For my editor, R - you've bled so much red ink over this story it's just as much yours as mine. Thank you for making me look good. J.
*
"Where are we going?" I asked Matt as he tugged me out of my office chair.
"It's Sunday—that means dinner at Rhiannon and Joe's."
I couldn't hide my shock.
"I can't intrude on your family like that." While they were very nice people, the Tanner family overwhelmed me. They were boisterous and spoke in a language all their own—one of teasing banter and jokes—a language foreign to me.
"It's not strictly family—at least not in the biological sense. Lilly's fiancé will be there and so will Reverend Nate and Adele. You'd be more than welcome. In fact, Nate has been bugging me to bring you along since you helped to dig him and Adele out of that snowstorm in February."
"Really?" I'd only met the Reverend for a few minutes, but he seemed like a really nice guy. Adele too had been nice—a little reserved and aloof, while at the same time so sweet and thankful.
"Really. And there's always plenty of food and lots to drink. You'll get out of this place for a few hours." Matt's grin showed off his dimples. "Come on, the weather's too beautiful to spend the day cooped up here. I'm sure your dad won't begrudge you a day out."
My father would only notice my absence if he ran out of rye and unless he'd found a way to mainline it directly into his bloodstream, he shouldn't. I'd bought him a new twenty-sixer the night before.
"Okay," I agreed before I had a chance over-think it and change my mind. My spirits lightened at the prospect of getting away from the shop for a while, of going somewhere other than the liquor store or the house. "But I should go home and change first."
Matt glanced down at the denim shorts and baby-blue t-shirt I'd put on that morning.
"Why?"
"Well, look at what I'm wearing!" I gestured at myself. "This isn't how you show up for dinner. It's clean, but that's about all I can say for it. I didn't even comb my hair this morning and I'm not wearing any makeup."
Matt laughed for the first time that afternoon. The sound was familiar and comforting, my favourite sound in the world. Despite all my worries, his laughter still had the power to lift me up.
"First of all, there's nothing wrong with your outfit. Second, you keep your hair so short that you hardly have any hair
to
comb. Third, I've never once seen you wear makeup. You look fine."
Fine.
Matthew Tanner thought I looked fine. Fine was pretty darn close to nice.
"Come on," he insisted as he opened the door. "I'll drive."
~*~
Matt spent the entire drive to the cottage coming up with ideas to drum up more business for the shop. Had I known the car ride was going to be a brainstorming session, I would have brought a pen and a piece of paper. I just let his words wash over me. The constant flow of chatter brought me hope for the first time in months. The more we talked, the more I realized Matt had meant what he said earlier: I didn't have to face my problems alone anymore.
I'd worried for so long about keeping the financial woes of Stewart and Sons from him, that I never imagined it would be such a relief to have everything out in the open. I expected Matt to be upset by the truth; instead he seemed excited about the challenge of turning the business around.
After Dad hurt his back, I'd taken the entire burden of the business onto my shoulders without thinking that maybe Matt might like to be involved in it too. I didn't even dream that he'd show an interest in anything other than keeping his head down and doing repairs, but his keenness for the challenge was evident in his expression. His grin never faltered even while discussing the nitty-gritty of the lack of money around the shop. I felt a twinge of guilt for not involving him in the business sooner.
We shot straight past the driveway to Matt's parents house. I'd never been there before, but I knew who owned the cheerful yellow farmhouse on the bluff. Not far down the road was a narrow dirt lane which curved between two fields and led downwards, towards the sea. The tree line fell way to a small, protected cove and in the shadow of the bluff surrounding it stood a little white cottage with a green roof. Patches of grass interrupted the rusty sand terrain that stretched down to the turquoise ocean.
I couldn't help but smile.
"It's adorable! Like a little fairy tale cottage."
Matt glanced over at me as he threw his car in park. "Hard to believe my ogre of a big brother lives here, huh?"
I laughed. I liked Joe. He sometimes visited the shop in the winter when he didn't have anything else to do. He was a handy guy, although not quite as mechanically inclined as Matt. Still, there was something I liked about that silent, giant of a man and it never bothered me to see his large shadow lingering in the shop's doorway. He never had a whole lot to say, but he had kind eyes.
I followed Matt to the cottage and with every step I took, I felt a little more out of place. From inside the sun porch that spanned the front of the building, I noticed a plethora of redheads.
Matt's younger brother Chuck was leaning against a fat vintage fridge, his arms crossed over his lean chest, a beer in hand. He offered me a smile me as our eyes met through the glass. At twenty-six, Chuck and I were both the same age and had gone to the same high school, just like I had with all the Tanner kids. While I'd only been vaguely aware of the Matt back then, Chuck and I shared a few friends in common and had been friendly acquaintances.
Violet, the youngest Tanner, lounged in a battered floral armchair, her bare arms and legs all akimbo. She was only a few years younger than I was, but somehow always seemed so sure of herself. Violet had an easy way with people; I guess she was like Matt in that regard.
On the daybed beneath the window sat Matt's older sister Lilly and her fiancé Adam. I'd met them a few times before and they always struck me as a little mismatched. Petite, curvy Lilly looked like a librarian complete with the glasses and studious expression while Adam, with his tattooed arms and eyebrow ring, looked like the kind of guy parents warned their daughters about. Their vibe of happy togetherness highlighted what was missing in my own life.
All eyes shot straight to me when Matt held open the door.
"Flick!" Violet cried. She bounced up from her chair and wrapped her arms around me. A wide blond streak ran down the front of her red hair and a thick line of black eyeliner rimmed her blue, blue eyes.
"H-hi," I said quietly as I stood stunned in her embrace. "It's nice to see you."
It was an inane thing to say, but it was all I could manage under the circumstances. I never expected such an exuberant reception.
"You. Look. Adorable," Violet gushed, pausing between each word for emphasis. "You look like you could still be in high school!"
I muttered a word of thanks.
"I love your hair short like that," Violet continued on. She pulled me from Matt's side and into the big, poofy armchair beside hers. "It suits you."
I echoed my thanks again, still feeling a little overwhelmed. I heard a chuckle and looked up to see Chuck towering over us.
"Glad to see you Flick," he said as he held out an unopened beer.
"You too, Chuck."
He offered me the beer again, but I shook my head.
"Thank you, but I don't drink."
Auburn eyebrows around the room shot up. Chuck shrugged in the same way that Matt would have. He popped open the cap on the bottle and handed it to his older brother instead.
"Where is everyone else?" Matt asked before he took a swig of beer.
