LINKED (The Bening Files Book 1)

by Rachel Trautmiller

  “That’d be the man.” Amanda scanned the crowd. “He’s kind of cute. A little old, though.”

  Both he and McKenna shared a glance and couldn’t help laughing. This, at least, was normal. The three of them together. He and McKenna bringing a united front. Amanda, pretending to care about chasing after some unattainable guy.

  “Ha, ha. Yeah, laugh.” Amanda shook her head. “So, you spoke with him?”

  “This morning,” McKenna said.

  At the same time, he said, “No.” Then her words registered. “Wait, what? When did you talk to him?”

  “He called.” She shrugged. “I picked up. I answered his questions. He gave me a number to reach him at. It was all pretty standard.”

  Nothing about this week had been ‘standard’ and they both knew it.

  “So you haven’t seen him?” Amanda asked.

  “Trying to butter up to Mr. Stanley?” Jordan folded his arms across his chest. Amanda wouldn’t be the last person to ask about Matthew. He needed to get used to the questioning.

  “Maybe.” Amanda shrugged as if they spoke of picking up laundry at the dry cleaners. “Maybe I’m trying to keep my friends out of trouble.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  1990

  “This doesn’t mean anything, Blaney.”

  Cassidy leaned into Matthew from the step above him on her front porch. The plastic bag she held in one hand, crinkled as it hit his leg. When her lips met his, Matthew couldn’t help groaning. Fourteen years without her touch. Of their own volition, is hands tangled in her hair and found it still as soft and baby fine as he remembered it.

  She removed her lips from his, but her body stayed snuggled close.

  “Had to know if I imagined it,” she whispered.

  He knew she spoke of the chemistry that always buzzed between the two of them. That electricity had him making up reasons to get near her for the better half of his life. Tonight, in the grocery store, had been no exception. The light scent of fresh garden flowers flirted with his nose, in one of the narrow aisles, and he’d known she was nearby.

  Known, like years earlier, he was a goner

  “Did you imagine it?” Please, don’t say yes.

  “I know you didn’t doubt things, but I did, when it got rough.” She stepped back and he felt the instant loss of contact her motion created. “You’re always so unflappable and sure. I’m not.”

  “Don’t put me on a pedestal, Cass. I’m just a man.”

  A smile blew up her face, like the lighting of the Christmas tree in front of the White House. “This is the nicest date I’ve been on in forever.”

  “Date? If this were a date, I would have picked you up and taken you to a nice restaurant, instead of running into you at the supermarket.”

  A pink hue crept into her cheeks. “I planned it that way.”

  “What? Why?”

  “We’ve been talking again for over a year.” She shifted her shopping bag from one hand to the other.

  “Yeah, but only on a regular basis for the last few months. And only when we end up running into each other.”

  She shrugged. “You hadn’t made a move. So, I figured if we met somewhere like that and things didn’t go as planned, no harm. There are plenty of reasons to part ways in a store.”

  Unable to stop the chuckle rising in his chest, he reached for her and brought her close. “You’re so unconventional.”

  “Unconventional enough to ask you in?” Her free hand rested between them, on his chest.

  Every fiber of his being urged him to accept, including his male anatomy. Still, he hesitated. Spending any evening discussing spinach with Cassidy would be better than sitting alone at his house, contemplating his next move.

  Cassidy smacked her forehead with the palm of her hand. “That wasn’t… I didn’t mean… That’s wasn’t a solicitation.”

  “I know. I’d love to come in, but I can’t. Not yet.”

  “Oh.” Her eyes got round. “Oh! I didn’t realize you were seeing someone.” She covered the lips he wanted to taste again. “Oh, my gosh. I’m so sorry.” She backed up toward the door and found the handle. “It was nice to see you.” She inserted her keys inside the lock and dashed inside.

  He wedged his hand between the door and door jamb before it closed all the way. “Hey, wait.” He pushed it open.

  She stepped back, her face turning a full-on red as she dug around in her plastic sack. She refused to meet his eyes. “Look, you don’t have to explain.”

  “I do.”

  “No. I just misread the situation.”

