Close Your Eyes (30 page)

‘Well
,
M
om, you could say
her and
Ry
are much more than that
.
’
Matt
’s blue eyes sparkled as he watched
Meg
blush
. He put his
arm around her shoulders to pull her closer to him in a friendly gesture. ‘Come on,
Megs
, it’s not a secret. You guys have been dating long enough to take home the old couple trophy.’

‘I need to ask
Ry
all about it
.
’ Elisa smiled again, her large,
doe-
like eyes soft. ‘
He
is usually so tight lipped about his private life, even with me. Thank goodness we
have
our
Matt
to
offer me
a
snippet
here or there.’

‘Or maybe it’s ju
st a case of sour grapes, eh?’
h
er husband piped
up
.

Matt’s laugh broke
the uncomfortable silence that
formed
between the four of them. He shook his golden head and grinned at the older man
with a challenging
expression
.

‘I never approved of pointless envy, Bill.’ There was lethal authority behind
Matt’s
light tone, audible not only to
Meg
,
but
to
the other man
,
as well, judging by his uncomfortable face. ‘I leave it to others
to
envy people’s talents, careers
,
and such. You must have come across a few of those yourself in your time in
California, right?’

Meg
thought
the jibe was perfect and
bit back a smile as she watched Bill’s face darken in an angry blush. It was no secret that he was a
fairly
low
-
grade actor, his parts small and shrinking
as the years passed
. He had given plenty of interviews to whoever
was
willing to listen, blaming the industry and steep competition from younger artists for his meager successes.

‘Well, I am so glad we are all here tonight
.
’ Elisa
rushed
to the rescue
. Her
anxious eyes
bounced
from her husband to
Matt
before resting on
Meg
. Her
smile
was
forced. ‘
You
must have been so worried, dear. I know that when
Rupert
phoned me, the world stopped for a moment, leaving me just on
the
precipice of abyss. I felt positively numb all over. My poor, poor boy…’

She
did sound traumatized, even though her words and gestures were nothing short of melodramatic
.
Elisa reach
ed
for her whi
te handkerchief and dab
bed
her moist eyes.

‘He
’
s fine,
M
om.’
Matt
’s voice was surprisingly soft
as he
reassuringly
rested his hand
on his mother’s arm.
He rubbed
her slim shoulder soothingly
. H
is previous cockiness
had
completely
vanished
. ‘
You’ll
see tomorrow. We were all terrified, but by now I feel much better.
Ry
was incredibly brave, too. He saved
G
randpa with his actions, probably taking the bullet that
was meant for
him.’

‘I
don’t think
that
would be a trade
-
off the family could
n’t
live with
,
’ Bill
said
. H
is thinning hair reveal
ed
glistening bald
spots
as he angrily shook his head
. ‘
Ryan should have let nature take
its course.’

He was awful.
Meg
was trying very hard not to show her dislike, but this man
,
who considered himself a cross between Sean Connery and Tom Hanks
,
had some serious issues
with appearing even
barely polite. She could see
Matt
’s face darkening with anger and rushed to
intercept before he said something he would regret.
She was certain that he would regret his action later
,
just as
she was sure
that
Bill Wright
was
nothing more
than
a pompous, rude
,
middle-
aged man that had never made it in the world of
show business
.

So she talked a lot
, m
ore than she would have thought possible
. H
er initial shyness
at being
around Elisa disappear
ed
as the time progressed. Chatting on
,
Megan
made
sure Bill had little chance to inject any more of his venomous comments. As they were wrapping up the night,
Megan’s throat ached
from her efforts.

Elisa reached
over the table to pat
Matt
’s hand
. H
er eyes
filled with regret
.

‘
That
was all too short,
Matt
ie
.
’
Her melodic voice was earnest.
‘
Tomorrow
, after the hospital
,
I would love to do something together
. M
aybe
go for a
ride
with
the horses? What do you
think
?’

‘Well, count me out
.
’ Bill seemed to have overlooked the fact
no one had
actually invited him
.
‘I can’t stand those huge beasts
. I
t’s
way too scary
,
the way they have a mind of their own and never listen.’
His face soured as he spoke.

The horses listen
to
Matt
and
Ry
,
Meg
thought spitefully, remembering the way
the
Harper
family seemed to have an almost magical bond with horses. She suspected that this was exactly why Elisa picked this type of an outing
. She probably
realized that having her son and her husband together would eventually lead to blows, no
m
att
er how diplomatic and impartial she struggled to be.

Meg
wriggled out of the invitation to join them, not only because she would find it too personal
,
but also because she was sure
Matt
needed this
one-on-one
time with his lovely
,
yet elusive mother. He might be an adult now and a
n
independent one at that, but he loved her very much and missed her more than he would let on. She remember
ed
Ry
an
telling her how
Matt
tried to never
let anyone see him
cry after
their
mother had
left
. One day,
Ry
an
had
walked
in
on
Matt
looking
over some of the stuff
Elisa had
left behind
. H
is
tearful
face
was
hidden in one of her dresses. Except for his brother, no one had ever seen
Matt
like that
. The
Harper
pride and self
-
control
had kicked
in
,
even at
a
young age.

‘See, we survived
,
’
Matt
whispered as they left the restaurant. They waved once again at the older couple before sliding into his car. Only then, safely inside and away from the critical gaze of Bill Wright,
did
Meg
allow herself to take a deep breath and exhale
. She was w
orn out by the stressful conversation.