Page 60 of Close Match

Linnie proceeds to tell me how Brielle sent a gift to Bristol at college where she flooded the young girl’s on-campus apartment with balloons in the school’s colors. “It took Bris forever to navigate her way to her bedroom to be able to call Mom. The ribbons from them took up every inch of floor space.” Then, much to my surprise, she begins to sing.

My heart was filled with pain,

I’ll be with you wherever you go,

I’ll be with you whenever,

Forgive me,

Our love is forever.

Miss me no more.

The tears streaming down her face aren’t of laughter, they’re from pain. It’s the kind pain that embeds itself into your soul and clutches onto your heart with talons made out of love. When Linnie looks at me, she’s weighed down by it. “We were singing that song when she collapsed into my arms. Unless you’d seen the show before, you’d never have known there was anything wrong. But I knew. I knew my mom down to my soul, Monty. And I had to wait with her in my arms knowing there was something wrong.” Her hands raise to cover her face.

There’s no way I can passively stand there watching her grief. Taking a few giant steps forward, I pull her into my arms. Holding her against my chest, I feel the shaking of her body against mine. “I’m sorry.” The words seem so inadequate in comparison to the grief she’s feeling.

She nods, her face still cocooned in her hands, but I feel the motion. I hold her tightly, not offering any words, just physical comfort.

Right now, it seems to be enough.

Slowly, she shifts. I loosen my arms to let her go. “I don’t know what brought you here, but I appreciate the shoulder to lean on.”

“Well, technically, it was my chest.” The corners of her lips tip up as was my intention. “But it was nothing. Anytime.”

She puts space between us by moving over to the bar and picking up a bottle of water to drink. “Why did you come in here anyway?”

Crap. With everything else, I forgot about dinner. “Mom called. She doesn’t feel like cooking,” I lie glibly, feeling like absolute shit for doing so. This woman doesn’t need more lies; she deserves the truth. “So, we’re going to take you to one of our favorite places to eat.”

“Does it mean dressing up?”

With the freedom to give her a head-to-toe once-over, I shrug. “You might want to dig out something other than Lycra.”

“How much time do I have?” Linnie slams the cap back on her water. Her head snaps back and forth in search of something—ah, her shoes. I suppress a smile as she dashes from one to the other, then hops as she slips them on her feet.

“I’d say about—” I check my watch. “—forty-five minutes?”

“There’s no way I’ll be ready in time!” She races to the door and dashes out. I’m beginning to realize Linnie Brogan doesn’t slow down for much.

Strolling out the door behind her, I call out, “Don’t worry, I’ll shut everything off!”

“Thanks!” she calls back as she runs down the path toward the house.

I lean against the jamb as she runs, admiring her for the second time that day.

Only this time, I’m just as close as I was that morning in New York. There’s no doubt in my mind now. It was Linnie I saw running outside of the park. Whistling, I head back inside, turn off the sound equipment, flick off the lights, and turn the bottom lock before heading back to change.

Because as much as I’m looking forward to the food, it’s the company I know I’ll be spending time with that has me walking a little more rapidly.

Thirty-Three

Evangeline

There’s no doubt something’s changed between Monty and me. Ever since last week when I broke down in the studio, things are just more intimate, like there’s a secret between the two of us no one else knows about. I dash down the stairs, trying to avoid holding up breakfast for the others. I spent most of the night twisting and turning in bed thinking about Montague Parrish and realizing that for a man who’s consuming my thoughts, I know so very little about him.

And I wonder why beyond the natural extension of getting to know my father, there’s a desire to know more.

Ev and I have spent hours each day talking. I have a new appreciation for his brilliance. When he tried to explain how he went from being a too often backhanded, malnourished, genius kid to one of the wealthiest men in the nation, I was enthralled and captivated.