Matthew's Choice Read online

  “Down the street.”

  Matt glanced around the room. It wouldn’t take an hour to load everything Mariah owned in a truck. If he moved their stuff today, it’d be one less thing to take care of Tuesday if the court awarded him custody of Noah. That way, as soon as the judge signed the papers, they could be on the road to Memphis. “What do you think about moving all your things to my house this afternoon?”

  Noah’s eyes widened. “Mom won’t like that.”

  “You let me worry about your mom. Now, let’s go see what Miss Allie is up to.”

  In the kitchen they found Allie holding up one of Noah’s T-shirts. Or what was left of it. “What happened?” Matt asked.

  “Stayed in the bleach too long. All of his underclothes are ruined.” She dropped the shirt in the sink. “Looks like another trip to the store.”

  “I’ll take him after we visit Mariah. Do you know where I can rent a truck today?”

  “A truck?” She put her hands on her hips. “So, you’re finally admitting that toy you call a car is useless.”

  “It’s not useless, just not too practical for moving.” He swept his arm around the kitchen.

  “Oh.” Understanding lit her eyes. “Dad will let you use his farm truck. Probably even help, if you ask.”

  Matt swallowed. Yeah, Mr. C would help—Clint, too. “I don’t have his number. Could you give—”

  “I’ll do even better.”A smile teased the corners of her mouth. “I’ll call and ask for you.”

  “Thanks.” Once again, Matt had underestimated the generosity of the Carson family.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  NOAH TUGGED AT Matt’s arm. “Don’t forget my mom’s necklace.”

  “I won’t.” Allie examined the ticket, which Matt produced. “Oh, I remember seeing this place—it’s off the south end of Main. Remember the old cobbler’s shop? It’s right next door.”

  He pocketed the ticket. “I’ll meet you two at the hospital. Unless you have things you need to do, and you want to let Noah go with me. After we take care of the pawn ticket, I can take him to see Mariah, and if you’ll give me your address, I’ll bring him to your house when we leave the hospital.”

  Allie hesitated. “I really do need to get ready for school Tuesday. I’d planned to work this afternoon, but I want to help you move.” She tapped her fingers together. “Okay, take Noah with you, and I’ll get my work done this morning. I’ll text you my address.”

  “You sure? What if Peter finds out? He might not be happy with your decision.”

  “Well, Noah’s status is technically undecided, and still, you are his uncle. Nothing wrong with you spending time alone with your nephew.”

  A few minutes later, Matt found the last parking spot in front of Joe’s Pawn Shop. A sign proclaimed the store was open seven days a week. Iron bars covered the two windows, and the door could use a coat of paint. This part of Cedar Grove had changed and not for the better. Sometime in the past, fire had left the cobbler’s shop a burned-out shell. As for the other storefronts, fire would be an improvement.

  A bell jingled overhead as he entered the pawn shop, and an older man turned from the customer at the counter. “Be with you in a minute.”

  Matt walked around the shop, stopping in front of a locked display of Case knives. He’d had a Case knife once. One his mom had taken away from him.

  “May I help you?”

  He turned to the clerk and showed him the ticket. “I’d like to redeem this.”

  A relieved smile creased his face. “Oh, good. I worried when she was late that I might have to eat this one.”

  Matt frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “Pearls. No way could I get the three hundred dollars back I let her have for those pearls. Now gold, I could sell easy.” He jerked his head toward Noah. “Only reason I let her have the money was the kid.”

  A pawn shop dealer with a heart. Matt didn’t know such a person existed. “I appreciate that. Now I want to get them back. How much does she owe?”

  “Three hundred and fifty dollars.”

  There went the heart. “Will you take a check?”

  “As long as you have two forms of ID.”

  Matt made the check out while the older man went to the back room and retrieved a small brown envelope. After he handed it to him, Matt pulled out a black velvet pouch. Mariah still had the bag they were in when their mother gave her the pearls. His sister continued to surprise him. Maybe if Mariah understood he’d redeemed the pawn ticket, it would bring her around.

