Chapter 30
Just one lunch at Toddy’s Burgers was enough to turn my mom into a fan. She normally didn’t like burgers that much, but apparently, we’d found the exception to the rule, and the two of us stuffed our faces with so much food that we pretty much rolled our way back to her car.
She also loved the town of Weybridge. She kept gushing over how quaint it was and would let out an “ooh” or an “ahh” whenever we passed one of the cute little shops that lined the main street. It was probably a good thing she needed a shower, or I doubt I could have pulled her away.
When we arrived at Matthew’s home, her gushing came to a stop, and she went suspiciously quiet.
Her eyes had slowly been growing wider as we’d driven up the long driveway that led to the house, and her lower lip dropped slightly as she parked in front of the mansion.
I could tell she was truly surprised by the size of it.
It was one thing to know Matthew had money but another thing to see the evidence of it in the flesh.
“I’m not so sure this is a good idea,” Mom said as she turned the car engine off.
“What do you mean?”
“I know Matthew insisted I stay here, but it feels weird,” she said. “Maybe I’d be better off in a motel tonight.”
I glanced up at the huge house towering over us.
It was such a world away from our place back home.
It felt like stepping into a whole different universe.
From the way my mom was staring at the place, she felt exactly like I did when I first came here—like she didn’t belong and like she wasn’t good enough.
“Do you think I should text him and tell him I’ll stay somewhere else?” Mom asked. “He’s not here, so it’s not like he’s expecting us…”
My chest tightened as I glanced at the house once more. “Uh, I wouldn’t speak too soon,” I said, nodding toward the front door.
Mom looked over and gasped as she saw Matthew emerge from the building.
“He’s here?” she squeaked as she finally found her voice. “What is he doing here? He said he wasn’t going to be in town.”
“I don’t know.” He hadn’t said anything to me either. “He told me he couldn’t make it and we’d have the place to ourselves.”
Mom grabbed hold of my arm, jerking my attention back to her. “How do I look?”
I let out a soft laugh at the worry in her voice. “Mom, you look beautiful, just like always.”
“I haven’t showered this morning,” she said. “I haven’t even brushed my teeth! I knew I should have done it at the gas station on the way here.”
She was officially freaking out, and I lightly grasped her hand. “Mom, it’s okay. Like I said, you look beautiful. It’s just Matthew, there’s no need to freak out.”
She slowly nodded, but I could see my words weren’t exactly helping.
“Why are you so nervous?” I asked.
“Because I haven’t seen him in seventeen years…” She glanced out the car window again. “He’s still incredibly handsome, isn’t he?”
“Ew, Mom.”
She laughed, and the sound seemed to shake the fog of anxiety that had been covering her. “I guess we better go say hello.”
“Yeah, he’s going think something’s wrong if we stay in the car much longer.”
Mom pulled her keys from the ignition but hesitated before she opened the car door. “One more thing.” She turned to me. “Do I smell like a cheeseburger?”
I laughed and leaned over so I could give her a sniff. “No, you smell just like your perfume.” She’d been wearing the same one since I was a little girl and always smelled of roses with a hint of vanilla.
“You’re not just saying that?”
“Mom, stop worrying. It’s going to be fine.” I shook my head and opened the door. I had a feeling she’d keep stalling if I let her, and then Matthew really would think something was up.
Mom slowly exited the car after me. She was usually so confident, but right now she was a nervous wreck. I wasn’t sure why she was freaking out so much. She’d talked on the phone with Matthew several times over the last few weeks.
“Hey, Matthew,” I said as I approached my father. We still weren’t at the point where we hugged each other or gave each other kisses in greeting. Seeing as he was usually so formal, I wasn’t sure if we’d ever get to that point.
“Isobel, it’s lovely to see you,” he said. He was smiling, but I thought I could see the corners of his lips twitching slightly like he was nervous too. He turned to look at my mom.
“Candice,” he said.
“Matthew,” she replied.
The two of them stood there staring at each other for an inappropriately long amount of time. They almost seemed to be drinking each other in. Marking every line and scar that had marred their features in the time they’d been apart.
Matthew was the first to realize he’d been staring too long and jerked his gaze away from her. He gestured into the house. “Won’t you come inside?”
“I just have to grab my bags,” Mom said, glancing at the car.
Matthew shook his head. “I’ll have someone see to that. Please come in.”
“Oh, ah, okay,” Mom replied.
