Page 35 of To Believe In You
Perhaps he really was sincere. Matt had changed. Why couldn’t Shane? If he had, would talking to him provide them both with closure? Then he could stop with the apologies, and she could release some of the hurt and anger.
The front door opened again, and Matt burst in.
Lina slapped the card face-down on her desk before he could look toward the office area. She stared at the little rectangle, mortification wiggling in her chest. Her self-conscious reaction revealed whose questions she’d hoped to avoid. Not Adeline’s, but Matt’s.
Why had she shared details about Shane with him? And why did his presence leave her feeling foolish for appreciating the flowers?
Matt huffed as though he’d heard her questions and didn’t like the answers any more than she did, but when she lifted her gaze, his head was just turning from the waiting room. The sigh must not have been about her.
She sat back in her seat and checked the time. His lesson with Chris should start in one minute, but the boy hadn’t arrived yet.
As Matt turned into the office area, his gaze hitched on the orchids, then he crossed to the secondary desk to log into the computer. “How was your weekend?”
She inhaled, preparing to volunteer the story of the flowers, but she would only owe him that explanation if they were romantically involved. Which they weren’t. Even if he was good with kids, loyal to family, and roguishly handsome.
She stuck to the question—how was her weekend?
“Quiet.” She’d baked the raspberry bars, read, and gone to church. But only one of her weekend activities seemed worth mentioning. “I went to the bonfire.”
“Oh yeah? How was that?”
“Seems like a shame Philip’s quitting.” She’d expected Philip to share a powerful epiphany that would leave her cheering for his success. Instead, he’d been introspective and quiet.
“I don’t know.” Matt punched a couple of keys, documenting his start time. “It takes guts to recognize what it’ll take to get clean and to go for it, despite the cost.”
Get clean?Philip was another addict? Tingling tension drew her back straight. Philip, whom she’d respected and sympathized with, had hidden a detrimental secret? Was no man on earth what he seemed?
Maybe she’d misheard.
“Get clean?” she asked.
Matt swiveled from the keyboard. “You didn’t think he quit over Gannon, did you?”
“Why would I think that?” Did Gannon have some awful secret too?
Matt shrugged. “Rumor is Gannon’s hard to get along with.”
Though Gannon had asked how it had been working with Matt, he hadn’t criticized the choice to employ him. Considering Matt’s past, that seemed gracious.
Maybe not all men were leading double lives, but to learn Philip wasn’t as upright as she’d thought …
Lord, am I ever going to learn to spot the bad ones?
If she could have a superpower, she’d choose that one, hands down.
“What is it then?” Her voice sounded scratchy with disapproval. She swallowed again, focused on the flowers, and wondered what they’d look like if she lit them on fire. “Alcohol? Drugs?”
“It’s not my story to tell. I’m sorry. I thought you knew.”
Right. Because the men who’d made disasters of their lives had to stick together, respect each other’s privacy. Otherwise all their secrets would be out, and what power would they have then?
“To think I dared to hope there were some men left in the world not leading double lives.”
For all his apologies, Shane was probably only working with Dad to get The Captain’s Vista. A conversation with him would never lead to closure. He didn’t even deserve a thank-you for the costly bouquet. She envisioned dropping the entire arrangement, vase and all, into the trash.
But the flowers hadn’t betrayed her. Quite the opposite—at least one nice thing had come out of all the subterfuge and lies she’d encountered.
“Women don’t fail?” Matt’s incredulous question prodded her.
