by Noelle Adams
“Yes,” Madeline confirmed. “He’s coming. He’s driving in on Friday and is planning to stay all weekend. He’s staying at my apartment since it’s mostly empty now.”
Madeline was engaged to the county’s sheriff and was mostly living in his house now, but she still kept her old apartment above one of the storefronts in downtown Azalea. She wasn’t planning to give it up until she and Ken got married in a few months.
Skye had occasionally considered taking the apartment herself after Madeline moved out all the way, but she’d rather have a house with a yard so she could get a dog.
“I’ll try to talk to him then,” Skye said, rather nervous at the thought of having another deep conversation with Matthew. “I really didn’t mean to hurt his feelings or anything. I’m not sure why I even... It just kind of came out.” With a sigh, she added, “The truth is he made me feel like a kid, and I just lost it.”
Madeline reached over and squeezed her arm briefly before she turned back to the rack of clothes. “I’m sure he deserved it. He’s always been too uptight and kind of smug. Like he wants to be different than he actually is. I don’t know why.”
Skye was trying to focus on dresses too, but they were all blending in together as she mentally saw Matthew’s handsome, serious face. “It’s like he doesn’t want anyone to see him as less than perfect.” The words came to her without conscious reflection. They just felt right. “He doesn’t want anyone to see him as young and vulnerable. So it makes him put on this front.”
When silence greeted her comment, she turned to look at her friends. Ria and Madeline were both staring at her in astonishment.
“What?” she asked, shifting from foot to foot.
“That’s exactly right about Matthew,” Madeline said. “How did you know that?”
Skye’s cheeks warmed again like she’d given too much away. “I don’t know. Just a guess really. I could be wrong.”
“You’re not wrong. He is like that. He’s always been a perfectionist, and I guess he’s trying to shape his life to fit some ideal he has in mind.” Madeline shook her head. “He’s a really good guy, and I love him more than anything. But I don’t think he’s happy.”
Skye didn’t either, although she didn’t say so. “He is a good guy, and he’s got a good life. A lot of people love him.”
Ria reached over to put an arm around Madeline. “Jacob tried to run in a different way, and he came home at last. Matthew will too.”
Madeline’s face relaxed. “Yeah. I know. And it’s not like he has to move back to Azalea or anything. He’s not that far away. I just want him to be more himself. To... be happy.”
“He will be,” Skye said. “Just give him some time.”
Madeline’s eyes flashed with a glint of mischief. “The truth is I’ve always secretly hoped that he’d finally open his eyes and see that you’ve been—”
“No!” Skye exclaimed, her heart jumping in her chest. “Don’t even start that. I’m not a little girl with a crush anymore, and Matthew isn’t going to fall for me. I’ve finally come to terms with that, so don’t you dare get me thinking in the wrong direction again.”
“Okay. All right. I won’t tease you about it. You’ve been doing great lately.”
“I think so too. I’ve really moved on, and I think I could even be excited about Jon. So I want to find the perfect dress for when he takes me to the reunion next week.”
Skye had met Jon through a dating app, and they’d gone out three times this month. He was cute and smart and interesting, and he seemed to really like her. She didn’t have flutters or anything about him, but there was potential, and she wasn’t going to get distracted from it by her long-lost crush on Matthew Jenkins.
She was putting that behind her. She was going to be a grown-up for real.
Matthew had had more than a decade to fall for her, and he never had. He wasn’t going to do it now, and she wasn’t going to let herself make the mistake of dreaming he would.
She was better now, and she was going to find a man who wanted her for real.
MATTHEW DROVE INTO Azalea after work the following Friday, dropped his stuff off at Madeline’s apartment, and then walked across the street to grab a burger from Anna’s Diner (the one restaurant in Azalea) for dinner.
