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“Huh?”
“Well, you open a lower cupboard door and pull the shelf out instead of getting down on your hands and knees and practically crawling in to find what you need. They’re so awesome!”
He was quiet for a moment. “Ginger, I’m going to live next door to my mother, who will probably cook almost every meal I eat. I won’t even be able to fill the kitchen cupboards.”
“That may not be the case forever,” she said. “I know you don’t think so now, but you might actually get over this marriage phobia and meet someone nice who wants to live on the farm. And cook. In that kitchen.”
“Highly unlikely. Will you? Get over it? Try again?”
“Sure,” she said. “When I’m fifty.”
“I might just look you up when we’re fifty,” he said. “Then if it works out, you can put in the sliding shelves.”
“That seems pretty reasonable,” she said. And they both laughed.
“What’s happening in Thunder Point?”
“A lot, as a matter of fact. Grace has been spending a lot of time at the new house so she can get her mother moved here. You know, I told you, her mother has ALS and is weakening by the day. Grace’s fiancé is helping her whenever he can because he really wants Grace to meet his family and they’re having trouble finding a time to do that. She can’t move her mother into the house and leave her to go south to meet Troy’s family. And he hasn’t told his family that Grace is pregnant because he said they will all immediately pile into cars and head this way, invited or not. So...everyone around town is putting every effort toward getting that house ready for them. Even me. That stretch of beach has taken on a life of its own—it’s like a barn raising.”
“Sounds like the Lacoumette family,” he said.
“Peyton confirmed that. Except for the cultural dress, wine and dancing, it looks like it, too.”
“Peyton is out there, too?”
“Sometimes. She’s busy with the clinic and Scott’s pretty busy with the clinic and being on call. But they can’t seem to stay away. If they’re not out there working, they’re checking on the progress.”
They talked for over an hour and covered every subject. They laughed a lot; they were both good at puns. There was even a little cautious flirting going on, starting with hooking up at the age of fifty and touching on her reassurance that she was now convinced he could be a gentleman.
“Didn’t you tell me you’re usually asleep by eight o’clock?” she asked.
“I think I’ve been a little excited about the prospect of getting out of this apartment. It’s almost ten. Late for me,” he said.
“For me, too. I’ve been getting up very early to get into the shop and get things rolling so that when Grace comes in, she feels comfortable leaving it in my hands so she can do what she has to do.”
“You’re vying for employee of the year,” he said.
“I’d far rather be awarded friend of the year.”
When they hung up Matt lay on his back on his bed with his phone in his hand. The phone was hot. Matt was hot. I have to stay away from Thunder Point, he thought. Very scary place to go.
Ginger was so sweet. So kind and generous. Here she was, still hurting after being treated like crap by her husband and losing a baby she was devoted to, and what concerned her most right now was helping Grace and Troy, helping her new friends. Ginger didn’t have a single sharp edge anywhere. She was pleasant, soft, unselfish...nice. She was nice.
Mad Matt never thought about that when he thought about women, at least not lately. He thought about long legs and perky boobs. He thought about pretty, buoyant, confident and lively. When he fell for Natalie he was willing to make almost any compromise to keep her satisfied, to keep her home, but he hadn’t ever once thought about if she was unselfish or how caring. He thought about not forcing her to deal with his overbearing family too much, about trying to balance her need for fun and a social life with his need for sleep, about trying to be sure none of the farm stayed on his hands or boots when he went home to her.
Ginger was so nice, but she was not bland. When laughter took her by surprise, she sounded wicked and playful, which triggered his memory of her smile. Her smile could melt a man’s heart. And he loved those freckles. Maybe it was the freckles that made her seem almost childlike to him, innocent, in need of a strong arm.
Stay away from Thunder Point, he told himself.
The thing about Matt—he’d been with a lot of women, before and after Natalie. He wasn’t bad-looking, he was pretty smart, usually stable. Before Nat he was probably searching for someone permanent without really acknowledging it. After Nat he was looking for a way to get over her. But there was one thing, probably a cultural thing, a family trait—marriage was sacred. He didn’t need a High Mass wedding to feel that way, it was just a thing with him. Once you pledged yourself to a woman, she became everything. Naturally it followed that he would be her everything, that she would do anything to see him happy and content. Between them there would always be complete honesty, trust. Everything would be shared, discussed, dealt with as a team. It was true that he had some firm, unshakable beliefs. That kind of went with the Lacoumette territory, especially the men. Stubbornness and passion might prevail, they might act like the king of their castle, but it was all a show. The women ran the castle. The men worked tirelessly to support their families and they served their women.
