Close Your Eyes (26 page)

‘
How did you know I’d be here?’

H
e sat down, stretching out his long legs in front of him. His black clothes
contrasted dramatically with
the plain white furniture, giving it an almost futuristic flair. He smiled and watched her bustle around, bringing over a tray with crackers and two bottles of mineral water.

She saw his raised eyebrows and explained wryly, her voice teasing
,
‘Well, we don’t drink at work, if that’s what you’re getting at, sir. So you’ll
be
extremely disappointed
if alcohol was what you came for…
’

‘That’s fine, really
.
’
He
bent forward
,
grabbed
a cracker
,
and
nibb
led
on it
. His
eyes
were
pensive.

‘I called your parents’ house
.
’
He watched her reaction.
‘
Your
mom wasn’t
particularly
pleased with me asking for you. Still, she seemed happy enough to hear from me how great
Ry
was doing and what a riot you were at the party
.’

‘
Cheater
.
’
She
grinned again, feeling much better now that he was here. Maybe
this
was exactly what she needed
—
some company and
a
distraction from her thoughts
.

‘
Still
, I felt rather naughty. I have to say I feel sorry for
Ry
if he has to go t
h
rough
a
drill like that every time he wants to get t
o you. Or is he more welcome?’ H
e smiled over his cracker, his eyes teasing. ‘I couldn’t really escape the impression
she sees us as
good brother
,
bad brother
duo.
’

‘My mom adores
R
y
,
’
Meg
admitted, he
r cheeks warming. ‘
But
you don’t need to worry about her being stingy to you,
Matt
. It’s pretty much the same with everyone else. If it was up to her, she’d have me propose to him tomorrow or preferably today.’

‘An
d how do you feel about that?’

Is it my imagination or is he watching me
much more careful
ly
now?
S
he always ended
up
telling him too much
;
she cursed her l
o
ose mouth as she blushed a deep red.

‘
I don’t feel like this is
the right moment
.
’
She
smiled, trying to turn it into a joke. ‘
And
for
that
m
att
er, I’d ra
ther prefer to be proposed to,
Matt
.
I’d like the
whole deal, with my prince coming to sweep me off my feet, declaring his undying love
,
and whisking me
off
to some secluded castle. Preferably somewhere warm and sunny.’

‘I’ll have to tell
Ry
to rethink his idea
of taking
you for the trip up North, then
.
’
Thankfully
, he played along,
letting go of his sudden hyper-vigilance
. ‘Maybe he should invest in something more
equator-situated.
’

‘Totally
.
’
She
nodded before
becoming
serious. ‘But what is it you wanted to talk about,
Matt
?
You never told me what’s going on
.
’

‘I guess I
just
needed some moral support.’ He sighed, putting his arms behind his neck and stretching
. T
he muscles of his powerful chest
were visible
under the thin fabric of his t-shirt. She
made
an effort not to look away too obviously, embarrassed to be caught watching him.

‘I’m going to see mom next
.
’
He
surprised her with his next statement, distracting her from
this
totally inappropriate
train of thought
. ‘She
’
s arriving at her sister’s place together with her husband in about an hour.’

‘That’s very fast
.
’
She was
surprised, thinking of the distance between California and their town. ‘How on earth will she manage that? It’s only been
what
, four hours?’

‘
They
were in Paris for the last week
.
’
T
he usual sadness
came and went
over his features as he spoke of his mother. Some things never changed
,
and
she ached to make him feel better. Elisa
Harper
,
or rather Elisa Wright
,
as she called herself now
,
might
be
beautiful and
others might worship her
, but she left a lot of pain and misery when she decided to
start a new life and leave
her boys behind
.

‘She must be very worried about Ry
.
’
Megan gently tried to
distract
Matt
from his unhappy memories. ‘Did you talk to her already?’

‘Dad called her first thing
when
we came back home
.
’
Matt
looked up to her, his eyes definitely more grey than blue at the moment. Stormy and dark,
they
once again
made
her think of heavy
,
lead-
colored rainclouds hanging over the
moor
right before a summer thunderstorm.

‘
They are
on
much better terms now
,
I have to say
. Even though it’s hard to forget what a circus they drag
ged
us t
h
rough when they were divorcing
.
’
H
is face
settled
into stubborn lines of disapproval
. ‘I
just
wish I could forget it all, but it’s almost impossible.’

‘I
t’s important to let go of bad memories,’ she said, thinking of what he had told her that day during the rainstorm.
S
he played with the cap of her bottle
, afraid to meet his eyes
. H
er finger
absentmindedly
traced
the
cap’s
little ridges as she searched for the right words. ‘
It
must have been very tough on both of you.
Ry
plays it down
, but I can tell it hit him
really
hard.’

‘
If
it wasn’t for
Ry
,
I would be so much
worse
off.’
Matt
sighed, his face serious. ‘
He
was the only constant in my life, you know? The only person I could really count on and talk to, even if I decided to wake him up at three in the morning. I
pretty much
hated my whole family at that point
.
’

She remembered it
,
of course. Ry
an
had been
very worried about him, mentioning his brother’s antics on many occasions.

‘I used to blame
G
randpa for their split,’
Matt
shared, his face pensive. ‘
I thought he pushed them apart with his constant complaints and requests. My dad isn’t like him, not even close. Working for
G
randdad
has
been more difficult for him that he would ever admit, even though as they
got
older
,
things
became
much smoother. He hated it back then and tried to escape as much as he could. He went on every business trip possible,
even
making some up.
Anything to escape his dad.
Only
,
he didn’t
realize
that escaping from his father also
meant
leaving us alone for most of the time.’