“Are you sure?” she asked, still feeling a little guilty about leaving him to his own devices.
He smiled and she noticed he had a dimple in his left cheek. “Yeah, I got it. Brad's cows are pretty docile and the shots are quick. You go on and I'll be up in about ten minutes.”
She gave him one last look before nodding and turning back toward the house. Isis and Bob trotted after her while Lucy stayed behind. Roger and Rufus, having assessed the situation and moved on several minutes earlier, were already crashed out on the patio; neither even bothered to raise their heads when she walked by.
Fifteen minutes later, Matty looked up from where she sat at the kitchen island to see Dash at the screen door.
“Come in,” she waved him in.
“My boots are filthy.”
“I'm not feeling so inclined to care much about Brad's floors these days.”
Dash let out a little chuckle as he stepped into the room. “Those the directions?” he asked, nodding toward the paper in her hands.
“All four pages of them,” she answered.
“That sounds more like Brad. Do you have any questions? Anything I can help with?”
She took one last look at the typed, single-spaced text and shook her head. “Why on earth would anyone want rabbits? I mean they're cute and all, but you can't cuddle them and he only has two, so it's not like he's collecting angora or anything.”
“Brad's an interesting guy,” Dash said, crossing the room and coming to a stop a few feet from her.
Matty arched a brow. “That's an interesting comment.”
“It's not a commentary, just an observation. Where is he, by the way?” Dash asked, his eyes not leaving hers.
“I don't actually know,” she frowned. And thinking back to the conversation she'd had with him, Brad hadn't really left her an opening to ask. “He didn't say and didn't really give me the opportunity to bring it up. He just asked me to come up for a few weeks and watch the dogs.”
“From where?” he asked, hitching his hip against the island and crossing his arms.
“DC,” she answered. “I'm a city girl. Dogs I can do, and the cats won't be too bad, but cows, chickens, and rabbits will be a new one for me.”
“Well, here,” he pulled a card out of his shirt pocket. Reaching for a pen on the counter he scribbled on the back. “If you have any questions, just call me. Brad takes good care of his animals. My guess is that the biggest problem you'll have with them is what to do with all the eggs his chickens are producing this time of year.”
“I should be so lucky,” Matty said, taking the card and noting the cell number he'd added.
“You'll be fine. Once the surprise of it all has worn off, you'll be able to kick back, relax, and enjoy the country, cows and all.”
“I think I'm going to start now. Brad says I'm welcome to any of his liquor,” Matty said, holding up the last sheet of paper. It was a weird thing for him to write, he didn't even know if she drank. “A gin and tonic and a cool bath sounds just about perfect after my long drive. Care to join me?” She meant in the drink, but the side of his mouth ticked up and she realized how ambiguous her question sounded.
“I'd love to, but I have a few other calls I have to make. I'll take a rain check, though.”
And she knew he wasn't just referring to the drink. It hadn't been her intention to suggest they share a bath, but now that it was out there, albeit only playfully so, she couldn't bring herself to think it would be a bad idea. But rather than comment, she simply inclined her head and rose from her seat to walk him out. He offered again to be a resource for her should she need it and, a few minutes later, was climbing into his truck and heading back down the road. Matty stood on the patio for a few minutes listening to the sounds of the country around her. There was a sense of peace and calm about the place.
She just hoped she didn't ruin it by accidentally killing one of Brad's animals.
* * *
Dash eased his truck to a stop at the end of the dirt road that Brad's house shared. Pulling out his phone, he dialed a familiar number.
“Hey,” his sister Jane answered.
“I just met her,” he said without preamble.
“Met who? Oh!” she said, the realization dawning. “Really? You met her?” she repeated, beginning to laugh.
“Yes and it's not funny.”
“Yeah it is. After all those years of you saying it was never going to hit you, it's kind of funny. I'm looking forward to the next month or so, it's going to be so interesting,” she added, not bothering to hide her enthusiasm.
“Nice, thanks for the support. I'm a little freaked out.”
“Yeah, it's like that. So, what are you going to do about it?” she asked.
“Avoid her,” he answered even as he thought of the cell number—his personal cell number—he'd added to his card.
“Like that's going to work,” she retorted.
“I know, but at least it might buy me some time to get used to the idea. I feel like I can't breathe.”
“Oh, you're such a drama king. It might be scary as shit when it hits, but it works out fine. That's the way it's always been,” he sister responded, none too helpfully. “What's she like?” she added.
Dash thought about Matty, about how concerned she was about doing the right thing for the animals and how relatively in stride she took the shit her half brother had dumped on her. Which, if he let himself think about that particular turn of events, was unusual too. Brad wasn't usually a “shit- dumping” kind of guy. Usually, Brad was the exact opposite. Dash frowned.
“Well?” his sister pressed, bringing Dash's mind back to Matty.
He thought of the way she'd looked with her long black hair, light brown eyes, and a face and complexion that hinted at a Latina heritage somewhere in her genealogy. And her curves—it would have been hard to miss those as she'd stood in front of him wearing a pair of short shorts and a tank top. Matty Brooks was not a waif and for that he was truly grateful.
“I'm not talking about it,” he answered.
“Because that will make it more real,” she taunted.
“You don't have to sound so gleeful.”
“I'm your sister, of course I do. I can't wait for mom to find out.”
“But she won't find out from you, Jane,” Dash warned. Lord knew what would happen if, or when, his mom found out about Matty.
“Oh please, Dash,” Jane brushed him off. “You know how it works. It's the same for everyone in the family, and you've just acknowledged you're no different. You and this woman, whose name I don't even know, will be married within a month. I guarantee it. It's our family curse, or blessing, depending on how you look at it, so you may as well just embrace it and tell the parents. It's not like you'll be able to keep it a secret for long.”
And that's what he was afraid of—because Jane was right. For as many generations as they could go back in their family, not a single person had had a period of more than a month between meeting the person they would spend the rest of their life with and marrying them. He'd always chalked it up, back in the early days, to arranged marriages and just a different kind of lifestyle. And then, with the more modern generations, he'd just thought the family promulgated the tradition because it was kind of fun and quirky. But after what had just happened to him when he'd met Matty Brooks, he wasn't so sure anything was made up. Because the feelings that had overloaded every one of his senses had been very, very real.
“Fuck,” he muttered.
“You'll get there.”
“I'm hanging up, Jane.”
“Okay. I'll be up for the pancake breakfast in a couple of weeks. I'll look forward to meeting my new sister-in-law.”
“You suck, you know.”
“You love me. Goodbye.” And she hung up.
He'd been hoping for some sympathy. He should have known better. And, unfortunately, the one thing he could agree with his sister on was that it was most definitely going to be an interesting mon
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