“Yes, there’s nothing wrong with ambition,” he agreed. “Unless it screws up your priorities. Justin hasn’t even found the time to buy his fiancée an engagement ring.”
His mom sighed. “Kennedy doesn’t seem to mind, so why should you?”
He blew out a frustrated breath. “Because family never comes first with him. I’m tired of his excuses, and most of all I’m tired of always making the sacrifices for his benefit.” And man, I’m making a sacrifice now.
When his father died, who stepped in and took over as head of the household? He did. When Justin just wanted to sell the winery and be done with it, who took over operations? He did. Who gave up his city job and fiancée to move back home to care for his mom and family business? He did. Meanwhile Justin did whatever the hell he wanted and everyone—including Kennedy— seemed to turn a blind eye. So, excuse him for getting a little testy about all that now that he saw the same kind of thing happening with Kennedy. But he figured he was due.
“I thought you loved the winery as much as I do. What do you mean about making sacrifices?”
He shook his head. “Nothing. Forget it.”
He did love the winery, and it had turned out to be a good decision for him in the end. But he always wondered what would have happened if he had the chance to do the things he had originally wanted to do. If he had taken that job in Boston after he’d graduated, instead of putting aside his dreams to provide for his family. His brother never did appreciate the blood and sweat that went into running Ellis Estates Winery. Then again, it seemed as if Justin didn’t appreciate a lot of good things in his life.
Including his fiancée.
“Mom, why are relationships so complicated?”
His mom brushed some hair off his forehead and smiled. “Oh, have you finally met someone?”
“Yes. I mean, no. No one.”
“Too bad.” She clucked her tongue. “It’d be a shame to let one rotten apple spoil the whole bunch.”
His lips quirked. “Are you talking about Sam?”
“Don’t mention her name,” his mom huffed. “I could tell that woman was selfish from day one. She didn’t offer to lift a finger once when you first brought her over for dinner. Just sat there like a princess and picked at my good food. I knew right then that I didn’t want her to be a part of this family.”
Matt chuckled at his mom’s outrage. “I would hardly call Sam a princess. Maybe a queen, but not a princess.”
“Exactly. What you saw in her besides a pretty face, I’ll never know.”
Matt thought back on his ex. He wasn’t exactly sure what he saw in her, either. They were both so young and at the time had similar interests in movies and music. He didn’t really find out about her values and core beliefs until much later. Almost too late. Funny, but he seemed to know a lot more about the kind of woman Kennedy was in a much shorter amount of time.
And she was definitely the kind of woman he could see opening his heart to again. Too bad his brother had met her first.
“I’ll never know what I saw in her, either, Mom. But the point is things worked out for the best there.”
“Amen.” Her gaze slid to his, and her brows rose mischievously. “Are you sure you aren’t bringing this up because you’ve met someone special? It’d make me so happy to hear you found someone like Kennedy.”
Matt doubted that. Well, actually, Mom, I did find someone like Kennedy. In fact, come to think of it, she is Kennedy! Aren’t you thrilled?
He sighed. “No, Mom. And even if I had met someone, now isn’t exactly the right time to talk. I’m sure you want to finish decorating the tree, and I just want to go to bed.”
“Well, if you ever do want to talk about it, I will always have an ear.”
“Thanks, Mom.” But no thanks. There were some things you shared with your mom, but having the hots for your brother’s girl was not one of them.
“Before you go, just try to understand the things that may seem big now are actually very trivial. It’s something I’ve realized since my stroke. Your dad isn’t around and I won’t be around forever, either. Keep that in mind when dealing with Justin.”
He nodded. His mom was right. Here he was supposed to be making peace with his brother and bringing the family together for his mom’s sake. Family were the people who were most important. Important enough to make sure old bitterness and some pretty redhead didn’t tear that apart.