He spent Saturday around the farm though his father and George hadn’t been expecting him. If it wasn’t crazy season, he usually took a couple of days off a week. On Sunday morning, he woke at four like a bad habit. He showered and got in his truck. He grabbed a fast-food breakfast he could eat on the road and he drove south. Fast, along a deserted highway. He was in Thunder Point before nine in the morning. He drove right out to the parking lot behind Cooper’s place. It was no mystery where the action was—there was already a lot of activity around the third house down from the bar.
The garage door stood open, and three men he happened to know were armed with paint rollers and painting the inside walls of the garage. A truck holding four large ceramic planters filled with small trees was parked on the road.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” Cooper asked Matt.
“I heard there was a barn raising and I was curious, thought I’d check this out. And since I’m here, maybe you can use a hand.”
“I didn’t know you were coming down,” Scott Grant said. Scott was covered in paint and it was still early. “Are you staying over?”
“Can’t. Monday morning Paco is snapping his whip early. We’re temporarily caught up at the farm and I had a day, so...”
“Does Peyton know you’re here? Did you stop by the house?”
“I didn’t. Didn’t call her, either. Spur of the moment. What can I do?”
“I don’t know,” Cooper said. “Project manager is Troy. Really, it’s Grace, but she’s letting him think he’s running things. Last time I saw him he was struggling with the light fixture in the kitchen. Apparently it’s complicated...”
“I got that,” Matt said with a laugh.
When he got inside, Troy was apparently supervising while a big guy in a blue T-shirt was on a ladder installing track lighting. He was introduced to Al, whose name he’d heard in conjunction with Ray Anne. The great room was cluttered with furniture covered in plastic, several boxes and picture crates. And a lot of women with rags, mops, brooms and shelf paper were opening boxes, looking things over, organizing.
“Matt!” Troy said in surprise.
“Matt?” a tall curly-haired woman he couldn’t remember asked.
“Iris, this is Matt Lacoumette, Peyton’s brother,” Ray Anne Dysart said. “I can’t believe you’re here.”
“Last minute, I know, but I thought since I had a day, maybe I could help.”
They all eagerly accepted the offer. Ginger, a kerchief tying back her strawberry-blond hair, flushing slightly under her freckles, just smiled at him. He smiled right back at her.
“We’re down to finishing touches,” Grace said. “Lots of finishing touches. Furniture was just delivered, my mother’s assistant shipped some personal and household items that have to be put away after the cupboards and closets are cleaned, the basement and garage are getting painted today, light fixtures and bathroom fixtures have to be installed as well as washer and dryer hookup. And obviously serious cleanup. What’s your pleasure?”
“I can clean like I was trained by Corinne Lacoumette and I’m pretty fast with a screwdriver.”
“Great. You’ve got bathroom fixtures. Four bathrooms, the fixtures all in boxes in the bathrooms. One loft bathroom, master and main floor bathrooms, one bathroom downstairs.”
“I’ll go get my toolbox,” he said, leaving them. As he was walking out to his truck, he heard the unmistakable sound of women giggling and whispering. And it made him smile. He remembered something Paco had told him long ago: try fooling women all you want, you’ll never get away with anything. How true. He wanted to stay away from Ginger; he wanted to be with her if he could.
Everyone worked ferociously and work crews came and went. Cooper went home to take care of his little daughter and tend his bar while his helper, an old guy named Rawley, replaced him. Al left to go to work, Devon left to go home and Spencer replaced her—someone had to watch the kids and this “work in progress” was no place for little ones. Peyton showed up and apparently got the word Matt was on the premises right away because she found him in the downstairs bathroom, head in the cabinet under the sink with a wrench, fixing a leaky pipe.
“I suppose you think you’re fooling someone,” she said.
He sat up abruptly and hit his head. He scooted out cautiously. Women, it seemed, were a serious threat to his cranium. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Why are you here?” she said.
“Ginger told me about this project, about the urgency because Grace’s mother is not well, and I am a very neighborly guy.”
She completely ignored his virtues. “You’re pursuing Ginger and I told you not to. It makes no sense. It’s not like you two got off to a good start.”
“Peyton,” he said very patiently. “Boxers are sometimes friendly outside the ring. On weekends defense attorneys play golf with prosecutors. But you’re wrong, I’m not pursuing her. We’ve talked a couple of times and neither of us is interested in a new relationship. For obvious reasons. We’ve sworn off, all right? But we’re friends now.”
“This is a bad idea.”
“Bugger off,” he said. “And don’t piss me off.”
“Or what? Huh?”
“I will do something terrible to you, without causing you any distress to your pregnancy. But you’ll never forget it, it will be so bad and dangerous.”
“How can you talk like that to your pregnant sister?”
“Gee, I don’t know,” he said. “Didn’t you threaten to castrate me? Now, leave me alone. I can pick my own friends. And for your information, Ginger is very nice.”
“I know!”