The place was crowded, and he didn’t have the energy for socializing, so he took the burger to go, walking a few blocks over to the town park. He found a bench in front of the creek and sat there to eat. It was a warm evening with a brisk breeze. There was a family having a picnic on the other side of the park and a couple of guys playing basketball on the court, but otherwise it was quiet there. He tried to breathe deeply and clear his mind.
He’d felt rattled for the past month—ever since that weird conversation with Skye. He wasn’t sure why it had unsettled him so, but he hadn’t felt like himself since. It was like he was no longer comfortable in his own skin. No longer the person he wanted to be.
Uncertain.
Exposed.
But it was time to get over it. He’d see her tomorrow. The much-loved theater teacher at the local high school was retiring, so everyone who had been in one of the plays performed at the school during Miss Haskell’s tenure was invited to a reunion to celebrate her time in Azalea—to coincide with homecoming when a lot of former students would be in town anyway. Matthew normally wouldn’t attend events of this kind, but his friends were all going to be there. Skye was going to be there. And he really wanted to feel like himself again.
So he’d accepted the invitation. He wondered what Skye would say to him when she saw him tomorrow night. She clearly thought he wasn’t a good guy. Wasn’t a good son. She’d seen inside and didn’t like what was lurking there.
She didn’t adore him anymore.
A whimpering to his right distracted him. A quick look revealed a skinny, ragged dog, peering out at him from behind a nearby tree.
“Hey, fella,” Matthew said gently, immediately touched by the pitiful dark eyes and bedraggled appearance of the animal. “What are you doing skulking around here?”
The dog evidently liked his tone of voice because it approached slowly, its eyes darting around as if preparing to flee at any moment.
“I’m guessing it’s the burger that’s the main attraction here,” Matthew said, pulling a piece off his burger and tossing it over to the dog.
The dog gobbled it greedily. He didn’t even chew.
“Poor buddy.” Matthew tore off another bite and tossed it over. “You look like you’re starving.”
The dog ate this bite too and came even closer. He looked like a mutt. Maybe part shepherd based on the ears and the snout. Matthew was hungry, but he ended up giving the dog about a third of his burger. The dog was so pathetically grateful for every bite that Matthew couldn’t resist.
When the burger was gone, the dog sat at his feet, gazing up at him with lolling tongue. His long tail gave a tentative wag every once in a while, as if he couldn’t quite decide if it was safe to be happy.
“Poor fella,” Matthew said with a sigh. He knew better than to reach out to pet the dog. It was clearly a stray. It might bite. And either way he didn’t want the dog to get attached. “You seem like a good little guy, but my landlord doesn’t allow pets so I can’t adopt you. And if I call animal control, they’ll take you to the pound. They’d probably end up putting you down, and I’m not going to be responsible for that.”
The dog clearly had no idea what he was saying. He gave another nervous wag.
Matthew sighed and stood up. “I’m sorry. I can’t help you. I know how you feel. The world just isn’t what it’s supposed to be. If you’re still here tomorrow, I’ll try to find a no-kill shelter that will take you in.”
The dog ducked his head, and Matthew turned away quickly before he felt any worse than he already did.
He probably shouldn’t have fed the dog. It had given the animal hope.
And hope was in short supply.
Matthew felt li
ke an idiot as he threw away the burger wrapper and headed for the exit to the park. Part of him felt just as pitiful as that dog, which was stupid. He had a decent life. A good job. Friends and a sister who loved him. He didn’t have any reason to feel sorry for himself. He didn’t have any reason to be lonely.
He didn’t even have Skye anymore.
But it wasn’t right to begrudge her for moving on. Skye wasn’t there to make him feel better about himself. She was a whole person who deserved to do what was right for her, which was obviously not to hang on Matthew for the rest of her life.
It was good that she’d moved on from him.
Good.
He glanced behind him as he was leaving the park just in time to see the dog dart behind a picnic table, as if the thin frame could hide him.
“I see you there,” Matthew told the dog. “You can’t follow me. I can’t take you in, buddy. I’m sorry.”
