“I like that one, and I like Old Maid, and I like to play Sorry, too. Did you ever play Sorry?”
“I’m not sure.”
“I like that one,” Matt remarked.
“I’m always the red player,” Annie told him. “What color are you?”
“I’m partial to green.”
“Annie, leave those folks alone and come over here,” Esther called to her granddaughter and then waved at Matt and Lucy. “She’ll talk your ear off if you let her.”
“They don’t mind,” Annie said with confidence. “They like me, dontcha?”
“We do. You’re right,” Lucy replied.
“Come over here right now, Annabelle.”
“Uh-oh,” Annie said. “When she calls me that, I know I better pay attention.”
Lucy cracked up at that, and she ruffled Annie’s hair before the girl ran off to join her family.
“She’s so cute I get a toothache,” Matt told her. “She’s a little Mini-You.”
“I give you a toothache?”
“Not so much anymore, no,” he replied seriously, and Lucy smacked him on the arm as he guffawed. “But you used to be very sweet.”
“You stinker,” she said, shaking her head as she turned back toward the kitchen. “No pancakes for you.”
“Hey, do you need some help?”
“Nah. Betty Sue and I have it.”
Matt watched her disappear and then poured himself a glass of orange juice. He looked up from the table as Justin blew through the front door, his clothes disheveled and his hair uncombed and falling down into his face.
“What’s up with you?” Matt asked him, as Justin poured a cup of coffee. “Wake up on the wrong side of the Ozarks?”
“You have no idea.”
“Well, what is it? What happened?”
“Zilch,” he groaned. “Absolutely nothing.”
It seemed to Matt like the whole place froze the instant that Lucy and Betty Sue came through the kitchen door loaded down with breakfast trays. Justin’s eyes met Lucy’s, and sirens sounded off.
Lucy broke the gaze first, following Betty Sue to the banquet table, and Matt watched Justin pull himself together before he trailed them.
“Hey,” he heard Justin say to Lucy, and she smiled tentatively.
“Hey.”
“How are you doing?” he asked.
“All right. You?”
Matt heard Justin sigh and say something that sounded like, “I’ve been better.” But what followed was spoken in hushed tones. Something had obviously occurred between the two of them, and Matt wondered why Lucy hadn’t shared it with him.
A moment later, Lucy whispered something and Justin nodded in reply, and the two of them embraced. Whatever the issue was, it had apparently been resolved.
Matt drained his orange juice glass and smacked it down on the table just as Betty Sue called everyone to breakfast.
“At last!” he exclaimed. “Let’s eat.”
Matt spooned out a heaping serving of eggs and stabbed a couple of pancakes from the platter.
“Be sure to try the syrup in the blue pitcher,” Lucy suggested. “We made it from scratch.”
This side of Lucy surprised Matt. She was as excited about that cinnamon macadamia syrup in the blue, flowered pitcher as she’d been about anything else he could think of. He dipped his finger into the syrup that puddled around his pancakes, tasted it, and gave Lucy a quick double take.
“Are you kidding me? You made this?”
“She sure did,” Betty Sue exclaimed.
“Betty Sue is a great teacher,” Lucy told them. “She’s totally inspired me. I’m even thinking about taking some cooking classes when we get home.”
Matt shook his head as a laugh burst out of him. “Chef Lucy Lou. Who knew?”
“Well, after we enjoy Chef Lucy’s lovely breakfast,” Alison announced, “we can all start packing our things and get ready to check out of our cabins. We’ll meet at the cars in two hours.” Checking her watch, she nodded. “At eleven a.m.”
“Check!” Tony exclaimed.
“Maybe there will be time to hike up to the ridge one last time,” Wendy suggested to Matt, and he nodded.
He’d been hoping for the chance to get Wendy alone before they set out for Little Rock.
The bad news: I discovered the love of my life about twenty seconds too late.
The good news: Mattie will always be in my life. He’s my best friend.
