by Leigh Landry
“Mmhmm,” she said, eying the Vermilion Printing tag hanging from the cheery yellow shirt his niece now draped over the front of her body.
“Can I wear it to my party?” his niece asked.
Heidi fiddled with the long, loose braid hanging over her shoulder and kept her eyes glued to her brother. “Sure, baby. You can wear whatever you want. It’s your party.”
“Thank you, Uncle Matt.” She squeezed his neck and kissed his cheek, then ran out of the room waving the T-shirt like a flag. That little girl had his heart. All Heidi’s kids did. And Dustin’s kids, too. He adored all of his nieces and nephews. Especially since he got to swoop in to play fun Uncle Matt, then go home to his own quiet, chaos-free apartment.
Matt grabbed a seat at Heidi’s dinette and waited for the lecture. The one he didn’t deserve, but the one he knew was coming anyway. It was just easier to let Heidi have her say and move on than to fight it. Or try fighting it.
Heidi kept her gaze trained on him as she sat in the chair across the table. “So, how’s my favorite ex-sister-in-law doing?”
“She looks great.” He closed his eyes before he could see that eyebrow of hers raise. “I mean, she seems great.”
When he opened his eyes again Heidi’s arms were crossed as she leaned back in her chair. Satisfaction, complete with smug grin. “Did you talk to her or just look at her?”
“Did you know they’re playing the festival next weekend?”
Heidi uncrossed her arms. “Really? Good for them!”
“Yeah, it’s great. Except for the part where nobody knows about it.”
She shrugged. “It’ll still be great for them.”
“Yeah, but it could be better.”
“You gonna make it better?”
Matt sighed. “I wish.” He could make it so much better for them. At least take some of the work off their hands. But Robin, stubborn as usual, was standing in her own damn way.
“I’m assuming you offered your…” Heidi cleared her throat dramatically. “Services?”
“Haha, and yes, of course.”
Of course meaning of course he wanted to offer more services than promo to his ex-sister-in-law. But what he wanted and what lines he was actually willing to cross were completely separate issues.
Besides, even if he was willing to cross that line, it wasn’t like Robin would cross it with him.
“Well, if anyone can help them with promo it’s you, so I hope she takes you up on that.” Heidi frowned. “Or at least I hope someone in that band with more sense convinces her to take you up on that. Soon.”
“Agreed.”
“And maybe you’ll both come to your senses in the process?”
Matt sighed heavily. “You know that’s not happening.”
“I know you’ve had a thing for that woman for years.”
“So?” He knew better than to deny it anymore. At least around Heidi. He could keep the rest of the world in the dark, but not his sister. She was famous for sniffing out all their secrets, his and Dustin’s. It just so happened Dustin was always the one with the secrets. It felt odd being on this side of one of Heidi’s interrogations.
“So do something about it.”
“Even if I did, it wouldn’t matter. Robin’s happy.” Weather and worries aside, she really did seem happy. She had everything she needed. “She doesn’t need anyone crowding her life, and even if she did, that someone wouldn’t be me.”
“Says who?”
“Says her divorce.”
“What does that have to do with you?”
“Everything.” Matt’s lifelong frustrations with the way his brother barreled through life without a care for anyone left in his wake aside, Dustin was still everything Matt wasn’t. Talented. Famous. Fun. And even he couldn’t make Robin happy. What chance could Matt ever have with her? Assuming he could even convince Robin to see him as anything but Dustin’s kid brother. “Why are you pushing this anyway? Shouldn’t you be Team Big Brother or something?”
“Dustin’s got enough fans. Besides, someone in this family’s got to be Team Little Brother, since Dustin’s always been the golden child. You and I need to have each other’s backs, you know?”
Everyone worshiped at the shrine of Dustin for one reason or another that Matt never understood. He’d been practically handed everything in his life, and still squandered opportunities along the way. People would lavish praise on him for the smallest things, while everyone around him—including Matt and Heather—worked ten times harder for none of the accolades.
