by Lisa Smartt
“Doug called me last night when he was on the way to the hospital.”
“Oh, that’s good. Yeah. It was a scare. For all of us. Dusty and Clara just left an hour ago. They’ll probably be back in less than an hour…if you want to wait. I mean, Will’s asleep right now. But he’ll probably wake up pretty soon.”
“Yeah. That’s good. I can wait. So what happened, Sarah? To Will.”
“I don’t know really. I mean, I know he took some pills. I know they’re taking it seriously. I know we’re all thankful he’s alive.”
Matthew walked to Will’s bed and placed his hand gently on top of his head. “Yeah. Thankful.”
Will stirred a bit. He blinked and reached for his water cup. “Matthew! How did you get here from California?”
“It’s called an airplane, Buddy. It’s pretty fast.”
Will guzzled some water and then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Why’d you come?”
“I came to see you.”
Will looked down at the blanket and said softly, “Because they told you about…”
“Yeah. Doug called and told me you had a close call, man. So I knew I needed to come see you and make sure you’re okay.”
“I’m fine.”
Matthew pretended to punch him on the arm. “Yeah, well, I’m glad.”
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Anything, Will.”
“Does it bother you when the TV people ask questions about you being in prison or other things you don’t want to talk about?”
“Yeah. Sometimes. Does it bother you?”
“Yeah.”
Matthew pulled up a chair and laid his hand on Will’s arm. “Here’s the deal, Will. You and me? We’ll always be misunderstood by some people. There will always be people who judge me because of my past with drugs, or because I was in prison. There might even be people who think certain things about you because your birthfather is in prison. So every day, you and me, we have a decision to make. We decide whose opinion matters. The most. Some people will always reject us, man. But look at all the people who love us, who accept us just the way we are. History and all.” He looked at me and in that single moment, it was like he could see into my soul, almost like he was there the day I laid on the old iron bed. Like he knew that I loved him. That I always would love him. He turned to Will. “That kind of love, it’s pretty cool, right?”
Will smiled. “I guess. Wanna Tootsie Roll?”
Matthew laughed and stood up. “Of course I do! Why do you think I flew all the way out here if it wasn’t for the free Tootsie Rolls?”
Dusty walked in just as Matthew was throwing the candy wrapper into the corner trash can. “Good gosh a-mighty! What have we here? Matthew Prescott? Hobnobbing with us common folk again?”
Matthew turned and embraced him. “Hey, I came to see my main man here. We gotta stick together.”
Dusty smiled and rubbed Will’s head. “Yeah. I hear ya.”
We made small talk for ten minutes. Matthew cleared his throat. “Sarah, wanna get some coffee?”
“Sure. Will, I’ll come see you again tomorrow.”
Matthew patted Dusty on the back. “I’ll be back, man. I need to talk to you.”
Dusty plopped down in an old blue vinyl chair. “I’ll be here.”
We were silent as we walked down the hallway. A few times I glanced up at him. Still in shock, I guess. His face wore at least two day’s stubble. Sexy beyond words. The sexiest part? The not shaving was just a matter of convenience to him. Probably didn’t even realize the folks on the plane thought he was handsome. The bottom line? He came. He said he came for Will. I believed him. And the fact that he would do something like that, well, maybe that was the sexiest part of all.
We never got to the cafeteria. He stopped suddenly outside the cafeteria door. His arms reached out for me and I leaned close into his chest. As his hands touched the back of my head, he whispered, “Sarah, I’ve missed you. Every single day.”
I didn’t pull away. I stayed close to his chest. “I missed you too.”
Just as he pulled away and looked into my eyes, a young nurse ran up to us and yelled, “Oh my God! It’s Matthew Prescott! No way!”
Matthew extended his hand to her and said quietly, “Yes. I’m Matthew. Nice to meet you.”
“I’m Bridget Mathis and I’m your biggest fan! Seriously! I am your biggest fan. I’m gonna call my cousin. She will just DIE when she finds out you’re here! Just die!”
“Bridget, can you do me a favor?”
“Oh, anything!”
