Page 28 of The Matchmaker Club

We’d see after his reaction to Lainey’s ideas for the garden.

After clearing the table, my grandmother and Lainey left Lucas and me alone in the kitchen. I filled up the sink and started washing the dishes by hand.

“Do you have a towel to dry them off?”

I pointed. “Second drawer down.”

He grabbed a plate from the strainer and began wiping it dry. “I’m sorry for what I insinuated about your great-grandmother.”

“Are you apologizing because you hurt my feelings or because you changed your mind about who she was?”

“Hurt your feelings.” He grabbed another plate.

“You still think she was a whore?”

“I never said that.”

“Then what, exactly, are your thoughts on her?”

“I don’t think it’s my place to have any thoughts. I didn’t know Marlena.”

“Then why do you want to hide us like some big secret?”

“Because I know how tabloids work, and in the age of social media, there are plenty of judgments made without knowing the full story.”

I scooped up silverware from the bottom of the sink and scrubbed. “From what you do know, what’s your impression of us so far?”

He smiled. “Unconventional.”

“Is that good or bad?”

“In my world? Not so good, but it works for you.”

“Your world?” I plopped the last of the silverware I had washed into the strainer and rinsed off my hands. “And what isyourworld like?”

He handed me the towel. “My father calls it the three R’s: Routine, Responsibility, and Reliability.”

I dried off my hands and tossed the towel onto the counter. “Sounds like your childhood was a blast.”

He grabbed a new towel from the drawer and started on the silverware. “I didn’t have much of a childhood.”

I tilted my head, trying to read more of him. “And what about your adolescent years, any rebelling? Did you and your friends sneak out of your prep school dorms to go make out with girls or sneak in alcohol?”

He laughed. “That was my brother, not me.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“It was expected. I was always the responsible one, my brother the rebellious one.”

“Did you ever want to do something irresponsible?”

He hesitated. “There’s no point. Actions have consequences.” He folded the towel. “If you wouldn’t mind giving me the list for the repairs that need to get done, I’d like to get started with the planning.”

“Sure.” I opened the drawer at the end of the counter and handed the notebook to him. He thanked me and headed up to his room.

I had the feeling that Lucas’s and my worlds were about to collide and crash into one big mess before the thirty days were through.