“Yeah, I know.”
“And Robin was pretty much my best friend for long time. I want to see both of you happy.”
She was right about the whole golden child thing, but way off base if she thought Matt could ever make Robin happy. As much as he wanted that to be true—had wanted that to be true ever since he met her—at least one of them needed to be realistic. Apparently that someone would have to be him, once again.
“It doesn’t matter.” He stood from the table. “I’d better head out.”
“Chicken.”
He made a defeated clucking sound as he went into the adjoining room to hug his nieces and nephew goodbye.
* * * * *
Robin opened the cooler by the door and handed a local IPA to Lauren. She decided to bring everything they needed into the studio tonight, instead of all gathering in the house before rehearsal. They didn’t have time for chitchat or slow strolls across the property, so she’d texted everyone to meet her in here.
Everyone showed up early, except for Natalie. She was waiting for Shane to get off work so he could stay home with her daughter. Nat used to bring Cadence with her to these rehearsals, and Robin kind of missed having the kid around. Still, she was glad for Nat and Shane. That relationship had surprised everyone, but it seemed to be working for them.
Kelsey was still tightening a drum head in the back, so Eric propped his upright bass in the corner and walked over to get drinks for both of them. Robin handed him two bottles of root beer, and the tall, dark, and smooth operator tipped his gray linen flat cap in thanks. He’d been sober in solidarity ever since he found out Kelsey was pregnant, and Robin couldn’t tell which of them was glowing more. They still had a long way to go—both in their relationship and the pregnancy—especially given their history, but Robin was rooting for them hard. If anyone deserved happiness, together, those two did.
Robin grabbed an IPA for herself, then another as the door opened and a rain-soaked Natalie stumbled inside.
“Are we talking about the rain yet?” Natalie asked.
“It’s raining,” Robin said, popping the top off both beers and handing one to Nat. “Thanks for kicking off the conversation.”
Natalie shook her damp blonde hair off the shoulders of her blue flannel shirt and unzipped her guitar case. She hung the strap over her shoulder, grabbed the beer from Robin, then took a sip. Her eyes remained narrowed on Robin. “I meant the next round of rain.”
“Nope.” Robin grabbed her accordion and slipped the strap over her right shoulder. She squeezed and released a couple times, thinking as she did so often how much she hated the term “squeeze box” for the instrument. Mostly because when she was a little girl in her family band, people used it as an excuse to squeeze her cheeks.
“Good to know,” Natalie said.
The festival was nine days away. A lot could change in nine days, especially where a South Louisiana forecast was concerned.
Kelsey tapped on the low tom a few times in the back of the room. Her signature purple streak was fading from her dark, straight hair. She looked a little less green these days, since the morning sickness had disappeared. “Need a hand with any social media stuff? You know I suck at that, but I had to cut my hours, so I’ve got some extra time next week.”
“Robin’s brother-in-law offered to help with that.”
Robin shot Lauren a piercing sideways glare.
“What? He did,” Lauren argued. “An
d he seemed more than happy to help. Like he really wants to.”
Robin didn’t have to even turn in the other direction to know Natalie had her hands on her hips and a judgmental frown on her face. Not as if she had any business calling out anyone else’s stubborn. Probably why she was being all silently judgey.
“We practically did that crawfish gig for free last month,” Kelsey’s small voice rang out through the studio.
The traitor.
“Yeah, and we needed the practice and new potential customer eyes on us,” Robin answered.
“Right,” Kelsey said, “but he kinda owes us for that discount. A little. Maybe.” This pregnancy was clearly messing with her brain.
Eric remained silent behind his bass. Good man. This was not a debate he needed to weigh in on, especially since he didn’t have the necessary context into Robin’s relationship past that Natalie and Kelsey had. And even they probably should keep their mouths shut on the matter. The only shocking bit was that Kelsey was the one making the argument instead of Natalie, although Robin was sure she’d get an earful from Nat eventually.
