Chapter 41 Bottom of Things
BOTTOM OF THINGS
“Your shiner is all gone,” Jolene said to Matt in the parking lot of the Fierce Brewery the next day.
Grace had called and said that she’d messed up and should have stayed out of it. Jolene got nothing out of her friend and knew enough not to ask. But it was the call stating that Grace was done getting into the middle of Matt and Anya.
She had no plan on interfering like Grace had, but since she’d put the little bug in Grace’s ear, she felt responsible for whatever was going on now.
Her plan was to chat with Anya and see if she could feel the situation out and give some advice.
“It’s been long enough,” he said. “I’m sure you’re aware of how I got it.”
“I am,” she said. “All my boys would have done the same thing. Just horrible to think that a man would hit a woman, least of all his sister.”
“My mother told you, didn’t she?”
“No. It was Ben,” she said. “I was here dropping the kids off the next day to Jessica, and Ben was telling Mason. He might have been busting on you a little.”
She held her fingers up in a pinch.
“More than a little,” he said. “He told me I had it coming for all the pranks I played on people in the past. That karma was a bitch.”
Thankfully Matt was smiling while he said that. “My boys would have said the same thing to each other. And they would have tackled any guy who tried to touch their sister and not worry about the consequences.”
“I wanted to,” he said. “But cooler heads prevailed.”
“That’s where you’re more mature than the hotheads I birthed,” she said, wiggling her eyebrows.
“I’m not sure the last time someone said I was mature.”
“Don’t be hard on yourself,” she said.
“Sometimes you’ve got to be hard on yourself to get to the bottom of things.” He looked at his watch. “If you’ll excuse me, I want to catch Anya before she starts.”
Jolene was going to lose her chance to speak to Anya, but she could watch from a distance at the very least.
“I’m not surprised you’re here,” Anya said when she saw Matt come to the bar.
“I wanted to talk to you,” he said. “I don’t like the way things were left. I’m not going to let you run and hide and not be honest with me.”
“Oh really?” she asked with her hands on her hips. “You want to talk about honesty? And I texted you last night.”
She would not hide and not talk to him.
That wasn’t her way.
She needed time to process what she found out and once she did, she’d told him they could talk.
Did she overreact? Just a touch.
She should have stayed to talk to him yesterday and get the facts, but she let her emotions get the best of her like she had as a child.
“You said you would talk today,” he said. “I’m here. I want to talk.”
“I didn’t think that meant you’d show up before I started work.” He wasn’t in a suit jacket or tie, which meant he didn’t have court today.
“I made the time,” he said. “Can we talk?” He looked at his watch. “You’ve got twenty minutes.”
“I need to get ready,” she said. “We can talk here.”
“I’ll set up,” Jolene shouted. “Go take your time.”
Jolene came running over and stepped behind the bar.
“I can’t ask you to do that,” Anya said.
“You’re not asking. I’m offering. I know a thing or two about bartending. Go,” Jolene said, shooing them off.
There was no way out of this and Anya wanted to get this conversation over with.
“Did you ask her to cover for me?”
“No,” Matt said. “She stopped me in the parking lot to talk to me. I don’t even know if she knows what is going on.”
“She knows everything,” Anya said. “Or she suspects it.”
“I would say my mother could have said something, but I hoped she wouldn’t go behind my back and confess everything that was said.”
“What does that mean?” she asked.
“First, I’m sorry. I should have told you about Macy, but I honestly thought nothing of it. I wasn’t hiding it. I asked you to trust me and you have. You do. I can see where this might have cracked your trust in me. I’m hoping it didn’t shatter it.”
“No,” she said. “It was a pinhole when I heard, but then last night I realized I do trust you. I don’t believe for a second you would purposely withhold it from me.”
“I didn’t.”
“And if it’s work related, you can’t tell me,” she said.
“She came in and wanted me to get her out of something,” he said.
“She lied to me about the situation. I told her no. I’m not going into any other details because they don’t matter.
She was guilty, but it’s not my problem.
I’ve defended guilty clients in the past. When I said I wouldn’t do it, she opened the door to my office and loudly accused me of being unethical toward her. ”
“That’s disgusting.”
“It is. My parents were eavesdropping outside the door. Macy didn’t expect that.