He enjoyed his job. Liked living on the island. He certainly didn’t lack for female companionship when he wanted it. What more could he need out of life? So, he’d put his own wants aside again, content himself with how his life had been going, and be happy for Justin. After all, Justin had been there for him when he’d broken up with Samantha.
Plus, it’s what his dad would have wanted. So why did that realization still leave him feeling so hollow inside?
Chapter Nine
Kennedy tiptoed downstairs, making doubly sure not to wake anyone in the house. She was hoping it was just the excitement of decorating the tree that had her still wide awake at two a.m., but she had little faith that her mind could ever be that uncomplicated. No, her thoughts for the last several hours had been on two men and what exactly to do about them. Yes, she still loved Justin, but every time she was in a room with Matt, it was all she could do not to get caught up in the magnetism of attraction that was building between them.
She tried her best to ignore him when they were decorating the Christmas tree, but something would always pull her attention to him. His easy humor. A dazzling smile. The reverent way he treated his mom. What was worse was that he seemed to make no attempt to hide that he was watching her all night as well.
She padded into the living room and couldn’t resist flicking the Christmas lights on. The tree was beautiful, full of treasured ornaments that were either made by the Ellis children in grade school or accumulated over the years from places the family had traveled or just events they’d wanted to remember.
Someday, she thought, fingering an ornament made out of Popsicle sticks. Someday, she’d make sure her children had what she never did. Memories. Roots. A real home.
Her mind wandered to Justin and the phone call she’d had with him after dinner.
“Things are actually going great here, Kennedy. You’d be so proud of me. I’m really making the most of this snowstorm and getting a ton of things done at work. I bet they’ll make me a branch manager before the new year.”
His mention of work had reminded her of her own business and, with dismay, how she hadn’t thought of Match Made Easy for almost twenty-four hours. That wasn’t like her. She loved her company, valued what she’d created and what she’d felt was her calling in life: to bring people together for a lifetime. Since when had work not become a priority for her?
Since I started to doubt my own matchmaking abilities. That’s when, dumb-dumb.
She flicked off the tree lights. Stomach gurgling, she headed toward the kitchen. She turned on the lights and jumped when she saw a figure standing by the window.
“Oh my gosh, Matt,” she said, clutching her chest. “You nearly gave me a heart attack. What are you doing up?”
He turned and raised an eyebrow. “I could ask you the same thing.”
“Yes, but I wasn’t lurking in the shadows ready to send a young twentysomething to an early grave.”
He gave her a lazy smile. “I wasn’t lurking. I heard a noise and thought maybe it was an intruder. I came downstairs to check it out. It’s easier to see out the window without the lights on.”
“Oh. It was probably me you heard. Sorry if I woke you.”
“You didn’t.”
No, it didn’t look as if she had woken him. His hair barely looked mussed, almost as if he hadn’t even bothered getting into bed yet. He had on navy pajama pants and looked to have casually tossed on one of his flannel shirts, leaving it unbuttoned, before he came downstairs. His lean, hard, muscular chest peeked out at her, almost daring her to resist ogli
ng. Knowing she was a weak woman, she decided to busy herself and make some hot chocolate.
“Don’t mind me,” she said, turning her back to him. “I can’t sleep. I’m just going to make myself a little snack.” She poured some milk into a mug and stuck it in the microwave.
“Funny, I really couldn’t sleep, either. Maybe I’ll join you, if you don’t mind.”
Yes. Yes, she darn well did mind.
The last thing she needed was more temptation from the shirtless-wonder himself. She was already a weak woman—and sleep deprived as well. But she took out another mug and filled it with milk. “I don’t mind at all,” she said with a tight smile.
“Great.” He came up behind her, his towering presence all-consuming, and opened a cabinet.
She glanced up, doing her best to keep herself immobile so she wouldn’t accidentally touch him. “Oh, so that’s where your mom put the marshmallows.”
“Yeah, just found out this little secret yesterday.”
The microwave beeped. She quickly took her mug out and went to sit at the table. After Matt got done making his cocoa, he joined her. They sipped in awkward silence for several minutes until Matt cleared his throat.
