“Here you go – one strawberry rhubarb pie.”
He took it from her absently. “Thanks.”
“Don’t thank me. I can’t bake a pie to save my life.”
Matt didn’t question the impulse that led him to drive by Darcy’s house on his way home. He told himself it was because he wanted to make sure he remembered where it was so he wouldn’t have to spend time looking for it the next day. This was pure nonsense since his truck had GPS as did his phone. It also didn’t explain why he was peering up at a lit window that he wasn’t even sure was hers.
With a sigh, he took his foot off the brake and pulled away from the curb.
* * * * *
Darcy contemplated her reflection in the mirror with a faint smile. A jagged line of stitches stretched across her forehead. Her left eye was angrily red and surrounded by an array of colors from dull yellow to deep purplish blue. A larger abrasion decorated her cheek and lower jaw. She looked eerily similar to how she’d appeared after the car accident - the event that started all this in the first place. Interviewing for a job probably wasn’t an option at this point.
Twenty-four hours had passed since she’d come back from what she humorlessly referred to as her personal black hole to find herself lying at the bottom of the stairs, her entire body throbbing with pain, t-shirt streaked with blood and her mother sitting beside her in tears. As was usual when this happened, she couldn’t remember anything leading up to or during the seizure.
Somehow she’d managed to convince her mother not to call an ambulance, but she’d known she couldn’t avoid going to the emergency room. Twenty stitches and an x-ray later, she was back in the car on her way home feeling as if she’d gone over another embankment.
Five weeks, two days. That’s how long it had been. Now the clock started over. How much time would elapse before it happened again? And what would she be doing when it happened? These were the uncertainties that had become her reality.
“It’s a good thing I’m not hung up on my looks,” she muttered as she tried to run a comb through the tangles in her hair. “Because no amount of makeup could cover this.”
An exasperated sigh escaped her lips as she put down the comb and walked across the hall to her room. After struggling her way into one of Cason’s old Ron Jon Surf Shop t-shirts and a pair of shorts, she grabbed her laptop off the nightstand and went to sit in the window seat.
Memories flooded her mind as she looked through the glass at the clear blue sky. How many hours had she sat in this spot? From her perch high above the ground, she’d felt like a princess surveying her kingdom. As she got older, she’d found it the perfect place to spy on Cason. Darcy had spent many Friday and Saturday evenings watching her popular sister get picked up and dropped off.
At the time, she’d thought it a terrible waste to get so wound up about a member of the male species. All they knew how to do was produce strange noises, make excuses when they discovered you could do something better than them, and laugh at jokes that weren’t funny. Why would any girl want to spend time with them?
All of that changed the night she met Matt Gibson. Young as she was, Darcy suddenly understood why that group of girls had been so interested in him.
She understood even better now.
The rumble of a loud engine startled her. Glancing in the opposite direction, she watched a white truck pull into her driveway. She instinctively drew back from the window even as her heart pounded furiously in her chest.
Please let this be a dream. She leaned forward a few inches and peered around the side of the curtain. No such luck. Matt was on his way to the front door. In none of those previous girlish fantasies - when she’d imagined him coming to her house - had she been looking like an accident victim.
The doorbell rang and a few seconds later she heard her mother’s voice and the deeper tones of Matt. This was followed by the dull clump-clump of feet on carpeted stairs. It couldn’t be him. Even with two adult daughters, Melody Withers had strict ideas about a male being allowed inside the hallowed grounds of a single female’s bedroom.
Not bothering to knock, her mother breezed through the half-closed door and walked over to where Darcy sat waiting, the pleased smile on her face not quite able to erase the strain of yesterday’s events.
“Someone’s here to see you.”
Darcy waved a hand behind her. “I know. I saw him arrive. What am I going to do? I can’t let him see me like this.”
“A man who cared enough to come by and see how you’re doing isn’t going to let a few bruises bother him.”
“Did you say anything?”
“Of course not.”
She set the laptop aside. “This isn’t how I wanted him to find out.”
“I know that, but sometimes you don’t get to choose the time and place. Life does it for you.”
Darcy stood up and tried to smooth the wrinkles out of her shirt. Should she change into something nicer or did it matter? He wasn’t going to be looking at her clothes. “Where is he?”
“In the living room pacing the floor like a caged lion. This is just my opinion, but he doesn’t look as if he got a good night’s sleep.”
“What does that mean?”
Her mother gave her a little push toward the door. “It means he took the time to worry about you. Go put him out of his misery.”
* * * * *
While he waited for Darcy, Matt checked his messages. Mixed in with the usual ones from customers and sales reps was one he hadn’t been expecting.
Are you busy Sunday afternoon? I need to see you.
A vexed laugh escaped him. Why did Sarah need to see him? To tell him she was getting married? An empty feeling settled in his gut. His steps faltered and then stopped. It wasn’t that he didn’t want her to be happy. He did. But he didn’t want to hear about it or think about it. Was that immature and childish? Probably, but he couldn’t help it.
