Maybe Matt's Miracle (26 page)

I smile. “He told me.” He told me about the girl who broke his heart. He just didn’t tell me April was the one. “Why do you think he wanted to come tonight?” I ask. I take a sip of my water.

“
Closure, he said.” She looks toward where April is dancing with her new husband.

“
He really loved her, didn’t he?” I ask. I say it casually.

“
He even wrote her a letter when he was dying. He made me promise to give it to her. I’d sooner rot in hell. But he made me promise because his brothers refused to give it to her.”

I smile even though my insides are roaring.

Matt comes to the table and takes my hand in his. “Come dance with me,” he says.

I nod and let him pull me to my feet. There’s a slow song playing, and he leads me onto the dance floor and then draws me into his arms.

“
Something wrong?” he asks.

I shake my head and smile up at him. His brow furrows. “Did you get a chance to congratulate the bride yet?” I ask.

He shakes his head. “Not yet.” His gaze roams to where she’s dancing with her new husband. I maneuver us in that direction and then pull myself from his arms. I turn and lay my hand on April’s husband’s arm.

“
Can I cut in?” I say with a huge smile. He looks down at his wife, and she shrugs. Then he sees Matt beside me and his grin falls, but he puts it back as quickly as he loses it.

“
Matt,” he says.

Matt nods at him, a quick jerk.

As though he understands, the groom passes the bride to Matt, and he takes me in a dance. I watch out of the corner of my eye as Matt says something to April, and then he reluctantly takes her in his arms. He scowls at me and looks in my direction, but I give the groom my attention.

“
A lot of history there,” the groom says.

“
So I hear,” I say back.

“
Mighty big of you to give her to him.”

“
Yep,” I say, and I let out a little pop on the
p
.

“
They’re done, you know?” he says.

I look over and see them talking while they’re dancing. “No, they’re not.”

He heaves a sigh. “I know,” he says. “It doesn’t bother you?”

I shake my head. It fucking kills me.

The song stops, and I turn on my heel. I need to get out of here before I fall apart. I nearly run down the hall toward the exit. I jump into a waiting cab and give the driver the apartment address. But I don’t want to go home. When did the apartment with the kids become home? I don’t know, but it is. But I know Matt will go there and wait for me.

I pick up my phone and dial. “Hey, Dad,” I say when he answers.

“
Sky?” he asks. “Are you all right?”

“
Oh yeah,” I lie. “I’m fine. I’m a little embarrassed to say that I’ve had too much to drink, though. Would it be possible for you to go and stay with the kids tonight? I want to go to my apartment and crash there.”

Dad pauses for a second. “You want me to stay with the kids.”

“
Would you mind?” I lay my head back against the seat. “If it’s too much trouble, don’t worry about it.”

“
It’s not too much trouble,” he rushes to say. “I’ll go. I’ll go right now.”

“
Thanks, Dad. Text me when you get there, will you, so I know everything is okay?”

“
Sky,” he says, his voice hesitant. “Are you all right?”

“
I’m fine, Dad. Really I am. Text me when you get there. I have to go.” I hang up on him. And then, and only then, do I let myself cry.

Matt

Why the fuck did she do that? One minute, I had Sky all nice and warm in my arms and the next I’m holding April. April, I can ignore. But the fact that Kenny has my Sky in his arms, that tears me apart inside.

“
I’m glad you came,” April says softly.

I look down at her, and she blinks her pretty brown eyes at me. There was once a time when I could get lost in her gaze. Hell, I got lost in her. “I’m glad you invited me,” I say.

I am glad. I didn’t think I would be, but I am. Because what was between us can now be considered closed.

“
Do you think we could ever be friends?” she asks.

I can’t answer that. I don’t possibly see how but saying that could hurt her feelings.

“
I’d like to at least not be enemies,” she says, instead.

I stop dancing. “I don’t think you understand. I would have to care about what you do from here on out for that to matter, and I can’t really say that I do.”