  He removed the necklace and laid the thumb-sized pearls against the velvet. Eighteen inches of shimmering luster. How his mother had kept them hidden from his dad on his drunken rampages still remained a mystery to him. But a bigger mystery was why his mother had the pearls in the first place.

  As a kid Matt had believed the necklace and the diamond rings he found hidden in the pantry were worth thousands of dollars, and he suggested that his mother sell them so they would be rich. She’d scolded him, and he’d argued with her, telling her that one day, he would be rich and successful.

  “Be careful, Matthew,” she’d said. “Wealth brings its own set of problems. And you may have to make a choice one day between what you believe in and that success and wealth you want so badly. Just remember that happiness and contentment are not for sale.”

  Matt hadn’t agreed with her then, and he still didn’t.

  * * *

  “MOM, WAKE UP!” Noah stood on the other side of the bed, stroking Mariah’s arm. Matt glanced at the monitor where the rhythmic beeping didn’t change. His nephew focused on him. “Why doesn’t Mom open her eyes? The nurse said they were trying to wake her up.”

  “I don’t know.” Matt rubbed the bridge of his nose. Only the beeping broke the silence in the room. Evidently, Noah had heard him talking to the nurse. He took a deep breath and slipped the necklace from the velvet bag, imagining how desperate Mariah had been to pawn their mother’s jewelry. He laid the necklace in his sister’s open hand. “Mariah, I got Mom’s pearls back.”

  Matt pushed down the desperation that crept up his spine as the monitor droned on. He’d all but promised Noah the pearls would bring his mom out of the coma, and if they didn’t...

  “I know you can hear me.” Matt squeezed his sister’s fingers. “We need you to wake up.”

  “Mom, please.”

  Her eyelid twitched. The heart monitor kicked a little higher. Matt rocked back on his heels. Yes!

  A half groan, half sigh rumbled in her chest and Noah looked stunned, his eyes shinny. “You did it, Uncle Matt!”

  Matt held his breath, waiting, but the monitor returned to the slow, steady beat of before. She’d slipped away from them again. With a firm nod, he returned the pearls to their velvet bag and put his arm around his nephew’s sagging shoulders. “She’s trying, Noah. Maybe by the time we come back she’ll be wake.”

  * * *

  ALLIE USED HER little finger to smudge a shadow under Noah’s eye before she leaned back and viewed the sketch. Even as she’d collected her supplies for school, her fingers itched to draw the child. Her gaze shifted to Matt’s image. She hadn’t intended to sketch him, but as usual, once she picked up the charcoal, she couldn’t resist.

  The resemblance between Noah’s and Matt’s bone structure was strong, something she hadn’t noticed until she started sketching Matt’s face. She wiped the dust from her fingers and sprayed a fixative on the paper. Tomorrow she’d use pastels to bring the drawings to life. Although she rather liked the charcoal rendering. The doorbell rang. Matt and Noah already? She checked her watch—two o’clock. Time had flown. She closed off her studio and hurried down the stairs and whipped open the door. “Sorry it took me so long...” Her voice trailed off. “Peter?”

  “I’m ob
viously not who you were expecting.” His blue eyes twinkled. He appeared relaxed in his nubby sweater and jeans, and yet as he slipped his hands in his pockets, she sensed nervousness.

  “Actually, you’re not.” Her heart sank. He would not be happy to know Noah was with Matt. “But come in.”

  Allie stepped back, and after he’d walked past her, she scanned the street for Matt. It’d be just her luck for them to drive up. Maybe Peter wouldn’t stay long. “I’m surprised to see you.”

  He smiled at her and glanced around the room, his gaze stopping at the painting of the pier at the lake on her dad’s farm. He walked closer to it, examining the signature. “You painted this?”

  The frame tilted downward on one side a fraction of an inch, and she straightened it, noticing the black that rimmed her cuticles. Charcoal. She rubbed her fingers on her black jeans. “I did.”

  He nodded toward the other paintings in the room. “Those as well?”

  “The sunset and the four seasons, but not the Monet.”

  He smiled at her little joke. “Do you ever sell your work? I’d be interested.”

