I'll Be Seeing You (25 page)

"No, I will have all that with me when I arrive. I just ordered this gown off the runway and thought it best to have it delivered there rather than cart it all over the countryside."

"Good call, Mom," Maddie replies.

"What about you, Joy. Do you have your gown yet?" Mother asks.

"No, not yet. I think Laura and I will begin our search when we get back to the city on Monday," she answers.

"Are you there, Dad? I haven't heard a word from you since Mother called," I ask.

"I'm here, Son. You know how it is when your mother gets going. I hope you all had a pleasant Thanksgiving. Sorry we weren't there this year, but we’ll see you for your Ball in a few weeks," he says. "I look forward to meeting you, Joy, as well as your friends. Maddie, will you be bringing your Brian?"

"Of course. He's here in the other room. He wanted to thank you for the book you sent him on the history of the Eighteenth Century Literature. I found it boring as hell, but he couldn't put it down," she answers.

"That's good. I'm glad he enjoyed it then. Well, kids, we need to get to bed. It's been a long day and we are meeting the Bannisters in the morning for brunch. It was good talking to you, Joy. Looking forward to meeting you," he says. "Matthew, we'll stay with you if that's all right?"

"Absolutely. I'll let Rebecca know you’re coming so she can get your room ready," I say into the phone.

"Good. Then I guess we will see you in a few weeks. Happy Thanksgiving again," Mom says.

We all say our goodbyes before we hang up. When I look down at my phone, I see that Emma has made seven more attempts to call me.

What could she possibly want?

After getting a full night's sleep, I get up early to take a jog along the beach. Leaving Joy sleeping, I quietly dress in the walk-in closet so as not wake her. I slip out the door, shutting it quietly behind me. Once I reach the bottom of the stairs, Laura and Jessie, who are dressed and look as if they are leaving, greet me.

"Hey, what's up?" I ask, looking at the bags near the door.

"Good morning," Laura says, sounding a bit guilty. "I need to get back to the city … Black Friday and all." I look at Jessie as he shrugs and rolls his eyes.

"But I thought you would be here for the whole weekend! Does Joy know you’re leaving?"

"No. It was a last minute decision. I thought about it yesterday, and I can't hang out here when all the stores are madhouses. I need to stop by and check in at least," she answers. "Will you say goodbye to everyone for us? Tell Joy I'll call her and Matthew, thanks for having me," she says, hugging me goodbye.

"Sure. Absolutely." Still curious why this sudden decision to leave, I ask Jessie to talk privately.

After we walk into my office, I shut the door behind us. "What's going on? Why are you leaving?"

"Seriously, dude, she wants to make her rounds of the stores. She started to feel bad about being on a four-day holiday while the stores are slammed with this Black Friday shit," he answers. "That and it gives me three nights alone with her." I look up at him as he gives me a smirk.

"Okay, as long as it isn't anything related to what happened yesterday." I motion for him to take a seat while I sit down at my desk. "I'm doing Joy's eye on Thursday, provided her labs come back clean."

"Good. How'd she take it?"

"Not very well at first and we got in a fight about it before we came down for dinner yesterday. She's going to fight me on the replacement procedure for sure but I have a plan. I'm prepared for the big one." I lean forward with my elbows on the desk, tapping my fingertips together, "I'm taking her to Whidbey to stay at my friend's cabin and will let her know my plans then."

"From what Laura says, you have your work cut out for you. She said she's surprised you talked her into Thursday's procedure. When are you doing the labs?"

"Monday. If they come back clean, then I've scheduled her for Thursday. I'll take her home directly after recovery, and we'll go from there. Once she heals from that, and we get through the ball and Christmas, we'll fight it out New Year's weekend. Simple, right?" I ask, laughing, knowing the fight I'll have on my hands.

"Yeah, good luck with that," Jessie chuckles, shaking his head.

"Hey, Emma's been calling me," I say suddenly as an afterthought. I look down at my phone and see her name and number on my call log. "She's called fifteen times, easy. I can't figure out why she's calling all of a sudden. I guess I could listen to her voice mails, but the thought is repulsive to me." Laying my head back against my desk chair, I let out an exasperated sigh.

"Do you want me to listen? She might actually have something to say if she's called that many times," Jessie offers.

