11. Martin #3
Martin sat in the sterile consulting room, listening to his dying wife comfort him, and he felt an overwhelming wave of heartbreak and adoration.
He wanted to scream at the absolute unfairness of the universe, he wanted to tear the walls down, but looking into her calm, resolute face, he knew he had to respect her choice.
He forced a tight, agonizingly painful nod, squeezing her hand back as he swallowed the bitter lump in his throat, silently promising her that he would follow her lead and give her the beautiful, peaceful ending she deserved.
Present Day
Martin's head shot up instantly, his heart hammering wildly against his ribs as his eyes flew open. He blinked rapidly against the bright morning light, looking around the small hotel office in a state of total disorientation. His cheeks were thoroughly wet, the slick tracks of real tears staining his skin from the devastating dream he’d just been trapped in.
He rubbed the palms of his hands quickly across his face, trying to erase the ghost of the hospital room and the memory of Suzi’s last days. The sharp, persistent banging on his office door echoed through the room, dragging him firmly out of the past.
He took a deep, shuddering breath, forcing his shoulders back as he scrambled to gather his scattered thoughts and compose his features.
"Martin?" Sophia’s clear voice called out loudly through the thick wood of the door. "Are you in there?" There was a brief silence, followed by another sharp, impatient knock-knock-knock. "Rosa told us you were definitely in here."
"Are you hiding from us?" Lily’s bright voice called out right after her cousin’s, filled with playful suspicion.
"You promised you’d take us over to Penny's house this morning!" Emma chimed in, her small voice muffled slightly by the door frame.
Knock-knock-knock. "Martin?" Sophia called again, jiggling the brass handle.
"Come on in," Martin finally called back, his voice steady enough to mask the emotional whiplash he was currently experiencing.
He quickly cleared his throat, his mind racing as he wondered when on earth he’d actually promised to take a pack of teenagers over to the mansion.
But the mere mention of Penny's name sent a sudden, electric jolt straight through his chest, making the lingering sadness from his nightmare evaporate into a flutter of nervous anticipation.
The door burst open instantly, and there stood the group of kids, their faces fresh, full of energy, and wearing thoroughly transparent, massive smiles.
"What took you so long to answer the door?" Jake asked, stepping into the room first and looking at the cluttered desk with raised eyebrows.
"I was wrapped up on an important client call," Martin lied smoothly, adjusting the collar of his shirt and subtly closing the thick manila portfolio to hide the fact that he’d just been sleeping on top of it.
"Oh..." Sophia said, her expression shifting into a quick look of apology. "Sorry about that. We didn't mean to interrupt your work."
"It is fine," Martin dismissed with a wave of his hand, leaning forward on his elbows. "Now, what’s this about going over to Penny's house?"
"Penny left the hotel really early this morning," Sophia explained, stepping closer to the desk and resting her hands on the back of a chair.
"And since the excavation dig isn't happening today because of the mudslide, we all thought we could go over and lend her a hand with the physical restoration instead.
She has so much work left to do on that massive place. "
"Could you please take us over there?" Emma asked, pulling off the ultimate version of innocent puppy-dog eyes as she stared at him.
Martin looked at the five of them, his eyes narrowing into a deeply suspicious, evaluating squint.
He wasn't fooled for a single microsecond.
The kids had deliberately set him and Penny up in the living room the night before, and now they were suddenly inventing emergency volunteer construction work just to throw them together again.
"Alright," Martin said, a small, knowing tug forming at the corner of his lips. "Give me ten minutes to pack up these financial files, and I’ll meet you out front by my pickup truck."
"Eeehhh," Lily pulled a dramatic face, twisting her shoulders in disgust. "The back seat is so incredibly cramped and uncomfortable in that truck. We will all be squished together like sardines."
"Yeah," Sophia agreed instantly, nodding her head in solidarity with her cousin. "We won't even fit legally if we are all crammed in the back of the cab."
"Can we please go in the classic ride instead?" Jake asked, his eyes lighting up with genuine excitement as he looked at Martin. "The vintage 1970 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme? The holiday sedan version can easily fit all five of us legally, and it has plenty of room."
"Fine," Martin said, letting out a soft chuckle as he shook his head at their relentless maneuvering.
He actually hadn't taken the powerful classic muscle car out of the storage bay in quite a while, and the engine needed to get driven to keep the battery fresh.
"Meet me over at the private garages on the side of the property in ten minutes flat. "
The kids disappeared out the door like a sudden puff of smoke, their loud giggles and sheer glee echoing down the corridor as they ran toward the side exit.
Their intense excitement made him even more deeply suspicious of their true matchmaking motives, but as he stacked his client papers into his leather briefcase, a secret, thrilled smile broke across his face.
Martin couldn't even bring himself to be annoyed by their plotting. If anything, their elaborate schemes gave him the absolutely perfect excuse to spend the entire day getting close to Penny.