  “I didn’t say I was seeing someone.”

  Her head jerked up then, her lips half parted, those blue eyes wide with uncertainty and something else. He wrestled a smile into submission.

  “But, you just said…”

  “That I couldn’t come in, but you didn’t let me explain why.” He took her bag and set it aside.

  “Okay.” She tossed her keys from one hand to the other, now.

  “I didn’t want to mess up our first date in over a decade.”

  A slow, but coming smirk covered her face. “Thought it wasn’t a date?”

  “Not my idea of how one should start, but I think it’s turning out okay.” He took her keys and set them in the dish on the table near the door. The same dish that had been there throughout their marriage. “Besides, if you’d been patient, I would have asked you to dinner.”

  “Liar.”

  “How many times have we met at the supermarket, Cass?” He gave her a moment to let the thought sink in. Their meetings had become more numerous over the last couple of months. Tense at first, then gradually falling into a comfortable companionship. Or as much of one as two people could share in the freezer section of Harris Teeter. “Turns out I’m unconventional too.”

  Her eyes scrunched together as she measured him. “You planned this?”

  “No. I just hoped to run into you.”

  “What if you hadn’t?”

  “I guess I would have become conventional and picked up the phone.”

  “Let me get this straight.” She crossed her arms over her chest and stepped closer to him, so that mere inches separated them, but she didn’t touch. “You’re not seeing anybody, but you didn’t want to come in because it might ruin things. Here you are anyway, standing inside my house.” She tilted her head to the side, her pale hair floating over her shoulder. “You can’t help yourself, can you?”

  He wouldn’t lie. It was so much more than that and she had to know it. Every bit of him wanted to close the distance between them. If he touched her, he wouldn’t stop and she deserved more than that. It’s why he hadn’t made his move. “I guess I can’t.”

  She nodded as if she understood everything. “Still drink coffee, Blaney?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Will you make us some?”

  “Yours still taste like watered down tea?”

  A soft smile told him her coffee brewing skills hadn’t changed in their time apart.

  “Okay, then.” He closed the gap between them and put his lips against hers. Her arms moved over his chest and came to rest around his neck, pulling him closer. No, he couldn’t help himself. When she was near he was complete, instead of half empty. As if he were a part of something rare, almost magical, and so awe striking that instead of holding his breath, he could breathe after lifetimes without air.

  The opening and closing of the front door penetrated his mind, but he couldn’t make himself pull away from her.

  “Hey Mo—whoa.” Jordan’s voice hit him like a cold bucket of water.

  As Matthew ended the kiss, he noted that Cassidy’s face had already changed from dazed to worried. As if she were a deer caught in the headlights of oncoming traffic, she didn’t move. He pulled her arms from around his neck and kissed them hoping to allay her concern. Then he turned to face Jordan, unsure what to expect.

  Only he wasn’t alone. McKenna stood next to him. “Hey, Miss Ca
ssidy.” Her voice held a slight giggle. “Hey, Uncle Matthew.” She sent her elbow into Jordan’s ribs.

  A grunt came from his lips. He rubbed the offended area, his gaze steady as he stuck his hands in the front pockets of his jeans. “Hey…guys.”

  The door opened again, another teenager joining their party. There was barely enough room for her to get inside. In one arm she held a stack of movies, in the other several boxes of candy and microwave popcorn. “What gives, you guys? Thanks for leaving me with all the stuff. I’m not your pack mule.” She dropped the junk food in McKenna’s arms and the movies in Jordan’s. “Hey, Ms. B, Mr. B.”

  Cassidy sent him an I-swear-if-you-leave-me-with-the-aftermath-I’ll-never-speak-to-you-again look. Then, “Hello, Amanda, McKenna, Jordan. I thought you all planned to go to the movies.”

  Matthew waited for some snide remark on the obvious change in Cassidy’s plans. It didn’t come. He should have known better. This group of teenagers was more respectful than most.

  Jordan shrugged. “Somebody made us late.”

  “It was Amanda’s fault.” McKenna said.

  Amanda rolled her eyes. “I was trying to convince Sam to come with us.”