“Yeah. Could you hold off on telling anybody right now? I’m here to visit someone and if you could give me some time, it would mean a lot.”
“Can I at least get a picture with you?”
He looked relieved. “Yeah, that’ll be fine.”
She shoved her phone into my hands. “Here. Would you take it?”
I winked at Matthew. “I’ll be glad to. I mean, it’s not every day you meet a famous California heartthrob, right?” He grinned and then scowled as though he were lovingly chastising me.
Bridget pulled some lip balm from her pocket and began applying it. “Absolutely! I can’t believe it.”
I wanted to throw gasoline on the fire a bit. “Okay, you two! Lean in real close now.”
Matthew put his arm around her. She leaned in and smiled for the camera as her face turned bright red. I snapped the pic and she requested another. She reached up to kiss him on the cheek for the second picture. He pulled away and said, “Let’s just smile and look forward, okay?” She hesitantly agreed. With picture two completed, he shook her hand again and said, “It was nice to meet you, Bridget.”
“Oh, you too!” She looked at me and asked, “Do you want me to get your picture made with him too?”
Matthew looked mortified. I bit my lip to keep from laughing. “Are you kidding? I sure do!” I handed Bridget my phone. “Do you mind?”
“Not at all! I mean, you’d kick yourself later if you met Matthew Prescott and didn’t even get your picture made with him!”
I looked at Matthew and winked. “Wouldn’t I though?”
She stood back and said, “Smile.” He put his arm around me. She looked at the phone screen and said, “Now, let’s get one more.”
She held up the phone. “Ready?”
Matthew answered, “Almost.” Then he turned and put both hands on my face. He kissed me gently on the cheek. I heard the phone’s familiar click.
When I looked up at Bridget, she looked like she’d been hit by a train. She finally spoke. “Well, that was…”
Matthew gently brushed the hair from my face and looked into my eyes. “Surreal.”
I could feel my own face getting warmer. “Bridget, thank you so much. Really. I hope you have a great evening.”
“Uh, yeah. It was nice to meet you. Both of you.” Matthew nodded and waved. She walked toward the elevator.
He put his hands in his pockets and looked around. “This is probably not a good place to talk, Sarah. I need to talk to Dusty for a while. Can you meet me later?”
“Sure. Where do you want to meet?”
“How about Chester and Ida’s place?”
“What time?”
“How ‘bout seven? Doug’s gonna pick me up here and he can drop me off at the house. We’ll order pizza, maybe.”
“Sounds good. I’ll see you then.” I touched his arm and he kissed me on the cheek again.
“Bye.”
He turned and started walking. I leaned up against the wall and stood completely still. I wanted to watch his every move. He was walking away. But I prayed it would be the last time.
Chapter 62, SARAH: Shepherd’s Pie and the Little Black Dress
“Carlie, this is Sarah. Do you have a minute?”
“Yes! I’m glad you called. OH MY GOSH, friend! Have you heard the news?”
“That Matthew’s in town?”
“Yes. You know! Oh, I’m glad
you know.”
“I saw him actually. At the hospital. In fact, I’m meeting him at seven tonight.”
“Oh, Girlfriend, you made my day! Is this a date date?”
“Well, we’re meeting at Chester and Ida’s house actually. But he said he’s ordering pizza. So, yeah, I think it is.”
“Oh my gosh! I’m gonna faint! I am! But I’m cooking dinner and I don’t need to faint or I will burn something. Plus, girl, you need to get off the phone so you can shower and smell wonderful and look alluring. So, I’m hanging up the phone now. Wait. You do know what alluring means, right? Tell me you’re wearing something alluring. No mom jeans. No denim jumpers. No oversized sweaters. Don’t make me starve out these Jameson men in order to come to your house and get all up in your business.”
“I was actually thinking about wearing the black dress. Is that alright?”
“Alright? It’s more than alright. Honey, you were filling out every inch of that dress. Perfection, friend! Okay. Gotta run.”
“Bye, Carlie.”
“Wait. Sarah, there’s one more thing I need to tell you.”
