Page 24 of Perfectly Matched: Harbor Falls Romance Collection

The silence in the Jeep split the cool climate between them like a razor-sharp icicle hanging from a rooftop. Although unspoken words hung in the air, neither of them dared break the silence. Matt supposed they’d each come to the same conclusion.

Give it up. This wasn’t going anywhere.

When he had returned to the cabin earlier, he found her dressed and ready to leave, sitting on the hearth and staring at the dying embers.

Appropriate.

Ready to go.

Saying nothing, he changed into dry clothing. Once dressed, he motioned toward the door and led her to his vehicle. The hardest part was getting out of his short dirt road. After that, the Jeep plowed through the six inches or so of snow on the mountain road with cautious ease, the morning sun already having melted some of it. He was thankful this side of the mountain faced east.

He sensed a change in Shelley the moment he stepped inside the door. There was something final about that sensation. He didn’t question but accepted.

It was over. Finally. Maybe now he could move on.

That was the way it remained as they drove the five miles or so back toward Lake Road. They passed the lodge and the place where Shelley’s car slid off the road. With a peripheral glance, he saw her look down the mountain. Her chest lifted and lowered with a deep sigh.

“Thank you for saving me,”

she whispered, still looking out the window.

He wanted to say many things then, like, How could I not save you? I love you, but he didn’t.

“You’re welcome,”

he responded, his stare fixed on the road.

That was their only exchange until they turned into Suzie’s drive. Shelley sat up straighter as she watched the front door of her sister’s house. She scooted a little closer to the edge of her seat, as far as the seatbelt would allow, and clutched at the door handle.

Eager to get the hell out of here.

He stopped the Jeep, and everything froze. Finally, he turned and found her peering back at him, her eyes glazed with tears.

“I know you will probably never forgive me, Matt,”

she said softly.

“but I am truly sorry. You have to forget about it, and me, and move on.”

Well, there it was, the final blow. Confirmation that there was not a snowball’s chance in hell that they would ever come to terms.

He held her stare for way too long and her tears spilled over. At once, he softened toward her a little. Giving her a quick nod, he hoped she understood what that meant because he didn’t want to have to say it out loud.

He would forget. He would let it go. Let her go.

The lifting of the door handle latch broke the silence and Shelley turned away. In an instant, she was out of the truck, picking her way through the snow, and toward the house.

Make sure she gets inside and then leave.

In truth, he wanted to linger, catch the morning rays glinting off her hair, take in her determined step across the porch, wait and see if perhaps she might give him a backward glance.

She didn’t.

Suzie opened the door and within a half-second, Shelley was whisked inside.

He exhaled, steaming up his windshield.

Abruptly, the front door opened again,

and his heart picked up a cadence. Suzie took a step out onto the porch and waved. A thank you, he was certain. Huffing out one last cleansing breath, an attempt to still his racing heart, he waved back and put the Jeep into reverse.

“Put it to rest, Branson. It’s over.”

It was time to get to his own family. Where he belonged.

Where his heart was safe.

****

“Me! Me! It’s my turn Uncle Bad!”

Shelley watched Karly jump up and down in front of her uncle and beg for his hands. He grasped both of her tiny palms in his while she climbed flat-footed up his legs and thighs and turned a flip, grinning all the while.

“Again! Again!”

Brad tossed a look of feigned despair at Shelley.

“Your kids are wearing me out!”

“He loves every minute of it,”

Suzie said from her right.

“It’s good practice for him to manage multiple kids.”

“Oh?”

Shelley wondered what that last part meant.

“Are you indicating anything, Suzie?”

She watched her sister toss her husband a quick smile, then back to her.

“No indication of anything, dear sister. We’re just practicing.”

Shelley sniggered.

“I’ll just let that stay right there.”

“Good idea.”

Suzie turned back to her work.

All three children—Katie, Karly and Petey—giggled and bounced on the floor, amidst wads of Christmas wrapping paper and scattered toys, in front of him. “More!”

Petey said.

Shelley watched as Brad scooped his son into his arms and sank into an overstuffed chair behind him, propping his legs on an ottoman.

“I’m pooped.”

The girls started to climb.

“Katie. Karly. Come here. Uncle Bad is tired.”

Shelley motioned for her girls and they came running. She gathered them onto her lap.

Suzie leaned closer and whispered.

“And we definitely do not want to wear Uncle Bad out, he needs to save some of that energy for me.”

Shelley looked into her sister’s eyes and caught the twinkle. She laughed aloud.

Grinning, Suzie hugged her.

“Well, that was nice. That’s the first laugh I’ve heard from you all day.