  “No. It’s not that good, just something I do to work out frustration.” Her face burned. “But you didn’t come to look at my paintings.”

  “You’re right, I didn’t. I tried to call, but your phone went immediately to voice mail. I wanted to see if you would like to have dinner with me tonight.”

  “Dinner?” If she said yes, maybe he would leave. “But I thought we were going out next Friday night. You know, dinner and dancing?”

  “I thought tonight we might pick Noah up at your parents and take him with us. We could go to the pizza place.”

  She swallowed. What if Peter asked Noah how he spent his afternoon? She hated deception. “Noah’s with Matt.” The words fell out of her mouth, but she was glad the situation was out in the open.

  Peter pressed his lips together in a thin line. “I see.”

  “I needed to get ready for school Tuesday, and Noah didn’t have any clothes so they were going by the store and then to the hospital.” She sounded frantic.

  He held his hand up. “It’s okay. Matt is taking the boy back to your parents this afternoon?”

  She nodded. “Of course. They should be here any minute—we’re taking my dad’s truck and moving Mariah’s furniture into Matt’s shed.”

  “Oh...I see.” Peter cleared his throat. “I, uh...” His shoulders lifted as he sucked in a deep breath. “I meant to do this tonight if you agreed to go to dinner, but it looks like you’re going to be busy. I’m sorry about how I acted last night. It was totally unprofessional.”

  Her jaw dropped open and she blinked. “You’re apologizing?”

  He nodded. “I let my irritation at Matt get the best of me. But, look at it from my perspective. The boy doesn’t know his uncle, and I personally believe he’d be better off with your parents or even at the shelter than to be taken out of school and moved to Memphis.”

  “Matt’s not taking Noah to Memphis.”

  “Do you think he’s going to stay in Cedar Grove? His job is in Memphis—he can’t stay here until Mariah gets her act together. Besides, you know you can’t depend on Matt Jefferies.”

  Allie’s brows knit together. Of course Matt couldn’t stay here. The life he’d carved out for himself was in Memphis, along with his fiancée.

  “I didn’t mean to upset you.” He took her hand and uncurled her fingers. “You trust too much, Allie Carson. But that’s one of the things I like best about you.” He leaned forward and kissed her lightly on the lips.

  The front door banged open, and before she could react, Noah burst into the room. “Miss Allie! Mom—”

  He stopped abruptly as soon as he saw her and Peter.

  “Oh—” Noah stared at them. He stepped back, bumping into Matt.

  “Did Noah tell—” Matt blinked. “Peter? What are you doing here?”

  “Nothing that concerns you. I’m just leaving, anyway.” He cocked his head toward Allie. “I’ll call you later about Friday night.”

  “Sure.”

  He nodded. “I know my way out.”

  Allie rubbed her thumb against her palm. How was she going to explain Peter’s visit? Wait a minute. She didn’t owe Matt an explanation. And he better not ask for one. She straightened her shoulders and glanced at him. “Is Mariah better?”

  Noah answered her, not Matt. “Yes, ma’am. She almost opened her eyes. Uncle Matt says she’ll be awake when we go back.”

  Allie suppressed a groan. Matt shouldn’t have told him that. “But she may not.”

  “But she will, Miss Allie. Uncle Matt said so.” He looked up at his uncle. “Didn’t you?”

  She shot Matt a fix-this-problem look. He knelt to eye level with Noah. “I believe she will...if not this afternoon, by morning for sure.”

  She wanted to shake Matt. Never promise a child something you may not be able to deliver. But there was nothing she could say without undermining him. She just hoped Mariah was awake by morning.

  Matt straightened up. “Did you call your dad?”

  “I did. He said he’d have the truck gassed up and ready. He and Clint both are going to help.”

  “Great.”

  * * *

  MATT LEANED IN the doorway of the shed behind his mom’s house. It’d been a while since he’d been this tired. With all the help, the move had gone smoothly, and every last item Mariah owned was stored in a small corner of the building.

  “Man,” Clint said, “I wish my stuff was organized like this.”