“The Christmas tree looks great,” he said, reaching into the marshmallow bag and pulling out another handful.
“Yeah. Too bad Justin wasn’t here to help decorate.”
His jaw tensed, and his fingers tightened on the handle of his mug. “I guess you…must be missing him a lot, huh?”
She glanced up and found it incredibly hard not to gape at his chest. She jerked her gaze back to her hot chocolate. “Yeah.”
“Right. You should. Miss him. What’s Christmas without the one you love?”
“Yes, Christmas is an especially nice time to be in a relationship.” She bit her lip. “So, uh, why aren’t you dating anyone now?”
He shrugged. “No time, really. The winery is pretty busy with baskets and shipments during the holidays.”
“Cue the plug for my matchmaking company,” she said with a grin. “That’s where we come into play. Busy executives, career-oriented business owners, et cetera…with no time to play the field. We could help you. I’ll even let you try my matchmaking software for free—as a future family member perk.”
He didn’t respond for a full minute, and she was tempted to take back the offer.
“No thanks,” he finally said. “Do you really think you’ve cornered the market on relationships because some computer says so?”
“Well…I’m not sure. But I’d like to think so. I hope so.”
“Why? Why is that so important to you?”
She looked away. “It…it just is.”
“No, nothing just is, Kennedy. I’d like to know why.”
She sucked in her breath, pleased that her chest didn’t feel tight despite how distressing the conversation topic was getting. “I just…I don’t know. I guess, I don’t ever want anyone to go through what my mom went through.”
“What was that?”
“Always choosing Mr. Wrong.” She laughed, but it was bitter sounding even to her own ears. “My dad left us when I was two or three, so I really don’t remember what happened there. But once I got older, I saw a pattern developing. She had no trouble meeting men. My mom was a very attractive woman. But every time she promised me a relationship was going to last, it never did. And when the relationship did eventually fail, she got very, very depressed. It seemed to get worse with each divorce. Things got so bad that I almost had to drop out of college to take on a full-time job to support her.”
“But you didn’t, so what happened?”
“She met someone. A psychologist in the practice where she was getting treated, actually.” She shook her head, remembering how she saw that disaster waiting to happen from a mile away. “Thank goodness, she canceled the wedding two months before they exchanged vows.”
Matt blew out a breath. “Well, it does sound as if your mom did have a little trouble in the relationship department.”
“To put it mildly. The thing is, she didn’t go out to deliberately hurt any of those men or hurt me. She just went with how she was feeling at that moment and never considered anything else. Believe it or not, there are more people out there like my mom than you know.” With sinking despair, she realized she might even be one of them. Which was just another reason why she couldn’t trust what she was feeling toward Matt.
“So you worked on developing this matchmaking software so people would know these other things to consider before entering into a relationship.”
“Exactly. But I’m hoping it’ll be a hit for another reason, too.”
“What’s that?”
“There’s another escort/matchmaking company in town that’s heavily competing with us. The software is a huge turning point for us.” She thought about Mia and all her other loyal employees counting on it—and counting on her as well—and her chest grew heavy.
Matt reached out and took hold of her hand. “I’m sorry for making fun of your company before.”
“It’s okay. You wouldn’t be the first to roll your eyes at me about it. Even Justin was a little leery when he first entered our office as a client.”
“So Justin came in looking for a quirky redhead, huh?”
“Hardly. But based on how he answered our carefully crafted questions, he definitely gravitated to a more independent, career-minded woman.”
He made a face. “With that criteria, I could have fixed him up with my ex-fiancée.”
“There’s a lot more to it than that, obviously. However, I can’t tell you my secret or I’d have to kill you.”
His lips twitched. “I would expect no less.”
She chuckled then froze when she saw he was still holding her hand. It made her aware of his strength and the warmth of his flesh, and a little shiver ran up her arm. Nonchalantly withdrawing it, she scanned the kitchen counter. “I was hoping your mom would have more Christmas goodies lying around. I’m starving.”