“And she likes me!” Matt said, standing up and facing her. “Why is it you’re so upset at the idea of me being friends with her? I admit, I made an awful mistake at your wedding, but she’s accepted my apology and I’ve been perfectly perfect.”
“That’s now,” she said. “You’ve been... Well, Matt, you have a reputation. A love-’em-and-leave-’em reputation. That’s the last thing a nice girl like Ginger needs right now.”
He got it. Everyone thought he left Natalie because of a lot of annoying arguing. Because no one knew the whole story. And no one could know. “Okay, okay. I give you my word, we’re friends and I will not do anything to hurt Ginger. I like her. She’s a good person. I’m here today because she told me how everyone is helping Grace and Troy so they can get their families together and get married and I thought it was sweet and kind. She told me you and Scott were helping, even though you have little kids and a clinic to run. She told me she was going to be here all day working, even though she worked all week at the flower shop. I came to help. That’s why I came.”
“You swear?” she asked.
“I swear. Now, can I get back to my plumbing?”
She gave him one last withering glare, then left him. She was no longer his favorite sister. He rubbed his head. He bet no one ever accused Peyton of being a kind girl. No one who was related to her and really knew her at any rate.
After the plumbing fixtures, he helped finish installing a couple of light fixtures, something Troy seemed to find a challenge. Cooper’s wife, Sarah, brought over a huge tray of sandwiches from Cooper’s bar. Right behind her was Cooper with a cooler full of cold drinks for everyone. The work party moved out to the deck to picnic in the warm afternoon sun, and Matt had to focus his attention on the men because his nosy sister wouldn’t leave.
After lunch, they were down to cleaning so that the area rugs could be rolled out, furniture uncovered and placed, kitchenware and linens put into drawers, closets and cupboards, beds made up. The cleaning went from top to bottom, cupboards, countertops first, floors last. He bravely took his life in his hands and joined Ginger in the kitchen.
“I was so surprised to see you,” she said. “What a good guy you must be, driving all the way down here to help out.”
“Tell my sister, will you? That I’m a good guy.”
“I have two brothers,” she said, laughing. “I know about that brother-sister thing. Not easy. You’ll just have to be satisfied that I think you’re good.”
“Thank you. I have to drive back tonight. We start early on Monday mornings. But I brought a change of clothes. I could clean up at Peyton’s house and we could go out for something to eat. Something casual. Mexican? You like Mexican?”
“I love Mexican!”
“That’ll save us a phone call.”
“You know a place around here? Because I’m new in town,” she reminded him.
“I’ll find one. Someone around here will know a good place.”
“I don’t want you to stay too late and drive home tired...”
“But I’m here, Ginger. Let’s do something. Fun. Let’s have some fun.”
“Aren’t you having fun?” she asked him with a wicked grin.
He leaned toward her. “I’m glad to help, but I came for you. Just, don’t tell my sister.”
“Why not?”
“Because Peyton thinks I’m a bad bet. And I’m getting real sick of hearing about it.”
* * *
Peyton watched Matt and Ginger from the deck as she swept up crumbs and collected empty cans and plastic bottles from lunch. Scott and Spencer carried a large potted plant through the house and out to the deck, placing it where they’d been told to. Then Scott was by Peyton’s side.
“If you frown and scowl and brood like that any longer, you’re going to wrinkle,” he told his wife.
“As soon as Matt leaves Ginger alone, he’s going to get an earful of my opinion of his behavior,” she muttered.
Scott grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her to face the bay. He put an arm around her, holding her there. “No. He’s not,” Scott said. “You’re going to keep your mouth shut.”
“Huh? Listen, I can handle him.”
“I said, no,” Scott said firmly. “I command you.”
She glanced up at him and laughed.
“Figures you would think that’s funny. I want you to listen to me, Peyton, because when it comes to your family, you’re a little on the blind and deaf side. He might be a little brother to you, but you’re not in charge of him anymore. You have to leave him alone. He’s thirty and he’s obviously experienced some difficult times.”
“He’s been divorced over a year. And that marriage, it was very short and very miserable. And—”
“I’ve only known the Lacoumette family for a year and the whole time Matt has been silent. A little cranky. Very absent. Your mother and some of your sibs have apologized for him, said he was one of the best-natured men in the family. That short marriage obviously took its toll and he’s been nursing some big wounds.”
“And he’s been coping by having a different woman every week!”
“Peyton, he’s smiling. He’s laughing. For that matter, I haven’t seen Ginger look so good since I’ve met her—she’s smiling and laughing.”
“Hanging out with my brother, she could get hurt!”
“If you get in his business any further, you’re going to get hurt. You’re going to get spanked!”
“And just what big man is going to do that?” she asked, laughter in her voice.
“This big man, your lord and master,” he said.
“Oh, you’re really pushing it...”
