Chapter 17
MATHEW
“Why aren’t you on the schedule tomorrow?” Aiden demanded.
Mathew glanced up from his tablet briefly before returning to it and tapping out of a patient’s file.
“Because I have several days off banked, and I might as well use them.” The explanation was easy enough, but it was the way Aiden managed to move across the room at lightning speed that threw Mathew off.
His friend’s hand came to his forehead, and a look of shock filled his face. “Are you sick? You don’t feel feverish. Maybe you were abducted by aliens. Or maybe you’re a clone. You’d tell me if you were a clone, right?”
Mathew pushed his friend’s hand from his face with an irritated eye roll. “What’s the problem? You need something from me tomorrow?”
The shock morphed into something more. Mathew would have thought his favorite nurse was having a stroke if it wasn’t for the fact that he was still alert. Though his left eye had started to twitch a little.
“Aiden?” Mathew tried again.
His friend pulled out a chair and settled into it at the nursing station. “You’re going to marry this girl, right?”
And that was when Mathew would have tripped over his own feet if they’d been walking. He would have choked on air. He would have lost the ability to form words.
In fact, he did.
He blinked at his friend for a moment, and they stayed in that stare-off until a slow smile adorned Aiden’s face. He grabbed Mathew’s shoulder and chuckled. “She’s good for you.”
“What?” Mathew finally blustered.
“The girl who’s responsible for you taking time off.”
“How do you know it’s for a girl?”
Aiden arched a brow and folded his arms, not saying anything.
Mathew shook his head. “Okay, fine. Yeah, it’s about a girl.”
“Well, I’ve never seen you this… at ease. This… happy.”
“That’s not true,” Mathew started to argue, but another nurse walked by on her way to a patient’s room.
“Oh, he’s definitely right,” she said in passing.
Mathew gaped after the woman. She was new enough that he didn’t know her by her first name. How could she possibly know about him?
Aiden chuckled. “Relax, man. It’s a good thing. Your brother and sister think so too.”
That caught Mathew off guard. “You’ve been talking to my siblings?”
He shrugged. “I was at the café the other day to grab a sandwich for lunch. We can all see it. What, like it’s some big secret? You’ve been hanging around your cousin’s farm a lot lately, and we all know it has to do with that mechanic lady.”
“Her name’s River.”
He made a clicking sound with his tongue and pointed his index finger in the air. “And that’s what I thought.”
Mathew’s eyes narrowed, but it was hard to keep his expression irritated when his friend was smiling so broadly. His happiness was infectious.
With a chuckle, Mathew turned away from Aiden. “Well, to be fair, my day off isn’t just to spend time with River. I’ll be having lunch with Jason and Penny. And you can bet I’ll have a word with them about minding their own business.”
“Hey, now, don’t rat me out!” Aiden called after him, to which he merely chuckled.
Lunch with his siblings was more of the same.
“You’re in love.” Penny pointed a finger at him.
Mathew stopped mid-bite and stared at her. That wasn’t what he’d expected when they finally started talking. His attention shifted to Jason, who shrugged, then returned to his sister. “What?” he asked with a laugh.
“Tell him, Jason. He’s in love and that’s why he’s making this change.”
Jason shook his head this time. “I’m not getting into it.”
Penny gasped. “You said it. Right before he showed up. You said there had to be something more going on between him and River. You said that only a woman would be able to make him change like this.”
Mathew scowled at his brother, though he wasn’t even sure why he was doing so.
Of course they’d talk about him. They’d gossip about anything related to the three of them when the situation warranted.
In fact, when Jason was dating Isabelle, Mathew had chatted endlessly with Penny about how Jason couldn’t coddle the woman he loved.
There had to come a breaking point when they weren’t dependent on one another. “I’ve been on one date with her.”
Penny snorted. “According to Rose, you’re there almost every day.” She eyed him over her coffee. “Every day that you’re not working.”
“She’s making a good point,” Jason offered. “I can’t think of a single time in our lives when you put a person before work.”
“This has nothing to do with her,” Mathew insisted. “And it has everything to do with how I’m choosing to live my life. And you two would be wise to keep your noses out of it.” He waved a dismissive hand in Jason’s direction. “Talk about the wedding. Or Penny’s love life.”
Penny rolled her eyes. “What love life? No one wants to date a shrink.”
Both Jason and Mathew gave her a hard look. They were all aware that Penny wasn’t interested in dating. If she were, she’d have men lined up down the street. She was a catch, and the whole town knew it. Still, her brothers didn’t push her to do anything she wasn’t ready for.
