“Go on. Tell her she’s invited here next week. Invite them all. I hear she’s a good cook. That so?”
Matt nearly choked on his tea, he wasn’t going there. “Sure. I won’t go hungry.”
“Better baker than Maggie?”
“Okay on that note, I’m going to get going. Thank you for the support.” He got up and kissed his mother’s cheek while his father chuckled.
“I’ll walk you out.”
His father walked to the door with him. “Nice one. She’s really better than Maggie or your momma?”
“Daddy, I’ve never eaten biscuits that I’d have sold my soul for until this morning. And she made them while she did three other things.”
Edward laughed again. “Look, Matt, her daddy, I didn’t want to say anything in front of the others, Shane may know it though, being sheriff and all. Her daddy is a thug and a violent one. Keep an eye out. He’s a wastrel too. I wouldn’t be surprised if he hit you up for cash. Watch yourself. And her too, it can’t be easy on her coming from that when she’s such a good person.”
“It isn’t, I can tell. But the rest of them are good people.”
“Course they are. You wouldn’t have loved her elsewise. Don’t rush up on the girl. Let her know how you feel but she’s a person who’s been abandoned and disappointed and lied to by people she should have been able to trust. It’s gonna be a bit like she’s a wounded animal, I know that’s not entirely an accurate comparison but it’s close enough for you to know what I mean.”
Matt’s father didn’t hand out advice right and left. He knew people better than most because he listened more than he spoke. Kyle was a lot like him, Matt realized.
“It’s hard. I want to scoop her up and protect her.”
Edward smiled and squeezed his son’s shoulder. “I know. That’s why you know this is real, the fear of losing it or her.”
“You’re pretty smart for an old guy.”
“Smartass. Now get on out of here. If you promised her you’d stop in, do it. Keep your promises to her, no matter what.”
“Thanks, Daddy.”
“That’s what I’m here for, boy.”
“Why don’t you call him?” Nathan asked her softly as she looked to the front door for the hundredth time.
“I don’t know what you’re…oh fuck me, he said he’d stop in after dinner. It’s not like it’s a date. He probably just forgot. It’s not a big deal.” Tate knew it was useless to try and lie to Nathan.
The house had been loud and chaotic and filled to the rafters with Murphys but now with bellies filled and coffee making to go with the cherry pie she’d baked earlier that day, things had quieted down. The kids played out back in the twilight.
“Tate, if the man made a promise, he’s meant to keep it. If he doesn’t, he’s not worth caring about.”
Tate put her head on Nathan’s shoulder a moment before Tim noticed. If Tim saw her in any distress at all he’d go into protective mode right away. So far that evening he’d been on kid duty so she’d been spared his usual close monitoring of her moods.
She moved into the kitchen when the coffeemaker beeped. Beth followed along with Anne to slice pie and get coffee for everyone. Tim came in to get milk and pie for the kids.
Tate smiled, her life was good. When she was Belle’s age she’d never have imagined her life would be so wonderful as an adult. Matt Chase or not.
But when she made her way back into the dining room with a tray of plates with pie, she caught sight of the man she’d been trying so hard not to think of come in through her front door.
He grinned as he caught sight of her. “I see I got here just in time. Do I smell cherry pie?”
She smiled back before she could even think about it. “There’s enough for you most likely. Have a seat there.” She indicated a chair with a tilt of her chin and he rolled his eyes, approaching to take the tray from her and place it on the table.
“Thank you.”
“I don’t suppose I need to even ask if this is scratch pie.”
Nathan snorted and grabbed a plate and a mug of coffee. “Better grab a slice now, there won’t be a flake of that crust left over in about three minutes.”
Matt sat and she smirked, pushing a plate to him following that with a mug of coffee. “It’s decaf.”
The kids came screaming into the house but got quiet when they caught sight of Matt sitting at the table. Tim gave her a subtle eyebrow raise and Susan chuckled quietly.
