Part 19 (1/2)
She wondered why it mattered whether she knew his habits. The only reason she could think of was that he intended to keep on with her after they found Genevieve. Unfortunately, nice man or not, he could be trouble. A man coming off a divorce wasn't a good bet. Either he wouldn't want to get serious or he would, but it would be too soon. And Lincoln was already getting stuck on him, which was dangerous.
He hesitated. ”Maybe you wanted to be alone out here. I should have thought of that, instead of barging in on your privacy.” He turned to go.
”No, wait. I'd like some company.”
He glanced back at her. ”You're sure? Because I can take my evil doughnuts and disappear. Poof.”
There was something to be said for a man who could make a body smile even in the midst of heartache. ”I'd even like one of your evil doughnuts.”
The sparkle returned to his eyes as he swung around and came back toward her. ”Each one shortens your life by twenty-three minutes. They've done studies.” He held out the box and flipped it open with his thumb.
It was a snappy gesture, and she was a sucker for those. She'd first noticed Genevieve's father because of the smooth way he'd vaulted a fence. ”You sound like Lincoln. He makes up studies all the time.” She picked a doughnut from the box.
”You think I made that up?” He pretended to look hurt. ”I'll have you know I'm a font of useful information, a waterfall of statistics, a roaring river of-”
”Baloney?”
He grinned. ”That would be the delicate way to put it. And I already know you don't like swearing, so we'll leave it at that.” He set the box on the hatch and plucked out a doughnut for himself. When he bit into it, powdered sugar drifted onto his navy polo. ”Messy, too.”
”That's okay.” But she leaned over when she took a bite of hers, so the sugar would fall to the deck instead of on her pink s.h.i.+rt. She hadn't brought a lot of clothes, thinking that packing too many would seem like they would be out here for days. She wanted to be back home by nightfall, with Genevieve.
”d.a.m.n, but this really is good coffee. Oops. I mean, golly gee, but this is one fine cup of coffee, Mizz Terrence.”
She licked the sugar from her mouth. ”The doughnuts are fair to middlin'. And they're perfect with the coffee. But you're making me out to be a fussbudget, and I'm not.”
”Aw, I'm just teasing you a little.” He gazed at her mouth, then brought his attention back up to her eyes. ”I think it's great that you're setting such a good example for Lincoln. He's one smart kid. A world-cla.s.s gin rummy player, too.”
She wondered if telling him how Lincoln won would help or hurt. Finally she decided it might help.
”I can tell you how he wins.”
”He cheats? Because if he does, he's d.a.m.ned-doggone-good at it.”
”I guess you could call it cheating. If he really concentrates, he knows what cards everybody has and what's coming up in the deck.”
Matt stopped chewing his bite of doughnut and gave her a long look. Then he finished chewing, swallowed, and took a sip of his coffee. ”He told you this?”
She nodded. ”A long time ago, when he was six. He thought everybody could do that, and he finally asked why Genevieve and I would make such dumb plays and let him win all the time. After I told him that it was kind of unusual, what he could do, he kept quiet about it. You know how kids hate to be different from their friends.”
”Wow. Well, after last night, I can't dispute it. I've never taken such a sh.e.l.lacking in my life.”
”I told you that for a reason. When we head out today, I want you to take us in the direction Lincoln says. He can find her.” She held her breath and waited.
Matt gazed at her silently for several seconds. ”Okay,” he said at last.
She sighed in relief. ”Thank you, Matt. I know you don't hold with such things, but where I come from, it's natural as can be. And Lincoln has the gift.”
”If I hadn't played cards with him, I might give you more of an argument, but anything's worth a try.”
He paused. ”Where are you from, Annabelle?”
”Tennessee.”
”Whereabouts?”
”You wouldn't have heard of it.”
”And you don't want to tell me, do you?”