Jason sighed. “Yeah, okay. But before we dive into wedding preparations, can I just say one thing?”
Mathew stared at him, not bothering to speak.
“We’re happy for you, Matt. Things haven’t been easy lately. Especially since Dad…” He blew out a breath. “Anyway, we’re happy that you’re getting yourself out there for whatever reason. It’s good for you. And you seem…” He trailed off, but Penny was there to pick up the slack as usual.
“You seem happy.” She smiled, and her eyes glimmered with an emotion that he knew all too well.
Sometimes it felt like all they had was each other.
Their mother hadn’t been hard on them when they were younger, but she also didn’t step in when their father was too much.
In the end, they’d banded together and become stronger for it.
Relieved that this seemed to be the end of the conversation, Mathew nodded. He didn’t have to comment. His siblings knew him well enough. And some things he only shared with God. Besides, if he were forced to discuss his change in behavior, he might give in to the idea that something was off.
But it wasn’t.
He refused to accept the thought of him falling in love altogether.
Mathew didn’t need his siblings getting into his head about the way he was acting.
It wasn’t about River, though he couldn’t deny how nice it was that she was spending time with him.
His change in behavior had more to do with the man he wanted to become.
He’d missed out on so much because he’d allowed himself to remain stuck on trying to prove himself to his father.
Mathew was turning over a new leaf, even if it was difficult. He could deal with the occasional twinge of anxiety when he was away from the hospital too long.
Time, all he needed was time.
“River, you are out of your mind,” Mathew shouted over the engine of the small plane, half accusation and half disbelief.
She beamed at him like this was the most normal thing in the world. “You signed the waiver, Dr. Klein. There’s no backing out now.”
He shot her a look that would’ve worked on a patient. Unfortunately, she wasn’t one of them. “I didn’t say I was backing out,” he hollered. “I said you’re out of your mind for talking me into this.”
River bounced on her toes—already suited up, goggles in place, like she’d been born to leap out of aircraft. “You’re going to love it.”
“I am going to tolerate it,” he corrected, though his stomach disagreed the second the plane bumped along the runway.
She slid closer, gripping his forearm through the jumpsuit. “Hey. Remember what the instructor said, first jump is tandem. We’re strapped to our pros. They do the work. We just… enjoy the view.”
Mathew swallowed hard and glanced toward the open space behind them where the jumpmaster sat, calm as if this were a casual Sunday drive. “Enjoy,” he repeated. “Right.”
River laughed, but it was warm, not mocking. “You promised.”
It’s true. He had promised. He’d promised after she’d told him the next date would be her idea, after he’d already agreed, thinking she meant pie somewhere in town or a hike with too many snacks.
Not… this.
The plane lifted, and his stomach dropped with it. His fingers tightened around the harness straps across his chest as the world shrank beneath them.
This was reckless. It pushed every one of his limits and made a mess of the careful walls he’d spent years building. He’d never even ridden a motorcycle.
And yet here he was, thousands of feet in the air, because River had looked at him with those green eyes and asked him to trust her.
He forced a breath in through his nose and out through his mouth. Slow, controlled, the way he’d taught patients to do when they were panicking.
Then he looked at River.
She was practically glowing, wind-tousled and fearless, like she was made for this. It steadied him more than it had any right to.
Maybe his siblings were right.
Okay. They were definitely right.
His fear shifted, less about the jump, and more about the fact that he’d started to care what happened next. What happened to them.
As if she could sense the turn in his thoughts, River reached for his hand and squeezed. Mathew looked down, then back up, and caught her smile.
Then, without a word, she lifted her free hand, cupped his cheek, and brushed her lips to his.
All at once, his fears and anxieties drifted away. River had a way of doing that. One kiss. One touch. One look that said I’ve got you. He knew in this moment that he could do better than he did in his previous marriage.
He wasn’t his father. Not by a long shot.
And Mathew wasn’t the same man he was before his father passed, either. He’d prove it to himself and anyone else who was curious enough to pay attention.
River pulled back from their brief kiss and watched him. Her eyes searched his for a moment, then she brushed her thumb over his lower lip. In those few seconds, the world fell away. And something akin to hope burst to life in his chest.
“You folks ready?” the jumpmaster called over the engine.
Mathew’s attention snapped back so fast his pulse jumped.
River laughed, bright and fearless, and leaned toward his ear. “It’s now or never. You in?”
For reasons he couldn’t explain, the question felt like it meant so much more than just their little skydiving adventure.
Mathew swallowed once, then nodded, slow but sure. “Yeah,” he said, surprised by the courage in his own voice. “Let’s do this.”