“Ah-ha!” Charlie jumped out from around the corner of the house, water cannon aimed high, wide eyes alight with excitement. “Ooops.” Her hand flicked off the trigger at the last second. “Sorry, Deputy Matt.”
“No problem.” He dropped a hand on her head. “Where’s your aunt?”
“Aunt Lori!” Charlie yelled as she dived out of sight again, then screamed as Simon let out a cackle of comic book villain proportions. “No fair! Awww, man! I’m soaked again!”
Matt poked his head around the corner and found Ozzy had pinned Lori in the corner of the fence line. Both were drenched from head to toe. Lori’s lashes were spiked, water dripped off her hair, off her nose, and the laughter erupting from her was almost enough to make him forget what he’d done.
Almost. He knew the instant she spotted him. Her arms went lax and she dropped her water cannon. “Matt.” She drew her free hand across her mouth and sputtered as Ozzy took aim. “I’m out.”
“Double darn.” Ozzy backed off, hoisted his cannon over his shoulder and headed toward Matt. “Whatever you did, I’m glad I’m not you. Charlie, Simon, we need to find another fourth.”
“I bet my dad will do it!” Simon yelled. “Dad!”
Suddenly Matt and Lori were alone. “I’m sorry.” How many times was he going to have to say those words to her?
She stared at him. The only reason he knew she was still alive was that he could see her breathing. And that her hand clenched into a fist.
“I—something came up and I—I should have called. I tried to once I—”
“Once you remembered?” She pushed her damp hair off her face. “Nice.” She started toward him, but he soon realized she didn’t have any intention of stopping.
He reached out and caught her arm. “Lori, please.”
“I really, really don’t want to get into this with you here,” she said in too calm a voice.
“A friend called, someone I promised to help. Someone I had to help. She—”
“She?” Lori wrenched her arm free. “She. Of course it’s a she.” He’d never seen her so angry before. So hurt. “Why wouldn’t history repeat itself?”
“I don’t understand.” Matt glanced over his shoulder to where Fletcher stood watching them with what Matt could only define as a dead-man stare. “What history? I didn’t do this on purpose, Lori. I...okay, I got tunnel vision and forgot. What else should I have done?”
“Nothing. Nothing, Matt. This is my issue, not yours. I don’t have the...” She looked at him as if he could find the words for her. “I can’t keep doing this.” Was she talking to herself or to him? “I can’t keep getting my hopes up only to be disappointed. It’s a roller coaster.” She looked at him, resignation on her face. “And I hate roller coasters.”
“Meaning what? We’re back to being friends? No discussion?”
“Meaning I don’t like what this is turning me into. I’m starting to sound like a jealous needy shrew.”
“There’s nothing to be jealous of.” Not that he didn’t like the idea she cared enough to be jealous. “Hack, I mean Kendall, she’s a friend, Lori. That’s all she’s ever been. I couldn’t say no when she called. I made a promise.”
“I have no doubt. That’s what you do best. It’s who you are. But how do you think I feel knowing you forgot all about me when she did call?” The hostility faded from her face. “It’s okay, Matt. Really. It’s best we take this as another sign we really aren’t meant to be anything more than friends.”
“I refuse to believe that.” But he could feel her slipping away from him; she was closing that door he’d worked so hard to reopen. “Please, let’s talk this out.”
“Talk about what? How I stood at my living room window, counting the minutes like a pathetic teenager waiting on her prom date? I called the station. I called your cell...”
“I had it on vibrate. I didn’t hear it.”
“Wow. Okay. I guess that changes everything.” She turned her face away, but not before he saw tears spring into her eyes. “I should be grateful this time around didn’t come with a public humiliation follow-up.”
“What are you talking about?” Public humiliation follow-up? What was he missing here? “I got here as fast as I could so I could explain, so I could apologize.”
“I appreciate that. You’re a really good guy, Matt, but it’s time for me to admit I’m not relationship material.”
