Chapter 30 #2
“That’s all we need, Spitfire. Come on, now. Let’s take these guys out for a fun day.”
They had to take her car because Berry wouldn’t fit in his. Which she was relieved about. She’d hate to think of the mess that her animals could make of his fancy leather upholstery. Maya didn’t need that kind of bill.
That didn’t mean she got to drive, though, apparently.
She tapped her foot as she stared at Matthieu. He was holding open the passenger door and had just told her to get in.
“Are you forgetting that this is my car?”
“Nope.”
“My car, I drive.”
“Not happening, Spitfire,” he told her. “Unless I’m impaired in some way, if my ass is in a car, I’m driving.”
“Why? Because you’re a man?” she asked.
“Yep.”
“That’s . . . that’s so sexist!”
“Call it what you like, but my parents raised me this way.”
“Well, maybe I should take this up with them.”
“Good luck, they’re dead.”
Shit.
That took the wind completely out of her sails. She gaped at him. Maya had no idea what to say to that.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered.
“No,” he sighed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that the way I did. My parents died seven years ago in a car accident. We were close and it did hit me hard. I shouldn’t have been so flippant. However, I wasn’t joking before. If I’m in a car, I’m driving. No matter whose car it is.”
Well, she could hardly argue after he’d revealed that, could she?
Maya climbed into the passenger seat and did up her belt. She realized that was the first piece of real information he’d given her about himself.
As he backed out of the driveway, she snuck looks at him.
“What is it?” he asked.
“How old are you?”
His lips quirked. It was getting easier to look at him as long as she didn’t overload her brain.
“Thirty-nine.”
“Wow, that’s a lot older than I thought.”
‘Thanks,” he said dryly.
“Um, sorry. I just meant that you don’t look that old. Do you want to know how old I am?”
“Twenty-six.”
“Uh, right. Guess you had that information.” How much information did he have on her?
She turned back to look at the animals. Berry and Tank were in the very back, but Matthieu had opened all of the windows slightly so that they could experience all of the scents.
Tank actually looked happier. That tight knot in her stomach eased slightly.
Although she was still worried that she wasn’t the best person to look after him.
Turning back, she glanced at Matthieu again. Maybe she should ask more questions about him.
“Have you always done this?” she asked as she wondered where they were going. She’d noticed that he’d brought a picnic basket. It had been her mom’s picnic basket and she’d never brought herself to use it.
“Driven around a woman, three dogs, and an overweight pig? Nope. Can’t say that I have.”
“Hey, Big B isn’t overweight. She’s a pig. She’s meant to be a little bit . . . chunky.”
Poor Big B.
“And you know that’s not what I meant. I meant is this the sort of career you’ve always had.”
“I’ve always been in the protection business, yeah. I like to move around a lot now, so I haven’t really held down one job.”
Or had a home.
“Do you like that? Moving around a lot?”
“I do. I don’t like to . . . settle.”
Ouch. She didn’t know why that stabbed her in the stomach, but it did.
Don’t be stupid, Maya.
It’s not like the two of you were going to form a relationship or anything.
After this was all over, he would go back to his life as a free spirit and she would go back to her life.
Hah! A life? What life?
Your life consists of work, your babies, and animal rescues.
Although she did seem to have found two friends along the way. It was hard to open up and let them in, though. The idea of them leaving her as well . . . the way that her mom had. And her sister. Her brother.
Stop it, Maya.
Mom died, she didn’t want to leave. And you can’t blame Maisy or Marlin for wanting to get out of here. For finding something better.
No. But it didn’t stop her feelings of abandonment.
“Is it hard? Being tied down? With me? I mean, not with me, but because you’re watching over me. Is that hard?”
“Something’s definitely hard,” he muttered.
Huh?
What the heck did that mean?
Matthieu cleared his throat. “Surprisingly, I haven’t had the urge to take off and see where the wind takes me. But I haven’t been here long. Sometimes I stay for several months in one place, depending on the weather and company.”
Right.
When he found someone that he wanted to spend time with. She wondered how many women he’d been with.
Whoa.
Perhaps it’s better not to think too much about that.
“Have you got any siblings?” she asked.
“Is this what you like to do during car trips? Play twenty questions?”
“Ahh. Yep?” she replied hesitantly.
“Then it should be tit-for-tat, should it not?”
“Umm. I suppose. But you already know everything about me.”
“Not everything. Are you close with your sister?”
Ouch. That wasn’t a superficial, easy question.