“This is Danny. Danny, this is Matt Chase.” Her nephew took a bowl of ice cream and pie and sat at the small table kitty corner to the larger one. He eyed Matt carefully, making sure the stranger wasn’t going to snatch his pie. Nodding his head in a very fine imitation of his father, he got down to eating.
Matt nodded solemnly, eating his own pie.
“And this is Shaye.” Three-year-old Shaye waltzed into the room wearing a tutu and clutching her bowl.
“I don’t like cherries. Tate made me peach pie ‘cause I’m special. And you can’t have none either.”
Matt stifled his smile. “Pleased to meet you, Shaye. I promise not to steal your pie.”
She re-introduced him to everyone else and explained that William and Cindy were home with their sick twins or there’d have been four more people there.
“Sit down, sweetness.” Matt patted the chair next to where he sat and she did. He looked around the table and she knew what was coming next. “Hey, let me go and get you a slice of pie.”
She put a hand on his arm to stay him. “No, I don’t want any. I’m having coffee.”
He narrowed his eyes at her and held a forkful of pie toward her mouth. “Take a bite of this pie and tell me why you aren’t having a slice. Because I’ve never tasted better.”
“Don’t bother,” Tim mumbled. “She won’t.”
“Don’t interfere,” his wife, Susan, murmured.
“He’s right. Why we all sit here when she does this is beyond me. Tate, take a bite of the pie.” Anne glared at her and Tate widened her eyes and then narrowed them, sending a non-verbal back off to her sister. One her sister ignored with a snort.
“Because she doesn’t want any pie. Why are you all talking around me? I don’t want any pie. It’s not a national tragedy that Tate Murphy isn’t having pie. Let it go.” Shame and anger roiled in Tate’s head. This wasn’t something for outsiders. She hated it enough when it was just them but it didn’t concern Matt and she didn’t want him in the middle of her damned business. She’d have told them to shut up and fuck off but Danny and Shaye were there a few feet away and she didn’t want them involved.
“Is this a regular thing? The not eating of pie?” Matt asked Tim.
“My father made us all messed up in our own special way.” Her older brother looked at her totally unrepentant. Triumphant even that he’d gained another ally in his war against her refusal to eat dessert. It was stupid.
She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at them all. None of them seemed to care, which only made her angrier. It was her damned body, what she chose to do with it was her business. She didn’t let her father control it and she wouldn’t let anyone else either. If not eating pie pissed anyone else off, too bad. It had taken an awful lot of years to be okay with her shape and her size and she was! She didn’t deny her own issues, she knew she had them, but they were hers and she’d deal with them in her own way.
Matt felt her tense up next to him. He glanced at her, noted the blush and looked at Tim. Relieved, he saw the concern on her older brother’s face before remembering the moment in The Sands and her reaction to the pie there—her comment that she didn’t eat dinner when she was around her father. His heart ached for the wounds she’d been dealt by her own damned father. Instead of railing about it, he sighed and thought about how he’d handle it.
“Tate took the brunt of it all for us. To protect us. He did the worst to her.” Nate kept his eyes on his pie as he spoke and a chill worked its way down Matt’s spin
e.
“Nathan, Tim, stop it now. You too, Anne. We don’t need to relive it. I don’t need to. All of you stop talking about me like I’m not here! While you’re at it, remember the children are listening to everything we say.”
“Well then, you talk to me.” Lowering his voice, he turned to her, seeing her eyes spark but feeling enough spark of his own. He’d be damned if he let her asshole of a father abuse her when he wasn’t even there.
“I don’t want any fuh…freaking pie.” She looked quickly at the children, who happily ate their pie and ice cream, before turning back to him. “That’s all. I’m full. I had dinner and I sampled when I made it. It’s not like I’m in any danger of wasting away.” She made a frustrated motion at her body.
“And you’re not in danger of exploding if you have a bite of this heaven on a fork either.” Matt danced the fork in front of her but she was not amused.
“You need to stop this now, Matt,” she told him softly and he reluctantly pulled the pie away but not before he saw the look of approval on her siblings’ faces. Well, they liked him and were on his side in this thing.