The dog swished his tail and stayed behind the table.
Matthew shook his head and started to walk. At the end of the block, he looked back again. The dog was half a block behind him, and it stopped when he did. “Oh, come on now. I told you that you couldn’t come with me.”
The dog didn’t move except to make a few pants.
Groaning, Matthew turned away and picked up his pace.
The dog kept following him.
A quick glance over his shoulder proved the dog’s pace had accelerated to match his. “Damn it!” he burst out. “I don’t have any more burger!”
“No need to make a fuss. If you’re that upset about it, just buy yourself another burger.” The voice came from a man who had turned a corner just ahead of Matthew. The man was about Matthew’s height with shaggy hair and beard and a battered Army jacket that would have been old twenty years ago.
Matthew was startled, slightly flustered, but he smiled at the man’s wry tone. “Hey, Fitz. I was talking to that dog.”
Fitz had been hanging around Azalea for a few years now. He was of indeterminate age and background. No one knew anything about him. He’d just appeared one day from out of nowhere. He did odd jobs and otherwise hung around making conversation with whomever he happened to encounter.
He glanced from Matthew to the dog behind him. “Ah. Got it.”
“Do you know who that dog belongs to?”
“No one as far as I know. I see him around sometimes. Got to be a stray.”
Matthew exhaled. “That’s what I was afraid of.”
“You didn’t feed him, did you?” Fitz’s blue eyes were sharp, observant.
“Of course not. I wouldn’t be that stupid.”
Fitz chuckled as he started to cross the street. “Glad to hear it.”
Matthew watched the other man for a moment, wondering why he’d sounded so knowing, as if he knew something about Matthew that Matthew himself didn’t know, before he started walking again. A couple of blocks later, the dog had disappeared.
Matthew was relieved. Of course he was relieved.
And if he was a little disappointed that the dog had deserted him so quickly, well, that was a ridiculous reaction.
He’d reached the building and was opening the exterior door that led up to Madeline’s apartment when he looked up and saw Skye.
She was on the stairs that ascended to the apartment door. She wore dark purple leggings and a long gray sweater. Her hair was loose. She looked unnaturally pretty in the dim light.
Matthew froze. Stared.
She must have stopped when she saw him. For a moment it looked like she was going to turn around and hurry up the stairs—obviously to avoid him—but instead her expression settled into a smile as she started down. “Hey, Matthew.”
“Hey.” Matthew had the door open now. He held on to it as he smiled at her. “How are you?”
“Fine. How ’bout you?”
“I’m fine too.”
They stared at each other for a minute with a tension that was strange, new, ridiculously exciting. Matthew’s heart had sped up to a gallop, and his palm was damp as it held open the door. He searched for something—anything—to say.
Skye opened her mouth and then closed it again.
The silence went on so long that Matthew began to panic. He blurted out, “You look nice.”
That was what he said. You look nice.
A warm wave of embarrassment washed over him as Skye’s gorgeous blue eyes widened in surprise.
“Oh,” she said, her eyes dropping. “Thanks. Um, I was heading to Madeline’s place. She made a meatloaf tonight and wanted to give you a serving. So she asked me to drop it off. I was just about to knock and see if you were there. If you weren’t, I was going to leave it for you.”
Matthew could read between the lines. It was clear she’d been hoping he wasn’t there so she could leave without confronting him.
“Good timing,” he said lightly. “You can just give it to me if you want to take off.”
She darted a quick look at him. “Oh. No. It’s okay. I’m not in a hurry.”
He let out a long breath, relaxing. “Then come on up.”
He followed her up the stairs and tried not to let his eyes linger on the shape of her ass. Her sweater was hiked up some in the back, giving him a really good view of the shapely curves beneath the tight leggings.
The sight was prompting a lot of intense thoughts and feelings that he really shouldn’t be having. His body was tense and pulsing with interest and excitement when they reached the top of the stairs.
