“Well we have to now!” He nodded his head back towards where Angel now stood, talking an earful to someone else.
A short gentleman dressed in a sharp black suit with a white shirt and black bowtie, approached them holding a tray of tall champagne-filled flutes. Matt let go of Liz’s arm for a moment to grab two glasses and nod at the server.
Matt handed Liz her glass. He was about to say something when an older gentleman approached them. The unfamiliar man wore a gray, well-tailored suit, a remarkable watch, and shiny cufflinks. Liz suspected him to be one of the honored guests or host.
“Counselman O’Reilly,” Matt acknowledged.
“Matthew,” the man acknowledged with a nod. “Liz, how are you? Great to see you both again. I just saw your parents, Matt. Always a pleasure.”
Matt nodded. Clearly not a mutual feeling. Matt didn’t seem to be a pretender. Liz could be it for him.
She reached her hand to touch the Counselman. “Equally a pleasure, Counselman. These events really do get better every year.” She gave her warmest smile.
The white-haired man appeared very pleased with the compliment. “Thank you, thank you.” He looked around, admiring the crowd and decoration. “We do try to keep it up to scale.” He seemed to have spotted other guests nearby. “Thanks again for your support,” he patted Matt on the arm before disappearing.
Matt leaned in and mumbled into the top of her head. “You are good at this. If you keep it up, I might put you to the test with a difficult crowd.”
“I’m game, but you wouldn’t,” she challenged.
“You know me too well.”
Chapter 33
MATT
It was as though she’d never left. Her grace, her attention; she was ready for anything, for anyone. She was doing more than just covering the effects of her injury. She was charming the crowd and enjoying herself. Enjoying being free of the looks of concern, and people tip toeing around her. He hadn’t been blind to how much that annoyed her, but now saw how much she yearned to benormal.
Whatever that meant to her.
Liz seemed to feed off him pretty well when it came to how much a particular person or couple were liked by them. The Millers for example, weren’t their favorite couple. The few dinners and encounters with them in the past had been unbearable. The couple praised each other more in one night than you’d hear at the Academy Awards.
And Matt particularly approved of Liz’s aversion of the “children” question from the Wyatt’s. She touched Erica Wyatt’s arm and insisted, “You will be the first to know! But tell me about yours.” Sure, it wasn’t difficult to assess that those asking about your plans for kids, already have their own, but to cleverly phrase the question without implying they have multiple—was genius.
He swapped out her near-empty glass for a full one and smiled at her. “You need a break.”
She relaxed her shoulders, “Ugh, you’re right. Do we sit yet?”
“No, let’s get some air,” Matt led her past the crowd of guests toward the back terrace of the venue. He couldn’t have anymore “friends” popping up before they could be seated. And Liz needed a break from all the smiling, small chatter, and faking. But more than that, he was worried about her overexerting her brain, if that was even a thing. Perhaps he’d know, if he bothered to call Dr. Tai back. Still, some fresh air, a quiet moment for just the two of them, and having her all to himself for a moment, sounded phenomenal.
Ben appeared before them, just as they got to the double doors of the back terrace. “Hey guys, how’s it going? Liz, you alright?”
Matt mentally shook his head at the nerve of his brother being so casual with them. He wasn’t letting it go. Ben was always overprotective of his sister-in-law, which Matt always appreciated, but now that he’d been caught up on their lie, he was just offended by it.
“Hey Ben,” she glanced cautiously at Matt. “I’m great, Matt and I were just taking a break from the crowded room.”
“Yeah, no, I noticed you’ve been making some rounds.” He glared at Matt, “you sure that’s a good idea?”
“You heard her; she’s having a great time.”
Ben didn’t alter, he glared at Matt. “You don’t think this is a little too much for her right now?”
Liz opened her mouth to speak but Matt couldn’t help himself, “I would know if something was too much for her to handle; clearly, I have more faith in her than you do.”
Liz put a hand on Matt’s chest instead of questioning the aggression. Another sign that she trusted him. She turned to Ben and was about to say something but was interrupted by someone from a few feet away.
“What do we have here,” called a voice Matt unfortunately recognized. “It’s the Owen brothers wrapped up in a not so discrete heated discussion.” Clyde O’Reilly approached them with a devilish smile.
“Here to support my father for another term,” he said matter-of-factly, “very appreciated, of course.” He turned to Liz. “Lizzy, always good to see you. You don’t look like you were in any accident.” His head-to-toe observation of Matt’s wife was irritating him to no end. The bastard had some nerve.
