From Neighbors...to Newlyweds?

by Brenda Harlen

  bluest eyes he’d ever seen. He’d caught his first glimpse of her on moving day. She’d been casually dressed in a sleeveless yellow blouse and a pair of faded denim jeans with her honey-blond hair in a ponytail, but even from a distance, he’d felt the tug of attraction.

  Standing within two feet of her now, that tug was even stronger—much stronger than any self-preservation instincts that warned him against getting involved with a woman with three children who could take hold of his heart.

  “You do have your hands full,” he said.

  “Every day is a challenge,” she agreed. And then, to the boys, “Come on—we’ve got to go get your sister.”

  “Can we bring Pippa back to see the puppies?” Quinn asked hopefully.

  His mother shook her head. “In fact, you’re going to apologize to Mr. Garrett for intruding—”

  “Matt,” he interjected, because it was friendlier than “Mister” and less daunting than “Doctor,” and because he definitely wanted to be on a first-name basis with his lovely neighbor. “And it wasn’t at all an intrusion. In fact, it was a pleasure to meet all of you.”

  “Does that mean we can come back again?” Quinn asked.

  “Anytime,” he said.

  “And within two weeks, you’ll be calling someone to put up a fence between our properties,” Georgia warned.

  He shook his head. “If I did that, they wouldn’t be able to come over to play in the tree house.”

  “Mommy says we can’t go in the tree house,” Quinn admitted. “’Cuz it’s not ours.”

  “But a tree house is made for little boys, and since I don’t have a little boy of my own—” Matt ignored the pang of loss and longing in his heart, deliberately keeping his tone light “—it’s going to need someone to visit it every once in a while, so it doesn’t get lonely.”

  “We could visit,” Quinn immediately piped up, as Shane nodded his head with enthusiasm and Georgia rolled her eyes.

  “That’s a great idea—so long as you check to make sure it’s okay with your mom first,” Matt told them.

  “Can we, Mommy?”

  “Pleeeease?”

  He held his breath, almost as anxious for her response as the twins were. It shouldn’t matter. He didn’t even know this woman—but he knew that he wanted to know her, and he knew that it wouldn’t be a hardship to hang out with her kids, either.

  “We’ll talk about it another time,” she said.

  Quinn let out an exaggerated sigh. “That’s what she says when she means no.”

  “It means ‘we’ll talk about it another time,’” Georgia reiterated firmly.

  “I’m hungry,” Shane said again.

  She tousled his hair. “Then we should go home to make those pizzas.”

  “I’m not hungry,” Quinn said. “I wanna stay here.”

  “If you’re not hungry, then Shane will get all the little pizzas.”

  Georgia’s casual response earned a scowl from her son.

  “And you can help us paint the deck,” Matt told Quinn.

  The furrow in his brow deepened. “I guess I could eat some pizza.”

  “I’d take the pizza over painting, too,” Luke told him.

  “Unfortunately, we weren’t given that choice,” Jack said in a conspiratorial whisper.

  “And since you weren’t,” Matt noted, “you can go get the painting supplies.”

  Jack headed into the house while Luke picked up the basket full of puppies and moved it under the shade of a nearby tree so the curious canines couldn’t get in the way of their work.

  Shane and Quinn stayed by Georgia’s side, but their eyes—filled with an almost desperate yearning—tracked the path of the puppies. And as he looked at the twins’ mother, Matt thought he understood just a little bit of what they were feeling.

  In the more than three years that had passed since his divorce, Matt had wondered if he would ever feel anything more than a basic stirring of attraction for another woman. Ten minutes after meeting Georgia Reed, he could answer that question with a definitive yes.

  “Thank you,” she said to him now.

  “For what?”

  “Being so patient and tolerant with the boys.”

  “I like kids,” he said easily.

  “Then you’ll like this neighborhood,” she told him.

  He held her gaze as his lips curved. “I already do.”

