Page 14 of Whispers at Seaside
“Of course you do.” Matt chuckled.
Amy, the quietest of the group, poked him in the stomach. “You didn’t come home last night.”
“Sorry, Mom.”
Leanna, a feisty brunette jam maker, joined them with her pet labradoodle, Pepper, at her heels. “Hi, Matt.”
“Hi.” He crouched and loved up Pepper. What on earth made him think he should rent here at gossip central? In ten minutes they will have asked him a hundred questions, and by nightfall half of Wellfleet would know he and Mira had gone out.
Hm, maybe that’s not such a bad idea.
“Unca Matt!” Bea reached for him with a toothy grin.
He lifted his niece into his arms and kissed her chubby cheek. “How’s my favorite girl?”
Bea giggled and patted his cheeks with her hands. “Can I have a cookie?”
It seemed like she’d hardly known any words the last time he was home, and it struck him that he’d already missed too much of her life. He didn’t want to be the uncle who missed out on everything. He just wasn’t sure he knew how to step back from the career he’d worked so hard to build, or live a more carefree life like his brothers and sister did. He’d never been a carefree guy, but he sure enjoyed every second of last night. He’d waited almost a year to spend real, meaningful time with Mira and one evening had only whet his appetite.
He looked at Jenna, who said, “She’s had two already. No more cookies, sweetie.”
Bea stuck out her lower lip.
“Aww,” Amy and Matt said in unison.
“She’s got you wrapped around her little finger, just like she does Pete.” Jenna took pouty Bea from Matt and set her on the deck to play with Pepper. Pepper licked her cheeks, and she squealed with delight.
Everyone had thought Pete would be a strict father since he was so protective of Jenna and Bea, but when it came to Bea asking for things, he was a pushover. Even after just a few hours with Hagen, Matt could see how easy it would be to want to give a child everything. Hagen was so eager to learn, Matt could have stayed with him all day. That is, if he wouldn’t have toppled over with fatigue.
He didn’t have the stamina to get into gossip right now, either.
“You look tired,” Bella observed. “Didn’t you getanysleep last night?”
“No, as a matter of fact, I didn’t.”
Their faces lit up with interest. Matt laughed and shook his head. “But not for the reasons you dirty-minded scoundrels think. Jenna, is Pete around?”
“Yeah. He’s fixing our sink,” Jenna answered.
Matt headed in the direction of their cottage.
“Wait,” Jenna called after him. “Why didn’t you get any sleep if you weren’t being a scoundrel?”
The girls and Pepper trailed behind him as he crossed the quad. He didn’t think they expected an answer, though he knew they’d probably hammer him with questions until he gave themsomethingto talk about.
He escaped their inquisition and walked into Pete and Jenna’s cottage. His brother popped out from beneath the sink. Joey, his female golden retriever, trotted out of the bedroom with an excitedwoof.
“Hey, Pete. I need to talk to you about Dad.” Thinking about his shower, he added, “And I need to borrow some tools.”
Matt crouched to pet Joey, who slathered his face with doggy kisses.
Pete wiped his hands on his shorts, eyeing the girls out on the deck. “Sure. What’s up?” He grabbed his toolbox and handed it to Matt. “Take whatever you need.”
Matt rifled through the tools. “Has anyone talked with Dad about how the store is doing lately? Mira said something about his being unable to compete with big businesses.” Grayson and Parker were in California this week for an event for the children’s foundation Parker started, and Hunter had been swamped with a commissioned piece of artwork for Grunter’s Ironworks, the metalworking business he and Grayson owned. Matt hoped to check in with them soon, but he knew Pete would have heard if there was an issue.
“I don’t think Grayson or Hunter have, and Sky’s been pretty busy with her tattoo shop, so I doubt she’d be focused on much else. I haven’t, although I know he’s tried cutting prices recently. Is she worried? And more importantly, does she think he’s drinking again?” Pete leaned against the counter and crossed his arms. Their father had fallen into the bottle after their mother died, and though it had taken a long time, Pete had gotten him into rehab, and he’d been clean ever since.
“No. She didn’t say anything about him drinking. And it was just an offhanded comment about him being too stubborn to admit that there were issues. I’ll talk to her and see what I can find out. I just wanted to see if you had heard anything.” The last thing Matt wanted to do was get involved with his father’s business, but his father had worked his whole life to build Lacroux Hardwarefor them. He didn’t want to see all his years of hard work and dedication go down the drain because his father didn’t want to face the changing world. His father’s world had changed enough when they’d lost their mother. He didn’t need the business crumbling down around him, too.
