Coda Books 01 - Promises (MM) (4 page)

“Jared, don’t be silly. With your long legs, you’ll be miserable back there. It’s no problem for me to sit in the back.” I guess chivalry really is dead, because I didn’t argue. She obviously did not consider me a rival for his attention. And why would she? I had to remind myself that I wasn’t. She situated herself in the middle of the back seat so she could easily lean forward between the seats to talk to us, and we set off.

We had the GPS location of the cache. Given that and a hand-held GPS, it seemed like it should be easy to find the spot. But actually, finding a way there turned out to be surprisingly difficult. We had a big book of topographical maps, which would have been great if they hadn’t been ten years old. We spent several hours roaming the high country, trying to find the trail that would take us to the little box of goodies.

“So, Matt, where did you move here from?” Cherie asked.

“I’ve lived a lot of places. Oklahoma most recently, but I’ve also lived in Texas, Arkansas, and Kansas City.” He looked pointedly at me when he said that last one.

I laughed at him. “That explains it! I was wondering why a boy from Oklahoma would be a Kansas City Chiefs fan! Now that you’re here in Colorado, where we have a
real
team, you really need to change your tune. I’ll take you to a game, and you can be converted by the Mile High Magic!”

“You Coloradoans are so deluded. You think Mile High is so great? You ever been to Arrowhead? Those people know how to tailgate! Barbecue cooking all day all over the lot. You can smell it for miles. You Broncos fans have a lot to learn!”

“I love barbecue as much as the next man, but it really doesn’t justify cheering for a mediocre team, does it?” I was still laughing, and although his expression was still pretty guarded, I could tell he was having fun.

“Mediocre? We only finished one game behind you last season, and that’s only because our running back was out for half the season. I bet—”

“So ,” Cherie cut in from the back seat. We both jumped a little, and I realized I wasn’t the only one who had forgotten she was there. “You have temporary plates. Is this Jeep new?”

“Yeah, I bought it from Jared.”

“Oh really? Jared, I didn’t think you owned a car.”

I was glad she couldn’t see me roll my eyes. “I
own
a car. I just prefer riding my bike.”

Why did everybody think that was so weird? “Anyway, technically he bought it from Lizzy.”

“It’s great for the trails here, isn’t it?”

“That’s partly why I bought it. Speaking of trails, some of the guys at the station were talking about Culver’s Trail?”

“Never heard of it,” Cherie said.

But he was looking at me. “Culver’s Trail isn’t a four-wheel drive trail,” I told him. “It’s for hiking and biking. It’s one of the easier mountain biking trails around.”

“Really? They said it was pretty tough.”

I grinned at him. “They must be wimps. Hey! Are you planning on buying a mountain bike?” Suddenly the idea of having somebody to ride with had me excited.

“Should I?”

“Absolutely!”

We finally found the spot. We dug up the metal box and opened it up. In addition to the log book, it had an assortment of random items inside: a green plastic army man, a playing card, a ten sided die. We hadn’t thought to bring anything with us to add, so we settled for writing our names in the log book and then headed back to the Jeep.

“Shotgun!” Cherie called. She looked a little embarrassed about having said it, but I understood.

“That’s only fair, since you had the back seat on the way up.” But it didn’t work. Matt was still talking to me more than to her. Back in town, she gave it one more try. “Are you sure you don’t want to come in for a drink?”

“Thanks, Cherie, but Jared’s sister-in-law is expecting us at her house for dinner.” I was surprised at the lie but tried to nod convincingly. “Have a great night.”

He seemed to be happy that she was gone.

“Great!” he said happily. “Let’s go get that beer I owe you!”

“Matt, you do realize that this is a pretty small town. Anywhere we go, there’s a chance she’ll see us and know you lied.”

“Oh.” All the wind had gone out of his sails now. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

The idea of spending another hour or two together definitely sounded better than going back to my empty house, and I was pleasantly surprised that he seemed to feel the same way.

“We actually could go to Lizzy’s. It’s Saturday. She’s probably halfway expecting me to show up.”

Brian wasn’t home, but Lizzy was. And, as I had predicted, she wasn’t surprised to see me.

She did, however, raise her eyebrows at Matt. He excused himself to find the bathroom, and she immediately turned on me.