  * * *

  Matt watched as Georgia walked away, with one of the boys’ hands clasped firmly in each of hers. Obviously she wasn’t willing to take any chances that they might disappear again—even on the short trek next door.

  The first time he’d seen her, it hadn’t occurred to him that his gorgeous young neighbor might be a mother. Finding out that she had kids—and not just the adorable twin boys but a baby girl, too—had scrambled his mind further.

  Now that he knew about those children, it seemed wrong to admire the sweet curve of her buttocks in snug-fitting denim. And it was definitely depraved to let his gaze linger on the sway of those feminine hips—or to think about the fullness of breasts hugged by the soft blue knit cardigan she wore.

  She might have been a mother, but that reality did nothing to alter the fact that she was also an incredibly attractive woman. Something about the sexy single mother next door stirred feelings inside of him that hadn’t been stirred in a very long time. And while he was intrigued enough to want to explore those feelings, the kids were a definite complication.

  Matt had dated a lot of women without letting them into his heart, but he had no defenses against the genuine friendliness and easy acceptance of children. Especially not when the loss of his son had left a gaping hole in his heart that ached to be filled.

  “I know what you’re thinking,” Luke said, climbing back up onto the porch.

  “You think so?”

  His youngest brother nodded. “Yeah, she’s a pleasure to look at. But she’s got complication written all over her.”

  “I was only thinking that it was nice to finally meet my neighbor.”

  “You were thinking about asking her out,” Luke accused.

  “Maybe I was,” he acknowledged.

  Jack dropped an armload of painting tools at his feet. “Don’t do it.”

  “Why not?” he asked, unwilling to be dissuaded.

  “Slippery slope.”

  “You mean like an invitation to dinner might lead to a second date?” Matt didn’t bother to disguise his sarcasm.

  “And the next thing you know, you’re walking down the aisle,” Luke agreed.

  “You went out with Becky McKenzie last week.” He felt compelled to point this out. “But I don’t see a ring on your finger.”

  “That’s because when our little brother invites a woman to dinner, it’s just an invitation to dinner,” Jack explained.

  “And maybe breakfast,” Luke interjected with a grin.

  “But when you ask a woman out on a first date...” Jack paused, his brow furrowing. “Well, we don’t actually know what it means, because you haven’t been out on a real date with anyone since Lindsay walked out on you.”

  “I’ve been out with plenty of women.”

  Luke shook his head. “You’ve hooked up with plenty of women—but you haven’t actually been in a relationship with any of them.”

  Now it was Matt’s turn to frown, because he realized that what his brother had said was true.

  “And this one comes with quite a bit of baggage,” Jack noted.

  “A three-piece set,” Luke elaborated.

  “You’re reading way too much into this,” Matt told them.

  “I’m glad you’re thinking about jumping back into the dating pool,” Jack said. “But I don’t get why you’d want to leap directly into the deep end when there are plenty of unencumbered beautiful women hanging out by the water.”

  Matt didn’t know how to respond. He wasn’t sure he could explain—even to himself—what it was about Georgia Reed that appealed to him.
Or maybe he was afraid to admit that he’d fallen for the two little boys who had snuck over to look at the puppies even before he’d realized that his pretty blonde neighbor was their mother.

  Since the breakup of his marriage, he’d been cautious about getting involved again. Having his heart trampled by his ex-wife was bad enough, he wasn’t going to risk having it trampled by anyone else’s children.

  Not again.

  Or so he’d thought—until Quinn and Shane raced into his backyard.

  “I’m not looking for anything more than a chance to get to know my neighbor a little better,” Matt insisted.

  “So get to know her,” Luke agreed. “But don’t get involved with her. A relationship with someone who lives next door might seem convenient at first, but it can be a nightmare if things don’t work out.”

  “Almost as bad as falling into bed with a woman who was supposed to be a friend,” Jack said.

  The statement was made with such conviction Matt was sure there must be a story behind it. But since he didn’t want to discuss his personal life—or current lack thereof—he certainly wasn’t going to grill his brothers about their respective situations.