“Fine. For now.”
He finished as he visited with her family, getting to know them all, liking them tremendously. There was a great deal of familiarity there and he approved. They loved each other, made jokes and took care of each other. Tate would fit into his family just fine, and he would hers.
Everyone helped clean the kitchen and Matt didn’t fail to notice Tate kept busy, avoiding being alone with him. Silly woman. She couldn’t win when he wanted something. And he wanted her.
Tim and Susan left first with the kids and everyone else followed. Matt ignored her looks suggesting he go each time someone else left and he liked seeing her siblings ignore the hints too.
“Alone at last.” He flopped back onto her couch, putting his feet up on her coffee table.
She bustled into the room and pushed his feet off with her bare one. “Get your feet off my table.”
He grinned. “Sorry. Come sit here with me. I’m lonely and I’ve wanted to kiss you all night.”
“Matt, I’m so tired.”
He saw the edge of fear and panic on her face. She needed comfort and didn’t want to need it. She broke his heart sometimes. God how he loved her.
Standing, he moved with purpose to where she stood and encircled her with his arms. “I know, sweetness. Let me. Let me ease it for you. Lean on me.” He spoke, lips against the pale, cool silk of her hair.
“Why are you doing this?”
“I told you. I love you, Tate. Let me love you.”
“You can’t love me. You don’t love me. You just feel sorry for me.”
He sighed and walked her to her bedroom, turning off lights as he went.
“You talk too much about stuff you can’t possibly know about. I know what I feel, Tate.”
“I need to be alone, Matt.”
“No you don’t. You need to be held. I want you, yes. But tonight, let me hold you. I want to sleep with you against me. Will you let me stay here tonight?” He searched her face tenderly, loving the surprised and slightly confused flutter of her lashes.
“I don’t know…”
“I do. Please, Tate.” He’d never actually begged a woman to let him sleep in her bed, not even to fuck her, before. He needed her as much as he knew she needed him.
“All right. All right. I can’t argue with you over it. I don’t want to.”
He smiled, leaning down to kiss her gently.
Damn that Matthew Chase! Tate couldn’t help but smile as she pushed her cart through the grocery store several days later. No matter how much she tried to push him away, he was there. Always there.
So thoughtful, too. She’d come home two nights before to find a new flower bed dug and planted. He and Kyle had spent part of their day doing it. All because she’d told him how she kept planning to do it but never had the time.
Reaching up, she touched the small silver Venus pendant he’d brought to her that morning at the shop. Said he’d seen it and it reminded him of her, wanted her to wear it against her skin and think of his lips there.
A shiver of delight headed up her spine.
All her delight evaporated as she turned the corner and saw Melanie standing there with Kendra Fosse and some other twit, Dolly somethingorother.
Melanie caught the cart as Tate attempted to steer around them.
“Go on then, say your piece and then move.” Tate glared at Melanie.
“I shouldn’t need to point out to you that you’re in over your head, you gold digging whore.”
The look on Melanie’s face was pure hatred and Tate had seen it more than once. She could never quite figure out why Melanie Deeds hated her so damned much. But they all treated the Murphy kids, especially Tate, badly. Because they could, she supposed. Where most of her siblings were tall and thin, her sisters were gorgeous and her brothers all hale and handsome, Tate was short, pale and fluffy. That made her otherness the biggest target.
“Excuse me? I take it this little scene is sour grapes because Matt and I are seeing each other?” Short, pale and fluffy or not, she wasn’t about to take any guff from the likes of a snotty bitch like Melanie and her little cabal of mean girls. Mean girls way past thirty. She snickered.
“Seeing each other? Is that what you call it?”
“Get to the point, Melanie, the shrillness of your voice makes my teeth hurt and your fake tan is giving me a headache. Oh and do your roots for cripes’ sake.” Hee! That hit home. Melanie’s pretty face crumpled on even more ire. Tate hoped she got a wrinkle Botox couldn’t clear up.