“If it took us this long to find the marshmallows, you know we won’t find her famous Christmas shortbread until June. That woman knows the best hiding spots.”
“Oh, too bad.”
“Well, we…we could always make some cookies.”
Her head whipped up. “When? Right now?” She glanced at the microwave clock. “It’s two thirty in the morning.”
“It’s Christmas Eve. It’s the perfect time to make cookies. Unless…you’re tired.”
She wasn’t. In fact, after talking with Matt, she felt strangely energized and alive. Bad feelings to have around your future brother-in-law. She should fake a yawn. Maybe even rub her eyes for good measure. Then bid good night to him. It was the sensible thing to do.
“I’m in,” she said instead.
“Great.” Matt stood and opened a drawer that held cookie sheets and a rolling pin. “Confession. I’ve never made cookies before.”
She grinned. “Confession. I’ve never made them, either.”
“Oh, this is going to be good. The blind leading the blind,” he said with a laugh. He reached up and pulled out the flour and sugar then set them on the counter. “Hey, maybe we need a recipe or something.”
Kennedy picked up a bag of chocolate chips and held it out in front of her. “Let’s make chocolate chip cookies. The recipe is right here on the bag.” She glanced at the directions. “It says we should preheat the oven to 375 degrees.”
“What’s an oven?”
Her gaze cut to his. “What?”
“Kidding!” He walked over to the oven, his eyes shining with subtle humor, and programmed the temperature. “I do happen to live on my own and manage just fine.”
She pretended to wipe sweat off her brow. “Good to know.”
“Okay, what else do we need?”
She checked the recipe again. “Hmm… two eggs and two sticks of butter. Softened butter.”
Matt nodded then opened the refrigerator and pulled out the ingredients.
After peeling the wrappers off the butter, he placed the sticks in a bowl and set it inside the microwave. “You got to use half a brain to make cookies on the fly like this,” he said, tapping a finger to his temple. “We can soften the butter quickly in the microwave.”
“Genius,” she agreed, folding her arms.
The microwave timer dinged, then Matt pulled the bowl out. He looked at it and frowned.
“Looks like butter soup to me,” she said, fighting back a grin.
“Okay, maybe I left it in there too long. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
“You mix the butter with the sugar, and I’ll measure out all the dry ingredients.” She slid the bag of flour over to her, dipped a measuring cup into it, then dumped the contents into a bowl, releasing a cloud of flour dust. She coughed, waving the powder through the air. “Oops.”
He pointed and laughed. “You have flour in your hair.”
She brushed her head. Then ended up with flour on her nightshirt too. “I’m a mess,” she said with a laugh.
“Aw, look at you,” he said, patting her on the back. “You’re not even hyperventilating. Maybe being around this family long enough, you’re getting used to dealing with messes.”
She grabbed a towel and smirked. “Yeah, maybe I’m used to them, but it doesn’t mean I like dealing with them.” She gestured to his bowl, which had the finished cookie dough in it. “Looks like you did pretty well without me.”
“I don’t let messes sidetrack me from my goals. While you were busy cleaning yourself, I was getting down to cookie business,” Matt said, scooping out some dough and dropping it onto the cookie sheet.
“A one-track mind, huh?”
He looked over and met her gaze. “Usually.”
Unsure how to reply, she turned her attention to helping him scoop dough onto the sheet.
Once he had the sheet full, he placed it in the oven.
“We’re ten minutes away from getting that goodness inside us,” he said, rubbing his palms together eagerly.
Kennedy went to the refrigerator and poured them each a small glass of milk. It was kind of nice making cookies with Matt. Fun. And not the forced kind. Not that she had anything to feel guilty about there. Family did things like this all the time—although maybe not at three in the morning, alone with their very attractive, single future brother-in-law.
Wrong Brother, Right Match (Anyone but You #3) Page 11