,” Matt said and winked.
Ginger smiled and took her leave, moving on to another table. Andi stared at the blank sheet. “I feel like I don’t even know her anymore.”
“I think I can help with this,” Fancy said and scooted her chair closer to Andi.
An hour later they’d compiled an extensive list and managed to leave Millie content with Gabrielle. Ginger suggested Andi come back the next day at the lunch hour.
“I’ll drive you back to the resort if you’re ready,” Matt said, swinging his keys around his finger.
“I checked out this morning,” she said. “I’m staying at my mom’s. It’ll be easier to go through some of her things.” And I’ll be closer to you.
“I’ll give you a ride home, then.”
Home. She liked the sound of that. And even though the fact remained that her stay was temporary, she found herself finally content. At peace with her decisions and the reality that putting family first was the right thing to do.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Matt leaned back in his tawny-colored leather chair until the old thing croaked out its usual protest. He wanted to live in the moment with Andi, enjoy her extra days here, but his mind was locked on the future. That had never been a problem with the few women he’d dated. Usually, he had enough of them in the present and couldn’t imagine another hour, let alone a full-blown lifetime. He wasn’t driven by material things, expensive vacations or the latest trends. He was driven by his love for the Lord. For some women, that was a turn off.
He kicked his feet up on his desk. So what made Andrea Morgan so special? He smiled at the sound of her name, even in his thoughts. She was real, for one. Even though she tried to throw up walls and hide behind her mind-over-matter mantra, he saw straight to her heart. And it was huge. Plus, she was beautiful, inside and out, and she made him laugh and she challenged him and she made him actually want to think about opening his life up to someone else.
Well, if he was honest with himself, the fantasy in his mind involved her moving to Mimosa Key and them living happily ever after on Hibiscus Drive. Was all of that possible after only four days? Absolutely. Knowing how great our God was, that was possible and so much more. Time was no barrier for Him.
But there was a barri
er for Matt, and his conscience told him a heart-to-heart was on the horizon.
He sat forward and picked up the picture frame on his desk. He’d have to tell her about Lily, sooner rather than later. And in his experience, that news didn’t go over so well with the ladies. But then again, he hadn’t cared a whole lot about those other ladies when they suddenly became super busy with work or felt it just wasn’t the right time for them. He’d resigned himself to being alone and could almost be content with that reality. That was, until Andi came along.
She blew those other women out of the water and made his head swim. When she hurt, he felt the pangs. When she laughed, especially if it was at something he said, he felt a rush of euphoria. In the grand scheme of things, their meeting and the future fantasy in his mind were pure kismet.
But in the here and now, it wasn’t a good time at all to start a relationship. He worked extra hours to fill in for Gary, made multiple trips to hospitals and care centers each week, and drove all over Mimosa Key and beyond for seniors activities. The reality was, when she left at the end of the week, he’d still have all the same jobs and responsibilities, plus the backlog of things he didn’t get finished this week. And at the end of it all, she’d be up north snuggling up to her new promotion and he’d be down here nursing a gaping hole in his heart.
Even when he tried the tactic of talking himself out of caring about her, his heart piped up and his whole body listened. Which was probably why his mind churned now on verses related to finding your soul mate. He had to plan for Sunday’s sermon, but all he could think about was scripture from the very beginning—Genesis 2. “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”
The beginning. That’s where he needed to start when he shared his past if he wanted any hope of a future with Andi. But would she want a future with him when she learned he wasn’t as simple and uncomplicated as she thought?
He flipped through his phone and read the text messages from earlier in the day. She was back at Circles of Care for lunch with Millie and planned to accompany her mom to afternoon craft time. Something about gift bows made from recycled magazine pages, which sounded like a project right up Andi’s alley.
He replied to her last message, “Dinner tonight?”
Andi’s response came moments later, “Staying here for dinner. Having a great time with mom. Tomorrow night?”
“On my calendar,” he typed.
“In pen?”
He laughed. “Permanent marker.”
“Can’t wait,” she wrote, followed by two pink hearts.
His own heart thudded against his ribs and he ran his thumb over the screen. He was done for. A quick exchange and two pink emoticons from Andi and all he wanted was to get through today to tomorrow night.
He set the phone on his lap and brought his folded hands together in a steeple. Last week he’d felt full, his cup truly running over. He had meaningful work, great connections in the community and a family he adored. He didn’t want for anything, except maybe a few more hours in the day like any other overworked American. But then God brought him Andrea Morgan and his heart instantly expanded to make room for her.
His phone dinged again and he picked it up to see a selfie of Andi and Millie holding gaudy paper bows, immense joy lighting both of their faces. She’d done the right thing when she’d decided to stay and heal that broken relationship with her mother. And he benefited from her decision, too.
“Bowtiful creations,” he typed and she responded with a smiley face and another heart.
* * *
Andi woke to a ding from her phone followed by butterflies in her belly as she thought about dinner tonight with Matt. She rolled over, anticipating a text from him, but was disappointed to see Angel’s name.
“Scrap Spring Fling cover. New name: Best of Twin Cities with a sports focus. Directions sent to your email. Need by tomorrow a.m. #SeriousCrunchTime #Priorities”
She flipped the covers off and got out of bed. The more she jumped when Angel said jump, the more she enabled the woman to be a bully. But really, what choice did she have?