Was he really getting the “it’s not you, it’s me” spiel? “Look, this doesn’t warrant this big an overreaction. Let’s just go somewhere and—”
She jerked as if he’d slapped her. In the next seconds her eyes cleared, the color in her cheeks drained and she pulled herself together. “You know what? You’re right. I am overreacting. Which is further evidence we need to put a stop to this before it goes too far. Apology accepted, Matt. No hard feelings. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to get something to drink and enjoy the rest of the party.” She shoved the water cannon into his hands and walked away.
* * *
HOW COULD LORI feel as if the rug had been pulled out from under her when she’d been the one doing the pulling?
It had been three days since she’d stomped on the brakes with Matt. For the second time. In those three days she’d thrown herself into the landscaping project and found completely useless aspects of her job to train Willa on. Three days with not one text or phone call from Matt.
“What did you expect?” Gathering her purse and sweater from behind the registration desk at the Flutterby, Lori once again told herself she’d done the right thing. Except she’d done it for the wrong reason. She’d broken things off with Matt not because he’d hurt her by not calling. But because she’d gotten scared, because her feelings were getting too real, and in her experience, real only led to heartache.
Except her heart still ached anyway. She dropped her things on the desk and sat back down, rubbed a shaking hand against her chest. She missed him. More than she expected. More than she should.
More than she wanted to.
The tension between her and Matt hadn’t gone unnoticed by their friends. Without even knowing the situation, Fletcher had taken her side, which from what Lori had heard, meant they weren’t getting along at work. Holly and Abby had both ambushed her at her house last night with a gallon of Rocky Road and three very large spoons to quietly demand she talk to them. She’d sent them and the ice cream away after insisting she was fine.
She wasn’t fine. She was bordering on pathetic and it was beginning to tick her off. What relationships didn’t have their issues? Who cut a man off the way she had while he was trying to apologize, while he was admitting to being in the wrong? Wasn’t that some kind of relationship felony? She rested her head in her hands and took slow, deep breaths. What on earth was the matter with her?
Matt was a good guy who’d made a mistake. A mistake she hadn’t let him completely explain. How was he to know everything he’d done that day was the stuff her teenage nightmares had been made of. She hadn’t told him anything; she’d never talked about it, not even with Fletcher, who, along with Abby, had witnessed the fallout firsthand. What had she done?
Tears prickled the backs of her eyes. Why couldn’t she just let herself trust? Just a little?
The front door popped open. A cool breeze washed in along with the thin, dark-haired woman she recognized from the barbecue. She wore all black, from her tight ponytail to the loose black tee, sagging cargo pants all the way to the sturdy work boots on her feet. She was down to one bandage on her cheek, hadn’t made any effort to cover the scarring on the other side of her neck. The shadows under her eyes were even more pronounced than Lori remembered. Matt’s friend. Kendall something?
“Welcome to the Flutterby Inn.” Lori winced as her voice cracked. Way to show confidence. “You’re, ah...”
“Kendall Davidson. We weren’t prop
erly introduced the other day.” She approached with her hand out. “You and I need to talk.”
Lori straightened to her full height, not realizing it was a subconscious intimidation tactic until Kendall inched her chin up and arched a brow. “Do we? About what?”
“About you dumping the best guy on the planet.” She released Lori’s hand, jerked a finger toward the coffee urn on the side table. “That fresh?”
“Yes.” Lori blinked. She supposed there was something refreshing about a woman who said exactly what was on her mind. “Help yourself.”
“Great. Thanks.” She filled a cup to the brim, didn’t bother with cream or sugar and sipped. The sigh that escaped her lips had Lori smiling against her will. “Shall we sit?” She pointed to the pair of teal-and-gold upholstered wingback chairs by the bay window. “One thing I’ve noticed about your town. Every view is spectacular. But that might be the best.” She pointed to the crashing waves rollicking against the rocks at the base of the cliff. “Postcard material for sure.”