I’m a walking, breathing, tragic love story. The only thing that would make it more of a made-for-TV movie would be if I’d contracted a rare, disfiguring disease while feeding starving children in the African jungle and was sputtering out my final breath when I discovered the truth at last.
“Cough. Oh, Mattie. Cough. Have a beautiful life with (cough) Wendy and your six amazing, blond children. Cough. Be happy. And never forget (cough) that I (cough) love you.”
I’m a soap opera.
Will he marry her, Lord? Will I one day be the Best (wo)Man at his wedding, forced to smile until my cheeks ache while I watch him pledge his undying love as he slips a platinum eternity band on her finger next to the princess-cut, two-carat engagement ring that he gave her at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve?
Because that would really stink.
So anyway…I packed my bags and then spent some time out on the deck to write a thank-you note to Betty Sue. Five minutes after I curled up with my journal on the bed, Wendy floated in.
As I write this, she is in the room with me, folding her clothes into neat little squares that she stacks in her suitcase like chips in a Pringles can. Who does that? Who is that meticulous?
She certainly doesn’t look as happy as I would look if I’d just won Mattie’s heart. But then she doesn’t know him well enough yet to know what a wonderful guy she just scored.
They stole away after breakfast for a last romantic walk along the ridge, while I sat in the kitchen with Betty Sue crying my eyes out.
She’s such a good woman for listening and sympathizing and telling me things like how You’re the One in control and how if Mattie and I were truly meant to be, then this will only be a hiccup in getting there. I’m pretty sure we both knew that Matt and Wendy are a no-brainer and the chances of him finding his way to me after being with her are slim to none. But it was very kind of her anyhow.
I just want to take this time to thank You for bringing me to my senses and stopping me before I made a full commitment to a pretty face just because he was there. Don’t get me wrong. It hurts like salt on a scraped knee to know I’ll never get to tell Mattie what I finally figured out about myself and my heart. But at the same time, I’m grateful that You didn’t let me snowball my trip to Snowball any further than I already had.
I hope You’ll find someone lovely for Justin, because he’s a very nice man. He’s just not MY very nice man. Mattie is.
What am I supposed to do with THAT, I wonder.
Slow but sure,
Lucy Louise Binoche
Chapter Twenty-One
LUCY FOLDED HER JOURNAL SHUT AND CLIPPED HER FAVORITE PEN ON the binding before sliding it into the outside pocket of her bag.
“I guess that’s it for me,” she said. “I’m ready to go. How about you?”
Wendy had her back to Lucy as she leaned over her suitcase and zipped it shut. She didn’t turn around when she replied, “Almost.”
“Do you want to walk down together?”
“No, you go ahead. I’ll catch up.”
Lucy slipped into her jacket and tugged at the zipper. Just as she was about to yank her bag off the bed, she glanced Wendy’s way and did a double take.
“Wen?”
Wendy was perched on the corner of her bed, silent tears cascading down her cheeks.
“What is it?” Lucy asked, and she sat down next to her friend, slipping an arm around her shoulder. “Are you all right?”
“Oh, I’m fine. Go ahead down to the cars,” she sniff
ed. “I’ll be there in a couple of minutes.”
“Wendy, I’m not going anywhere until you tell me why you’re crying.”
“I can’t tell you, Lucy.”
“Of course you can.”
“No. I can’t. Please just go. I just need to wash my face and pull myself together a little.”
Lucy looked at her friend long and hard, and Wendy nodded at her.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure.”
Lucy stood up and smoothed her jacket before crossing to her own bed and picking up her bags.
“Can I get you anything?” she asked.
“No. Thank you, though.”
She carried her things out the door and across the living room, but Wendy’s red, weepy eyes stayed with her somehow, and Lucy couldn’t bring herself to leave without providing some sort of comfort or support. She stood for a full minute with her hand on the doorknob, debating about what to do and wondering what could have happened to make Wendy so upset. For a moment, she considered going to get Matt to see if he could help, but then she realized perhaps he’d been the one to say or do something to cause the disappointment in Wendy’s blue eyes. Men could be so clueless sometimes.