We followed him into the house, and Mom was still struggling with the surprise of seeing Matthew here. She didn’t even seem to notice how ridiculously opulent his home was. I doubted she noticed anything other than my father right now. Seeing him after all these years apart had to be weird for her.
“I thought you said you weren’t going to be here this weekend,” Mom said as we followed Matthew up the grand entrance staircase.
“I had a meeting cancel on me last minute,” he replied. “I didn’t intend to crash your girls’ weekend, but there were some maintenance issues I needed to oversee here at the house. I’ll stay out of your way as much as possible.”
I couldn’t stop my eyebrows from lifting. Matthew had Caldwell to deal with stuff like that. I doubted my father had ever overseen a maintenance issue in his life. I had a sneaking suspicion he was here because he wanted to see my mom.
“Don’t be silly. We don’t expect you to stay out of our way,” Mom said before slowly glancing at me. “Does that mean you’ll be joining us at the Halloween carnival tonight?”
I was surprised my mom had jumped at the opportunity to remind Matthew of our invite. I had asked him earlier in the week but hadn’t expected him to be here.
“If that’s still okay with you both,” Matthew replied, “I would love to.”
“Of course,” I said. “Though be warned, Mom takes Halloween very seriously. You’ll be lucky to escape without some kind of paint on you.”
Matthew laughed. The sound was easy and light and so unlike him. “I’m sure I can handle a little paint.”
Mom’s face lit up with a smile. “Well, it’s settled then. We’ll go together.”
Matthew nodded, returning my mom’s smile. He then gestured toward an open door we’d arrived at. “I’ve had this room prepared for your stay,” he said. “If it’s not to your liking, I can find you another…”
“I’m sure it’s perfect,” Mom said.
“It’s right next to yours, Isobel,” he added. “I’ve had your room made up so you can stay here tonight as well if you like.”
“Oh, that is a nice idea.” My mom clapped her hands together. “What do you think, Iz?”
“Yeah, that sounds great. Thanks, Matthew.” Neither of them seemed to be listening though. They were staring at each other again. This time, it was my mom who realized the silence had gone on a little too long, and she cleared her throat.
“Yes, thank you so much, Matthew,” she said.
“Of course,” he replied, shifting slightly awkwardly as he broke eye contact with my mom. “Well, I will leave you to settle in. Caldwell is around, and I’ll be in my office if you need anything. I’m sure Isobel can show you the way.”
Mom shared a smile with him before he turned to leave. Once he was out of sight, she came to her senses enough to turn and focus on the bedroom.
“Isn’t this nice,” she said, walking into the room. “There’s a view of the gardens. Oh, and it even has its own bathroom.”
I gently bumped my shoulder against my mom’s. “What was that back there?”
“What was what?” She batted her eyelashes innocently.
“You acting all nervous around Matthew and then checking if he was coming to the carnival.”
“I was just being nice,” Mom said.
I felt like it had been more than that, and my suspicions must have shown in my eyes.
“What?” Mom asked. “He’s your father, and he’s being so hospitable to me. It would be rude not to invite him to go with us.”
“You couldn’t take your eyes off him.”
Mom tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Only because it’s been such a long time since I’ve seen him. You’re reading into things far too much.”
“Uh-huh.”
She waved me off. “I’m going to take a shower. Hopefully, when I’m done, you’ll be over all this silliness.”
“If it’s just silliness, then why are you blushing so much?”
“I’m not blushing,” she said, but she flicked her eyes to the mirror to double-check.
“Sure, you’re not.”
“I’m just warm. It’s a warm day.”
It wasn’t even close to being a warm day. It was the middle of autumn.
“Why don’t you focus less on feeding your imagination and more on thinking up fun activities for our afternoon,” Mom said. She disappeared into the bathroom before I had a chance to argue with her.
*
Matthew was true to his word and stayed out of our way for the rest of the day, but we spent most of the time in town rather than at the house.
Mom loved little trinkets and knick-knacks, so we spent a while trawling through the eclectic antique store, and then we wandered through town taking in the gorgeous Halloween displays in the shop windows.
We found a cute café that served incredible hot chocolates and amazing blueberry muffins, and I knew I was going to have to bring Cress and Anna back there soon.
Mostly, I just enjoyed hanging out with my mom. It had been far too long since the two of us had done anything together, and I hadn’t realized quite how much I missed it.