“It’s why we put it on the brochures.” Lori walked around the desk and sat on the chair across from her. The way Kendall settled into the cushions, crossed her legs and peered at Lori over the edge of her cup made Lori wonder if she’d taken an odd combination of etiquette and self-defense classes. “I didn’t dump Matt.”
“Given the way he’s been sulking around his house the last couple of days, I beg to differ. Do you know who I am?”
“The friend of the best guy on the planet?” Matt was sulking? Over her?
Kendall smirked and shifted her gaze to the window, to the ocean, and for an instant, Lori suspected she drifted to someplace else. “We served together. In Iraq. Three tours. We bonded instantly. Can’t explain it. There’s just something...steady about him, you know?”
Lori nodded. She did know. Although where Matt didn’t seem particularly haunted by his military service, Kendall looked as if she’d brought back a planeload of ghosts.
“He ever tell you how he lost his leg?”
“An IED explosion.” Lori folded her hands in her lap. “I didn’t ask for details. I wasn’t sure how to.” She didn’t think he wanted to talk about it.
“You could have.” Kendall smirked. “Knowing Matt he would have shrugged it off with a joke. The attack took out our entire convoy. Except him and me.” She drank more coffee as her eyes took on that distant haze. “Eight of our friends, gone.” She snapped her fingers. “Like that.”
Lori didn’t have any frame of reference other than horror, sympathy and admiration for what soldiers went through. Any words she might have uttered seemed completely useless.
“Our caravan was hit by mortar fire. Flipped our vehicle. I was caught inside. Could feel the flames licking my face.” She brushed fingers against her scarred cheek. “My clothes caught fire. Figured that was it. Next thing I knew Matt was dragging me out. He got us to cover, but not before an insurgent shot him seven times. Three bullets went in his leg. Nearly severed it then and there. Next thing I know, we’re being evac’ed to different hospitals, him stateside and me to a military base in Germany. Third-degree burns over eighty percent of my torso. Needless to say I no longer wear bikinis. You can laugh,” Kendall said. “It was meant to be funny.”
Lori wasn’t sure she could.
“Matt came to get me in Durante because he’d made a promise,” Kendall said. “I bet you know him well enough by now there’s very little he takes more seriously than that.”
None of this was news to Lori. It only confirmed what she already suspected about him. “Why are you telling me all this?”
“Because you need to hear it. And because Matt would never tell you anything that might change your opinion of him.”
“Nothing you’ve told me would do that.” How would illustrating his obvious heroism do anything than make her care about him more?
“Good. Then you can begin to see why my calling him the other morning caused him to short-circuit.” She waggled her fingers near her temple. “Hearing my voice, I know he went back there. To that day. I know he did because I did. I didn’t have, don’t have, anyone else to call and, well...honestly? I was more scared after that stupid car accident than I care to admit. He didn’t forget about you on purpose, Lori. He didn’t not show up because he didn’t feel like it or because he didn’t want to see you. He did want to see you. I know this because he practically burned out his truck trying to get back to you to explain. But never once did he make me feel as if it was my fault or as if I’d cost him anything. Even though I clearly did.”
“The accident wasn’t your fault. You said yourself you didn’t have anyone else—”
“Yet here I am, explaining things to you and hoping you’ll give him another chance. I’m not his responsibility, Lori. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t think I am. I’m...broken. I think in some weird way he’s convinced himself he can put me back together.” She looked back at the ocean. “He can’t. No one can.”
Lori didn’t like the vacant expression on Kendall’s face. She appeared a little too peaceful, a little too calm.
“He likes you, Lori. A lot. He told me about his divorce, which if you ask me was a long time coming. I also let him know what an idiot he was for not telling you about Gina from the get-go.”