"Sure," I say handing him my cell phone so he can call his voicemail and listen. I watch as his eyes shoot to mine and I know this can't be good. He hits a key and listens again … then again … and then again. Once he pulls the phone from his ear, he hangs up.

"Well?"

"Well, I don't know how to say this, but … she's not done with you, Matthew. She said she regrets her actions of the past and wants to meet with you to see if you two can resolve any of your … issues," he says, making finger-quotes. "She says she's been trying to get tickets to the ball and all they tell her is that it's already sold out."

"Thank God for that. The last thing I need is to have her show up at the ball," I say, staring down at my desk. "I'm just trying to figure out why, after ten years, she's back, and why does she even think she has a remote chance that I would want her back. She's up to something. I just know it," I say, running my hands through my hair.

"She said it wasn't over for her." I notice that Jessie looks concerned.

"She sounded pretty adamant, Matthew. I think it might be a good idea to watch your back." Given that Jessie isn't one to exaggerate, I become concerned as well. "Okay, listen, I have to get Laura to the ferry. Thanks for the dinner, man. Thank Joy for me too, will ya? I'll touch base with her on Monday when you bring her in, all right?" I nod and rise from my seat.

"Bright and early. Glad to see you working it out with Laura, Jess. She's a beauty, so be a good boy, all right?" I say, shaking his hand and doing the guy hug thing.

"No worries there. I was stupid the first time, I won't be doing that again," he says, before turning to leave. When we return to the kitchen, Joy is sitting with Laura having a cup of coffee.

"Hey, baby," I say, kissing her forehead. Conrad jumps to his feet when I enter the room, his tail in full swing.

"Hey, handsome," Joy says, smiling up at me and reaching her arm around me.

"Sorry to leave you, good people, but I must go be a good little soldier and check in on my peeps." Laura slips her bag over her shoulder and makes her rounds hugging Joy and me. "I'm sure I’ll see you both in a few days."

"Call me, and we’ll meet for lunch," Joy says.

"Will do. Toodles all," she says. Jessie waves and shuts the door behind him.

"Hey," I begin, "I'm going for a run and will have Conrad with me, all right?" I pull her in for a hug and kiss the top of her head.

"Are you trying to steal my pooch from me, Doc?"

"Nope. He's all yours, I just kinda like him, is all," I say, bending over to scratch his favorite spot on his chest. I look up when I hear someone coming down the stairs.

"Morning," Brian says, through a yawn. He looks at what I'm wearing and furrows his brow. "Where are you going?"

"For a run. Want to go with?" I ask, before taking a sip of coffee.

"Sure. I'll be right back." He turns on the stairs, running back to his room.

"When will you be back? I'll make sure breakfast is ready," Joy says, running her warm lips along my ear.

"Um … um …" I say incoherently, trying to form a logical sentence. I close my eyes in pleasure as she nips and nibbles my earlobe and down my neck.

"Um, Joy," I begin, pulling away from her. "I really would like to finish this, but Brian will be down here any minute, and your son is sitting by the door, waiting to go bye-bye." I pull her lips to mine and close my eyes, tasting her sweetness. When my tongue searches for hers, her hands snake through my hair and she begins pulling me down to her even closer. I'm nearly lost in her when Brian brings me back to reality.

"Um …" I mumble, reluctantly pulling away from her warm mouth.

"Let's go," I say with a sigh, placing a small peck on her nose, and then head for the door.

"Breakfast?" Joy calls out.

"Two hours," I call back before shutting the sliding glass door.

Brian and I walk toward the beach and stop to stretch and warm up before we start to jog. Putting on my sunglasses, I lift my baseball cap and push my hair off my forehead, tucking it under my cap.

"I thought we could head this way until the beach ends a few miles up. From there a path takes us back to the main road and we can continue or head back. Sound like a plan?" I ask while stretching out my calves. There are quite a few people out already, probably running off yesterday's dinner just like us.

"Sounds like a plan. I'll just follow you," Brian says, pacing himself along with me.

Shortly after we begin our run, two girls jog up beside us and ask if we need running partners. I look over at Brian and smile, " Baby, do you want to run with these girls? I kind of wanted you to myself this morning."

"What a waste," the girls say, looking at us from head to toe before turning to leave us behind.

The look on Brian's face is priceless.

"What the fuck, Matthew?"

I burst out laughing and shake my head at him.