“Fine. If I promise to call after rehearsal, can we please get on with this? We’ve got a lot to get through tonight, and we need a few more run-throughs of Kelsey and Eric’s song before we go out with it next week.”
Kelsey shrugged while Eric deferred to everyone else. Lauren gave a nod beside Robin.
“No way.” Of course Natalie would find a problem.
“I’m giving you what you want,” said Robin.
“Bullshit.” Natalie put her hands on her hips. “You’re gonna decide it’s too late to call after rehearsal. Call now.”
“We need to get started.” Robin sighed. “Let’s make a few passes through the new waltz, then I’ll call him on break. Deal?”
Natalie held Robin in her steely gaze for several seconds, then finally said, “Deal.”
* * * * *
Half an hour later, they’d played through the waltz three full times. Clean. Robin wished like hell she could be happy about it.
“All right, no more stalling,” Nat called out.
“I know, I know,” Robin said on her way outside.
The rain had stalled to a drizzle, but the wind was just strong enough to keep the tiny patio a misty mess. She hopped over puddles to her large front porch where she could pace in peace out of earshot.
She stood on the porch for a while, watching the rain drip from the roof as it pattered against the hydrangea leaves. They weren’t quite blooming yet, and the azaleas had already dropped all their petals. Her mama had planted irises all around the oaks in the back half of the property, so they were already blooming in glorious shades of blue and purple. Robin spent most of each spring back there with the irises…when it wasn’t raining, at least. She wished she could be back there now, like having her mama with her while she made this call.
This had been her grandparents’ house, and when her grandma couldn’t stay by herself anymore, Robin’s parents had moved in with her. Her mama spent nine months fixing up the place before the accident.
It’s amazing how fast everything can change. How fast you realize nothing in this life is guaranteed. For Robin, everything changed in those few fleeting seconds that truck driver glanced down at his phone, missing the line of cars in front of him slowing for another accident pulled over on the side of the interstate. Both her parents and her grandmother had been in the car that day, on their way to the casino for her grandmother’s birthday.
Six weeks later, she’d accepted Dustin Blanchard’s proposal. Two months after that, in a rush before Dustin left for his first big tour, she’d walked herself down the aisle.
Robin stared at her phone, then sighed and made the damn call. “Hey, Matt. Robin.”
He laughed softly on the other end. “I know. And yes.”
“Yes, what?”
“Yes, I’ll do your promo. And for the record, I was gonna be offended if you didn’t ask.”
“What makes you think—”
“Listen,” he said, “you’ve got one week before this gig. What do you say we do this whole back and forth thing after the festival? ’Cause you sure don’t have time for it now, and it’s time I could spend getting to work for you.”
Robin’s cheeks reddened with frustration, but also a little embarrassment, if she was being honest. He was right. She should have gotten over herself and asked for help from someone, anyone, a long time ago. And she had a perfect someone for the job more than willing to do it.
Still, she couldn’t help being a tad bit angry at his presumption and attitude and slight condescension. Who did he think he was?
She would have laid into him, desperate for help or not, except some time during this brief conversation Natalie had sidled up and sat on the porch swing, picking at her fingernails. Making sure Robin got the job done as promised.
Ever since Camille went to rehab a few months back, Nat had been spending more time with her other friends in the band. More time meddling like this. Just another reason Robin missed Camille and wished she’d find herself or whatever she was doing and get back to them. Even though Lauren fit in great with the band, it still felt like a piece of their family was missing.
“Fine,” Robin said. “We’ll put a pin in it.”
Matt laughed again. “Deal. You got some time tomorrow to go over a plan? Want to meet for lunch?”
“Sure.”
“Po-boys?”