As soon as Matthew unlocked the door and swung it open, he and Skye were nearly knocked off their feet by a furry, running form, barreling up the stairs and into the apartment.
Skye squealed and reached for Matthew. He used one arm to pull her against him in an instinctive protective stance.
Then he realized what had happened.
“Shit,” he muttered. “It’s the dog.”
“What dog?” Skye gazed up at him, her hands holding on to the front of his shirt.
“A stray dog. It followed me home. I thought I’d gotten rid of it, but it’s a sneaky little bastard.”
Skye stepped back, clearly recovered from her surprise. She put the paper bag she held on the counter and peered around the room. “You mean there’s a dog in here somewhere?”
“Yep. It was definitely him storming in like that. You want to help me look?”
“Sure.” Skye was giggling as they started pacing around the apartment, looking for the canine intruder.
It wasn’t a very large place, so it wasn’t hard to find him. He was in the bathroom, drinking enthusiastically from the toilet.
Skye was laughing hysterically as Matthew went after him, trying to grab the dog by the back of his neck.
The dog lurched away. Barreled past Skye, who had reached down to try to catch him. She almost lost her balance, which made her giggle even more.
Then both of them ended up chasing the dog around the apartment. The dog clearly thought it was a game. His stance was playful rather than scared. On the third lap around the main room, the dog evidently became aware of the contents of the bag Skye had brought.
He jumped up and grabbed the paper bag from the counter and carried his loot into the bedroom to tear it open, skillfully remove the lid to the plastic container, and gobble up the meatloaf behind the bed.
“Oh my God!” Skye gasped. “He’s an evil, carnivorous mastermind!” She was nearly doubled over with her amusement as she and Matthew stood at the door to the bedroom and watched the dog devouring his prize.
The whole situation was ridiculous, but Matthew couldn’t seem to stop laughing either. “He can have the meatloaf. But we need to try to chase him out of here. I can’t let him tear up Madeline’s place.”
“Well, let him finish eating. Then we’ll try to shoo him out.”
They only had to wait a few seconds for the dog to finish his purloined meal. Then Matthew went after him. Predictably, the dog ran. Skye shut the bedroom door and then the bathroo
m door so the animal couldn’t get back in. And together they managed a slightly clumsy strategy to chase the dog toward the main door of the apartment.
When they’d gotten the dog out into the hall, Matthew swung the door closed victoriously.
Skye cheered, her face alight with bright laughter.
Matthew couldn’t resist. He swung her into a hug.
Her body felt delicious, perfect against his. She was small and soft and clinging. Her hair smelled faintly like citrus. Her arms were wrapped around his neck.
His body tightened involuntarily, and his heart edged into his throat. He pulled away but didn’t release her.
They gazed at each other. In that moment, there was nothing in the world Matthew had ever wanted more than Skye’s deep eyes, soft mouth, small body.
He leaned down into a kiss, his whole being needing to claim her.
He was sure she wanted to kiss him back. She was even stretching up toward him with an intoxicating eagerness.
But she suddenly dropped her arms and pulled away. Her eyes huge and confused, she said, “Nope.”
Matthew blinked, feeling like he’d just been socked in the gut.
“Can’t do that,” Skye said, moving farther away and reaching for the doorknob. “Nope. No way. Definitely can’t do that.”
And that was it. She swung open the door and disappeared, leaving Matthew in a state of frustrated incompletion.
He’d almost kissed her. Almost had her. She’d wanted it too. He knew it. No question. He’d been able to feel it in the air between them.
But she obviously didn’t want him enough to actually kiss him. She’d run out of there with nothing but a “nope.”
Nope.
She’d told him nope.
He groaned, feeling stupid, immature, rejected. He really hated feeling that way.
When he heard a faint scratching on the door, he knew what it was. With another groan, he swung open the door with a scowl. “Damn it. Fine. Get in here, you ridiculous animal.”
The dog bounded back inside.