Page 12 of The Atonement (Arrangement #3)

CHAPTER ELEVEN

AINSLEY

I pulled into the driveway and brought the car to a stop with a racing heart and sweaty palms. There was a truck I didn’t recognize parked in front of the house, though it didn’t belong to us.

Who else could be there, though? A lump formed in my throat as I stepped out of the car and moved up the walk, already preparing myself for the worst.

Bloody images filled my mind, tormenting me. Had he hurt them? What would I find walking into that house? I squared my jaw.

He wouldn’t hurt them.

My husband was a lot of things, but I didn’t believe he was the type of monster who’d hurt our children. He loved them. No matter how unhinged he was, no matter how much he wanted to hurt me, I couldn’t believe he would take it out on them.

So, if anything, I hoped he’d just take them .

It would be the one thing in the world he could do to hurt me beyond repair.

Take away my children, Peter, hurt me that way, but please don’t hurt them.

I forced the thought away as I twisted the handle and stepped inside. I checked behind the door, then around the room before shutting it firmly and moving forward.

I inhaled deeply, trying to detect a hint of blood or his cologne, but there was nothing. No signs he’d been there at all.

Maybe the car belonged to a neighbor.

Maybe one of my mother’s friends, though I couldn’t imagine her having friends of any kind. Halfway through the living room, I heard a sound that sent a bolt of lightning through my veins.

Maisy’s laughter.

Whom was she laughing at? I knew one person who could make her laugh above all else. I darted toward the sound, rounding the corner into the living room, and froze.

Mom’s smile disappeared when she saw me. “Oh, hello, honey. Have you met Matt?”

Matt, apparently, was the man standing in the middle of my mother’s kitchen talking to my daughter across the counter.

He appeared to be several years younger than me—early twenties, I’d guess—with thick brown, wavy hair, kind eyes, and a barely there five o’clock shadow.

He smiled at me, his eyes lingering on mine for longer than necessary, and an embarrassing warmth spread through my stomach.

Then he looked back at Maisy, who was practically giddy, watching him the way I’d seen her watch the boys in her favorite bands.

“Um, no…” I moved forward, touching my daughter’s arm. What in the child bride is this? “What’s going on?” Where was Peter?

“Sorry.” Matt held out his hand, making too-intense eye contact with me again. Heat rushed to my cheeks. “I’m your new neighbor. I just moved in across the street and came by to introduce myself.”

I extended my hand stiffly. Our skin had barely touched when the flutters spread through my extremities.

What the hell was happening to me? I pulled my arm back abruptly, with too much force, and tucked a piece of hair behind my ear to mask the movement.

“Not my neighbor. I don’t live here. We don’t live here. ” I gestured toward Maisy.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I thought—”

“Well, they’re living here right now, anyway,” my mother said, batting her eyelashes at him and swatting his arm. He still hadn’t taken his eyes off of me. I looked away. “I was just telling Matt that you work at a bank downtown. He worked in banking, too. Can you believe that?”

“Small world,” I said halfheartedly, running my hands through Maisy’s hair to keep myself busy.

“He’s from California,” Maisy told me, her eyes as wide as if she’d said he was from the moon. “He used to live at the beach. ”

“ Near the beach,” he corrected, then took a step closer to me.

His voice lowered, as if he were only speaking to me.

“And I used to work in banking, but not anymore. It was great, though.” He paused, waiting for me to respond, but I had nothing to say.

I took a step back, keeping myself between him and Maisy.

Finally seeming to notice my discomfort, he backed off, turning his attention back to my daughter.

“Anyway, I was just telling Maisy about the time I walked right past Tom Hanks and had no idea until I got home and realized why he looked so familiar. I just waved at him like he was some random guy.”

Maisy laughed again. “Can you imagine?” She sighed, biting into a frozen peach from the bowl in front of her. “No one famous ever comes around here.”

“We live outside of Nashville, and we’re here all the time.

” I gestured around us, though it wasn’t really true.

I was in Nashville daily for work, Peter too, but the kids only came if it was for something specific or if we were visiting my parents.

“Plenty of famous people live near us,” I told her.

“Yeah, but we never see them. And, even if you do, Nashville has this unspoken rule that you can’t approach them. My friend saw Taylor Swift at the mall once and no one even believes her.”

“They’re just normal people, Maise.” I stepped closer, resting my hands on the counter. “Same as you and me.”

“You should listen to your mom. That’s a way cooler way of looking at it than I did,” Matt agreed, pointing at me, though I didn’t need him to back me up with my own daughter.