“On a date?” She narrowed her blue eyes at me.

“It’s not a date!”

“It looks like a date.”

“It’s not.”

“He sure seems to be spending a lot of time with you.”

“He’s new in town. He doesn’t know anybody. That’s all.”

“Jarhead,” she said in exasperation, “if you think that man doesn’t have other options, even in this town, then you must be blind. He chose you.”

I knew she was right. Hadn’t I just seen him lie to Cherie so that he could spend the evening with me? And she wasn’t the only single woman in town by any means. She might have been the only one who had gone to the trouble to track him down at his house, but that only meant she was the most aggressive of the lot. But he was adamant about being straight, so where did that leave us? I could feel myself blushing as I thought about it.

“What are you two talking about?” Matt asked as he strode back into the room. “Looks like you’re embarrassing Jared.”

“Hair,” Lizzy said, without missing a beat. “Can you believe that mess he has on his head? I keep telling him to get it cut!”

Matt frowned at me and inspected the dirty mop on my head. I tried not to flinch under his scrutiny. I suddenly had great pity for the monkeys at the zoo.

Then he turned to Cherie, eyebrow up, a ghost of a grin on his face, and said, “I like it.”

And that’s when I knew I was a complete fool, because my heart swelled up and threatened to burst through my chest, and I knew I was turning tomato red. Matt had already turned and vanished into the kitchen.

“I don’t know who he thinks he’s fooling,” Lizzy hissed at me across the room, “but this is definitely a date!”

HE DROPPED by the shop several times after that, always right at closing time, and we went out for dinner. I was surprised that he seemed to be seeking me out, but I was thrilled at the same time. He was easy to talk to.

Lizzy invited him to her house for a Memorial Day barbecue. He seemed happy to be included, but two days before it was supposed to take place he came into the shop to cancel.

“Lizzy, you’re going to have to give me a rain check on dinner. My parents decided to drop in for a visit this week.”

“No problem,” she said, without even looking up from her inventory list. “Bring them along!”

He looked a little startled by that but said firmly, “No, I couldn’t do that.”

Now she looked up. “Why not?”

“I couldn’t intrude like that.”

“Don’t be silly. The more the merrier!”

“Ummm.” He suddenly looked terribly uncomfortable. “I appreciate that Lizzy, but it’s really a bad idea. You’ll end up regretting it. Trust me.”

“My goodness, are they that bad?” she said jokingly, raising her eyebrows at him.

But he didn’t seem to be joking at all when he answered her. “Yeah. They really are. You know that nasty uncle in all the movies who ruins every holiday? That’s my dad. No kidding.”

She looked at him for a minute, tapping her finger on her lip, like she was trying to decide how serious he was. And then she got that determined look on her face, and I wanted to tell him he might as well give up now, because Lizzy would get what she wanted. “Matt, you’ve never met my parents. They’re insane. I’m talking certifiable wack-a-doo. Jared?” She turned to me. “Tell Matt. My parents are totally fucking loony.”

“Well—”

She was already talking to Matt again. “Seriously. Your parents can’t possibly be any worse than mine.”

“I don’t know—”

“Great! Then we’ll see you at five thirty!” She looked back down at her inventory list as if the topic was closed.

Matt looked a little baffled, like he wasn’t quite sure what had just happened. “Oh. Okay.

Well, thanks, Lizzy.” He cocked his eyebrow at her, although she was still looking down, so only I saw it. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He turned and walked to the door but then turned at the last minute. “Lizzy, my dad drinks a lot.” It sounded like a warning.

“No problem.”

THEY arrived right on time. Matt’s mom, Lucy, was about five-four, big boned but skinny, with hair that was somewhere in the transition from brown to gray. Her green eyes looked sad and nervous, and her fingers never held still. She fidgeted with her necklace, her earrings, and her hair constantly.

His dad, Joseph, was big. He was as tall as Matt with the same dark hair and military cut.

He had obviously once had the same athletic physique as well, but now had a tiny bit of a beer belly and the red, bulbous nose of a hardcore drinker.

They brought a bottle of wine with them, all wrapped up in a pretty foil bag with a bow.

As soon as Lucy handed it to Lizzy, Joseph said, “I’ll take a glass of that now, if you would.”