“Wendy,” she said as she stepped back into the bedroom. “I can’t just leave when you’re like this. Please tell me what’s wrong. Did Mattie do something dumb because—”
When Wendy didn’t lift her head, Lucy hurried toward her and gingerly sat down beside her.
“—because men can be so thoughtless, and I’m sure he didn’t mean whatever he said or did.”
Wendy surprised her when she looked up and smiled at Lucy through the mist in her eyes.
“Yes, he did, Lucy. He meant it.”
“Lanie used to have this T-shirt that she would wear all the time, Wendy. I wish I had it right now, because I’d give it to you to wear home. On the front it said, ‘BOYS ARE STUPID.’”
Wendy laughed, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.
“Whatever Matt might have said or done—”
“Lucy,” Wendy interrupted, pressing her hand firmly against her leg. “Matt wasn’t stupid or clueless. He just doesn’t want to go out with me.”
“Yes, he does.”
“No. He doesn’t.”
“He told me himself,” Lucy insisted. “He said women like you don’t come along every day. He said he’d be a fool not to pursue it and see where it would go.”
“Yep,” she nodded. “He told me all of that, too—”
“Then what makes you think—”
“—right before he added that he just didn’t see us going anywhere.”
Lucy pinned down the pop of glee the minute it reared its head.
“Wendy, that doesn’t make any sense at all.”
“Well, that’s what I thought, too,” she said, and she pressed her lips together for a moment. “Until he told me about the extenuating circumstances.”
“What circumstances?”
“I really don’t think I should go into that, Lucy.”
“What do you mean? I’m Mattie’s best friend. If there were extenuating circumstances, I think I would know what they are. Are you sure you didn’t misunderstand what he was saying?”
Wendy giggled and then smiled sweetly at Lucy. “No, I didn’t misunderstand.”
“Do you want me to go have a talk with him? Because I think he needs to clear this up between you before it gets—”
“Lucy,” Wendy said, exasperated. Taking one of Lucy’s hands between both of hers, she added, “Matt is a wonderful guy, and he wanted to be completely honest with me so that I didn’t end up getting hurt. I appreciated that very much, even though I didn’t like what he had to say.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Matt has feelings for someone else.”
“He… What? No, he doesn’t.”
“Oh, Lucy. I think everyone knows it except the two of you.”
“Knows what?”
Lucy’s pulse was racing, but her senses were caught in a fog of molasses and she couldn’t break free.
“Lucy. Matt is in love…with you.”
An invisible fist socked her right in the stomach, knocking the wind right out of her. She tried and tried, but she couldn’t seem to catch her breath.
“I shouldn’t be the one to tell you this. Matt should be the one,” Wendy told her, but the words were lost beneath a monotone hum in Lucy’s ears. “But I don’t know if he’ll ever tell you, Lucy. And if you have even the remotest idea that you might love him, too—”
“I do!” she exclaimed, and then she clamped her hand over her mouth, astonished.
“You do?”
“I do,” she said through closed fingers.
Wendy gently lifted Lucy’s hand from her mouth and held it. “You love Matt?” she asked her.
Before she could answer, Lucy popped to her feet and stood there like a stunned deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming semi truck.
“Lucy?”
“I love him,” she declared without blinking. “I love Matt.”
Wendy tugged at her wrist, pulling Lucy around to face her. She looked at Lucy so hard that the weight of it pressed her down.
“He’s on the ridge,” Wendy stated. “Go tell him.”
Lucy’s feet were stuck in concrete, and her heartbeat burned in her chest as it bounced around violently.
“Lucy. Go tell him.”
Their eyes met, and Lucy was desperate to read something in Wendy’s eyes that would clear the haze and help her to understand.
