by Holly Jacobs
“I’m not sure I know the Nies family. Working at the diner has helped, but there are still so many people I haven’t met.” Lily examined a tea towel with grapes all over it and held it out for Mattie’s appraisal.
Mattie shook her head. “Mrs. Nies is working part-time for Colton, helping him get the winery up and running.” He’d set up the winery in an old stone cottage on some of the vast frontage he owned. It had been a large undertaking at the time, but with a little patience and a lot of hard effort, things had started to really come together for him. “I went to school with their son Jon. We had a number of parties out there, so I know it’ll be great.”
“Parties?” Lily asked. “Legit parties?”
Mattie laughed. “There may have been some nonlegit, but Bridget wouldn’t let me go, so I only attended the legit ones. She reined me in and kept me out of trouble.”
“Really?”
Mattie smiled. “Well, not completely, but she did her best.”
They paid for the stoppers, and drove about two miles down East Lake Road.
April on the south shore of Lake Erie was a gray, rainy month. As if not to disappoint, there was enough of a mist that Mattie, who’d driven, needed to turn her wipers on occasionally. It was also cool enough that she kept the heater on low. But despite the damp weather, it felt like spring. The trees that lined the road had a growing hint of green as their buds swelled, ready to break out into leaves at the merest hint of sunshine.
Pockets of daffodils sprang up in the muddy grass, announcing that winter was well and truly over.
They walked into the next winery on their list. Shelves with bottles sat next to other wine paraphernalia. “What else do we need?” Mattie asked.
“Prizes for games,” Lily said with enthusiasm.
Mattie groaned. “Games? I hadn’t thought about games. That’s what people do at showers, right?”
Lily nodded. “Right. Games. Food. Gifts. And talking. Lots and lots of talking.”
“The four G’s,” Mattie groused. “Games. Grub. Gifts. Gab.”
“That definitely sums up showers.”
“I don’t think I’m a showery sort of girl,” Mattie reflected. “But Sophie is, isn’t she?”
Lily had a grapevine basket in her hands. “Yes, I’m pretty sure that Sophie is a showery sort of woman.”
Mattie sighed. “I was afraid of that. So, what kind of games?”
“There’s the design a wedding dress out of toilet paper—” Lily started.
“Okay, I know this is Sophie’s shower, not mine, but come on, even the most bridal-obsessed woman can’t honestly enjoy wearing toilet paper.”
“Maybe we can come up with some alternative ideas,” Lily offered. Then she laughed and said, “But it is a lot of fun.”
They outlined a strategy as they selected and checked out various items for purchase.
It had been a long time since Mattie had shopped with a friend. Since she’d come back to Valley Ridge her days revolved around Bridget, the kids and the coffee shop.
She wasn’t any more of a shopping sort of woman than she was a showery one, but she had to admit, this afternoon, without the responsibility of the kids, was a refreshing change of pace. A small voice whispered, she could have this all the time if she gave Finn what he wanted.
The thought made her feel ashamed.
They each grabbed a cup of coffee at their last stop. The owner’s porch overlooked the lake, and he’d capitalized on that by offering wine and other select drinks, along with cheese platters and finger foods.
“I’d have gone for the wine if I didn’t have to go home to the kids soon,” Mattie confessed. She glanced at her watch. “Any other party business before we wrap up?”
“I think we’ve covered everything. We do need to get the invitations out ASAP, if we’re going to have this in three weeks,” Lily was saying.
Mattie nodded. “Sophie has this whole wedding thing kicked into high gear.”
“I don’t mind,” Lily said on a dreamy note. Mattie recognized the tone. It was the same one she’d used as she watched her parents and Sophie and Colton dance the other night. “I like the idea of someone being so much in love that they can’t imagine spending one more minute than they have to without the other person.”
“You’re a romantic.”
Lily had a dreamy expression on her face. “Guilty. And you don’t think you are?”