  “Why?” Jordan leaned against the wall. “The guy’s a total dick.”

  “Jordan.” Cassidy folded her arms across her chest, the scowl on her face pointed at her son.

  “It’s true,” he said.

  Amanda shook her head. “Maybe if you tried to include him a little more, he would’ve come. You intimidate people, Jordan.”

  Now, it was the boy’s turn to roll his eyes, while his niece stayed silent and picked at the pattern on her shirt. “How? It’s not like I stand four feet above him with an evil look on my face.”

  “I wouldn’t expect either of you to understand.” Amanda huffed. “Can I use your bathroom, Ms. B?”

  “Of course. Go right ahead, honey.”

  Amanda disappeared around the corner, her feet echoing on the stairs as she headed to the second story bath.

  McKenna shot Jordan a look.

  “What?” He held out his free hand, palm up. “I just said what you were thinking.”

  His niece only shook her head.

  “We were about to make coffee. Either of you want any?” Cassidy’s soft voice floated over Matthew’s nerves.

  Jordan jammed his free hand back in his pocket and shook his head.

  “Soda? Water? Juice?”

  Still a shake of the head from the younger man as he chewed the inside of his lower lip.

  “No, thanks,” McKenna piped up. “I’m going to check on Amanda.” Then she deposited the items she held into Jordan’s hands and disappeared in the direction her friend had gone.

  A stiff silence filled the small foyer as Matthew tried to come up with something to say that wouldn’t make this situation into a big deal. Through all the years Cassidy and himself had been apart, he still loved the kid like he was his own.

  “What movie did you plan to see?” he asked, testing the waters.

  Jordan’s eyes flicked to Matthew’s, a little wary. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles won by popular vote over Pretty Woman.”

  “No sappy chick-flicks for this date?”

  An elbow found his ribs as Cassidy glared at him from under her dark lashes. Dark lashes and bright blonde hair, a killer combination.

  Jordan cleared his throat. “What’s with you guys? It isn’t a date. It’s the three of us hanging out like we always have.”

  “Amanda doesn’t seem to think so.” He couldn’t help prodding.

  Blue eyes so similar to Cassidy’s rolled heavenward again. “Sam Richardson really is a…” Jordan glanced at his mom, then said, “Prick. He pestered McKenna until she agreed to go to prom with him and then showed up thirty minutes late. And he smelled like booze.”

  Since Alexis had told him of the ordeal, he’d been prepared, but Cassidy placed a hand over her chest, her mouth a silent O. “How horrible. McKenna didn’t go with him, did she?”

  “No, Mom. You really think her dad would have let that happen?”

  She took a deep breath and released it. “No. I suppose not. Does Amanda know about any of this?”

  A shake of the younger man’s head came.

  “Maybe one of you should tell her,” Cassidy said.

  Matthew agreed. Secrets like that only had the potential to put someone in danger. In this case, their friend, Amanda.

  Jordan shrugged. “That’s up to McKenna.”

  Cassidy tilted her head to the side. “And how do you know what alcohol smells like, mister?”

  “Mom.” Jordan ran a hand over his blond hair. “I’m in college.”

  Her right foot started tapping. “I’m still your mother.”

  “Just because I know what it smells like doesn’t mean I’m drinking and being irresponsible.”

  Silence. “Okay, fine. I get it. You’re an adult.” She stepped forward and gave him a hug, some of the tension leaving the air. “So, I assume you decided to bring the movies here?” She pointed to the items in his arms.

  “We, ah, wanted to use the media room.” He shifted the objects. “My dorm’s too small. I didn’t think you’d mind.” Jordan’s eyes hit Matthew again, then flicked back to his mom. “Guess I should have called.”

  “It’s fine.” She ruffled the kid’s hair as if he were twelve instead of nineteen and a foot taller. “This is still your home.”

  “We could probably go to McKenna’s house.”

  “It’s fine, Jordan. We weren’t planning to watch a movie anyway.”

  “Yeah, okay.”

  Matthew could hear his niece and her friend’s voice as they neared. “Please don’t make us watch When Sally met Harry. I promise you’ll like Lethal Weapon two,” McKenna said.

