Second Chance Girl
Page 51

“Invading your house. Being a pain. It’s my family.” He shook his head. “Mostly it’s my father, but the rest of them aren’t helping, either.”
She wanted to say she was fine with whatever he needed, that knowing he saw her place as a refuge meant a lot to her. What she said instead was, “Want to talk about what happened?”
“Nothing. Everything.”
She glanced at the clock. It was nearly nine. “Did you eat anything today?”
He flashed her a smile. “It’s not your job to take care of me.”
“We’re friends. I don’t see it as a job. Besides, you’re dealing with a lot right now. I want to help.”
“You are. Thank you.” He leaned back against the sofa. “Has Atsuko called you?”
“No. Is there a problem with the auction?” Her mind whirled with possible disaster. Had someone dropped Ronan’s donation, shattering it and Millie’s herd into a million pieces?
“Not a problem.” He glanced at her. “My father is going to donate something to the evening. Whatever it is, it will go for a lot of money and bring a lot of attention to the event. Atsuko doesn’t have much time to pull it together, but if anyone can do it, she can.”
Carol honestly had no idea what to say. “Wh-why?”
Mathias’s mouth twisted. “You want the politically correct answer?”
“Sure.”
“It’s a worthy cause. He wants to help where he can. Pick your platitude.”
“And the truth?”
“He doesn’t want to see Ronan getting all the attention.”
She angled toward him. “Seriously? But Ronan is his son.”
“Glory is far more important. Ceallach came and toured the studio today. He made sure to criticize everyone’s work. When he saw the bird piece he asked what it was for, then thrust himself in the middle of all of it.”
He took her hand in his. “It’s okay. He’s always done this. When Ronan and I were in the second grade, he came to parent-teacher night. When he saw the display of our artwork, he had to immediately do a few sketches, then sign them. God forbid some kid should be center of attention when he was around.”
“I don’t know what to say,” she admitted. “He’s horrible.”
“That he is. Did I tell you how we found out about Ronan being his bastard?”
“You didn’t, but Pallas mentioned that he was in the hospital after a heart attack.”
Mathias nodded. “He asked Ronan and me to come see him. It was still early and we had no idea how bad things were. For all we knew, he was going to die.”
His hold on her hand tightened. She wasn’t sure he even knew they were touching—but that was okay. She knew.
“He told us about the affair and said that Ronan was the result of that, but Elaine had taken him in. Then he said he was tired and wanted to sleep and that we should leave. Oh, and not to tell our mother. That was it. Don’t tell your mother.”
“What did you say?”
“Nothing. We didn’t say a word. I tried to talk to Ronan a few times, but he refused. I didn’t want to go to Mom. Ceallach’s heart attack turned out to be mild, so life went on as it had for everyone else, but not for us.”
He grimaced. “The worst part was he never said a word. Not to me and not to Ronan. He acted like it had never happened. Who does that? Why wouldn’t he have checked in on us, or at least on Ronan? But he didn’t and after a few weeks Ronan told me he had to leave. I couldn’t let him go alone, so I went with him.”
“I know he was grateful.”
“I hope so. I keep thinking one day he’ll just disappear and I won’t be able to find him. I’ve tried talking to him, I’ve suggested he see a therapist.” He rolled his eyes. “That didn’t go well. The thing is, I can’t figure out what I’m supposed to do or say.”
“Maybe he has to work this out for himself.”
“What if he doesn’t? It’s been five years. I don’t want to lose him. I don’t care if he is only my half brother. To me, he’ll always be my twin.”
Which made him about the best man she’d ever met, she thought with a sigh. How was she supposed to resist that?
“Enough,” he said firmly. “Let’s talk about you. Tell me something I don’t know about your past.”
“When I was eighteen and Violet was sixteen, our mother took us to get matching tattoos.”
He stared at her. “No way.”
“It’s true. The three of us have a little butterfly on our hip.”
She could practically hear the wheels turning in his brain. They’d had sex...sort of. Shouldn’t he have noticed a tattoo?
“It’s very small and you were pretty drunk,” she said, trying to be helpful.
“Thanks for reminding me.” He leaned back on the sofa and rested his forearm across his eyes. “I’m okay with Violet having the same tattoo but I’m less sure about your mother. Did you have to tell me that?”
“You wanted me to tell you something you didn’t know. It wasn’t as if I could talk about my three broken engagements.”
The arm lifted. “Do you have three broken engagements?”
“No. Do you?”
“Nope. And I don’t have a tattoo. Damn. Now I have to get one.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to be one of the cool kids, too.” He straightened and drew her close. “Any chance I could convince you to show me what I’ve been missing?”
His voice was teasing. Had she thought he was the least bit serious, she would have ripped off her clothes in a heartbeat and done her best to seduce him right there on her sofa. Which probably meant she wasn’t mad at him anymore. So much for standing on principle or righteous indignation.
She leaned in and lightly brushed her mouth against his. “You have to get home.”
“I could text Del and let him know I’m going to be late.”
“Or you could go home.”
“I could.”
He stood and pulled her to her feet, then cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. His mouth lingered for a second before he drew back.
“Thank you.”
“You’re always welcome here, Mathias.”
He looked at her and for a second she thought he was going to say something. Maybe hint at what he really felt about her or beg her to take him to her bed. Because it wouldn’t take very much on the begging front to get her to change her mind.
But in the end, he simply smiled and promised to see her soon and then he was gone. Carol sagged back on the sofa and wrapped her arms around a pillow.
Doing the sensible thing, even when it was right, really sucked. In her next life, she was going to be bad all the time. Or maybe come back as a spoiled lapdog, which was pretty much the same thing.
* * *
ULRICH STROLLED THROUGH Happily Inc on his own. Violet had a meeting with a client—something about a bride who wanted her gown to be covered with stars. Beading and pearls wouldn’t do, so Violet had been on the hunt for star-inspired buttons and was going to show her what she’d found.
He would have preferred them to spend the afternoon together. They only had a few more days until he had to fly back to England, but he of all people knew the importance of duty. He couldn’t walk away from his and he had no right to get in the way of hers. So he window-shopped and enjoyed the warmth of the desert sun, all the while knowing every second that ticked by meant he was that much closer to returning home.