"I'm planning surgery on Joy next week. She wasn't happy about it either."

"Are you kidding me? She's letting you do it? You're better than I thought, Davis," Brian says, pulling a bottle of water out of his pocket.

"She doesn't have a choice. I can't let her function another day with that dormant infection in her body. I’m telling her about the other replacement surgery on New Year's weekend. I'm preparing for a fight. It won't be pretty." I drink from my bottle then put it back in my pocket. "You ready?"

"Let's go," he says, and we jog across Main Street toward the adjacent neighborhood next to mine.

"Um, Matthew? I’m thinking of asking Maddie to move in with me. What do you think? Do you think she will?” Brian asks. I look over at him and can see he is nervous.

"What?"

"Um, I want to ask her if she'll move in with me. Are you okay with that?"

"Does she love you?" I already know that she does, but I want to hear what he has to say. I glance at him to gauge his reaction.

"Yes."

"I guess I can assume that you love her?"

"Yes."

"Do you want to marry her?"

"Yes."

I look forward and try to comprehend that my sister might be getting married soon.

"I haven't asked her, and she doesn't know I plan to, but I want to marry her, yes," he clarifies.

"Have you asked my dad?"

"No, but I will. I wanted to ask you first … wait … we are talking about the moving in part, right?" Brian looks at me, nervously and I laugh.

"No." I continue to laugh at the look on his face. Poor guy … he has no idea what he's in for with Maddie. I love her dearly, but she has so much energy and never slows down. Maybe he will calm that side of her. She definitely loves him though, that I am certain.

"I’ll ask your dad when the time comes for that. I just want to be with her. We've only been together for a short time, and I don't want to freak her out by asking her to marry me yet."

"You know she's a handful, right? I mean, she is full of piss and vinegar. She can wear you out. You know that, right?"

"Are you trying to talk me out of this, Matthew?" he asks, sounding a little more apprehensive.

"No, I just don't want you and Maddie to make this kind of commitment only to see her move back home three weeks later," I say, clarifying my comments. "I know what a pistol she can be."

"I love her, Matthew."

"Why does it matter to you what I think?”

"You are her twin and she loves you above anyone else. Even me, I think," he says with sincerity. I slow my jog down to a walk, then stop and stare at him.

"Not anymore, Brian. I was the man in her life before she met you. She needed me and we are connected, that's true. We are very close. With everything in me, I love her, but you are the man in her life now. I just need to know that you will love and honor her. She’s a good woman, Brian. She will never abandon you, and so help me God, if you abandon her—"

"Never, Matthew, never. I promise you that," he says, his wide eyes staring into mine, and I believe him.

"Then … God help you," I say, clapping him on his back. Laughing, I take off in a jog with my loyal Conrad at my side. I look over my shoulder and see that he’s still standing there in a daze.

"Let's go … Joy has breakfast waiting for us," I yell back at him.

Once we barge through the front door, a wonderful aroma assaults my senses. I look down at Conrad, and we both stick our noses in the air to get a deep whiff. Conrad runs over to his dish, and I see that Joy has left him a special treat.

"What the hell is that, Joy? It smells really good," I walk up behind her, looking into the pan, but she uses her shoulder to nudge me away.

"Go shower, and I'll meet you in the dining room," she says, refusing to give me a hug. I am a little sweaty, admittedly.

"What did she make, Maddie?" I ask running upstairs.

"Not tellin'," she calls back.

I hurry through my shower, run the brush through my hair and give it a shake before bouncing back down the stairs. I slow myself to a walk and meet everyone in the dining room. Brian was there even before me.

"Oh, hell yeah! Biscuits and gravy," I say, sitting down, picking up my fork before my ass even hits the chair.

"Joy made those biscuits from scratch, too," Maddie volunteers.

As I take my first bite of the spicy gravy, I moan and groan at how good it is.

"Thanks, baby. You sure know how to cook, girl," I say, stuffing another bite into my mouth.

"You're very welcome. It's not too spicy, is it?" she asks, taking her first bite.

"No, it's perfect," Maddie says, cutting into her biscuit.

"So, I was thinking we could all go out tonight. What do you think?" Maddie squeals and starts hand clapping as usual. I didn't expect anything less. Looking over at Joy, she’s smiling, so I think she is up for it as well.

"Sounds good," Brian says with his mouth full. "What are you thinking?"