My mother escorted her out of the building and set her straight.
They made me realize that is the type of woman I went for in my life because I didn’t take enough seriously.
I needed to get through all of that to know how much greater it was when I got you in the end. ”
Talk about hitting the brakes on her anger train.
“You know how to deflate a balloon fast,” she said.
“I’m speaking the truth,” he said. “I’ve never meant to hurt you in life, but I have. A lot. I was young and stupid and didn’t see what was in front of me then. My eyes are open now. I’d never want to hurt you again. The fact that I did and wasn’t even aware is breaking my heart.”
His eyes were glossy, his cheeks red. He looked about as tired as she felt.
She’d be willing to bet he slept as little as she had.
She was wrong this time to have put this off.
“I’m sorry. I should have talked to you last night.
I wasn’t hiding. I was processing. Not everyone can figure it out right away.
I didn’t want to talk until I worked it out in my head.
I didn’t want to say something I didn’t mean and cause a bigger blow up.
Like what I said in the office and then left. ”
“I thought of us as kids. That you always walked away and never said a word. You didn’t do that yesterday. You were mad and if you’d acted like that years ago, I would have realized what I was doing upset you.”
“I didn’t have the confidence to do it then. I spent too much of my life trying to escape conflict. I didn’t want to risk not being welcome in your house if you and I were fighting.”
He never once thought of it that way.
His arms twitched as if he wanted to hug her, but he didn’t make a move. “You’re not like that anymore and neither am I.”
“No. It’s not healthy. Not for anyone.” She let out a snort. “I thought to myself the other day that if I could have picked out the perfect man and give them the characteristics I always wanted, it’d be you. That things were going so well. I got ahead of myself.”
“No, you didn’t,” he said. “Things are going well. Not everything will be perfect all the time.”
“And that is what I told myself last night. You can’t grow without joint pain. Your mother made a comment about how far we’ve come and grown. It would have never happened if we didn’t fight or do things to upset the other. It’s unrealistic to think we’d both be perfect every day moving forward.”
“No one would ever say I’m perfect,” he said.
She moved closer to him and put her arms around his waist. “You are to me. Even your flaws. You make me laugh. You made me cry last night.”
“Shit,” he said. “I don’t ever want to do that again.”
He leaned down to kiss her forehead.
“Matt. Life is messy. We’ve said it before. People in love cry and laugh, they swear and they take punches.”
He laughed. “I’m going to remind you of that for the next fifty years.”
“Only fifty?” she asked.
“As long as I’m on this earth with you,” he said. “I’m going to tell you how much I love you. How much you mean to me and that you can trust me with everything you’ve got.”
She lifted her head to look into his eyes. “And I’ll tell you the same. I love you, Matt. And I’m sorry for being a fool yesterday.”
“I love you too, Anya. I’m sorry you were a fool yesterday too.”
She laughed and poked his side. “That’s not an apology.”
“But it made you laugh. And you just said you loved that about me. But truly, I’m sorry I put a crack in your trust of me.”
“That’s on me,” she said. “Not you. I mean it.”
“We can agree we are both at fault,” he said. “Just like we are both in love with the other. How does that sound?”
“That sounds perfect!”
“You two look so cute over there,” Jolene yelled. “Go take the day off, Anya. I’m having a blast. I’ll cover your shift.”
Anya knew she should have moved further away so that Jolene didn’t see them. She didn’t think their conversation was heard, but knowing Jolene, her ears caught it all.
“What do you think?” he asked. “I can take off if you can. We have some making up to do.”
“Who am I to say no to the boss?” she said.
Matt gave her a kiss and she returned to the bar. Justin was there by now. “Go,” Justin said. “I’m going to get entertained by Jolene today.”
“Are you sure?”
“I outrank Justin,” Jolene said. “Have fun with your boyfriend. Meddling isn’t all that bad, is it?”
“If you say so,” she said. She turned and Matt was right behind her.
“This time it’s not. Thanks, Jolene.”
“Mothers know best,” Jolene said. “And no, she has no idea I’m here, nor do I know what happened with you two. I just know sad faces when I see them.”
“Just like you know good matches too,” Anya said.
“Well, that’s a given!” Jolene said.