Chapter 2 Matt
TWO
MATT
“And then he narrows his eyes and tells me it’s only a matter of time before everyone knows what I’ve done. Man, I wish someone would tell me what I supposedly did, because I have no idea what he was talking about.”
Charlie’s mouth hangs open and his eyes all but bug out of his head. “What the hell?”
I point at him. “That’s what I was thinking!”
He laughs. “Holy shit. What was this guy’s deal?”
“No idea. And it’s a shame, because I spotted him right away.
He was practically eye fucking me. Not that I minded.
I mean, he was seriously good-looking—sandy blond hair, about six feet tall, maybe a little less.
It was difficult to tell with him moving around and gesturing violently with his pointer finger.
” That gets a laugh from Charlie. “Just a bit of facial hair. I think he had brown eyes, but he was angry-squinting, so I can’t say for sure. ”
He gestures to my pottery slip covered jeans and faded T-shirt. “You met with Lee in that?”
“No, jerk.” I whip a clay-covered rag at him, and he ducks, laughing. “I changed when I got here.”
He tosses the rag back at me. “Just checking. So anyway, he goes off on you. What did you do?”
I shrug. “Told him to lay off the caffeine and left to meet Lee.”
Charlie grabs his beer off the empty pottery wheel and shakes his head. “Bro, that’s wild. Did you tell Lee about it?”
“Nah. I don’t know her as well as you do, so it might have been a bit odd for me to be all ‘Hey you’ll never guess what truly surreal thing just happened to me.’ Maybe if we hung out more, I would have.” I grin at him. “So instead, I had you meet me here for a beer so I could tell you.”
“And so I could help clean up the studio while you do that.” Charlie puts his hand over his heart. “Bro, I’m truly honored.”
“Hey, if I can’t share my truly off-the-wall experiences with my big brother while we do a little cleanup, who can I share them with?”
“Well, I’m here for you anytime. Speaking of Lee, how did the meeting go?”
Recalling how she gushed over the pictures of my work, I get excited all over again.
“Promising. She wants me to bring actual samples of my work to the farm so her parents can see them in person. But that’s only for final approval.
She liked what I showed her, and she thinks the ones they’ll carry in the farm’s store are the birdbaths, the sundials and the herb markers.
Those do make the most sense since they lend themselves to yards and gardens. ”
“Nice! Maybe take one or two of the windowsill planters. Mom loves hers.”
I glance over at the array of unfired planters waiting to go into the kiln. “They’re not too boring?”
“Matt, stop disparaging your art. You make them sound like they’re basic clay rectangles that any fourth grader could make.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
But your planters are all different shapes and sizes, and each one is unique.
Especially the way you paint them. Plus, planters need to be functional as well as beautiful. And yours are.”
I walk over and pull him into a hug. “Thanks.” Charlie’s a big, burly guy, about six feet tall like me, but where I’m on the leaner side, Charlie is bulky, and his hugs are the absolute best. He envelops a person with his whole body, and doesn’t let go until they do.
He claims he learned to perfect his technique from Lee’s dad.
Charlie’s been working for them for the past five years, ever since we moved to Marion, Oregon from Eugene after our dad died.
As usual, Charlie waits for me to let go and we both sit down again. “So what’s new with you?”
Charlie takes a sip of his beer. “Not much. Well, okay, a lot, but nothing unusual. Tink and I are gearing up for the planting season by overhauling the big machines. And I guess Lee’s cousin is supposed to be coming out soon to help design and build the new equipment shed and maintenance shop.
He works construction back east. In New Hampshire, maybe?
Or Vermont. Somewhere like that. Anyway, Tink told me all about his wish list for the new place and it sounds amazing. ”
“That’ll be great for you guys. The old barn you’re using to store the tractors and other equipment is a bit small.” I take a sip of my beer. “Oh!”
Charlie jumps at my unexpected outburst, and laughs. “Asshole.”
I grin. “Sorry. Lee said to tell you we’re invited to her Valentine’s party. It’s the Saturday before Valentine’s Day because I guess a lot of her friends have dates or something for the actual holiday.”
“God, do you remember what that’s like? Having an actual date for Valentine’s Day?”
“Or having an actual date of any kind.” Neither of us is seeing anyone right now.
It’s been a long dry spell, though it’s been longer for me.
But Charlie’s been focused on the farm, and I’ve been trying to get my pottery business off the ground.
I guess technically it is. Between my own work I sell out of places like the MacDougall farm store and my studio, the pottery classes I teach, and the occasional pottery painting event or kid’s birthday party I host here at the studio, I’m making ends meet.
But it’s taken all of my focus for the last few years.
Not that I regret it. Often. Though it would be nice to have someone to go on dates with, and hold hands with, and kiss, and get naked with.
“Earth to Matt.”
I blink and smile at him. “Sorry. I got lost in my thoughts.”
He chuckles. “Yeah. I noticed.”
“What did I miss?”
Charlie shakes his head. “I asked if you want to go to Lee’s party, and if we need to bring anything.”
“Oh, um, sure. I have no plans, and she didn’t say we needed to bring anything. She didn’t say much about specifics, actually, except to tell you we’re invited, and to show up around eight. There’ll be food and drinks, and she said about twenty people are invited.”
“Okay. I’ll probably see her this weekend at the farm, so I’ll get more details and let you know.”
“Sounds good.” And god, I’m actually excited about it. How long has it been since I’ve been to someone’s house for a party? I can’t come up with an answer which means it’s been too long. I drain the last of my beer and stretch. “You ready to go home?”
“Yeah. Mom’s working the overnight shift, so we’re on our own for dinner. You want to order a pizza from Mod and we’ll pick it up on our way?”
I’m in no mood to cook, and pizza sounds incredible. “Yeah, let’s do that. We can order extra so there’s some left for Mom when she gets home.”
“We’ll get the cheesy breadsticks she loves, too.
” Charlie’s already ordering on his phone and pulling on his coat, so I take our empty beer bottles, throw them in the recycling bin, and grab my dress clothes and jacket.
Charlie pokes at his phone screen with a flourish.
“And done. Okay little brother, let’s go home. ”