“
You did once,” she says. People are looking at us.

“
I did, and then you stomped all over my fucking heart. It took me a long time to get over it. Much longer than it should have. But I did realize one thing: I was in love with the idea of being in love a lot more than I was in love with you.”

She sucks in a quick breath.

“
I don’t mean to hurt you. Heaven knows, I would have done that long before now if that was my intention. But what I felt for you wasn’t strong enough to last a lifetime. I know that now.” I take her forearms in my grip. “Thank you for leaving me. I appreciate it more than you know. Because what we had for one another was nothing compared to what I feel for someone else. So, if you invited me here to be sure you still had my heart on a fucking string, let me confirm for you that you do not.” I set her back from me, even though she’s still protesting. “I need to go find Sky.”

“
Matt,” April says, clutching onto my arm. “Wait.” I turn back to her. “I didn’t mean to fall in love with him,” she says.

I get close to her. I shouldn’t do this, and I wouldn’t if I didn’t think she really, really needed to know. But there’s already a buzz about it in the crowd. She’s the only one who doesn’t know. I lean down close to her ear. “I’m sorry you fell in love with him. He’s not the one for you.”

“
And you were?” she sneers.

I toss my head back and laugh. “No, I wasn’t. But one thing is certain. I would have never, ever cheated on you.” I close my eyes and steady myself with a deep breath. “He fucked your maid of honor last night,” I blurt out.

“
That’s low, Matt.”

“
He’s been sleeping with her for the past six months. Everyone knows it but you.” Then I leave her standing there in the middle of the floor.

I can almost feel her behind me, devastated and broken. Her pain radiates through the air, but I don’t stop.

My heart is heavy when I get back to my table. Devastating her wasn’t nearly as freeing as one might think. I take my jacket from where it’s draped over the back of my chair and put it on. “Have you seen Sky?” I ask Emily and Logan. They both stare at me with their mouths hanging open.

Emily recovers first and looks around the room. “She was dancing with the groom a minute ago.”

What the fuck was that about
? Logan signs vehemently. He doesn’t talk.

That was closure
, I sign back.
Are you ready to go? Meet me outside. I’m going to find
Sky.
 

I walk around the ballroom, looking for the blue dress that matched her eyes. I smell for her scent. I listen for the sound of her voice. But she’s gone. She’s not there.

I finally end up outside, and a valet approaches me. “Cab, sir?” he asks.

I shake my head. “I’m looking for a woman,” I say. I hold my hand up, indicating how small she is. “A little blonde, dressed in blue.”

“
Oh, yes, sir,” he says with a nod. “I put her in a cab a few minutes ago.”

“
A cab?” I parrot.

“
Yes, sir. She was going to the city.”

“
Why would Sky be going to the city?” I ask myself. “Her apartment is downtown.” But he must have heard me.

“
She was a little upset, sir,” he says.

“
Why was she upset?” I clutch his shoulder.

He shrugs. “That I’m not sure about, sir,” he says.

Logan motions to me. He gets into the limo with Emily, and I lean inside. “I can’t leave yet. I don’t know where Sky is,” I tell him.

“
Get in the car,” Emily says. “We need to get out of here.”

I get in and the car pulls out. “The valet said she was going uptown.”

“
What did you do to her?” Logan asks.

Emily punches me in the shoulder. “Seriously, couldn’t you wait to get home to have sex with her? You had to do it at April’s wedding?”

“
You had sex at April’s wedding?” Logan asks. He chokes a little, so I kick him in the knee.

“
Shut up,” I grumble.

“
You didn’t tell her who April was, did you?” Emily asks, her voice soft.

“
I told her all about April,” I protest. “I told her all about the girl who broke my heart right after we met.”

“
But did you tell her this was her wedding?” Emily snaps at me. “Did you ever say her name?”