“Go,” Wendy said, and the key turned in Lucy’s ignition at last.
First she jumped from one foot to the other and then let out a tiny squeal.
Wendy grinned and nodded, urging her on, and Lucy sprinted toward the door on the power of sheer adrenaline. In the doorway, she turned back and met Wendy’s eyes again.
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Should I—”
“Go!”
A million scenarios bumped into one another in her head, and Lucy couldn’t make heads or tails of any of them except for one brief moment of unexpected clarity.
She turned back and looked at Wendy through a mist of emotion in her eyes.
“Wendy?”
“Go,” she repeated.
“I’m so sorry.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “You have nothing to be sorry for, and neither does Matt. But don’t fumble this, Lucy. Go to him and make it right. Tell him the truth, and let him tell you.”
Lucy clutched at her heart with both hands. She tried to find her voice, but it was nowhere to be found, so she formed the words with her mouth.
“Thank you.”
Before she could think about what she was doing, Lucy was out the door and down the stairs, limping up the hill as fast as she could.
Rob called to her from the front door of the men’s cabin as he dragged his suitcase across the threshold, and Lucy’s ankle throbbed as she slipped to a stop.
“Matt?” she asked him. “Is he inside?”
“No, he’s still out on a hike with Wendy, I think. Up on the ridge.”
Snow and gravel flew as she sprinted up the trail, past the other cabins, and over the top of the hill. And suddenly, there he was.
Matt.
Seated on a boulder with his back to her, staring out over the edge of the ridge, postured forward and leaning on his knees.
“Mattie,” she said softly, and he didn’t move a muscle.
She stepped closer, slowly, and her final footstep caught his attention as she crunched through several inches of ice and snow. He turned around and looked at her, his eyes squinted against the sunlight.
“Hey, Luce. What’s up?”
“You love me?” she asked without thinking.
“Well, of course,” he said, and then realization dawned and his face melted down to embarrassment. “Wendy told you what I said?”
Matt pushed up from the boulder and faced her, burying his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans. His wavy hair fell across his forehead, and he looked up at her awkwardly from beneath it.
“Luce.”
“Mattie, answer me! Do you love me?”
But before he could reply, that final stomp of her foot broke through a thin layer of ice, and Lucy screamed as she grabbed for a tree branch and missed, flying several feet down the slope of the hill until she thudded to a stop, buried to her waist in a drift of snow.
“Oh…my…goodness…”
“Hang on, Luce. Hang on.”
Matt hopped over the drift and crouched down behind Lucy. Grabbing her under the arms, he started to pull upward.
“Ouch! You’re breaking me in half,” she cried.
“I’m not breaking you. I’m saving you.”
“Well, could you save me a little more gently, please?”
Matt propped his foot against the tree trunk for traction and then let loose with a fierce groan as he pulled Lucy up and out of the snow.
She laid out, flat on her back as she tried to catch her breath, with Matt standing over her. He extended his hand toward her, but she just glared up at him.
“So did you say it, Matt? Did you say you loved me?”
He let his hand flop back to his side and growled. “I can’t believe Wendy told you that.”
“You’re right!” Lucy felt a bit like a Chihuahua on a slick linoleum floor as she struggled to get her bearings and make it to her feet. When she finally did, she repeated, “You’re right, Mattie. She shouldn’t have told me. You should have told me.”
With that, she began brushing the ice and snow off of her jeans and jacket. When she was just about finished, she faced Matt and tilted her head into a lopsided shrug.
“Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
Matt sighed. “I don’t know. I didn’t want to ruin everything between us.”
“How would it be ruined?”
“Well, you’d feel all awkward, and be like, ‘Oh great, this poor guy’s carrying a torch for me,’ and nothing would be the same between us because of it.”
“What if I’m carrying a torch, too?”
Love Finds You in Snowball, Arkansas Page 20