“I was, once upon a time. She’s still my favorite family member. But we don’t talk like we used to. And I miss her.”
“I’m sorry, Spitfire. And you’re not close with your brother?”
“No, not really.” It wasn’t like they’d kept in touch when he’d left the city.
“No,” he said.
“Huh?”
“I don’t have any siblings. You’re not close with Kathryn’s sons?”
“God, no. I’m not sure I’d even put them out if one of them was on fire.” She was aware of the sharp look he sent her. “I mean, that’s just a saying . . . of course I would.”
“Are they like Vince?”
“Like Vince?” she asked.
“Rotten on the inside while pretending to be a good person on the outside.”
She thought about that for a long moment, about their interactions. “Yeah, I guess they are. It’s scary when you think that two of them are detectives and one is a police officer.”
“Doesn’t seem to be many good officers on the force.”
“There is. Back before my dad was police chief, when my mom was alive, I remember all of his friends would come around for cookouts regularly. They all seemed to be good cops. But I was a kid, so I guess I don’t really know the full truth.”
“I don’t know, they could have been. Are many of them still cops?”
“No, most have retired or they quit. I can’t think of a single one that’s still in the force, actually.”
Was that odd?
No. They were older, of course they’d want a different pace. Except for her father, it seemed.
“I think I might be done with this game,” she said quickly. “Let’s try I Spy.”
“All right.”
“That’s cheating,” he said.
“No, it’s not!” she cried as he pulled into a side road. They’d been driving for about an hour. She wasn’t even sure where exactly they were.
“You said it started with L. R. S.”
“And it did. Little Red Shed. L. R. S. I don’t see how that is cheating,” she told him.
“It should have been just S for shed.”
“Nuh-uh.”
“Uh-huh. The color of objects isn’t included and the shed wasn’t exactly,” he informed her.
“They are too!” She turned to him as he parked and turned off the car.
“Maybe in Mayaworld, here in the real world, nope.”
“Well, that’s rude. And if it’s true then I like Mayaworld better.”
“I think I do too.” He climbed out before she could ask him what he’d meant by that. Then he came around and opened her door.
When she got out, she looked around. They were kind of in the middle of the forest with hills all around them.
“Um, where are we?”
“It’s not where we are, it’s where we’re going.”
“Okay, oh wise one. Where are we going?”
“You’ll see.”
“Wow.”
It was the only word she seemed to be able to say. But Matthieu got it. The land out here was beautiful. They’d walked the dogs and Big B for a while up an incline to reach this peak. It wasn’t too far, since he hadn’t been sure how long a pig that big could walk. Or a dog as small as Gummy.
He'd ended up leading Gummy and Dougie and carrying the picnic basket while Maya led Tank and Big B. To both of their surprise, Tank had actually seemed happier. His ears had perked up slightly and Matthieu swore he nearly saw his tail wag.
But that might have been wishful thinking.
They were all good on the lead. Even Big Berry. When they arrived at the area he’d chosen for their picnic, Big B did a body wiggle as though in excitement. They secured all of the dogs and the pig before he laid out the picnic blanket.
Maya was too busy staring at the view to pay attention. “It’s like we’re the only people out here.”
“We are,” he replied.
“Are we allowed to have the dogs here? Are we allowed to be here?” she asked.
“And here my first question would be ‘is the pig allowed to be here?’”
Big Berry turned and gave him a huffy look. He swore that pig understood when they were talking about her.
Dougie let out a bark and smiled at them while Gummy stepped around delicately as though she wasn’t sure she approved of the grass she was standing on.
Tank was lying down, but he didn’t look dejected. He seemed . . . peaceful.
“Are we?” she queried again as she sat and he handed her a plate filled with food.
He’d found that it was often easier to plate up her food. If he let her get her own food, she put barely anything on her plate. It had alarmed him the first time he saw how little she’d intended on eating.
“We are,” he said. “I know the owner.”
“Someone owns this paradise?” she asked in an awed voice.
He liked that tone in her voice. He wanted to hear her speak like that when she looked at him.
Jesus.
Why did he think that?
“Yeah. I do.”
“You do?” She turned to him excitedly, nearly spilling the plate of food. “You really own this beautiful land?”
“Yep.”
“I can’t even think how amazing that must feel. To know that this is yours. But why?”
“What do you mean? And eat your food.”
“I thought you liked to just go wherever the wind took you. Why buy a piece of land if you don’t intend to live on it?”