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She laughed. “Why do you think there’s going to be drama?”
“Of course there is. If Matt is bringing Charlene, then there’s going to be drama.”
He was right. “Yes, after the wedding. Then we’ll talk about Versailles.”
Chapter 12
Matt sat at the kitchen table, staring into his coffee cup. He brought it closer to his nose and inhaled deeply. He liked the smell of coffee first thing in the morning. He liked to sip it and take a minute to ponder and think.
He longed to stand and go to his window back home, the window that overlooked the town of South Port. But he wasn’t at home in South Port. He was in Raleigh, in this stinking apartment. There was a smell in the hallway that was probably old cat pee. The carpet and pad needed to be pulled up and replaced with something new.
The apartment would need a lot of work done to get it up to par. But Matt wouldn’t think about that. He didn’t own the apartments, and he had enough work to slog through during the day on this work site with a hothead boss and a lazy crew.
Tatum was the only reason he was still trying to figure this out. He thought of his cute daughter, all cuddled up next to Aphrodite on Lucy’s couch back at home.
The world felt funny now.
Guilt seeped into his heart, and he couldn’t help but take a moment to think about Lucy. He remembered her beautiful green eyes that shone like emeralds when she was happy. Oh gosh, he loved the way she smelled of vanilla, courtesy of the light perfume she wore on her scarves. He wished he could touch her blonde hair and her porcelain skin that was hardly ever exposed to the sun. He used to tease her about that when she would hold him and kiss him and tell him he needed to wear sunscreen.
Another round of pain assaulted him. Dang, he missed her.
He pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked his messages. None from her. Not that he should be surprised. Why was it her job to text him? He could text her. It was a matter of stupid pride, as Trey Stone had told him last week when he’d stopped by Matt’s work site.
It had surprised Matt to see one of his Stone brothers. They’d bear-hugged, and Matt had gotten choked up and homesick.
Trey had reported what felt like a whole town’s worth of gossip. He’d been in town for business, but his main priority was telling Matt to bag this place and come home. When Matt hadn’t given Trey the response he’d wanted, Trey, in Stone alpha-male fashion, had told him to get past his stubborn pride and get his butt back to South Port, because another guy, someone named Raine, was hanging out with Lucy. A lot.
Who had a name like Raine?
Trey made it seem so simple to just come back. But having a child wasn’t simple. Tatum needed her mother. Didn’t she?
As if on cue, Matt looked out the window and saw Charlene pull up so Tatum could get out of her car. Charlene had pretended to want to get back together, and then she’d dumped him when Ricky had shown up at her place one night.
Venom burned inside of Matt as he stared at Charlene. Ugh. He was an idiot.
Tatum rushed around the front of the car, and Charlene rolled down her window, saying something that Matt couldn’t hear. From the look on Tatum’s face, it was nothing good. She gave her mom a weird look, then dashed toward the apartment door.
What had Charlene said?
Matt hurried to the front door and unlocked it, catching Tatum right in the nick of time.
Tatum’s whole expression changed. “Hey, Daddy.” She opened her arms, and he hugged her.
Charlene’s car turned in a circle, and she met Matt’s eyes. She didn’t lift her hand to him, and he didn’t make any gesture either.
Since she’d gotten back with Ricky, Charlene had acted like it was a huge inconvenience for Matt and Tatum to be there. He tried to gain perspective. Maybe he was missing something. His father had always touted perspective, fairness. He should call his father. He hadn’t talked to him since they’d moved here.
Tatum pulled back from him and grinned. “I missed you.”
“I missed you, too.” He and Charlene had agreed on three days at his place, then three days at her place, alternating Sundays. It seemed to work, except when Charlene called to tell him she’d been asked to work at the last minute and asked him to pick up the slack. The annoying thing, and Matt wasn’t the type to get easily annoyed, was that Charlene rarely filled in for Matt if he needed to work. Although Tatum was nearly thirteen and could stay home by herself, he didn’t like her sitting at home for hours all alone.
She breezed past him and dropped her bag and pillow on the couch. “Do I have time for cereal before church?”
He moved with her into the small kitchen and opened the fridge. “No, you don’t have time for cereal.”
She gave him a confused look.
He picked up the egg carton. “You have time for eggs and pancakes.”
