Close Your Eyes (27 page)

‘Your mom must have been very lonely
.
’
Meg
recalled
the beautiful, sweet woman with incredible blue eyes that were so much like Ry
an
’s.

‘She
was.’
Matt
nodded,
pulling his brows
together. ‘
She
was a pretty successful actress before their marriage
. Giving it all up to be a part of the
Harper
clan wasn’t something she had really thought t
h
rough, I guess. She was
so
totally bored and depressed
.
I remember that. We
saw
her crying so many times
that
it even stopped bothering me in the end. I know it’s a horrible thing to say, but it became quite normal to see her
sobbing
after a fight with
D
ad or a
stare down
with
G
randpa.’

‘She loves you both very much, I am sure
.’
Megan
wasn’t quite certain if that was the right answer, but she had to say something.
Matt
had been traumatized by his parents
’
divorce
,
and it was obvious that
even years later,
he had
n’t
really gotten over it. The closeness he shared with Ry
an
eased
the pain slightly
. B
ut
certain
wounds still
had
n’t healed
,
and she was glad he was ready to talk about it to her.

‘I know
.
’
H
e smiled at her briefly before turning serious once again. ‘Still, it felt weird when she left us behind, you know? I felt like an accessory, useless and forgotten. She was gone and moving on, while we struggled to make some sense of our new life without her.
Ry
was devastated
,
too, even though he kept it together, mostly for my sake, I guess.’

‘
She
wanted the best for you,
Matt
.
’
Her words rang hollow between them.
Personally
,
she couldn’t imagine giving up her kids, no
matter the
circumstances.
They would come first, before anything else in her life, always. Still, she had no right to judge Elisa. Nobody could tell what was going on inside her as she left her family to rebuild her career across the big pond.

‘And then there were all those people saying horrible things about our parents
.
’
Matt
’s
voice calm
sounded
oddly
detached
. ‘
We’d
learn
t
about their difficulties and cheating in the worst possible way.
It’s hard to describe what it does to you to read that your mother is practically a whore and
that
your father cheats on her non-stop.
Ry
was ready to go and smash something
,
and so was
I
.
I
t was
G
randpa who actually stopped us, explaining that it didn’t really
matter
what people said as long as we knew the truth. He was right
,
of course, but it hurt nevertheless.
’

He smiled at her briefly, his eyes pensive.
‘What I am trying to say is that if it wasn’t for
Ry
,
I might have gotten in
to
a lot of real trouble. Not that silly stuff I did,
Meg
, but real trouble.
T
o get my parents
’
attention, if nothing else.
Silly as it seems now, it was perfectly logical to me to believe they might actually get back together if they had enough trouble with me.’

Ignoring the glass she’d brought, h
e took a long sip of his water, straight from the bottle. She waited, knowing he didn’t really want her to answer. It was his moment to speak, to share whatever he felt
. He really only needed her presence and attentive ear.

‘You see, it kills me to see him there, lying in the hospital.’ He put
down
the bottle, careful to not be too forceful and damage the glass
tabletop
.
‘
It
should be me, not him.’

Meg opened her mouth in protest, but Matt
shook his head
, a determined look on his face.

‘No,
Megs
, really.
It should be me.
Ry
is always the one taking the brunt of whatever goes wrong, and it’s not fair. He just pays for other people
’s
mistakes
,
mine
,
my
granddad
’s
,
or anyone else
’s
. I just don’t know what I would do if something really happened to him,
Meg
. I guess that’s what I am trying to say here. It would be just too horrible to even contemplate.’

‘You don’t have to,
Matt
.’ She
shifted so she was sitting
next to him
. She
spontaneously
placed her hand on
his shoulder in a comforting gesture. ‘
Ry
is fine
,
and he’s going to be even better.
It wasn’t your fault
,
believe me
. I was there
,
and I saw what happened
. D
on’t you forget
that.
And he’d absolutely hate to see you wallow in your misery like th
is
. So chin up
,
and be glad he’s
okay
.’

‘Yes, ma
d
am
.
’
His usual cheerfulness taking over, Matt
grinned
.
‘
See
,
that’s why I am here. You’re the only p
erson
, other than
Ry
,
willing to listen to my ra
mbling.’

They smiled at each other
,
both
of them
craving this
one short
moment of total tranquility.
Meg
marveled
yet
again at how easy it was to be around
Matt
.
He put
her mind at peace even though
she’d had one
of the worst
,
if not the absolute worst,
days
of
her life.
Something about him made it impossible to fret, even in the
most awful
circumstances.
It didn’t really
m
att
er that he hadn’t been around lately
or
that
his life in the States
had taken
him away from their
close-knit
circle.

‘So I was wondering if you wante
d to come with me
to
see my mom?’

Megan was taken by surprise.
She must have looked totally flabbergasted
,
because he grinned mischievously, his eyes sparkling with spirit.

‘I thought it would be a great opportunity for you to reconnect, so when you,
Ry
,
and her are together, she is more than some faded memory.’

‘Or you just don’t want to go there alone
.
’

H
is sheepish grin
made
it obvious
that
she
had hit
the nail on the head with her suspicion.

‘Why? It can’t be that bad,
can it
?’

‘Well, they invited me for a late
-
night drink,
and then we’ll
h
e
ad for the hospital tomorrow
.
’
He fidgeted
with
the
bottle cap
. ‘I guess
M
om is nervous
,
too. Why shouldn’t she be? We haven’t seen her in two years,
Megs
. Plus, her husband isn’t exactly what you’d call a
good match
for
me or Ry.’

‘So you think it’s a good idea for me to join you,
Matt
?’
She was exasperated, and
his innocent expression
didn’t fool
her for a moment. ‘
How
will my presence make it any better?’