“That’s okay. I don’t feel so alone anymore. You have met Molly.”
“Yes, and I wouldn’t be too shocked if you also wind up with a penis cake.”
Emily laughed. “Penis cake aside, did you get what you really wanted today?”
Sarah nodded. But the day wasn’t over. She had a lot to work out with Matt. Find some way of paying him back for all the materials and work he’d done to her now perfect house. Because Sarah wasn’t going to live anywhere else but Fortune.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
SO FAR MATT was zero for two.
There weren’t many flower arrangements left at Rosies and Posies because apparently there’d been a run earlier in the day. No one special occasion, except to hear the owner tell it, Jedd had stayed out too late and was in the doghouse with his wife; Dylan had come by because it was Molly’s birthday day after tomorrow; and poor sap Jimmy was still dealing with Trish, his fiancé and the town’s current Bridezilla. The owner said he regularly came in and ordered a dozen red roses, then threw them at her before she’d let him in the house. So unfortunately all that left was a rather sad-looking something with lilies, which reminded Matt of a funeral arrangement.
Not going there.
Plan B was chocolate, and he loaded up on the stuff. He’d never done anything remotely like this attempt at romantic. Over the top. A grand gesture to show Sarah how much she meant to him. Twelve years of the military life had pretty much obliterated the romantic out of him, had it ever been present at all.
But hell, he was trying.
Never in a million years did he think he’d be in this position. He’d seen plenty of his buddies beg after a fight, some of them married. Some of them not. Matt never had. Never been married and never cared enough to beg. But so help him God, he would drop to his knees if he had to. Ask her to come back to Fortune and give him another chance.
He’d asked Stone not to say a word as he attempted to surprise Sarah. He was coming for his woman. In a plane. What else said “I love you” better than that? He planned to tell her that whether here in Fort Collins or at home in Fortune, he wanted them to be together. They’d work it out long-distance if they had to. He had access to a plane. If there was anything else he could do to show how much he loved her, it had better be chocolate-covered because otherwise he had nothing. But when he arrived at the address of Sarah and Stone’s mother, no one answered the door. So he did what any other poor sap in his place would do.
He sat on the front stoop and waited. And waited.
Eventually a sedan pulled up and out of it came Mrs. Mcallister.
“Thanks for the ride! It was a blast.” She proceeded to move unsteadily up the walkway. Stopped in her tracks when she saw him. “Holy crap on a cracker. What you are you doing here?”
He stood, knowing the answer before the question was out of his mouth. “Sarah isn’t with you?”
“No.”
Of course not, because this was going right along with the kind of day he was having. She took another step and almost tripped, recovering. That’s when he realized Mrs. Mcallister had had a few. Hence the ride home, he imagined.
He took her elbow and guided her to the front door. “You okay?”
“I’m fine,” she said, handing him her keys. “I saw Sarah here earlier with Emily. I think she’s already on her way back.”
Super. Grand gesture right out the window. He opened up the front door for her and stood aside as she walked past him. “Must have just missed her.”
“You people sure do like to fly, don’t you?”
“Yes, ma’am, I guess we do.”
“Did you really fly all the way here just to see Sarah? Did you think she wasn’t coming back?” She gave him a boy-you-must-be-stupid look he’d always treasure.
“I hoped she would, but I’ve learned not to take anything for granted anymore.”
“Touché. Nice work, young man. Too bad your timing is off.”
Story of his life. She didn’t know the half of it. “If you’re okay, I’ll just head back now.”
“Wait a minute.” She flipped another lamp on, plopped down on the couch and studied him. “Don’t you want to know why Sarah was here?”
“You mean you’re going to tell me?”
“You know what? I am. She came to tell me that she’s going to stay in Fortune, and a lot of other nonsense you don’t need to hear about. I guess she thought the news might be easier for me to digest in person. Plus she apparently has planes and pilots at her disposal 24/7.”
Matt didn’t speak. The news was good for him, best he’d had all day.
She sighed. “I thought I was competing with a place all this time. Fortune, California, land of great weather and beautiful people. Her father’s house. But it isn’t so much a place that’s keeping her there anymore. Is it?”
Was he supposed to answer that? “I hope not.”
“You should know my daughter loves you very much. There was a stripper and a penis cake at the party and she didn’t even notice either one.”
“Excuse me?”
“He looked just like Channing Tatum! And the cake was very tasty even if a little...obscene.” She waved her arm. “But never mind all that. You have a teenage son?”
“I do. He’s a good kid, and he adores Sarah.”
“Seems to be mutual. But listen up. You need to put her, any woman you love, first. You’re a father, I get it. A good one, from what I hear. But if you want this to work, she has to be first with you. Always.”
“I know.”
“Sarah seems a little confused about that. She seems to have accepted coming in second, which is something I never thought I’d see my daughter do. That’s how I knew it must be love. You should set her straight on that. If my late husband and I had done that from the start, maybe we would have still been together.”