“I know I’m not.” Mattie didn’t even bother to cross her fingers as she said the words. That little sigh the other night was a fluke. A momentary lapse. “Other people fall in and out of love at the drop of a hat. They put their own hopes and dreams aside because of someone else. Sometimes it works out, but so many times it doesn’t. So, me? I’ve always lived to please myself, and I can honestly say, I’ve never been in love.”
“Never?” Lily’s expression said that she wasn’t buying it. “Never?” she repeated.
Mattie stared out at the vineyards and the lake in the distance. It was easier than staring at her friend’s look of disbelief. “Well, when I was younger I did have a huge crush on a friend’s brother. But he was much older and never noticed I was breathing, much less pining over him.”
Mattie’s recent issues with Finn made it easy to forget there was a time when the mere mention of his name made her little-girl knees weak in a very Gone With the Wind swoonish way. Her crush had lasted for years, until she’d doodled his name on a piece of paper one night, and realized it was pretty stupid. She must have been fourteen or so by then.
She had finally understood that Finn would never see her as anything but Bridget’s friend. And if one of her brothers got hold of the paper, they’d not only torment her with it, they’d make sure everyone knew about her crush. She’d been so terrified at the prospect that she’d ripped the paper into little bits, then flushed them for good measure.
And she ignored her crush to the extent that she forgot about it except for when it sneaked back into her thoughts. She’d never had that swoonish feeling since.
“Did you ever tell him?” Lily asked, her voice all breathy.
“Who?” she asked, having gotten lost in the past.
“The boy you had a crush on. Did you ever tell him?”
Mattie laughed as she tried to imagine what Finn’s reaction would be if she confessed her unrequited love. “No. Never. I outgrew my crush.”
Lily had the look of a dog with a bone. “Is he still in town? Maybe you could—”
“Ick. Never. I’d rather date...” She couldn’t think of a choice of partners worse than Finn, so she shrugged. “Hank.”
Lily laughed. “Now that would be a May–December relationship.”
Desperate to change the topic, she said, “Speaking of Hank, is he all right? He seemed a little—” she considered her choice of words “—confused the last time I was at the diner. I know you mentioned helping him out. Have you noticed anything?”
Lily hesitated, as if she were going to say something, then decided against it. “Tell me about his grandson,” she countered. “I was hoping he’d be here for the engagement party. I know Hank’s been worried about him and anxious for him to get home.”
Sebastian was the bad boy in school. The one all the moms with daughters, especially Mrs. Wallace, were concerned about. But he had a certain charm, and eventually even Mrs. Wallace had fallen under his spell. For the first time, Mattie wondered why, when she’d had her little crush as a child, she hadn’t crushed on Seb? He was the most obviously handsome of the three—Seb, Colton and Finn. Seb’s dark good looks were enhanced by a serious attitude.
Almost every girl in school, including Bridget, had followed Seb around, but not Mattie. She’d never had eyes for any other boy but Finn.
Which probably explained why she’d never fallen that hard for someone since...Finn had broken her.
She smiled at the thought of blaming her loveless state on Finn Wallace.
“You know, he was that boy,” Mattie tried to explain. “Sebastian was the one who was practically on a first-name basis with the principal. Every school has one. The bad boy. The one mothers don’t want their daughters to date, but all the daughters would adore dating. Rumor had it he was arrested. He wasn’t in school for a few weeks, but then he came back, and if anyone asked him about it, he smiled and didn’t say anything. He rode a motorcycle, and there was a huge outcry at school when he supposedly got a tattoo, though I never saw one.”
“Hmm, a secret tattoo? It’s probably a teddy bear or something he’s embarrassed by,” Lily joked.
“I don’t think it was a teddy bear. Seb never struck me as a teddy bear type.”
Lily’s humor quickly evaporated as she pressed, “What about him and Hank? How was their relationship?”
“I know Seb must have given Hank more than a few gray-hair moments, but they loved each other. Anyone could see that. You think Hank’s problem is as simple as him worrying about and missing Seb?”
