Chapter 9
“My father’s on the way here,” Matti told Sam. She thought it best to prepare him for the visit.
“Is your father nice?”
“He sure is.”
“Will he like me?”
“Of course he will.” Sam was so unsure of himself, and giving him confidence was something she wanted to work on with him.
It wasn’t surprising, though. He’d basically had no contact with people outside whatever motel room his parents kept him in.
It was encouraging that he did want people to like him, and that in spite of his lack of experience with the outside world and the terrible things he’d seen, he seemed to be a happy boy.
“My dad’s name is Dr. Colton, and he—”
“He’s a doctor like Doc?”
“Yes, and he wants to meet you.”
“Why?”
She smiled. Children and their whys. “Because you’re an interesting boy. He’ll probably ask you some questions.”
“What if I don’t know the answers?”
Before she could think how to respond to that, her dad knocked, then, as was his way, entered without waiting for her to open the door for him.
“Hi, Dad.”
“Matilda,” he greeted. His gaze slid from her to Sam, who was warily watching him from where he was curled up on the couch. “This must be Sam.”
“Yes, this is Sam. Sam, this is my father, Dr. Colton. Can you say hello?”
“Hello,” Sam whispered.
Jonathon sat in the chair closest to the couch. “I’ve heard a lot about you, Sam. I’m told you like fire trucks.”
“Yes!” Sam jumped up. “I have a fire truck. You want to see it?” Without waiting for an answer, he ran out of the room.
“Please be excited about his fire truck,” she said.
Her father frowned. “You think I’d rain on his parade?”
“No, I just think you don’t realize how special that truck is to him. From what I can gather, he’s never had a new toy before.”
“You buy it for him?”
Oh, boy. The answer to that was going to have him grilling her. Ryan had told her he was friends with her father, and Jonathon had a tendency to stick his nose in his children’s business. “No, his friend, Dr.—”
“Dr. Colton, this is my fire truck,” Sam said, racing back into the room. “Doc gave it to me. I love it so much.”
“Doc?” her father said. “Does he mean Ryan Palmer?”
“Yes. Ryan stopped by last night to check up on Sam and brought him the truck.”
“So I heard. Didn’t know you were friends with Ryan.”
“I told you on the phone that Ryan treated him, and I do have friends you don’t know about, Dad. And you heard what?”
“Wyatt said Ryan was here when he came over last night.”
Bigmouthed brother. It wasn’t easy being the youngest and especially a female when you had a nosy father and four overly protective brothers who all thought they should have a say in your life.
“Watch, Dr. Colton,” Sam said, returning. He sent his fire truck racing around the room.
Glad her father’s attention was off her, Matti settled back and listened to Jonathon talk to Sam. Having raised six children, he was at ease with the boy.
“That’s a neat truck,” Jonathon said.
“It’s going to a fire.” He zoomed the truck past Jonathon’s feet. “I saw a real fire one time. A house nobody lived in burned up, and the firemen came in their trucks. I got to watch.”
“Did you know one of Matilda’s brothers is a firefighter?”
Sam lifted wide eyes to her father. “He is? I want to be a fireman when I grow up.”
“He sure is. His name is Aiden.” Jonathon glanced at her. “You should take him by the station, let Aiden show him around.”
“That’s a great idea.” She’d do that tomorrow.
“Sam, can I take a look at your leg?” Jonathon said. “I want to make sure everything looks good.”
“Okay.”
“Scoot up on the couch.” Jonathon sat next to Sam. He gently peeled back the small bandage covering the wound. “It looks good, Sam. Dr. Palmer did a great job. Does it still hurt?”
“No. It hurt real bad when I got shot, but it only hurts now if I bump it.” Sam eyed the wound. “I don’t ever want to get shot again.”
“I don’t blame you,” Jonathon said as he pressed the bandage back down. “That’s not fun.”
“Can I play with my truck now?”
“Sure. You do that while I talk to Matilda for a minute.”
“Okay.”
Matti followed her father to the kitchen. “Want something to drink? I can make a pot of coffee.”
“No, I need to head out. What’s your plan for the boy?”
“He’s going to stay with me for a few days.”
“That’s not a good idea. Wyatt thinks some very bad people might be looking for him. You need to find him a foster family, Matilda.”
“And put them in danger? I can’t do that.”
“Then find—”
The doorbell rang. Saved by the bell. She headed for the door before he could tell her what he thought she should do.
She understood he was worried about her, but she couldn’t in good conscience put innocent people in danger.
Besides, most foster families had two or more children in their home, and risking the life of a child was not something she was willing to do.
She opened the door to find her mother standing there. “Hey. This is a nice surprise.” She glanced behind her. “Um, Dad’s here.”