  “If you’re lonely, you should think about getting a pet,” Luke suggested.

  “Like a puppy?” Matt asked dryly.

  His brother grinned. “Man’s best friend.”

  “A dog is too much of a commitment.”

  “Less than a woman and her three kids,” Jack pointed out.

  Which was a valid consideration, so Matt only said, “Are we going to spend all day sitting around and talking like a bunch of old women or are we going to paint this damn deck?”

  “Since you put it that way,” Luke said. “I guess we’re going to paint the damn deck.”

  Chapter Two

  After Pippa was changed and fed and the boys had helped make little pizzas for their lunch—using up all of the cheese and pepperoni and emptying the last jug of milk—Georgia knew a trip to the grocery store was in order. Since it was a nice day and Quinn and Shane seemed to have energy to burn, she decided they would walk rather than take the minivan.

  The twins refused to ride in the double stroller anymore, insisting that they were too big to be pushed around like babies. Unfortunately, Georgia knew their determination and energy would last only so long as it took to reach their destination and not bring them home again, so she strapped Pippa into her carrier and dragged the wagon along beside her.

  As she started down the driveway, she caught another glimpse of her hunky neighbor and his equally hunky brothers, and her pulse tripped again. The automatic physiological response surprised her. Since Phillip had died, all she’d felt was grief and exhaustion, so the tingles that skated through her veins whenever she set eyes on Matt Garrett weren’t just unexpected but unwelcome.

  She did not want to be attracted to any man, much less one she might cross paths with any time she stepped outside. But while her brain was firm in its conviction, her body wasn’t nearly as certain.

  Matt caught her eye and lifted a hand in greeting. She waved back, then quickly averted her gaze and continued on her way. It was bad enough that she’d caught herself staring—she didn’t need her neighbor to be aware of it, too.

  Of course, he was probably accustomed to women gawking in his direction. A man like that would be.

  Not that she had a lot of experience with men like the Garrett brothers, but she knew their type. In high school, they would have been the most popular boys: the star athletes who had dated only the prettiest girls, the boys that other boys wanted to be and that all of the girls wanted to be with.

  But not Georgia. She’d been too smart to fall into the trap of thinking that those boys would even look twice in her direction. And they never had. Not until Aiden Grainger sat down beside her in senior English and asked if she’d help out with the yearbook. Even then, she’d been certain he was only interested in her ability to correctly place a comma, and no one was more surprised than she when he walked her home after school one day and kissed her.

  And with the first touch of his lips, she’d fallen for him, wholly and completely. They’d dated through the rest of senior year and talked about backpacking around Europe after graduation. Aiden wanted to see the world and Georgia wanted to do whatever he wanted to do so long as she got to be with him.

  This willingness to sacrifice her own hopes and dreams in favor of his terrified her. It reminded her of all the times her life had been upended because her mother decided that she had to follow her heart to another city or another state—usually in pursuit of another man.

  When Georgia was thirteen and starting her third new school in three years, she’d promised herself that she would never do the same thing. And now, barely five years later, she was preparing to throw away a scholarship to Wellesley College in order to follow some guy around Europe? No, she couldn’t do it.

  Aiden claimed that he was disappointed in her decision, but it turned out he wasn’t disappointed enough to change his plans. He’d said he wanted to travel with her, but in the end, he wanted Europe more than he wanted her. And maybe Georgia wanted Wellesley more than she wanted him, because she went off to college and didn’t look back.

  But it had taken her a long time to get over Aiden, and a lot longer than that before she’d been willing to open up her heart again. And when she finally did, she’d lucked out with Phillip Reed.

  Maybe theirs hadn’t been a grand passion, but for almost ten years, he’d made her feel loved and comfortable and secure. It was all she’d ever wanted or needed.

  So how was it that, after less than ten minutes, Matt Garrett had made her wonder if there might be something more? How was it that he’d stirred a passion inside of her that she’d never even known existed? And what was she supposed to do with these feelings?