“I know. No chunky scarves.”
“Well, that IS brilliant advice. But it’s not what I was gonna say.”
“I’m listening.”
“Be fearless, friend…Be fearless.”
“Thank you, Carlie. Bye.”
Thirty minutes later I stood in front of the mirror. Black dress and black pumps. I knew I was over-dressed for pizza but I didn’t care. I wanted to make a statement. I couldn’t decide whether to put my hair up or leave it down. I smiled as I remembered what Carlie said once. “If you’re going to put your hair up, you might as well go ahead and wear a sign that says, ‘I’m not interested in you. I’m too busy being your accountant.’” I bent over and shook my hair. Then I stood up and let all the loose curls fall around my shoulders. I whispered to an empty house, “I’m trying, Carlie. God knows I’m trying.”
7:00
As I pulled into Chester and Ida’s driveway, I noticed the lamp in his bedroom was on. I remembered that day I saw the discarded letters. The day my tears fell on the patchwork quilt. I hoped he hadn’t noticed any disturbance in the order of things. I was so distracted by that thought, I just sat in the car for a few minutes. He walked out onto the porch and started laughing. “Am I supposed to come get you out of the car? I’ll be the first to admit I don’t know how to date a woman. But I don’t remember this scene in any movies.”
I rolled down the passenger-side window. “Yes! Didn’t you know? You’re supposed to carry me inside. A guest should never have to get her shoes dirty. Are you telling me you didn’t know this? That I was going to sit out here all night just waiting for you to do what any man would know to do?”
He smiled and ran off the porch. “You’re gonna regret saying that, Miss Simpson!”
“Am I?”
He approached the car quickly. He was wearing khaki pants and an ironed white oxford shirt. Clean-shaven. Handsome. When he opened the car door, my heart started pounding. I got out of the car and when I did, he backed up a few feet and just stood there. “Matthew, is something wrong?”
“No. It’s just that…I…well, I…”
“You think I’m too heavy to carry. Hey, you wouldn’t be the first one to think that, I’m sure.”
“No. I think you’re beautiful, Sarah. That’s what I was trying to say.” He just stood there staring. “Beautiful. And believe me, I’d have no problem carrying you either. But considering the fact that Mrs. Cora Belle has been looking out the window for the last hour, if I picked you up right now and carried you into the house, I’m afraid the entire county would implode. Am I right?”
I reached into the car to grab my purse. “Wow. You really have learned the system around here, Matthew.”
He took my arm and we walked toward the porch. “We’re not having pizza. I hope you’re not disappointed.”
“Me? No. Did you cook? Is that what you’re telling me?”
“I did. Have you ever eaten Shepherd’s Pie?”
“Oh, Mrs. Ida’s Shepherd’s Pie? Yes. It’s wonderful.”
“I’m sure it’s not as good as hers. But I took a stab at it. She showed me how to make it several times. But don’t expect anything too…”
I stopped on the porch and looked into his eyes. “Surreal?”
He looked down. “I wanted to call you. I did. I can’t tell you how many times. But I kept thinking if I left you alone, you wouldn’t have to deal with all my…you know. Here. Let’s go in the house before Mrs. Cora Belle strains her eyes.”
Walking into Chester and Ida’s house, I felt this overwhelming sense of peace. Happiness. Matthew was no Martha Stewart but he had made an effort. Two white Corelle plates right across from each other on the dining room table. Two paper napkins. Two forks.
He put an old olive green casserole dish in the middle of the table. “The table’s nothing fancy. Couldn’t even find any candles. Not that Shepherd’s Pie is really a candle meal, I guess.”
“You did fine.”
The Shepherd’s Pie didn’t taste like Ida’s. But it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered except being there. With him. “So, when do you have to go back to California?”
“I’m not.”
The room started spinning but it was a good spinning. I smiled and held on.
He wiped his mouth with the napkin and looked up. “I’m not with McLaughlin anymore. He cuts some serious corners. Dusty is ten times the business man he is. Ten times the man he is. It’s a long story.”