“I know. His car’s parked in your driveway.” Her mother gave her one of those looks only a mother could give. “Can I come in, or should I just stand here?”
“Oh, sorry. Of course.” She stepped back.
“I want to meet this boy you brought home.”
“Who told you about Sam?”
“Not you, obviously.”
Oh, boy. When Emily Colton was miffed, she made sure you knew it. “It’s been a hectic few days.” Not that she had planned to tell her mom about Sam. There was no reason to. Sam would only be with her for a few days.
Emily was an author, doing well writing mysteries along with investigative journalism.
When she was writing, she had a tendency to hole up for days and didn’t like to be interrupted.
On emerging from what she called her writer’s cave, she’d make a point of spending time with her children, meeting them for lunch or having them over for dinner.
“Jon,” Emily said at seeing her ex-husband. “Introduce me to your little friend.”
Matti stood behind her mother, not concerned that her parents would be nasty to each other.
From the day they’d separated, they’d maintained a civil relationship.
Secretly, Matti thought they missed each other, but that could be just wishful thinking on her part.
Her father had returned to the living room and was sitting on the couch with Sam on the floor in front of him.
Always with the manners, Jonathon stood to greet his ex-wife. “This is a lovely surprise, Emily.”
Matti thought he meant it.
He reached down and tapped Sam on the shoulder. “When we meet someone, Sam, especially if it’s a lady, we stand up.”
Sam stood up so fast he almost topped over. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. Are you mad at me?”
“Of course I’m not mad at you, but now that you do know, I trust you’ll remember your manners.”
From the puzzlement on Sam’s face, Matti thought he wasn’t sure what manners meant. She also hated how he was always afraid someone was going to be mad at him. For the few days—or at the most, a week—while he was with her, she was going to work on his confidence.
“Sam,” Jonathon said, “this is Ms. Colton, Matilda’s mother. Emily, my friend Sam.”
“Hello, Sam,” Emily said. Her gaze lowered to the toy near Sam’s feet. “Do you like fire trucks?”
“Yes,” Sam shouted. “It can go fast. Do you want to see?”
“I’d love to.”
Sam dropped to the floor, and Jonathon sat on the couch, patting the cushion next to him. Emily settled next to him while Matti, excluded from the fun, stayed back and observed her parents.
They’d always been cordial to each other when they found themselves in the same room, but they actually looked chummy as they chatted with each other and Sam.
As the youngest of their children, Matti had taken their divorce hard.
For one thing, she’d felt betrayed. Her mother had dropped her off at college, then had gone home, packed her things, and moved out, leaving her husband.
It had been a shock to all of them, especially her father.
For a long time, Matti felt like she was the reason her mother had stayed in the marriage, the proof being that as soon as her youngest child was out of the house, Emily had moved out, too.
If Matti had stayed home, forgotten about college, and gotten a job locally, her parents would still be together.
The doorbell sounded again. “What is this, Grand Central Station?” she muttered as she went to the door. Okay, this visitor was welcomed, she thought at seeing Ryan smiling at her. “Come in. My parents are here.”
“I don’t want to intrude. I can come back later.”
She grabbed his hand and pulled him in. “Please intrude. Sam’s showing off his fire truck.
” Maybe with Ryan here, her parents would leave so she could take Sam on a much-needed shopping trip.
She daren’t tell her mom they were going shopping, else Emily would invite herself along.
Although Matti enjoyed mall trips with her mom, for this time, she wanted it to just be her and Ryan taking Sam.
The second Emily saw Matti walk in with Ryan, her gaze went to their linked hands, and her eyes widened as she smiled. She stood. “And who is this?”
What had she been thinking, keeping her hold on Ryan?
Her mother wanted grandkids and was forever trying to fix her children up with dates, especially her two daughters.
Kelly didn’t like that any more than Matti did.
Seeing Matti holding hands with a man probably had her mother mentally picking out a mother-of-the-bride dress.
Matti eased her hand out of Ryan’s. “Mom, this is Dr. Ryan Palmer. Ryan, my mother, Emily Colton.”
“And a friend of mine,” Jonathon said, rising to stand beside his ex-wife.
“Hmm, a doctor,” Emily murmured, her eyes going to Matti.
Matti knew that look. She’d grown up with a mostly absentee father because of the hours his job required.
How many times had her mother told both her and Kelly to never marry a doctor because their families always came in second?
Many, many times. Matti had seen the proof of that growing up with a father who missed birthdays, school events, and many holidays because a patient needed him more than his family did.
Since she had no intention of marrying Ryan, there was nothing for her mother to worry about.
Honestly, she wasn’t sure she wanted to get married at all.
She’d yet to meet a man she wanted to give up her freedom for.
But she could enjoy his company, maybe even have some fun times with him if he was interested. Was he?