I shot a steely glance his way, and he lowered his hand and averted his eyes, his own cheeks flushing pink.

He scratched the back of his neck. “Anyway, I’m sorry to have interrupted.

I just wanted to come by and introduce myself and say if you need anything, let me know. ”

“Well, you weren’t interrupting at all. Are you sure you won’t have some sangria before you go? I just made a fresh pitcher.” My mom was practically unrecognizable, smiling and fawning all over this stranger.

“Oh, no, thank you though. It sounds delicious, but I’ve got to get back to unpacking.

I just happened to see you outside and thought now was as good a time as any.

And I wanted to warn you about Sampson, too.

If he ever gets annoying, just let me know.

This is the first time he’s had a yard, so I’m sure he’ll be excited for a few days, but I’ll do my best to keep him quiet. ”

“Oh, he’s no bother at all. I just love dogs.”

This was the same mother who’d once told me we could never have animals because they brought “fleas, worms, and filth” wherever they went.

“Sampson’s a Great Dane.” Maisy filled me in.

I nodded, unsure of what to say and ready for this stranger to get out of this house.

He stepped back, moving away from the counter with a final nod. “Alright, well, it was great to meet you, Adele.” He shook Maisy’s hand. “Maisy.” Then he locked eyes with me again, suddenly too close. “So nice to meet you, Ainsley. I’m…I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around.”

I nodded, uncharacteristically at a loss for words.

Luckily for me, Mom was having no such shortage. “So nice to meet you, Matt. I didn’t ask, but is that short for Matthew?” She was at his side in an instant, eager to stop his attempts at escape.

“Nah, it’s short for Leonard.”

Mom hesitated and Matt guffawed, much to Maisy’s delight. “Sorry, yeah, it’s for Matthew.”

“Leonard would be cool,” Maisy said.

“Maisy’s cooler.” He patted her head.

“Mom, you want to walk Matt out?” I asked abruptly, interrupting their laughter.

“That’s not necessary.” Matt tucked his hands in his pockets. “Sorry, again, for…interrupting.” He held my gaze for a half second more, something warm in his eyes that made me feel dizzy, then turned toward the living room.

“Don’t be silly. Of course I’ll walk you out.” Mom rounded the island and crossed the room.

He chuckled, waiting for her to catch up with him. “They warned me about this Southern hospitality, Ms. Adele.”

“Oh, just Adele, please.” She took hold of his arm, leading the way toward the door. To my dismay, he looked back at me over his shoulder just once more, catching me watching him, and offered a small smile and a wave.

I turned my attention to Maisy, and once they’d left the room, I ran a hand through her hair again, unsure of what to say.

“Are you okay? You look like you’re going to be sick,” she said, taking another bite of her peach.

I touched my cheeks, the warmth of them burning my palms. “I could ask you the same thing. Is everything okay here?”

She nodded slowly, brows drawn down. “Um, yeah. Why?” She swirled her spoon around the bowl in front of her.

Had my mother told her Peter was there? It didn’t seem like it, and I didn’t want to bring it up if she hadn’t in case she expected to see him.

“That was just kind of weird,” I said eventually, as I heard the front door shut.

“What was?”

“The neighbor.” I tilted my head in the direction he’d gone. “You didn’t think so?”

“I don’t know. I thought he was really cool, actually.”

“And much too old for you.”

“Ew, Mom!” She stuck out her tongue with disgust. “He’s like…an adult. What are you talking about? You thought I liked him, liked him?”

I shrugged, forcing the worry out of my chest as if clawing it with my bare hands. Maisy was a child. Not every man was out to get her. Was my perception tarnished by everything that had happened with her coach?

“I’m only teasing,” I said, waving away her worry, then crossed the room to retrieve a glass from the cabinet. I filled it with water as we waited for my mother to return. “What have you been up to all day?”

“Reading,” she said, her mouth full of fruit. “Grandma said she wants to take me on a walk around the neighborhood later.”

“What?” I wasn’t sure I’d heard her over the sound of the ice hitting my glass.

She repeated herself. “A walk. For exercise or whatever. Maybe you could go with us.”

“No. You’re not going to walk around the neighborhood with your grandmother. We’re leaving today.”

Her eyes brightened. “We are?”

“Mhm. Now, finish eating and run upstairs and tell your brothers to get their bags ready.”

She shoved the last few bites of her fruit into her mouth and placed the bowl in the sink, obviously in just as much of a hurry as I was to get out of there.