Annabelle looked into his eyes. Then she glanced down the line of boats. ”I guess it doesn't matter. I used to think that if I closed that door once and for all, nothing bad was going to happen to my children. Stay in the Hollow, and all kinds of bad things could happen to them. But Genevieve is missing, so keeping a lock on the past didn't guarantee anything.”
”I just... I'd like to get to know you better.”
She felt more than saw that he'd moved closer to her. ”I'd like to get to know you better, too, but I can't.” She met his gaze. ”Lincoln's never had a daddy. You can see he's hungry for one. If we started seeing each other, he'd start making plans for you, plans that might never come true. I won't put him through that kind of misery.”
Matt studied her for a moment longer. Then he stared into his coffee mug and swirled the contents. ”I can see your point. This is all new territory for me. All I know is that some carefree young thing like Celeste is fine for a night or two, but I don't intend to make a career of twenty-something women. Logically, most of the single women my age are going to have kids. And you're absolutely right that kids shouldn't be p.a.w.ns in the whole dating game.” He glanced up at her. ”Any suggestions?”
She didn't want to make suggestions. She didn't want him to move on and find some other lucky woman, but she wasn't free to take a chance on him. ”You could look for a person who doesn't have kids. Put an ad in the personals.”
Matt groaned.
”I have customers who do it.” And she could probably find Matt a bushel basket full of dates in one week of doing nails. But there were limits to this helping business.
”Okay, but aside from being phobic about the personal ad thing, I like kids and wish I'd had some. If I date women without any, that probably means I'll never even have step-kids. At least now I have a shot at that.”
”Then make sure you don't meet the kids or get involved with them at all until after you're convinced that you and this person are right for each other.”
”Meaning it's too late for you and me?”
The cabin door opened. ”Hey, like, where is everybody?” A head of red, white, and blue hair appeared.
”I woke up and I was all, They've left me all by myself on this boat, abandoned like that kid in Home Alone, and-hey, dude, are those doughnuts? Cool.” He leaped the rest of the way up die steps and snagged one out of the open box. ”Totally my favorite. I know Mom didn't buy these, so thanks, Matt. You're awesome.” Then he shoved half of it in his mouth.
Annabelle glanced over her son's shoulder at Matt. ”I think that answers your question.”
Genevieve stood by the edge of the surf and used a sh.e.l.l to scoop water and wash off the sand sticking to her. Her heart rate was nearly back to normal, but she still got cold chills whenever she remembered looking over Jack's shoulder and seeing that dark fin coming toward them.
But even taking the shark into consideration, she was having a heck of a good time being marooned. She was also beginning to figure out why. The very skills that branded her a hillbilly back in Honolulu were exacdy the skills she needed to survive out here. For the first time in eleven years, she could be herself, all of herself and not just the more civilized parts. What a relief.
Even better, Jack didn't think less of her for her backwoods raising. He seemed to get a charge out of it. Maybe diat was another reason die s.e.x between diem had been so outstanding. She wasn't afraid of forgetting herself and revealing her roots. Jack already knew about her, so she had nothing to hide.
She wondered if she had the courage to stop covering up her background once she got back to Honolulu. Mama would advise against it and tell her she'd never attract the right man if she reverted to countrified ways. But Genevieve was thinking that if she felt free enough to have great s.e.x with a man, he might not care whether her voice tw.a.n.ged when she talked.
Maybe she should ask Jack his opinion. Then again, maybe not. She was a little worried that all the s.e.x they'd had was giving Jack ideas about a relations.h.i.+p when they got home. But it would never work. During the night she'd asked him about his horoscope sign and sure enough, he was a Taurus. Besides being a genius who would make a very forgetful husband, he was the wrong sign for her. She'd find his steadiness boring and he'd find her wild imagination irritating.
She appreciated his steady tendencies at the moment, though. He'd found his gla.s.ses and stationed himself right beside her to keep an eye out for Jaws.
”I don't think he'd leap out of the water to get us,” she said, although she didn't mind having Jack nearby as a precaution.