I can’t answer because I don’t know. She punches me again. “Stop hitting me,” I mumble. I rub my arm because that shit hurts. “I don’t know if I ever said her name.” I throw up my hands. What the fuck else am I going to do?

“
She must have figured it out,” Emily says. “And then she quizzed me when you were gone.” Her eyes close and she grimaces. “I thought you told her everything.”

“
I did, just not the important part, apparently.”

“
It’s all a big misunderstanding,” Logan says. “You’ll go to her and explain.”

“
I accidentally told her about the letter,” Emily says quietly.

“
What letter?” I ask. I take my phone out and text Sky.

Me:
Where are you?
 

I stare at the phone like it holds the secrets of the universe.

“
The letter you wrote to April when you were dying. The one you made me promise to give to her after you kicked the bucket.”

I raise my brow. “Kicked the bucket?”

“
Bite the big one? Meet the Holy Ghost? Pushing up daisies?” She punches my arm again. “Why does it matter?”

“
Why did you tell her about the letter?” I ask. I’m not angry. I’m just confused.

“
She was talking about April. And I wanted her to know how very much I hate her, so I told her about the letter.” She groans. “It seemed relevant!” she yells.

“
What do you think was in that letter?” I ask.

“
You professing your undying love as you lay on your death bed…” she says.

I snort. “Okay,” I say. “Have your driver take me to the apartment. I need to get something.”

“
Then what?” she asks.

“
Then I’m going to get Sky.”

She grins and pats my arm. “Good.”

I just hope she’ll see me.

My phone bleeps.

Sky:
I went home. Leave me alone.
 

Me:
You don’t get to run off and hide. Not right now.
 

Sky:
Yes, I do.

Me:
I’m coming to see you.
 

Sky:
I won’t let you in.
 

Me:
I’m very persistent.
 

Sky:
I’m very hurt.
 

Me:
Let me fix it.
 

Sky:
You can’t.
 

Me:
I will.
 

I will, if it’s the last thing I ever do.

Skylar

My apartment smells stale and unused. I open a window and look around. It’s too clean and too empty. There are no dolls lying around. There are no board games littering my kitchen table. There are no kids anywhere. I should be at home with my kids. But if I go there, I’ll have to face Matt.

I take a shower and put on my old, unattractive, single-girl flannel pajamas. I don’t put on any makeup because my eyes are all swollen and I look like shit anyway. It’s not like I’m going to see anyone. Matt doesn’t know where my apartment is.

In my freezer, there’s a half a gallon of Chunky Monkey and it’s still good. I take it out and don’t even get a bowl. I just grab a big soupspoon and take it to the couch. I flip the TV until I find something mindless, something that will not require any thinking at all.

I’ve eaten about half the carton when a knock sounds on my door. I startle. I don’t go to the door. No one I know would come here.

My phone bleeps.

Matt:
Answer your door.
 

Me:
No. Go away.
 

My heart starts to trip. He’s here. Shit. I uncurl my feet from under me and perch my bottom on the edge of the couch. He’ll go away if I wait long enough.

He knocks again, and I jerk, dropping my spoon to the floor. I get up and toss it in the sink as I walk past. It clatters loudly. I walk over to the door, press my ear against it, and listen. I don’t hear anything.

Matt:
I’m not leaving.
 

Me:
How did you find me?
 

Matt:
Your father felt sorry for me.
 

Me:
Traitor.
 

I hear a chuckle through the door.

Matt:
He loves you.
 

Me:
What did you tell him?
 

Matt:
I told him that I’m an idiot.
 

I wait.

Matt:
He agreed.
 

A grin tugs at my lips.

Matt:
You’re laughing, right?
 

I don’t respond.

Matt:
Please tell me you’re not crying.
 

Me:
Not anymore. You should go home, Matt.
 

Matt:
You first.
 

I hear Matt speak softly through the crack in the door. “You should go home, Sky.”

I sink down onto my bottom and lay the back of my head against the door. “I can’t go home,” I say.