“Maybe. I’m hoping.” Though Lily didn’t look very convinced.
“Sophie said he’d be in Valley Ridge soon,” was all Mattie had left to offer.
“I hope so,” Lily said. “I’m not sure there’s anything wrong with Hank. It may be just his age catching up with him. But if there is something wrong, I’m not related and can’t force the issue of him seeing a doctor. That’ll have to be up to Sebastian.”
“Seb loves Hank. I’m sure he’ll do whatever it takes to help,” Mattie said.
“So, back to the shower. We’ve got a lot to do and very little time to do it in, but I think we made a great start today.”
“Tick tock, tick tock,” Mattie muttered. She glanced at her watch again. Finn would have the kids back to her soon.
Time was a fickle thing. Sometimes it dragged, and sometimes it moved at the speed of light. She had a feeling these next few weeks were going to be the speed-of-light variety.
* * *
IT SEEMED TO MATTIE as if she’d blinked and a week had gone by.
The repairman didn’t show up to fix the cappuccino machine until two-thirty on Monday. She’d had to call the principal and have her tell Zoe to walk the two younger kids to the coffee shop rather than home. She realized that if Zoe had a cell phone, she could have texted her. And she’d spent the rest of the week wondering if teaching Zoe a lesson about working for what you want was worth it. Maybe she should cave and get her the phone.
WWBD?
What would Bridget do?
She didn’t know. If things weren’t so strained between her and Finn, maybe she’d ask him, but they were, so she didn’t. She could ask her mom’s opinion, but she felt that she should figure things out on her own and not use her mother as a crutch.
She was still worrying about all of these things and attorney’s fees on Saturday as she threw yet another load of laundry into the machine. Lily had called to cancel their shower prep party, which meant Mattie was trying to get as much done as she could. Lily had been so apologetic and promised to try to get there when she was done with her patient, but Mattie had told her not to worry.
As if on cue, the doorbell rang and she pushed her hair out of her face as she rushed to answer it. Lily obviously had worried.
And despite her reassurance, Mattie was relieved. They had a lot more shower business to get done today while the kids were fishing with her dad and brother. Time was of the essence because they would be back before she knew it.
But it wasn’t Lily on the porch. It was Finn, wearing jeans that had been ironed, and an equally well-pressed striped shirt. The fact that it was partially unbuttoned was the sign that Finn was dressed down. He nudged up his glasses with one hand and held out a bag with the other. “I stopped at this bakery in Buffalo on my way out of the city. A patient told me about them. All organic, whole-grain stuff.”
“You don’t have to bribe me with health food,” she grumbled as she took the bag from Finn, who walked in as if he owned the place.
Mattie stopped short and realized that this was Finn’s house. It’s where he’d grown up. No wonder he felt a sense of proprietorship. And that’s when it struck her that this house felt like home to her, too.
She shut the door and turned to face her nemesis. She’d been reading a new comic series to Mickey, and it seemed every superhero had his or her own personal nemesis. Finn was hers.
She liked that designation better than first crush. Ever since she’d told Lily that story last week, she’d been thinking about Finn in that light.
She very much preferred him as her nemesis.
He grinned at her, not realizing she was currently trying to imagine what comic outfit he’d wear as a nemesis. Spandex, for sure. The thought of Finn in spandex made her feel flustered, so she pushed the ridiculous idea aside.
“I guessed that gifts of health food were more likely to work than flowers,” Finn teased, then reached out and touched her forehead.
Mattie pulled back from his touch.
“Paint,” he offered by way of explanation. “So what are you painting?”
“Door prizes for the guests at Sophie’s shower—in between loads of laundry. I will finish the things, but I’ll never finish this laundry. You’d think that Mickey being allergic to soap would mean less laundry for me, but it actually means more stains to scrub off of his stuff.” She smiled, then realized she was smiling at the enemy and stopped.