Feeling the need to explain, Lori blurted, “It wasn’t the being married that hurt so much as the—”
“The secret. He didn’t trust you, which only makes you trust him less, right? Wow.” She let out a laugh. “If my head docs could only hear me now. It’s like I listened to them or something. Everyone has their thing that keeps them from being happy. We are our own worst enemies. Matt will bend himself into a pretzel to help people, even if it means damaging his own relationships. He needs help with that. He needs the right person. But that person has to believe that in the end, she’s what matters to him. Whatever your history is, Lori, whatever it is that you’re letting come between you, get it out in the open. We both know you aren’t ticked at him because he didn’t call you. That’s just stupid.”
Having reached the same conclusion, Lori couldn’t argue. “Are you always this blunt?”
“Only when it matters. Only when I see someone throwing away something potentially life changing simply because they’re scared. And for the record, if I thought for one second you weren’t worthy of him, I wouldn’t have hauled my butt over here. I’d much rather be sulking in that rainforest of a backyard of his.” She smiled as Lori sat up straighter. “Yeah, he said you’d have that reaction. I think he was planning on using that as a temptation device to get you back. Some girls like diamonds. Matt’s girl likes plants.”
“I get what you’re saying,” Lori said. “I do. But...”
“Holy hamburgers and French fries.” Abby shoved through the glass doors of the dining room, cell phone in one hand, a crumpled piece of paper in the other. “Lori, can you believe that freaking contractor is trying to back out...oh. Hi. Kendall, right?” Abby’s brow furrowed. “I’m sorry to interrupt. Thought it was a slow day.”
“It is,” Lori said. “Kendall and I were just talking.”
“About Matt,” Kendall added, and ignored Lori’s horrified look of warning like an expert. “I’m thinking we need to lock these two in a closet together or something. Get them to talk it out.”
Abby kicked out a hip and planted a tense fist on her waist. “Holly and I attempted to convey that same message only with ice cream. You doing better?”
“Time will tell.”
“What’s up with the contractors now?” Lori asked in an effort to change the conversation.
“He’s reevaluated his estimate after he’s done almost half the work. Says he can’t proceed with the project unless I give him another five thousand on the spot.”
“That’s a rip-off,” Kendall muttered.
“Right?” Lori nodded. “Even if
money was an issue, that’s tantamount to extortion. Don’t do it.”
“Ya think?” Abby held up the wadded paper like a torch. “I knew the guy was too good to be true, but corporate liked his bid.”
“If it wasn’t for corporate, the inn would have closed and you know it. The jerk’s bid was thirty percent below everyone else,” Lori explained to Kendall. “Now we know why. He’s holding the guest cabins hostage.”
“What’s left to do?” Kendall asked as she finished her coffee.
“Oh, only half the flooring, the baseboard and trim, new sinks in the bathrooms—”
“Show me.” Kendall stood.
Lori and Abby stared at her. “Show you what?” Lori asked.
“The cabins. What’s left to do.”
“Because...?” Abby hedged.
“Because I have some construction experience and I’m bored out of my mind.”
“What kind of experience?” Abby asked.
“Enough to finish the job. Not enough to be licensed. I’ve been doing handyman jobs on and off since I was discharged, but my dad was a carpenter. Uncles were electricians. I had a saw in my hands before I could hold a fork.” She pushed to her feet, wiped her hands on her pants. “And, I oversaw construction on our base in Iraq part-time. Can’t hurt to have me look, right?”
“No, it couldn’t,” Lori said before Abby could answer. “Is that where Hacksaw comes from?”
Kendall nodded. “It was either Hacksaw or MacGyver. I took the one that wasn’t trademarked.”
“What’s your rate?” Abby asked. “This guy’s already blown through three-quarters of the budget.”
“I’m negotiable. But I can tell you it’ll be less than five K.”
“I can take her down—” Lori offered but Abby waved her off.
“I’ve got it. I need to get some fresh air anyway. Besides, you’re off for the rest of the day. Be somewhere else. Plant something.” Abby gave her a similar look to the tolerant one Kendall had perfected. “Talk to someone.” The two women headed out of the inn, chattering like old friends.
Always the Hero Page 15