Matt and I followed Lizzy into the kitchen. Matt was definitely not himself. I had never seen him act so nervous and unsure of himself. His parents were obviously a bomb, and he was just waiting for them to go off.

“We’ll definitely have enough to drink,” Lizzy said cheerfully, as she opened the wine. “I bought three bottles of wine, two red, one white, and a case of beer. And there’s plenty of hard stuff in the cabinet, too, if he wants something stronger.” She pointed to the liquor cabinet, before taking the open wine and several glasses, and headed back into the living room.

I started to follow her, but suddenly Matt grabbed my arm. When I looked up, I was surprised to see something like terror on his face. “Why did she buy all that alcohol?”

“You said your dad likes to drink.”

“Oh no,” he groaned, and covered his face with his hands.

“What’s wrong?”

“I meant that she
shouldn’t
have alcohol. It was supposed to be a warning. Oh my God, I’m such an idiot. I should have been more clear. Shit! This is bad, Jared. He’s a jerk when he’s sober. He’s an angry, belligerent, antagonistic asshole when he’s not.”

“That bad?” I would have laughed if he hadn’t looked so terrified.

“Yes!” He rubbed his hands hard over his face and then went over to the liquor cabinet and rummaged around, emerging with a bottle of Jack Daniels. He took two glasses out of the cabinet and poured two extra large shots. “Here.” He handed one to me and downed his in one swallow.

“I hate this stuff.”

“Trust me,” he said as he poured another one for himself. “It won’t be quite so painful if you’re half drunk too.”

He was wrong. It was still painful.

We had dinner on the patio. The sun was still up but low in the sky, casting long shadows across the lawn. It was a beautiful night, contrasting strangely with the tension at the table as we stumbled through small talk. Of course, with my family, the conversation eventually turned to football.

“Are you a Chiefs fan too?” Brian asked Joseph.

“Hell, no. I’m a Cowboys fan. I think Matt picked another team just to be rebellious. At least he didn’t pick the damn Redskins.”

“I was pretty sure you would have thrown me out of the house for that one,” Matt said dryly.

“Damn right.” I couldn’t tell if he was joking or not.

“Lucy,” Mom jumped in, “do you work outside of the home?”

Lucy looked a little startled, as if she hadn’t realized she might have to speak during dinner. “No, not anymore. I was a nurse for twenty-five years, but I’m retired now.”

“Did you work at a hospital or in an office?”

“In a hospital. I worked in several departments over the years, but what I loved the most was the maternity ward. I was there for the last ten years. All those babies.” For the first time her hands were still, held together in front of her like she praying. She smiled nostalgically and turned to Lizzy. “When are you due?”

“Halloween.”

Lucy turned to Mom. She was still smiling but looking sad at the same time. “I envy you. I keep hoping for a grandchild.” She glanced at Matt and then back at the table in front of her.

Suddenly her smile was gone and she was fidgeting again. She looked like she regretted having said that. I realized why when Joseph opened his mouth.

“Doesn’t look to me like you’re ever going to get one so you might as well quit hoping. As far as I can tell, Matt isn’t ever going to do his duty in that department.”

“You might have noticed that I’m not physically capable of producing a child on my own.”

There was not a hint of humor in his voice. Matt was staring at his plate. I had a feeling this was not a new argument.

“Don’t be a smartass with me. It’s past time for you to marry and settle down. You’re not getting any younger.”

“We’re planning a vacation,” Lucy said suddenly, in a desperately obvious ploy to change the subject.

Lizzy jumped in with her. “That’s great, Lucy. Where are you going?”

“Florida, I think, although I don’t know if we should go to—”

“Are you dating anyone?” Joseph did not seem to be aware that the topic of conversation had been changed.

“No, Dad. I’ve been busy. It’s not that easy to meet people.”

I was actually a little surprised at that, since I knew there were several single women in town who would have killed for a date with him.

“Bullshit! What about Jared here?” I just about jumped out of my chair. For half a second, I thought he was suggesting that Matt date
me
. But then he went on. “I’m sure he can introduce you to someone. Jared, you have a girlfriend, right?”

“Uh,” I was feeling terribly off balance, considering what a simple question it was. “No, sir.”