“Perfect. Meet you there at eleven-thirty?” She didn’t even have to say the name. The po-boy shop was only a block from his office downtown. She and Dustin used to eat there at least once every time he was in town between tours, and she’d picked up plenty of to-go orders there when Heidi’d had pregnancy cravings. She and Matt had met there a couple times. Before and after the divorce. Dustin was never around, so Matt would meet her with anything she needed to sign or anything that she’d left at the house, and they’d sit for hours talking like they were still family.
“Eleven-thirty’s great.”
“Good. See you then.” She paused and glanced at Natalie, who waited expectantly with a raised brow. “Oh, and Matt?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks.”
“No problem. You know I’m glad to help.”
“Yeah. I do. Thanks.”
“See you tomorrow, Robin.”
She ended the call then exhaled. Natalie had stopped picking her nails and was now grinning like that Alice cat.
“Happy?” Robin asked.
“Ec-freaking-static,” Nat said. “Now, was that so hard?”
Natalie had no idea just how hard that really was for Robin. What that single brief conversation took out of her. How it made her insides all jumpy just to hear Matt’s voice, and her brain run on its hamster wheel thinking about their meeting tomorrow. How she would somehow have to hide her excitement when she saw him again. Curb her anxiety so she wouldn’t seem too eager. Stomp down her fears and keep her mouth from running a mile a minute, freewheeling from all that nervous energy.
“Piece of cake.”
Natalie scoffed. “You’re a worse liar than Kelsey, I swear. I don’t even know how that’s possible.”
“Well, that calendar’s not lying, and we’ve got a ton of tunes left to get through tonight, so let’s get on with this.”
“Amen to that.”
Robin shook her head and followed Natalie down the porch steps and back toward the studio, wondering what the hell she’d just gotten herself into.
-3-
Matt walked straight to the row of windows where the sun shone through for the first time in almost a week. He had his pick of tables in the small downtown sandwich shop, since the lunch rush hadn’t hit yet, so he and Robin would have peace and quiet to discuss his plans.
Of course she had suggested the perfect time to meet. Every action Robin took was enacted with deliberate precision.
Everything except the most important decisions of all, like s
talling on her band’s promo until the last possible minute or dragging her feet on a divorce that should have never been a marriage in the first place.
Matt shook off those thoughts. It wasn’t his place to judge Robin’s actions (or inactions) regarding either of those things. He was just here to help her clean up the mess.
A moment later, Robin walked through the front door. She stood in the doorway for a second, surveying the restaurant, as if Matt wasn’t one of only two people sitting in the shop. She looked perfectly confident and casual in her tight, dark wash jeans and one of her store’s tees stretched perfectly across her chest and shoulders. But Matt could sense her anxiousness, and it wasn’t just her hesitation in the doorway. It was as simple as a tiny tuck of her wavy brown bob behind her ear. A slight curve in her upper lip. An extra blink. All minute tells he’d picked up on over the years.
He stood as she approached the table, and she enveloped him in a signature Robin-hug. He inhaled the scent of her. Sandalwood. Vanilla. Robin.
“Did you order yet?” she asked.
“No, I was waiting for you.”
“You didn’t have to. What do you want? I’ll order. My treat.”
“No way, I’m—”
“Ah, ah.” Her finger flew up as her eyes narrowed, and Matt knew he wasn’t winning this battle. Stubborn as the day he’d met her. She shook that finger at him and said, “No way. Sit down. Fried shrimp? That pepper jelly one? Dressed?”
He decided to save his energy and count himself grateful she was here and letting him help her at all. “Yes, thanks.”
She placed their order and paid for it while Matt sat at their table and waited. His gaze drifted downward as she walked back toward him, down to that ever so slight sway in her hips.
“Okay, so let’s get down to business.” She flashed a nervous smile. “You should be proud of me. I didn’t say ‘Let’s get this over with.’”
He laughed. “Quite the accomplishment.”
Her smile widened, and he caught himself staring at her lips. Her mouth. He quickly raised his gaze, but it landed on those big brown eyes.