In the middle of this mental debate, Darcy walked into the room. Matt had seen some awful things in Iraq - things he would never forget - but the sight of her bruised and battered face brought a lump the size of a golf ball into his throat. He instinctively moved closer and gently ran his fingers over the swollen skin. The sudden tenseness in his companion brought him to his senses. What was he doing? His hand dropped to his side, and he stepped back. “It looks very painful.”
She pushed some hair behind her ear and managed a wobbly smile. “It’s much better today, thanks to hourly ice packs and Tylenol.”
To give his hands something to do, he stuffed them in his pockets. “As I was pulling into the driveway, I realized I should have called first. Sarah would get so upset with me when I showed up at her place unannounced. I tried to tell her that it didn’t matter to me that her hair wasn’t perfect or that her legs weren’t shaved.” He stopped suddenly, realizing that he’d just made two mistakes: he’d strayed from the point, and he was talking about one girl to another. “Anyway, I was so anxious to find out how you were doing that I didn’t think.”
Her tentative smile grew. “It was sweet of you to worry and even more so to take time out of your busy day to come see me.”
His fingers itched to touch her face again. What was wrong with him? Once was bad enough. “I, uh, brought you something. It’s out in the truck.”
“Oh, Matt, you didn’t have to do that.”
“It’s nothing special; just something I thought you might like. I’ll be right back.” All the way to the truck, he berated himself for not getting flowers. That would have been more appropriate. When he returned, she was sitting on the couch. He nervously set the terra cotta pot on the coffee table in front of her. “It’s lamb’s ear.”
She stroked the thick, silvery green leaves overflowing the sides of the pot, her lips forming a pleased smile. “They’re so soft – like touching velvet.”
Almost as soft as her skin had been. “Lamb’s ear is part of the mint family,” he heard himself say. What was he? A talking encyclopedia on p
lants?
Darcy didn’t seem to notice. She turned the pot around slowly. “Thank you so much for bringing it. You’ll have to give me some instructions. I’m not very knowledgeable about plants. My mom has the green thumb.”
Maybe he hadn’t totally messed up. She seemed to like it. Feeling less awkward, he dropped down next to her. “It’s super easy. Just set it in a sunny area and water it every once in a while.”
“I have a window seat in my room. I’ll put it there.”
“Is your room the one on the front of the house?”
“Yes, it is. Why do you ask?”
He grinned teasingly. “Because I might want to see you in the middle of the night, in which case I would need to know which window to throw stones at.”
“Should I keep a rope ladder handy in case I want to come down and join you?”
“It’s for sure I can’t climb a rope ladder to join you. Those days are over.”
“Is that another one of those things that got your face slapped?”
Matt shook his head. “Trying to steal kisses got my face slapped. I never tried anything as bold or risky as sneaking into a girl’s room. My mother taught me better than that. College football starts tomorrow. Are you excited?”
Darcy leaned back against the cushions, her head barely reaching his shoulders even sitting down. “Very. Clemson plays at three-thirty.”
“Same time as Auburn. You aren’t going to keep having plans on game days, are you? I wasn’t kidding about wanting to watch football with you.”
Her glance fell from his. “I feel bad about that. When you first asked me, you caught me by surprise. I didn’t know what to say so I said I had plans.”
“That’s understandable. Here’s this guy you just met inviting you to his house. I don’t blame you for being cautious. A woman has to be careful these days.”
“It wasn’t anything to do with you. It’s because of something that happened to me; something that isn’t easy to talk about.”
Had someone physically hurt her? His hands clenched into fists. Was that why she didn’t date? “Then we won’t talk about it.”
“That wouldn’t be fair to you. If we’re going to spend time together, we have to talk about it. In fact, I should have mentioned it the other night.”
Matt felt the vibration of his phone. He’d asked Eric to text him when he left the house. As much as he wanted to stay, he knew he had to get going. Their business demanded keeping customers happy and that meant staying on schedule. “You’re the best judge of what you need to tell me. Right now, I’ve got to go. Eric is on his way to your sister’s house to work on her yard, and everything he needs is on the trailer attached to my truck. How about you come over tomorrow, and we’ll talk before the game?”
“Okay. Thanks for not being upset with me.”
“A refusal every now and then is good for a guy. It keeps us humble. I’ll pick you up around two.” He reached for his phone. “Let’s exchange numbers in case something comes up.”
“My phone’s upstairs. Be back in a sec.”
He moved over so she could get past his legs. “Take your time on the stairs. We don’t want another fall.” As soon as he was alone again, Matt stared at Sarah’s text as if seeing it for the first time. How could he have forgotten that? More importantly, what was he going to do about it?
* * * * *
Darcy grabbed her phone off the dresser with a feeling of jumping off a diving board into the deep end of a pool. Was she really doing this? None of her actions with Matt made any senses. It was as if someone else had inhabited her body.
She caught her reflection in the mirror and her mind replayed in vivid detail the feel of his fingers moving over her face. Surprise had held her motionless, her breath suspended in her chest, every thought stolen from her mind. She wasn’t foolish enough to believe his gesture meant anything but kindness, but that didn’t make the experience any less precious or memorable.
He was flipping through one of her mother’s Good Housekeeping magazines when she returned to the living room. “According to this article, vibrant colors are all the rage this year. Why didn’t someone tell me that before I settled for beige walls and off-white trim?”