Maybe you should do your own thing. There was no way. She’d worked so hard to get where she was with CityStyle, and now with this promotion, well, she’d be crazy to throw all of that away for...
Her heart pounded in her chest. Family. Matt. The chance to be her own boss. Living in paradise.
She shook her head as she brushed her teeth. A pros-and-cons list formed in her mind and she countered it with a bold, red stamp of a reminder: Mimosa Key is not an option. Or at least, it wasn’t an option a week ago. Her life was a carefully crafted series of dots that connected in an orderly fashion. There was no room for spontaneous dots. That’s where disappointment and heartache hid.
So what had changed that her mind would even entertain such a giant leap? She looked at herself in the mirror. Maybe she had. Her eyebrows raised and she clicked off the bathroom light.
“Nope, nope, nope,” she said as she hurried down the hallway to the living room. She had to focus on this new cover and the dots that were already laid out in front of her.
The only silver lining to Angel’s news was that Andi wasn’t entirely happy with the Spring Fling cover mock-up she’d created Saturday morning out by the Casa Blanca pool. She hadn’t looked at the design for three days, so it wasn’t like she’d be scrapping a finished product she adored.
Best of Twin Cities. Where had that name come from and why the sudden switch from a broad range of activities to sports? Angel hated sports in any form. Except the sport of watching others jump when she called. And the new theme wasn’t at all in keeping with CityStyle’s style.
But who was Andi to argue? And not with Angel, that was for sure. She dug her laptop out of the carry-on case, fired it up and settled onto the couch. She could still use her collage background idea, but she’d need all new artwork. She tapped the icon to log into her email account, but a pop-up window informed her that there was no Internet connection. She searched for unsecured connections nearby, but there wasn’t even one.
She looked out the window as if that would give her insight into the problem. Standing quickly, she paced the room and thought about going to Casa Blanca for lunch to use the resort’s Wi-Fi connection, or she could try that little coffee shop on Center Street. Or even closer. Matt’s house.
She dialed his number and rubbed the back of her neck as the phone rang.
“Good morning,” he said.
She let out a thankful sigh. “Good, you answered. My mom doesn’t have Internet and there’s no one on your block with an unsecured connection.”
There was a pause. “Who is this?”
“Ha ha.” She rolled her eyes and smirked, loving the way the deep rumble of his voice instantly calmed her.
“Is this a wrong number? Most people start with a nicety like ‘Hi’ or ‘How are you?’”
She took an exaggerated breath and let the air out. “Hi, Matt, this is Andi. How’s your Wednesday morning so far?”
“Great,” he said. “What’s up?”
In a run-on sentence she shared the cover dilemma and her need to access Angel’s email. “Can I get into your house?”
“Don’t have Internet.”
“What?” She practically shouted the word.
“I know, shocking. No cable either.”
“But what about work? What if you have to work from home?” She couldn’t imagine the concept of not being able to work from home.
“I do most of my research at the church and use my notes to work on sermons at home if needed,” he said. “I focus better when I don’t have 4.5 billion web pages at my fingertips.”
“Wow,” she murmured. “Those seniors are starting to rub off on you.”
He let out a hearty laugh. “I hate to break it to you, but the Earth still orbits without an Internet connection. There’s a great big world out there, Andrea, and it’s not tangled up in the World Wide Web.”
“Angel’s world controls my world right now, and if I don’t get that email and the graphics and new instructions, I can kiss that promotion goodbye. Not to mention—”
Matt interrupted her tirade with another laugh. “Okay, just come up to the church. Pastor Gary’s office is open. You’ll have a lightning-fast connection and all the privacy you need to get your cover done.”
She scrambled to her mother’s room where she pulled jeans and a T-shirt from her suitcase. “Really? Oh, that would be awesome. Thank you.”
“Glad to help.”
She adjusted the phone at her ear as her heart rate slowed. “But you have to promise me one thing.”
“What’s that?”
She smiled. “No distracting me.”
There was silence.
“Matt?”
“I can’t promise anything,” he said.
The rumble in his voice may have settled her nerves, but the sound stirred up a sense of urgency to be close to him again.
She turned on the shower and put her hand under the stream. “Well, you’ll just have to pretend I’m not there.”
“Impossible.”
CHAPTER NINE
Half an hour later Andi walked up the familiar steps of the church, opened the front door carefully and slipped inside the foyer. Matt’s hearty chuckle carried down the hallway. She followed the comforting sound to the office, where she found him leaned over the receptionist’s desk talking to Gloria.
The sight of him hit her with a jolt and she had to fight the overwhelming need to be close to him.
“I bet she’s got a good eye,” Gloria said and pointed to Andi. “Didn’t you say she’s an interior designer?”
Matt looked up and winked. “Graphic designer. And she does have a good eye. But—” he shuffled the papers into a pile “—we have to pretend she’s not here today.”
Gloria cocked her head as Andi and Matt shared a secret smile.
She dropped her work bag onto a nearby chair and went to stand next to him, her arm brushing his. “I’m done freaking out about my cover. What have you got?”