“By yourself?”
“Something came up and Lily canceled. I thought maybe she’d had a change of plans and you were her, but it was only you.” She sighed, wishing that it had been Lily at the door.
“It’s very quiet,” he murmured. “Where are the kids?”
“Ray and Dad were going fishing this morning and offered to take them.” Mattie headed to the kitchen with his bag of treats.
“Oh,” he said from behind her.
“I’m sorry. I thought they’d be back before you got here.” He’d texted her yesterday and said he wouldn’t be arriving until late afternoon, which is why she’d told her dad and Ray yes. She glanced at the clock. It was only one—that was still early afternoon. “I could text Dad and see precisely where they’re at.”
He shook his head. “No, that’s fine. I’ll hang out with you and wait, if you don’t mind.”
She did mind. She minded a lot. After all Buffy didn’t spend an afternoon with Glory, her nemesis, and Dr. Horrible didn’t pal around with Captain Hammer. She smiled. She was letting her Joss Whedon crush show.
Hey, maybe she’d lied when she told Lily about her one amazing girlhood crush. Maybe her crush on Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s creator, Joss Whedon, counted?
Probably not. She sighed and noticed that Finn was waiting for her response. “Fine. You can wait here with me, as long as we don’t beat a certain dead horse.”
She set the bag on top of the microwave. The table was covered with newspaper and paints, and the counter was lined with drying stoneware containers.
She watched as Finn examined them. “What are these?”
“Given Sophie’s job and Colton’s new winery, we’re going with a wine theme for her shower. These are to use as wine bottle coolers. We’ll have them as centerpieces, then give them away as door prizes at the end of the party.”
She’d spent the past few days sketching V’s and R’s and W’s. Trying to make a pretty logo. She ended up placing the V and W next to one another, and the R in the middle. Like a monogram.
“V.R.W.?” Finn asked.
“Well, Colton liked it so much it’s going to be his logo for the Valley Ridge Winery. He decided on a simple name. But in this case, it stands for a Valley Ridge Wedding. After the black paint dries, I’m painting in their names, intertwined with grapevines.” She picked up the piece of paper with her template and showed it to Finn.
He studied the design for a few moments. “This is awesome.”
Mattie felt uncomfortable with his praise. “Uh, thanks.”
“Can I help?”
* * *
FOR A SECOND, FINN THOUGHT Mattie was about to say no. She wrinkled her paint-smudged nose, wiped her hands on her well-worn, holey-knee jeans and stared at him hard, before she nodded and gestured at a seat.
Finn sat down and picked up her design. “Can I sketch this out on some paper a few times?”
She pushed the large drawing pad and a pencil across the table to him. He traced her template, and then copied it.
It was basic enough that even he could do it, but it was striking nonetheless.
He made the design three times on the paper, before he meticulously painted the monogram for the first time. Then he turned the object around for Mattie to inspect.
“You’re good,” she admitted grudgingly. “Of course you’re good. There’s nothing Dr. Finn Wallace can’t do.”
It might have sounded like a compliment, but he couldn’t miss the fact that it wasn’t. “I’m a surgeon. Good eye-hand coordination. I’m only copying what you created,” he tried, offering an olive branch.
He’d talked to his lawyer recently, who said children’s services would be making an impromptu home visit sometime in the next few weeks. Finn tried to tell him that he didn’t want that. It wasn’t that he thought Mattie wasn’t good with the kids—she was. He simply thought he had more to offer, and he was family.
Family or not, Bridget had wanted Mattie to have the kids, a small, nagging voice whispered. But Bridget had been sick; she hadn’t even bothered to talk to him about her plans for the children. If she had, she would have agreed that he was the kids’ best option. She must have worried about his work life and how hard juggling it with their needs would be, so she’d picked the second-best option.
That’s what he tried to tell himself, but he wasn’t sure he believed it.
Mattie shrugged off his compliment. “The logo isn’t anything. I put a few letters together.”
