Page 26 of Perfectly Matched: Harbor Falls Romance Collection

New Year’s Eve

“Okay, so here is the deal. I’ve dropped the kids off at Mama and Daddy’s so you, my dear sister, are coming to the lodge with Brad and me.”

Shelley looked up from the book she was reading and took in her sister’s stern expression.

“I thought I was babysitting.”

“No. Change of plans.”

“But I wanted to babysit.”

Suzie stood hands on hips, her stance broad, her barely five-foot-three frame erect, her look determined. They’d been through this no less than a dozen times already. Brad was hosting a big New Year’s Eve bash at the lodge, the first one in a couple of decades or more. With the renovation finished, he had invited the entire town for a New Year’s celebration.

Suzie wanted Shelley to go.

Shelley wanted none of it.

Babysitting was her excuse.

“You’ve worked your fingers to the bone all week trying to forget about Matt. You’ve brooded long enough. You’re going to get out and party tonight.”

She fiddled with a page of the book.

“I’m not brooding. I’ve already told you. I’m not going.”

“You’re a stubborn little minx.”

She returned to her reading.

“No more stubborn than you. Besides, now that I’m not babysitting, I can finish this book.”

Plopping beside her on the couch, Suzie grasped the book and pushed it into Shelley’s lap.

“You can read anytime. It’s New Year’s Eve. That only comes once a year. Come on, sis. Let your hair down.”

Snorting, she shifted on the couch.

“I don’t need to let my hair down. My hair is fine. My life is fine. I want to stay here and read.”

She snatched up her book and turned a page.

“Besides, as soon as tomorrow is over, I need to start moving the kids and me into the lodge, so I should probably pack a few things. And plan. Since I don’t have a car now, I need to figure that out too. I just have stuff to do, Suzie, so I’ll stay here.”

Suzie huffed.

“You can’t stay cooped up here forever. You’ve got to get back into the Harbor Falls social life sooner or later.”

“I choose later.”

She didn’t look up.

“Besides, I’ve only been here a week. Give me a break. I don’t need to start the new year with back-stabbing whispers about me being the town slut.”

“You’re not the town slut. I’m pretty sure Candy Crane has that title all tied up. Besides, it’s a party! It will put a smile on that sourpuss face of yours.”

Not liking that last comment, she glared at her sister.

“I do not have a sourpuss face.”

“You do.”

“Not.”

“Do.”

“Not! Crap. I’m not arguing with you!”

“I bought a dress today. I think you should try it on.”

Nice twist, sis.

“No. Me and my sourpuss face are having a night in. I’m looking forward to popcorn. Maybe a bubble bath. Mind if I use your tub?”

Rising, Suzie looked down at her.

“You can be so damn difficult.”

Smiling into her book, Shelley replied.

“I know. I like to get my way.”

“All right. You’ve got it.”

Heading toward the kitchen, she called over her shoulder.

“I’m going to leave the dress on my bed, in case you change your mind after you take that bubble bath.”

Shelley listened for her fading footsteps.

“Not freakin’ likely,”

she muttered, her nose stuck further in her book.

****

Matt stepped onto his mother’s porch and twisted the door handle to let himself in.

“Mom? I’m here,”

he called into the room.

“You ready?”

She called out from the back of the house.

“Almost. Be right there.”

He paused at the entry and looked at himself in the antique hall tree mirror. Adjusting his tie, he loosened it a bit, pulling it away from his neck.

“Damn tie,”

he muttered.

“I would only do this for you, you know.”

“What?”

His mother stepped beside him.

“I said I would only do this for you. I still can’t believe you talked me into it.”

She looked stunning standing there beside him.

“By the way, you look beautiful. Papa was a lucky man.”

She smiled at his reflection and straightened his tie.

“You’re looking pretty spiffy yourself. And you’re right, your Papa was a lucky man.”

Grinning into the mirror, he caught the sparkle in her eye.

“Do you good to get out, Matthew. Holed up there in that cave of yours,”

she said.

“You need to come out and play once in a while.”

He snorted.

“I’m not a social butterfly like my sisters. You know that. But I’m working on it.”

Shrugging, she smiled again.

“Ah, but you don’t have to be the social bug. Just be you. That’s good enough.”

She grasped his shoulders and turned him to face her.

“Matthew Branson, I’m going to say something that I never thought I would say. Son, you need a woman.”

Heat flushed his cheeks and neck.

“Mom, don’t go there.”

She narrowed her gaze.

“Matthew, what is it you want in life? You worry the hell out of me.”

He never meant to worry her. Never had. He loved her with everything that was in him.

“All I ever wanted was what you and Papa had. A home, a family…”

“A wife.”

“Yes.”

“Shelley?”

He paused.

“Once upon a time.”

Squinting at him, she went on.

“You won’t find a wife, or make amends with Shelley, moping around in that cabin of yours.”

He studied his shoes.

“No, ma’am, I suppose I won’t.”

Having a conversation about Shelley was the last thing he wanted to do tonight.

“But let’s get things clear, making amends with Shelley is never going to happen. So, give me time on finding someone new. I can’t just turn off loving her like that.”

Crooking her finger under his chin, she lifted his face. “Son,”

she began softly.

“and you’re never going to. Let the past go. Make her yours. Before it’s too late.”

Staring into his mother’s eyes, he sensed the unspoken words. She’d lost her love, his Papa, way too early.

“There are no guarantees, ever. All you have is today. Don’t waste it.”

He swallowed hard, knowing it was already too late, but he nodded and smiled at his mom.

“I’ll work on it,”

was all he said, knowing it was a lame promise.

“Do that,”

she told him.

“A lot of time has already gone by. Don’t dismiss the time you do have. You won’t regret it.”

****

With bubbles up to her ears, Shelley sank into Suzie’s whirlpool tub, leaned back with her book, and toed the lever to turn off the water. Letting loose of a long sigh, she delighted in the hot water and the steady beat of the jets against her tired muscles. They’d had a long week and had worked hard. In a couple of days, she would move into the lodge with the girls, so more work was headed her way. Tonight, now that she was off kid duty, all she wanted was to relax.

She soaked until the water grew tepid, the bubbles gone, and the book finished. The bathroom was chilly, so she dried quickly and wrapped herself in a thick towel.

The inn had the best towels, Suzie didn’t skimp on that. Rarely did she skimp on anything. The soft terry felt good against her skin.

Hurrying through Suzie’s bedroom toward her own, she stopped abruptly at the bed and stared at the simple black dress that lay across it.