She took the magazine from him and handed him her phone. “There’s nothing wrong with the traditional look. I’ll go ahead and warn you. I get loud when I watch football.”
“I do, too,” he confessed with a slow smile that completed her state of distraction. “Now I don’t have to try to be quiet when I’m bursting at the seams to yell.”
She followed him to the door. “How many yards do you have to mow today?”
“Three, but one of them is five acres. We should get done by seven. Are you still helping with the bake sale tomorrow?”
“No, I’m staying home with Dad.”
“Thanks for telling me. I’ll make sure I’m on my best behavior when I come over to get you.”
“Just don’t make any remarks about how great the SEC is in football, and you’ll be fine.”
“I’m very willing to perjure myself if necessary.”
“Why is that?”
“I think that’s pretty obvious by now. See you tomorrow afternoon.”
After he left, Darcy closed the door and leaned against it. Delight and fear warred for dominance within her. There was a reason she avoided situations like this. The few times she’d allowed herself to get interested in someone had ended in disaster. It wasn’t easy to forget being rejected for something she couldn’t control.
She’d hoped to delay telling Matt about the seizures. Had it been wrong to want some time with him where she could pretend she was like everyone else? That she didn’t have this menacing cloud hanging over her all the time.
Falling down the stairs had taken care of that.
Darcy slowly walked over to the coffee table and picked up the clay pot. “I’m going to do my best not to prematurely end your life.”
“Who are you talking to?”
Embarrassed at being caught talking to a plant, Darcy held it out to her mother. “Matt brought me this. Wasn’t that sweet of him?”
“Yes, it was, and practical, too. Cut flowers die after a few days. This is a more permanent reminder. I like how he thinks.”
“Whatever his reason, I appreciate it. I only hope I don’t kill the poor thing.”
“Did you tell him?”
“Not yet. He couldn’t stay long, and I didn’t want to just blurt it out. I’ll tell him tomorrow. He invited me to his house to watch football.”
“I wish you’d asked him to come here. You’re still recovering from yesterday.”
“I’ll be fine, Mom.”
“I’m your mother. I have the right to worry about you. You don’t know how many times I wanted to come to that college and bring you home.”
“But you didn’t, and I’m the better for it. I have to live as normally as I can without endangering myself or others.”
“Living normally includes having a social life, and I think Matt’s a safe place to start. He’s not like those other boys you went out with before.”
“No, he’s not,” Darcy agreed. “That’s the only reason I’m doing this.” Well, not the only reason, but it was the only one she could tell her mother.
* * * * *
Matt went through the motions of mowing grass, but his mind was on the reply he’d sent to Sarah’s text – the one that would bring her to his house on Sunday. Why hadn’t he refused? Was it because he had a morbid and possibly destructive curiosity to find out how well she was doing without him? Or was it because he needed to see how well he was doing without her?
He’d thought he was doing a good job of behaving normally, but he should have known he couldn’t fool his brother. As they were unloading the equipment from the trailer, Eric broke the silence that had fallen between them.
“If you don’t want to do the Heritage House dinner, just say so. I can’t take any more of the silent treatment.”
A chuckle erupted from Matt. “So this is how to get your attention. I never realized it was so easy.”
“Or bizarre. You and being quiet don’t go together.”
“Sorry. I’ve been a little preoccupied. Sarah invited herself over on Sunday.”
Eric couldn’t hide his surprise. “Is she having second thoughts?”
Matt shook his head. “I doubt it. It’s more likely that she’s getting married and wants to know if I’ll stop acting like a baby and come to the wedding.”
“That could be done over the phone or on neutral ground at a restaurant. Coming to your house suggests it’s something more personal. Between you and her.”
“That doesn’t make sense, Eric. A few weeks ago she was making out with some guy in the produce section. Which, as long as we’re talking about it, is something I never could get her to do with me. In public, I mean. Not that I wanted to, but you know what I…anyway, it was disappointing on several levels.”
Eric tried to turn a laugh into a cough, but it didn’t really work. Matt ended up joining in. “I can imagine. Let me remind you that a few weeks ago you hadn’t met Darcy. A lot can change in a short amount of time.”
Matt flipped his sunglasses into his hair and lifted his shirt to wipe his face. “What are you trying to say?”
“Things may not be as cut and dried as you believe.”
“If you think that cleared up anything, you’re wrong.”
“I shouldn’t be giving advice anyway. I didn’t exactly bat a thousand with women.”
“You went one for two. That’s better than me.”
Eric laughed. “You’ve still got a few at-bats left in the game. Should we set another plate at the dinner table?”
“I’m too nervous to eat now, thanks to you and your ‘second thoughts’ theory.”
“I thought – wrongly, it seems – that you would welcome such an opportunity.”
Matt looked at him strangely. “What makes you think I wouldn’t want to get back with Sarah?”
“Because you said you were too nervous to eat. If you’d said you were too excited to eat, that would have been a different story.”
Stealing His Heart: A Sweet Contemporary Romance (Finding Love Book 2) Page 8