Glancing off with a frown, Suzie chided herself. She thought she had hidden her sadness pretty darn well. Seeing her parents earlier made her temporarily forget about Matt and the previous night. She was lost in the moment of hugging and crying and apologizing—seemed she was always apologizing lately—and focused only on the events happening right in front of her. She thought she’d pulled it off.

Obviously, her sister could see through her ploy.

“Oh, I beg to differ,”

she replied.

“I’m pretty sure I laughed earlier when the kids were opening their presents and Petey got tangled in the ribbon. And what about when Daddy slurped up that banana pudding and it spurted on his shirt? I’m sure I laughed then.”

Suzie shook her head.

“No. You smiled a little. But no laughter.”

She waved her off.

“Ridiculous.”

She thought for a moment.

“What about when Brad brought the puppy in for the girls? I know I laughed watching the kids all-a-tumble on the floor with the pup. That was pretty funny when the pup took off with Petey’s sock.”

Again, Suzie shook her head.

“No, you barely smiled then.”

Smirking, Shelley exhaled hard.

“Well, all right. Maybe not.”

Chaos ensued. The girls rolled off her lap and wrestled with the puppy again on the floor. Petey climbed all over his dad trying to avoid getting tickled. Joan Hart, their mother, scurried about picking up stray ribbon and wrapping paper. Her father fiddled with the stereo, attempting to find a radio station with Christmas music that fit his taste. He was tired of Rock Around the Christmas Tree.

“What happened, Shelley? Up at Matt’s cabin?”

Surprised that she would ask—or even sense that she should ask—Shelley looked away. She didn’t want to meet Suzie’s stare, and felt every iota of its intensity on her face.

“Nothing. Nothing that I want to talk about right now, anyway.”

Suzie remained quiet and pressed her hand into her sister’s palm.

“I just want to sit here and enjoy my family,”

Shelley whispered.

Suzie squeezed. “Yeah,”

she said.

“Look at us. We’re pretty darned good-looking to be so dysfunctional, aren’t we?”

Shelley bit her lip and looked at her sister. Both women burst out laughing. She laughed so hard she hoped no one noticed her tears.

****

Across town, Matt stood in his mother’s kitchen drying dishes while his two sisters took a smoke out on the deck, and his nieces and nephews played with their toys in the den. He hated that both of his siblings smoked, but at least they didn’t do it in front of the kids.

His mother handed him the turkey platter and said.

“I hear Shelley is back in town.”

He took the platter but didn’t say a word, only gave a half-nod. Silence drifted between them for a moment.

Then his mother added.

“The last thing I want for you is to hurt again, Matthew.”

He could agree with that statement. His mother dipped a pan into the dishwater and silently washed the dish for a few long seconds. Matt set the platter on the counter.

Turning, his mother stopped the washing motions and rested her hands on the edge of the sink.

“Yes, the last thing I want for you is more hurt, but I also want to you to face this situation, Matthew. You either need to get on with your life without Shelley, or you need to go after her.”

Little do you know, Mom….

“Do you know what I mean?”

“I know exactly what you mean.”

“Then what will you do?”

Her eyes searched his as only a mother’s could. He could see the love and caring in them, and he knew she only wanted what was best for him.

“I already did that, Mom, and it didn’t work out.”

She took the dishtowel from him and dried her hands.

“What are you talking about?”

Crossing his arms over his chest, he leaned a hip into the counter.

“I went after her again. Last night. Shelley got stranded up by the lodge and I took her home with me for the night. I dropped her off at Suzie’s before I came here.”

A hint of a smile broke across her face. “And?”

He inhaled deep and let the breath out slower.

“It didn’t work. I went after her and she told me to let it go, Mom. So that’s what I’m doing.”

His mother’s smile morphed into pursed lips.

“Not exactly what I wanted to hear. I’m disappointed in her. I thought perhaps…”

Matt stepped closer.

“It’s not Shelley, mom. It’s me. I gave it a shot, it didn’t work. I’m fine now, or I will be. I needed this to happen so I could get past everything. Past her. Don’t worry about me, okay? I’m fine.”

He hugged her then and she hugged him back.

“I love you son and want you to be happy.”

He nodded.

“I promise. I’m happy. Or I will be soon.”

She broke away to investigate his face, cupped his cheek in a palm, and smiled.

“I know you will be. I had high hopes—back then and now. I’ve never seen another young couple like the two of you, so much in love. I was sure that love of yours could stand the tests of time and that eventually, even after everything, you would get back together.”

“I had hoped that too, Mom. It’s just not the reality.”

“You still love her, Matthew. I can still see it in your eyes when you talk about her.”

He sighed.

“Mom, I’ll never stop loving her. I just have to figure out how to love her and live without her.”

She clasped him close again and hugged him tight, like only a concerned mother could.