  Unable to answer any of these unnerving questions, she pushed them aside and led the kids into the grocery store.

  * * *

  When Matt decided to move, his real estate agent had repeated the same mantra: location, location, location. And Tina Stilwell had promised that this neighborhood scored top marks in that regard. There were parks, recreation facilities, a grocery store and schools in the immediate vicinity, with more shopping, restaurants and the hospital—where he worked as an orthopedic surgeon—just a short drive away. She hadn’t mentioned the beautiful blonde next door, and Matt wasn’t sure how that information might have factored into his equation.

  He hadn’t necessarily been looking for a house—and he certainly wasn’t looking for a new relationship. But he believed that real estate was a good investment and this house, in particular, had everything he wanted, not just with respect to location but amenities.

  Jack had, logically, questioned why a single man needed four bedrooms and three bathrooms, forcing Matt to acknowledge that it was more space than he needed. He didn’t admit—even to himself—that he had any residual hope of utilizing those extra bedrooms someday. Because he had a new life now—a new home and a new beginning, and he wasn’t going to waste another minute on regrets or recriminations about the past. From this point on, he was going to look to the future.

  But first, he had to cut the grass.

  As he pushed the lawn mower across his yard, he kept casting surreptitious glances toward his neighbor’s house, eager for any sign of Georgia Reed. He hadn’t seen much of her in the past few days, and he knew she wasn’t home now because the minivan was missing from her driveway, but that didn’t stop him from checking every few minutes.

  Thinking about what his brothers had said, he had to admit, albeit reluctantly, that it might not be a good idea to make a move on the woman next door. At least, not until he’d finished unpacking. If he moved too fast, she might think he was desperate. And he wasn’t—but he was lonely.

  Since his divorce, he’d had a few brief affairs but nothing more meaningful than that. He missed being in a relationship. He missed the camaraderie, the companionship
and the intimacy. Not just sex—but intimacy. After a few unsatisfactory one-night stands, he’d recognized that there was a distinct difference.

  He missed falling asleep beside someone he genuinely wanted to wake up with the next morning. He missed long conversations across the dinner table, quiet nights on the couch with a bowl of popcorn and a movie, and rainy Sunday mornings snuggled up in bed. He missed being with someone, being part of a couple, having a partner by his side to celebrate not just all of the national holidays but all of the ordinary days in between.

  But even more than he missed being a husband, he missed being a father. For almost three years, his little boy had been the center of his life. But Liam had been gone for more than three years now, and it was past time that Matt accepted that and moved on.

  With a sigh, he considered that maybe he should let Luke talk him into taking one of those puppies. At least then he wouldn’t come home to an empty house at the end of a long day.

  Glancing toward Georgia’s house again, he was willing to bet that his neighbor didn’t know what it meant to be lonely. With three kids making constant demands on her time, she probably didn’t have five minutes to herself in a day.

  No doubt the twins alone could keep her hopping, and she had the needs of an infant to contend with as well. Although he had yet to meet the baby girl, he found himself wondering what she looked like, if she had the same dark hair and dark eyes as her brothers (which he assumed they’d inherited from their father) or blond hair and blue eyes like her mother.

  It had to be difficult for Georgia, being widowed at such a young age. Not that he actually knew how old she was, but if she’d passed her thirtieth birthday, he didn’t think she’d done so very long ago. Which meant that she’d likely married when she was young and idealistic and head over heels in love—and that she was probably still grieving the loss of her husband. But even if she wasn’t, Matt didn’t imagine that she had any interest in—or energy for—a romance with her new neighbor.

  A relationship with someone who lives next door might seem convenient...but it can be a nightmare if things don’t work out.

  Luke was probably right. So Matt was going to take his brother’s advice and step back. Which didn’t mean he and Georgia couldn’t be friends. Surely his brothers wouldn’t have any objection to Matt being friends with the woman next door.