“Good advice. Anything else?” He really wanted to get going and resisted taking a glance at his watch.
“Just don’t hurt her, because if you do? Let’s just say that I fly commercial and I will get there just the same.”
He nodded sharply. “Fully understood.”
“And one more thing? When you get back and you two laugh about this mix-up, you can also tell her that I was obviously wrong. About everything. I’ll see you two for Stone and Emily’s wedding shower. I’ll bring the cake.”
* * *
WHEN SARAH GOT home in the late evening, Matt was still gone. Shackles was dying to go outside and when she let him out, he ran to the grass and unloaded.
“I’m so sorry, Shack. No one should have to hold it that long. I’m going to get you that doggy door tomorrow.”
This house would be hers, finally really hers, simply because she’d laid claim to it. She’d work it out somehow, sell her condo in Fort Collins and everything she owned if that’s what it took to keep it. Eventually she’d pay Matt back for all the materials and his labor. She would insist, even if she realized he wouldn’t want to accept.
But that’s how this whole journey had begun. Matt trying to help her, insisting on doing the work without pay. All she’d wanted from him was a little physical comfort. A reminder she was still alive. She’d had no idea or plan to fall in love this hard and fast.
So much had changed. Now she’d paint the walls of her home a different color. Put in dog doors and weird shag carpeting if that was what she wanted. It wasn’t her father’s house anymore.
Hers. At last.
But it had now been several hours since Matt and Joanne had left looking for Hunter with no updates. Had they not found him? If something happened to either him or the girl, Sarah could never forgive herself. Despite the fact that she didn’t know how Matt would feel about her right now, and knowing Hunter was still none of her concern, she had to know. She gr
abbed her phone and texted Matt.
Is Hunter okay?
He replied: He’s fine.
Oh thank God. Sarah took a breath.
You were right. Matt texted. Trust. I should have had more.
Where are you?
You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. Just know I’ll be back in a couple of hours. We’ll talk then.
A couple of hours? And forgive her if “we’ll talk then” sounded ominous.
It’s going to be okay. She had a beautiful home, her brother and Emily, and her art. Even if her heart might crack in half without Matt, she’d survive.
Because she was nothing if not a survivor.
The important thing is that she’d managed to love someone completely. Trusting every part of herself, risking it all. Knowing it was worth it. She headed back to her shed. This had become her “happy place” and for once art no longer took on the ominous tone it had for years. She would no longer draw the faces of people she saw in her nightmares. Every day she looked forward to spending hours in here, often losing track of time. She went to work adding hues of chocolate brown to Matt’s eyes and the honey tinge to his light brown hair. It wasn’t half bad, even if this landscape had become something unplanned, exactly as Matt had suggested. And why not take a piece of art and make something completely new out of it? It didn’t need a name, label or category to fit neatly into. It just had to be hers.
Maybe she would talk to Emily, as Matt had suggested, about selling some of her artwork at the barn. No special favors, of course, and she’d insist on a healthy contingency for Emily’s family. But this one was for Matt. For Matt and Hunter. Sarah found a good stopping place, then placed her brushes in the acrylic solution jar. She walked back inside with Shackles and found Matt standing in the kitchen, staring at the new cabinet doors.
Shackles yipped and attacked Matt’s ankles. Sarah stared at him because he seemed so lost, standing there alone, bending down briefly to pet Shack. Her heart leaped in her chest as she briefly wondered if it was fair to love someone this much.
“This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.” He looked disappointed, hands on hips and eyes half-mast.
Sarah’s heart dropped to her toes. “Matt—I’m really sorry about the things I said before.”
Still studying the cabinets, he slowly shook his head. “I wanted these for you. Sure, they’re beautiful even at first glance. But if you get closer, that’s when you see all the different hues of red that blend perfectly with the brown. You almost can’t see them at first, but once you do the effect is...devastating.”
He sees color the same way I do, Sarah thought, but in the next moment she wondered why on earth they were discussing kitchen cabinets when they each had so much to say to each other. When she had so much to say to him.
“Matt. I know I said I wouldn’t fall for you, but I didn’t keep my end of that deal. And I’m sorry if I hurt you. You trusted me and I let you down.”
“You didn’t. No, you’re probably the one person who’s never let me down. I know why you didn’t tell me, but you can’t keep things from me from now on. We can’t keep anything from each other.”
She nodded, and her eyes became watery.
Then he cracked a sheepish smile, ran a hand down his face. “I’m such an idiot.”
Sarah went for it. Now or never. She ran and jumped into his arms. He caught her easily and she had a good feeling that he always would.
“But you’re my idiot.”
“I’ve been waiting for this all day,” he said, his hands tightening around the legs she had wrapped around his back.
“Where were you?”
When he told her the entire story, even adding Mom’s veiled threat, she would have laughed if her heart wasn’t so full. He’d come for her. But their two planes had nearly passed each other. A story for the grandkids, she thought.
“I was going for a grand gesture.”