“You keep your cheap, fat ass on your side of town. Matt Chase isn’t meant for the likes of you.”
Tate raised an eyebrow, a naturally blonde eyebrow. “Ahh, that’s what this is about. Can’t take it that he dumped you and came to me. Oh, that must sting that shriveled up, black heart of yours. All the money and good shoes in the world can’t lure Matt from my bed to yours. I may be fat and cheap but I’m the one getting laid by Matt Chase. Guess you’ll have to find some other guy because Matt is taken.”
Melanie pushed the cart but Tate was stronger than she was and she pushed back, making Melanie step backward.
“Don’t you push me, Melanie Deeds. You said your piece now get your ass out of the way or I’ll run you over and smile while I do it.”
“We’ll see how funny you think this is when me and my friends boycott your ratty little salon.”
Tate whipped her head around. “Oh no you did not just insult my salon! Look here, you stupid bimbo, you’d better have a salon visit somewhere in your future because your roots are so bad you look like you’d be at home next to my old trailer.” She turned to Kendra who’d been smirking at Melanie’s little tirade. “Although I’m sorry we can’t help you. We don’t do Botox.”
“You slut! Just like your mother. You’re not good enough to be a Chase, you just remember that. Matt Chase will get tired of you soon enough and you’ll run back to your tacky little house and your cheap, buy-one-get-one free life with your cheap shoes and knock off bags. You’re a nobody, Tate Murphy. A fat nobody who doesn’t even know who her dad is.” Melanie’s face was red but Tate was the one who saw red.
“Get. Out. Of. My. Way.” She shoved the cart menacingly and Melanie finally moved aside. “I’m Tate Murphy and I’m better than a thousand of you, Melanie Deeds. You know it too. If money bought worth, I’d still be better than you.”
She blew past them and managed to finish her shopping instead of running out the doors in tears like they’d wanted her to.
Still, there’d been several cancellations for the rest of the week. It’d cost the shop several hundred dollars. But not her pride. Never, ever her pride.
Chapter Eight
Matt chuckled to himself as they approached his parents’ front door. They were a sight to behold, Tate and Matt along with three of her siblings. His momma would be in hog heaven.
/> Add to it the bonus of having Tate be more comfortable because her family was with her for that first dinner at the Chase household. And it was a big night, they were celebrating Kyle’s birthday, too. In another three weeks Nicholas would be a year old.
He remembered back to July of the year before, Maggie was heavy with pregnancy and Liv was just about to admit to herself that she loved Marc.
It’d hurt then. Just a bit. To see his brother finding love before he had, and with the woman Matt had been with a few years before that. But part of the hurt had been Matt’s frustration that he just hadn’t ever loved Liv, even though he’d wanted to. He’d wondered if he’d ever find what his brothers had found and here he was, his arm around the shoulder of the woman who made him whole.
Not that she made it easy. The woman was a pain in the ass. Skittish as hell. Defensive and so damned strong. He loved her so much and he knew she felt deeply about him too, figured it was love even. But she was scared and he couldn’t do much more than ease her into life as his woman.
Thank God for her siblings who’d supported his relationship with her totally.
The door opened before he could reach the knob and his mother stood there, a great big grin on her face. Rushing onto the porch, she pulled Tate into a hug.
“Hey there, Tate. Don’t you look pretty tonight?” Polly stood back and Matt realized his mother and Tate were roughly the same height. He stifled a laugh but looked up to see his father making the same discovery as he stood in the doorway.
Tate blushed. “Thank you so much for having us, Mrs. Chase. I know it’s a family occasion and all. I told Matt we should come on a different night but he insisted.”
Polly waved a hand at that. “Pshaw. Piffle even. Come on in. Hello, Anne and Beth, it’s nice to see you two. And you’re Nathan, right? We’ve met once at a town hall meeting about the new high school. Come on in!” She shooed everyone into the front hall.
Edward looked at Matt and then down at Tate, his face softening. Matt wanted to sigh with relief. His father would temper his mother’s enthusiasm and make Tate feel at ease.