Mia Ross - Hometown Family

Appalled by the very personal attack, Caty didn’t know what to say. She glared up at him, but he deflected it with an I’m-smarter-than-you-think-I-am look.

“Go ahead,” he goaded. “Say it.”

“Not in a million years.”

“Okay,” he conceded with a chuckle. “But I know what you’re thinking. It’s written all over that pretty face of yours.”

She knew he was baiting her, but she wasn’t a trout. Inwardly seething, she cautioned herself against getting too close to this guy. He might not realize it, but he was now her client. That meant she had to be friendly but professional.

Tucker doubled back and ran circles around them, flopping on the ground so Matt could give him a belly rub.

“I’m real sorry I didn’t remember you,” he said while he scratched behind the Lab’s ears.

The quiet apology cooled her temper, and she decided to give him a break. “That’s okay. I was pretty forgettable back then. Invisible, more like.”

Matt glanced over his shoulder. “Not anymore.”

Feeling her cheeks start to burn, she turned away, pretending to watch Tucker bound back into the tall grass. “So this was Ethan’s favorite place. Why?”

“We’d have lunch here sometimes, him and John and me,” he explained. “Y’know, like they used to in the old days. We’d eat and talk, mostly about nothing.”

“That sounds nice.”

“It was.”

Matt seemed so distant from his family, Caty was amazed to learn how much he valued that simple memory. She’d have thought he’d do his best to forget everything connected to Harland. It was nice to discover she was wrong.

In his next breath, all semblance of nicety vanished.

“But I have my own life now.” Stepping closer, he glowered down at her. “Did you and Dad consider that when you boxed me into this little trap?”

Caty recognized that he was trying to intimidate her, use his size and considerable muscle to make her give in. She couldn’t miss the shift in his phrasing, dropping the responsibility for his predicament squarely on her shoulders. Fortunately, she had a weapon or two he hadn’t counted on, and she brought them out now.

She stepped closer, shrinking the distance between them to show she wasn’t afraid of him. Well, maybe she was a little, but she could fake it.

“Don’t get testy with me, Sawyer. I’m on your side.”

He opened his mouth, but she narrowed her eyes and cut him off with a warning look. Fortunately, he paid attention and settled for a disgusted sigh. It was insulting, but she let it go.

Pushing down her own frustration, she focused on the pain she knew he was feeling and softened her expression just a bit. “I’m trying to be patient with all of you. You’ve had a terrible shock, and I understand that. I’ll do my best to take some of the burden off you, but I can’t make it go away completely. The law works the way it does to protect everything Ethan worked so hard for. You have to be patient with me, too.”

That wasn’t what he’d wanted to hear, and he planted his hands on his hips like a petulant child, looking anywhere but at her. Quit being such a baby, she wanted to say, but she held back. It wouldn’t go over well.

When he did meet her eyes, she saw something she hadn’t expected. Fear. So quietly she almost didn’t hear, he said, “I don’t know what to do.”

Her heart tripped over the raw emotion in those few words, and she swallowed hard against the sudden lump in her throat. Hoping she appeared calm and dependable, she willed her most professional tone into her voice. “I know. I’ll help you all I can.”

The thought of working so closely with Matt didn’t thrill her, but she simply couldn’t leave him with the accordion envelope and letter of instructions that she gave most of her clients. Once the immediate crisis of bringing in the harvest was over, he’d have some big-time decisions to make.

Balancing his own wishes against the obligation he felt to his family simply wasn’t possible. He could put it off awhile, but eventually he’d have to choose between them. Someone was going to be incredibly disappointed.

* * *

After their little powwow, Matt and Caty headed inside for breakfast. As they came through the door, John and Lisa were already at the table and Marianne was dishing up some of the biggest omelets he’d ever seen.

“Where are the kids?” Matt asked, hoping they might give him a reprieve from the discussion he’d been dreading since Caty had outlined his father’s plans.

“The Millers invited them over to play, so I let them go,” Marianne replied as she set their plates on the table and sat down. “I thought we could use the time to talk things over.”

Perfect. Barely stifling a groan, he pulled out a chair for Caty and sat down next to her.

Marianne poured them both some coffee and set the pot on a cork pad.

“So, Matt,” she began. “How long are you planning to stay?”

The careless tone was completely fake, intended to throw him off his stride. Over the years she’d perfected it, and he’d felt himself tense up as soon as she opened her mouth.

Something nudged his boot underneath the kitchen table, and he glanced to his right to find Caty giving him the eye. She lifted her glass of orange juice and while she sipped, she shook her head just enough that he couldn’t miss it. He reminded himself they were all exhausted and more than a little on edge, trying to deal with something that had blindsided them all.

Matt wasn’t used to considering other people when he made his decisions, so this was an uncomfortable stretch for him. Hoping he looked reasonably calm and not scared to death, he looked at each of them in turn. “I haven’t decided yet. First I want y’all to tell me what you need from me.”

At a rare loss for words, his sisters traded confused looks. For the first time he could remember, he knew how they felt.

“Nothing,” John assured him. “You’ve got a life to get back to, and you should go. I’ll figure something out.”

Lisa started to protest, but he silenced her with an uncharacteristically harsh look. She glared back before stabbing a fork into her untouched breakfast. She didn’t say anything else, though. Marianne was completely silent.

Oddly enough, his family’s unwillingness to ask Matt to stay was what made up his mind.

“Okay, here’s the plan.” When he had their attention, Matt continued. “I’ll stay through the fall to get things squared away here. Make sure all the crops get in, do a total maintenance round of the equipment, stuff like that. Beginning of November, we’ll sit down again and see how things look.”

“What about your job?” Lisa asked. “And your apartment?”

“It’s only three months, so I’m not worried about the rent.” That wasn’t entirely true, but right now it was the least of his concerns. “I’ll talk to my boss and see what he can do. If he can’t hold a spot for me, I’ll find another one.”

“Jobs are hard to come by these days,” Marianne reminded him.

“Thanks for the news flash.”

His sarcasm got him a saucy look. “I just meant that if things don’t work out in Charlotte, you’ll have a job here.”

There was no way he was returning to Harland permanently. The compromise he was proposing would take him dangerously close to the edge of his limit. He’d go nuts if there was no end to his stint as a full-time farmer.

Now wasn’t the time to dig in his heels, though. They’d all have to cooperate to finish out the harvest season. “My boss knows what’s going on, but for this I want to talk to him in person. At some point, I’ll go back to Charlotte to see him and pack.”

“When?” Marianne asked.

“When I can,” Matt replied evenly. “I know flexibility isn’t your favorite thing, but if this is gonna work, you have to cut me some slack.”