Her mouth dropped comically. “Last time I checked, I didn’t lose my legs in this accident,” she placed her arms at her sides with determination, “so tomorrow morning, I’ll be coming with you!”
Matt pursed his lips.
Annoyed, she waved an arm at him. “That’s okay, you can pretend you don’t know me if I turn out to be a hot mess out there.”
“It is going to be hot, but you won’t be a mess, because you won’t get very far. You never exercise.” Matt pressed his lips together and crinkled his nose, no doubt imagining her fall from weakened knees three blocks into the run.
“I’ll be fine!” she insisted, closing the cupboard after grabbing the teal and black striped mug.
Chapter 25
MATT
Matt froze. She had grabbedhermug. Her favorite. He frowned as he turned back the wheels to five seconds ago to see if she sought it out or if it had been the easiest to grab. He couldn’t place the mug, but he remembered her scanning for a quick second.
Matt shook his head lightly.The sub-conscious human mind.
“What?” Liz questioned.
“I was just thinking, you might wake up with your memory back, sore as hell the next morning, and you’ll kill me for letting you run two miles with me.”
“So we’ll start slow,” she shrugged, her enthusiasm unfading, even at the mention of distance. She smiled at him as if to reassure that she wasn’t backing down.
Her smile was infectious.
Not once in the past two weeks had she lost her beauty, but she looked especially alluring today. He couldn’t place if it was the calm, content and trusting look she’d had since they’d left the beach last night, or if there was something different she’d done with her hair that morning. A complete transformation from woman he’d spent the last week with. Her soulless persona had been replaced with a joyful, humorous and magnificent individual that he remembered falling deeply for years ago. He made a mental note not to screw up before approaching to tuck her hair behind her ear.
“Okay,” he said softly. A natural tone she brought out in him when she was this close. He started to head out. “Oh hey, just be sure to eat light today, you know, since I’m probably going to be carrying you back home tomorrow,” he winked at Liz’s unamused look before darting out.
* * *
Matt sat in his office between meetings with the school Board and his department. He needed a quiet hour, more than anything. And he was still annoyed from yet another voicemail from his mother asking for him and Liz to come for the weekend. A weekend at the beach house, which Ben and Megan had apparently already agreed to. All the more reason Matt wasn’t going to go—or take Liz to for that matter.
He couldn’t risk losing it in front of Liz. No. He wouldn’t take her there. Not now. Not when things have been going great with them. Liz was trusting him more and more every day. He hated keeping some things from her, but saw no other way. He had to protect her.
And give himself more time.
A vision of Lizzy came into his mind as she pleaded with him back in that guest room about why she lied to him all these years.
No. This was different. This was pure protection for someone he loved.
The knock on his door snapped him out of his intense thoughts. He pulled it open and frowned. “Megan?”
Megan nodded and gave him a small grin as she brushed past him to get through the door. “Sorry to bother you at work.”
Matt didn’t try to cover his annoyance as he closed the door reluctantly, “What do you want Megan?”
“Francis sent me. She said this is your last chance before they go to Liz about this weekend.”
“Geez,” Matt threw his hands in the air and stormed across the room, to his window. “Would you all just give it a rest?” He turned to Megan. “Besides, I hear you don’t have to threaten me to pay a visit to your sister-in-law.” He raised his eyebrows.
Megan cocked her head. “Don’t worry, I didn’t tell her any details of our car ride.”
He shrugged. “What’s there to hide? You said you two were laughing on the drive home,” There was more to the story. He knew it by the way Megan tensed and kicked him out that day in the hospital.
“Yup,” Megan nodded slowly.
“What else happened Megan? What are you leaving out? I know she didn’t crash from laughing to tears.”
