“Are you hiding anything else from me?”
I opened my mouth, then closed it again. A breath caught in my throat before I managed to swallow it down. “Like what?”
“Anything about you and Heather?”
Shit. Did he know my relationship with Heather hadn’t been one in the traditional sense? I bit my bottom lip.
“Hudson,” he said sternly.
“I didn’t think it was important,” I muttered.
“Tell me.”
I heaved a sigh. “Heather and I didn’t have much of a marriage. I mean, we got married and all, but we never did anything.”
Matty blinked. “Wait, what?” He leaned back slightly, like the words had physically nudged him. “You’re telling me you never…?”
“We never slept together after we got married,” I said, voice low but firm. “Matt, I haven’t slept with anyone else since you and I officially became a thing. Not during my entire marriage.”
Matty stared for a beat, mouth parting, eyebrows slowly climbing. “Are you serious?” He shook his head like he couldn’t quite believe it. “All this time, I thought…” He didn’t finish. Instead, his gaze searched mine, something soft and raw blooming behind his eyes. “God, Hud.”
“Heather and I were a drunken mistake I never wanted to happen again. I was expecting a child and had little money to take care of a family. I didn’t have time to think about sex when I was trying to keep us afloat.”
“And that’s it? Nothing else you’ve left out?”
“Not that I can think of. Unless you want to know that Ino longer sleep in the nude, for obvious reasons. No longer can tolerate spicy?—”
Matty slammed his mouth on mine in a hard, swift kiss. “It’s fine. I believe you. I’ll stay with Ivy so you can take a shower, but then I need to go out for a bit.”
Oh. He was leaving?
“Don’t look disappointed. I’ll be back.”
My face heated, and I glanced away. “Okay.”
“Yeah, I promised Ivy I’d take her to see the horses, remember? I’m not going to disappoint her.”
I watched him a second longer, still half-dazed, then turned and walked out of the kitchen, my fingers brushing the wall. My heart felt too full, too fragile. I needed a minute—just a breath—to collect myself, to believe this was real. That Matty was back. That he’d stayed. That he wasn’t just saying the words, he was living them… one grocery bag, one gummy worm, one kiss at a time.
20
MATTY
The last time I’d stepped foot inside Bristlecone Springs Community Church was the day before my mother left to chase her big city dreams. I was twelve. She stood right there at the altar in her Sunday best, smiling like it wasn’t the end of the world, and Pastor Murphy laid a hand on her shoulder and prayed for her “new journey.”
That journey meant splitting up our family. It meant choosing which parent to live with. It meant I stopped believing this place had answers.
I hadn’t been back since. It wasn’t too hard, since Dad was never a churchgoer, so he didn’t insist that we attend as Mom always did.
The chapel still looked the same. Worn wooden pews lined up in rigid rows. Stained glass windows filtered morning light into soft, faded patches on the floor. The air smelled like dust, old pine, and something vaguely floral. Incense, maybe, or some cheap perfume clinging to the hymnals. Whatever it was, it turned my stomach.
The pastor’s office was through the left corridor. I knewthat much. I marched past the sanctuary, ignoring the curious glances of Elizabeth and Leanne, choir members, lifelong pew-warmers, and Bristlecone’s unofficial news anchors. If someone sneezed on Main Street, those two would have the cause, symptoms, and full family medical history passed around by lunchtime. They were arranging fresh flowers near the altar. Elizabeth’s gaze snagged on me with thinly veiled interest, and Leanne elbowed her like she was making a mental note to bring me up at brunch.
I imagined the whole town already knew I’d spent the night at Hudson’s place.
I didn’t stop. Just kept walking.
The hall smelled even mustier than the chapel. Like old paper and furniture polish. The vestry door was slightly open.