  Matt surveyed the room. Boxes lined one wall with labels identifying the contents. A bicycle hung from the ceiling, the fenders dusty, and at the opposite end, boxes labeled with Mariah’s name waited to be claimed. Maybe he’d take some of his sister’s boxes into the house later and go through them with Noah.

  “Yeah. They are in alphabetical order, too.” Matt scanned the labels on his boxes, glad now for his mom’s almost compulsive insistence that every box have a full description of the contents.

  Clint opened a box with Matt’s name on it and held up a football. “Look what I found.”

  He caught the ball when Clint tossed it to him and ran his finger over the signatures of all the players. With three touchdowns, the game had been the highlight of his high school career and had taken them into the state finals his senior year. There’d been some aspects of living in Cedar Grove that hadn’t been all bad.

  Clint grinned at him. “You used to be pretty good. Think you can still throw the long one?

  “The question is can you catch it?”

  “Only one way to find out.” Clint trotted out into the yard.

  Matt put his phone in his jacket and laid it on the ground before wrapping his fingers around the pigskin. The ball felt natural in his hands. As he spiraled the ball toward Clint, he caught a glimpse of Allie rounding the corner of the house with Noah.

  Clint snagged the throw, and hesitated, then pointed at a tree behind Matt. “See if you can keep the ball from getting there.”

  “You’re on!” Matt trotted toward him as Clint motioned for Allie to join them.

  Clint dropped back and lobbed the ball to Allie. She caught it and ran to the tree.

  “Yay! Miss Allie!”

  “No fair!” Matt crossed his hands in the air as she spiked the ball. He turned, looking for their dad. “Hey, Mr. C, come help me out,” he yelled when he spied him near his truck. The older man obliged him, warning Matt he was out of shape. They swapped places with Clint and Allie and fifteen minutes later, Matt and Mr. C were behind by one touchdown. Matt fell back to throw the ball and Allie sacked him. He struggled to get up, and briefly their eyes locked. For a heartbeat, the years melted away, and he couldn’t breathe. Then she scrambled up.<
br />
  “Game’s over! And we won!” Allie stomped her feet and pumped her fist, then high-fived Clint. Noah joined in the fun as Mr. C high-fived him then Allie.

  “Hey! You’re rooting for the wrong team,” Matt called out as he climbed to his feet, rubbing his hip. He’d forgotten how Allie played for keeps.

  The three walked toward him with Mr. C in the middle, his arms draped across his children’s shoulders. Noah ran ahead of them. Matt’s chest tightened. He could have been a part of this if—

  “You tried, Matt,” Clint said, slapping him on the back. “You still play a mean game.”

  “You’re not so bad yourself.” Matt picked up his jacket.

  “Wow, Uncle Matt. You let a girl sack you.”

  The distinctive ringtone he’d assigned to the hospital shrieked from his pocket. He quickly answered. “Hello?”

  “Mr. Matthew Jefferies?”

  “Yes. Is...is my sister all right?”

  “She’s awake and is asking for her son.”

  Matt heaved a sigh. Mariah was going to make it. He hadn’t realized how much he’d feared she wouldn’t until now. He was grateful they would have a chance to start fresh. “We’ll be there in ten minutes.”

  He pocketed the phone and hugged Noah. “Let’s go see your mom.”

  * * *

  MATT WAITED FOR the ICU doors to open. Noah stood beside him, chewing his thumbnail.

  “Why doesn’t Miss Allie come with us?”

  “She wants to give us time alone with your mom.”

  The boy sighed, and Matt squeezed his shoulder. “Your mom’s going to be okay.”

  “What if she’s asleep again?”

  “Then we’ll wake her up.” He imagined Noah’s insides were like his own—quivering like jelly. What if Mariah had brain damage? He pushed the thought away as the doors opened, but it persisted down the hall and followed him inside the room. The nurses had elevated Mariah’s head, but she lay with her eyes closed, her face the color of the sheets. Noah hesitated at the foot of the bed, and Matt nudged him forward.

  Noah touched her arm. “Mom?”