“Wow. I mean, that’s great news. What about the TV show?”
“As of this afternoon, that’s over too.”
“Over? As in over?”
He smiled and leaned back in the old aluminum chair. “What other kind of ‘over’ is there, Sarah?”
“What happened?”
“Will was the final nail in the coffin. For both of us. But Dusty and I were fed up even before that. We did a conference call with the network this afternoon. Because of Will’s situation, they let us out of our contracts without much fuss. We both agreed it was for the best. They wanted to go somewhere we didn’t want to go.”
“And what about Bridget and all those other Facebook fans?”
“Within a week, they’ll move on to someone new. A TV dancer or some survivor guy.” He carried the casserole dish to the counter. “Plus, when they all find out I’m just a poor felon living in a small town again, working at a mechanic shop, without TV cameras around, who would be interested in that guy, right?”
My knees were shaking but I managed to stand and walk to the counter. He reached into the cabinet to pull out a clear glass lid. I placed my hand gently on his back. “Was that a real question?”
He turned to face me. For the first time, I saw fear in his eyes. “Yes.”
“I’ll be honest with you, Matthew. I’m sure there are a lot of women interested in that guy. Even with the felony on his record. Even without a TV contract. I bet Julie Crawford would even be interested. And lots of women around here would be all about a hard-working guy with a kind heart. I know that for sure. So, really, trust me. You’ve got nothing to worry about.”
His expression fell. “Let’s go sit in the living room.”
We walked into the living room. For just a moment, I expected Chester or Ida to come walking down the hallway. Matthew pulled the floral wingback chair forward so that it faced the recliner. “Here. You can sit in Mrs. Ida’s chair. But I’m warning you. You may feel a sudden urge to crochet. Can you handle that, Sarah?”
“Look. My hands are already shaking a bit.”
He sat in Chester’s old recliner and reached for both my hands. My heart was pounding in my chest. He spoke quietly, “Can I re-phrase my earlier question?”
“Sure.”
“I don’t care about what Julie thinks or the women around here or the women on Facebook either. Would they be interested in me? I don’t know. It doesn
’t matter. Not to me anyway.” He bowed his head and bit his lip slightly. “Sarah, I’m asking what you think. I’m asking whether you could be interested in that guy. But before you answer, I want to tell you something.” His voice grew quieter as he looked into my eyes. “I’ve been watching you for months now. And I want to thank you. You’ve never made me feel ‘less than.’ Not one time. And you serve people, Sarah. I notice that. It’s the way you re-fill people’s glasses. The way you take care of the kids at church. At school. None of that…none of that is lost on me. I notice. And…” He leaned in closer. “And I know you don’t think this. But you’re beautiful, Sarah. Not just pretty.” He shook his head and smiled. “Trust me. You’re the kind of beautiful that keeps a man from sleeping at night. You are. I promise. And I should know.” He pointed down the hallway. “Because I’ve lost a lot of sleep back there. And you’re to blame. Not Julie. Not Shayla or the women on Facebook. No. It’s you, Sarah. It’s been you. It’ll always be you. I don’t want a big life. Not the way some people define ‘big’. I want this life. The life Chester and Ida had. Shepherd’s Pie and porch sitting. Church and hard work. Friends who know how to forgive big mistakes and love you anyway. I want to live here. With you, Sarah. And I promise you. I promise I will take care of you…love you. So I don’t really want to know if women would be interested in me. I don’t care. I want to know if you love me as much as I love you. If you ever could?”
He handed me a tissue from the coffee table as he brushed the hair from my forehead. I felt sure someone would wake me up any minute now. I wiped the tears from my eyes and looked into his face. I remembered Carlie’s words. Be fearless. “I love you, Matthew. I do. I have…and I will.”
He jumped to his feet. “You have made me the happiest man on earth.” He reached for me and I stood and placed my face on his chest. I could hear his heart beating. Bliss. He touched my face and kissed me. Gently. Passionately. Perfectly. “Marry me, Sarah. Will you marry me?”
“I will.”
Chapter 63, CARLIE: The End is Always the Beginning