She wiggled in his arms, planting a kiss on his lips. “Message received.”
“Let’s get one thing straight. I’m not normally a grand gesture kind of guy, but I’m willing to try again. Maybe I’ll have better luck next time. Remind me later, but there are several boxes of melted chocolate in my truck. Rosies and Posies was all out of flowers.”
Sarah barely smothered another laugh. “The plane was more than enough.”
He pulled her closer. “Look, babe. I know it’s complicated. It’s not easy for you and me. We’re both from fractured families and doing the best we can. I get it. But the only thing that really matters is what we have here. You and me. Right now. It’s the only thing that matters.”
Yes, oh yes. “You and me. Me and you. This combination works for me.”
“And I don’t think you should sell this house. Don’t argue. Just hear me out first.”
“But—”
“No buts, Sarah. This is a beautiful house and no one deserves it more than you do.”
“I agree. I’m not selling.”
He looked a bit stunned. “Seriously? This has to be the shortest argument we’ve ever had.”
“Here’s to more of those!”
“There’s one more thing I want you to do.”
“Anything.”
His big hand palmed her neck and he pulled her mouth close to his. “Don’t ever let me put you second. I love you, Sarah. You’re first with me. Always. You’re it for me. Do you get me?”
She nodded, her eyes watery. “I love you, too. So much.”
“You better.”
“But we need to have a talk about how I can pay you back for all the—”
He shut her up with a kiss.
This was actually her favorite way of him shutting her up. “It’s just that—”
He gave her another kiss. This one harder, longer. Deeper. If he kept this up she would soon forget her own name, much less all the money she owed him. When she came up for air he was carrying her into the bedroom.
“Oh, this is a good idea, but still. I’m going to pay you back. I mean it.”
He plopped her down on the bed, shut the bedroom door and started unbuttoning his shirt. Her brain stopped working. There was something about a house and money but beyond that she had zip. “I—”
“I’ll tell you what,” he said, discarding his shirt on the floor. “How about I live here with you for the rest of my life? Will that do it? Can we call it even?”
Her heart slammed against her rib cage. Forever with Matt. She couldn’t imagine anything better. And finally, for the first time in years, she was ready to risk it all.
“You’ve got yourself a deal.”
Epilogue
September
BUTTERFLIES HAD TAKEN up residence in Sarah’s stomach. Hell, it seemed like they were throwing a housewarming party in there. Okay, calm down. You’ve got this. No worries. And true enough, she was ready for all this.
Maybe.
Two months ago when she’d approached the owners of the Pandemonium Art Gallery in Fortune about a small showing, she certainly hadn’t expected...all of this. She’d thought maybe a small event with a few of the locals. Some wine, some cheese, maybe a little panel discussion with the other artists on art and its many mediums. She wanted to start small so that if she bombed, not many would hear about it.
But events never stayed small when Emily Parker soon-to-be-Mcallister heard about them. She’d amassed such a large contingency of friends and family that it seemed as if the entire town had come out. The crowd of people spilled in as the doors opened and the married couple that owned the gallery warmly welcomed everyone inside. Sarah moved from where she stood in front of her paintings. She didn’t want anyone to think they had to compliment her work because she was standing there, but it would be even worse if they insulted her baby rig
ht in front of her. How could she not haul off and slug them? Not even slightly at ease, she moved quickly through the crowd. She immediately caught Emily’s eye as she headed toward Sarah, Stone behind her.
“This is so exciting!” Emily said and grabbed Sarah in a bear hug.
“Hey, sis,” Stone said.
“Thanks for coming.” Sarah wrung her hands together.
What should she do now? Walk around and praise the other artist’s paintings? Should she mingle or hang out with her friends and acquaintances? Realistically, she understood Matt was right and that if she wanted to be an artist, her work would eventually have to be seen. But while she loved spending hours in the room addition Matt had recently built for her so that she no longer had to use the garden shed, she didn’t care as much for all the schmoozing. Her art was so intensely personal and private that it made her ache a little inside to see it hanging up on the walls being judged. No, not judged. Appreciated.
There, that’s better.
“Where’s Matt?” Stone asked.
“On his way.”
Sarah glanced at the time. He was actually a little late, but he’d gone to pick up Hunter, who at the last minute had insisted on being here, too. It was sweet that Hunter had been so supportive all along, but realistically, all she wanted, all she needed, was Matt. Only he seemed to soothe her frazzled nerves.
“See you in a bit. We’re going to go stand in front of your paintings and pretend we know what we’re talking about.” Emily tugged Stone in the other direction.
Sarah continued to walk, scan the crowd, and greet friends and locals she recognized, stopping long enough to appreciate every artist and their work. There was so much talent in this one small room that she felt honored to be here among her peers.
She would have known Matt stood behind her even before she turned around. That magnetic pull to him still hadn’t stopped, and she doubted it ever would now.
“Hey, beautiful.”
She spun around to find Matt, her solid wall of strength.
Airman to the Rescue Page 25