  “You lost the bet. Even Jordan will back me up on this one.” Amanda entered the room, McKenna at her side. They passed through the foyer and headed toward the room he and Cassidy had turned into a media room when Jordan was old enough to start watching movies.

  “Besides, When Sally met Harry is supposed to be funny.”

  “But Mel Gibson is in Lethal Weapon,” McKenna’s voice floated toward them. “Which would you rather watch, Billy Crystal or Mel Gibson? Don’t lie. I know you fall for those dark, brooding types.”

  “Come on girls,” Cassidy said. She’d slipped past him and followed both of the younger women into the media room. “Is there really any contest there?”

  Jordan groaned. “Shoulda just stayed home.”

  Matthew clapped Jordan on the back. “You know, you’re supposed to pick out a scary movie, so your date has no choice but to grab your hand when someone pops out of nowhere.”

  A small smile lit the corner of Jordan’s mouth. “Wouldn’t work. McKenna likes scary movies.” All expression left his face. “And this is not a date.”

  “Okay. But you never know. It might work.”

  Jordan picked a speck of lint from his t-shirt. “You take my mom anywhere nice?”

  “Not yet, but I will.”

  “Okay.”

  Huh. Easy enough. “What was the bet about?” Matthew nodded toward where the girls still chatted.

  The younger man studied the older man for a minute, as if he couldn’t decide if the truth was permissible. “That Sam would agree to come to the movies until he heard what we planned to see.”

  “He wanted to see Pretty Woman?”

  “The guys a dick. Amanda will figure it out eventually.”

  And then, because Matthew had been a teenage boy once, it all made sense. And really, all teenage boys had only one thing on their mind ninety percent of the time. The other ten percent went to figuring out how to get that one thing. And a mushy, romantic film in a dark theatre made for a perfect make-out session if your date got sappy. “Make sure that’s sooner rather than later, okay?”

  He nodded, his face full of youth, but his eyes seeming as if they’d seen a lifetime or more. Jordan
had always been a cut above his age group. Always a little bit more mature. An old soul, Cassidy called it.

  “That doesn’t explain why Amanda thinks she won.”

  Jordan scratched the side his face. “It was never meant to be a real bet.”

  “Meaning?”

  The other man shrugged. It seemed that was all teenagers ever did. And then, because he knew his niece and he knew Jordan, he got it.

  “That was your bet, but you never meant for anyone, but McKenna to hear it. When Amanda caught wind that you were talking about Sam, my niece raced into save your butt with some off the wall bet. Am I right?”

  A burst of color rode Jordan’s cheekbones. “Something like that.”

  “You know, she’s my favorite niece.”

  “Your only.”

  Just like Jordan was the only son of his heart. “We good?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Better get in there before you don’t have a say in what you watch, son.”

  Jordan nodded and headed toward the media room. Matthew followed him, but stopped outside the door and took in the sight of Cassidy surrounded by the three teenagers.

  McKenna laughed at something Jordan said as he sat next to her on the sofa. Then she gave him a playful punch in the arm.

  Jordan rubbed his arm, pretending it hurt while a grin spread across his face. To be a teenager again. Full of optimism.

  Cassidy sat, curled in her favorite recliner, Amanda sitting in similar fashion in the opposite chair. The young girl talked a mile a minute about her plans for college. Both Jordan and his niece joined the conversation, then. Matthew turned from the sight and headed for the kitchen.

  It had changed a little since their divorce. Modern cherry wood cabinets stood where painted country-style wood had been. A stylish granite counter top awash in shades of gray brought the dark color of the wood together with a creamy buttercup color on the walls.

  The contents inside the cabinets hadn’t changed much and he had no trouble locating both the coffee and the filters. After filling the machine and setting it to brew, he leaned against the island where an assortment of photographs littered the counter. A project in the making.

  Most of their marriage saw at least one surface of their house filled with proofs, as Cassidy worked on various projects, her photography business growing quicker than they’d ever imagined. He palmed through the pictures, noting how she captured each subject’s inner beauty.