She shrugged her elegant shoulders. “I helped a mother birth a baby.”
“Great. You guys brought life into the world and rebuilt hearts today. I chopped vegetables. That kind of puts my life in perspective.”
“Does that mean our meals are on the house?” his brother asked hopefully.
He pretended to think about it. “Nah. You’re richer than me, too. I feel inadequate enough.”
Since she was accustomed to their foolish banter Rose left them to it. But he was happier to see her than usual. It occurred to him that Rose was another woman he could trust. She was in love with his brother and had no interest in him. Plus, while the intimacy between him and his brothers usually meant joking around and fisticuffs, girls were different. Sisters, he’d been reliably informed, told each other secrets.
He started their orders and then, as though the idea had just occurred to him, he said, “I was gonna take a lunch break myself. Okay if I eat with you guys?”
“Absolutely,” Rose said, before Matt could say anything stupid.
When the meals were ready, Alex and Melissa carried them out. Matt and Rose had already commandeered the small metal table in front of his truck. Even though he ate his own food most days, he always tasted with a critical palate making sure the flavors were right. Matt ate with the quick efficiency of a surgeon on call. Rose was more relaxed, but he caught her checking her watch once. No doubt she still had patients to see later that day. He knew that if he wanted to get Rose’s advice he was going to have to speak up. And fast. Trouble was, he didn’t know how to phrase his request for information. Finally, he said, “I saw your sister Marguerite the other day.”
Rose glanced up and nodded, waiting for him to go on.
“She brought me some of her produce. Gorgeous heirloom tomatoes.”
Once more Rose nodded. “She’s got a green thumb, that’s for sure.” She continued to regard him as though assuming that he had brought up Marguerite and her tomatoes for some reason.
To his intense discomfort, Matt also raised his head and looked at him with the same intensity he probably gave to his patients before he cut into them. “You got some kinda thing for Marguerite and her tomatoes?” Matt finally asked him.
He didn’t particularly appreciate the way his brother phrased it, but he’d pretty much hit the nail on the head, Alex said, “I wouldn’t have put it that way, but I like her.”
Rose and Matt exchanged a glance that could have meant anything. It was one of those secret glances between couples that was indecipherable to an outsider. Matt spoke again. “You like her as in she’s a fun person to hang out with? You can talk about pH levels in the soil and the best way to sauté green pepper? Or youlike herlike her.”
“I don’t think Marguerite ever sautéed a pepper in her life.” He let out his breath, wishing he’d never brought the subject up. But he had, and since he was taking the teasing anyway, he might as well get whatever information they had to share. He glanced at Rose. “Do you know if she’s seeing anyone?”
Before Rose could answer, Matt pushed his chair back and laughed, his eyes dancing with unholy amusement. “Wait, wait, wait. You mean, you are interested in a girl and you’re not sure if she’s interested inyou?”
Rose smacked her boyfriend in the shoulder. “Would you play nice? Just because you finally got the woman you lusted after for months, you don’t need to act smug.”
Matt gave her the kind of grin that made Alexei look away in embarrassment. “I did lust after you, didn’t I? Fact is, I still do. Probably always will.” He shook his head. “But you don’t know what it was like growing up in the same house with a guy who looks like that.” He pointed his thumb at Alexei. “Girls tried everything to get his interest. They climbed in our windows, asked me to carry notes.” He screwed up his face in pain and Alexei was pretty sure he knew what was coming next. “They wrote him poetry. And love songs.”
“Would you stop?” But he might as well have asked the sun to stop shining, or the wind to stop blowing, as get his brother to shut up now he was launched into the old stories.
“The best was the tattoo.”
Alex shook his head. “No. That was the worst.” At least, of the things Matt knew about, that was the worst.
Rose was watching the pair of them as though they were some kind of a comedy duo on a stage. She was a beautiful woman at the best of times but when she was relaxed and smiling, like now, she was a knockout. “Tattoo?”
Matt nodded. He pointed to his own chest with one finger. “Ashley somebody or other, in high school. She hadI love youtattooed on one breast andAlexeion the other. And she liked to wear these really low cut tops.”
“I think she got it in Mexico over spring break. Alcohol was definitely involved.”
Rose started to laugh. “Oh my gosh, poor Alexei. Did you like her at all?”
He shook his head. He’d felt at the time as though he couldn’t get out of high school soon enough.
“I hope she found another Alexei.”
He was finally able to see some humor in the situation. “Actually, I saw her a couple years ago. At the beach.”
Matt leaned forward. “You get a look at that tattoo?”
He nodded. Grinning.
