Taken With You (20 page)

“Ouch.” He kissed her neck again. “It was a funny story. I had to tell it.”

“But they like me anyway. And I like them.”

“They can be pretty rowdy at times, but I think they’re nice people. I’m a bit biased, of course.”

“They make me miss my family. And the kids are adorable. Neither my sister nor I have had any yet, much to my mother’s dismay.” She leaned back against his chest. “You can’t get enough of your niece and your nephews. How come you haven’t gotten married and had kids of your own?”

The question was asked in a light tone, but it weighed heavily on Matt’s shoulders. He didn’t want to go in to how hard it was to have a relationship with his hours and how women liked to reel him in and then try to polish him up to their liking. “I haven’t found a woman yet who likes my lucky fishing hat.”

“I shudder to meet the woman who does.”

“So now you. How come you’re not married with a bunch of little ones?”

She shrugged. “Waiting for the guy who doesn’t think Bach is what a chicken says.”

He knew there was truth under her attempt at humor, but they were in his kitchen with his family on the other side of the door. It wasn’t the time for a heart to heart conversation about their life goals and dreams even if they’d been at that point in their relationship. Or whatever it was.

“I really do need to finish my coffeemaker,” she told him. “I had a whole list of things I needed to do today and sitting on your back deck all day wasn’t on there.”

“When you get home, add it to the list and then cross it off. You’ll feel like you accomplished something.”

“You’re bad.” She turned in his arms and gave him a quick kiss. “I’m going to go now. Sit and relax with your family.”

Reluctantly, he moved out of her way. And just in time, too, because his mother came through the door a moment later. “Matthew, I haven’t even seen your house yet. You need to give me a tour.”

“I’m heading home,” Hailey told her. “It was wonderful to meet you.”

“I’m so glad you stayed to visit. You should come up to camp sometime. I think you’d enjoy it.”

Matt actually laughed out loud, and Hailey crossed her arms, glaring at him until he stopped. “I’m sorry, Hailey, but that’s funny.”

“Your mother thinks I’d enjoy it.”

“My mother hasn’t been in the woods with you.”

Hailey smiled at Connie. “Thank you for the invitation. I might take you up on it sometime just to annoy your son.”

“Honey, I’m married to his father. I totally understand.”

Hailey gave him a sweet wave and went outside, presumably to say goodbye to the rest of the family. Rather than move to the window to watch her, he turned his attention to his mom. “Time to show you my house.”

He gave her the grand tour, thankful he was good at picking up after himself. Between work and Hailey, he wouldn’t have had a lot of time for pre-maternal visit binge cleaning.

“I like Hailey,” his mom said when they’d peeked into his bedroom, and Matt frowned, wondering if she’d left some article of clothing behind. An article of clothing with her name on it, even. But it seemed to be merely a coincidence she’d mentioned his neighbor while touring his bedroom.

Once she’d assured herself her son wasn’t sleeping in squalor, his mom continued down the hall and he followed along. “She liked you, too.”

“How long before you show up on her doorstop dripping with mud and smelling like bear poop and skunk spray?”

“It was one time, Mom.”

“It was one time you ran off a very nice girl because of what Ciara did to you.” She turned and gave him a stern look. “You’re not going to find a woman who won’t complain about having that in her washing machine.”

“Well, I don’t have to bother showing up on Hailey’s doorstep like that. I already know she wouldn’t open the door.”

Her brows furrowed. “So you two aren’t an item?”

“An item?” Boy, he hated to lie to his mother, but if she got it in her head he and Hailey might have a real relationship, she’d never leave it alone. “She’s my neighbor. She hates being outside.”

Neither of those statements was a lie, which made him feel better. They didn’t answer the question, of course, but his mother was free to infer what she pleased from them.

“That’s too bad. She’s pretty and you’d have pretty babies.”

When she turned her back on him to go back downstairs, he rolled his eyes. Three grandchildren already and she was still hung up on him giving her more. And that always seemed to be the quality she prized most in his potential girlfriends. They’d make pretty babies.

He just wanted a woman who’d enjoy spending time with him doing what he loved to do. It should have been easy, especially in Maine, but he was thirty-five years old and hadn’t met her yet.

FIFTEEN

H
AILEY
CLOSED
HER
book and tossed it onto Matt’s coffee table. She’d finished it, then read the excerpts for other books at the end, and the baseball game on the television was showing no sign of ending.

Chalk up another thing they didn’t have in common, she thought. She’d never gotten into sports, and baseball seemed to be something Matt was passionate about if the cheering, cursing and other sound effects were anything to go by.

“How much longer is this on?”

“What?” He tore his attention away from the TV for a second. “Three more innings.”

“Can you translate that into minutes for me?”

“A lot. Did you finish your book?”

“Yeah.” She could run next door for another, but she was restless.

He hit mute on the remote and shifted his body toward her. “You sound bored.”

“Just a little.” When he lifted his arm, she snuggled against his side. She’d been thinking about something since the weekend, so she decided to ask him. “What would your family have done if you hadn’t come home when you did on Saturday?”

“What do you mean?”

“You weren’t supposed to work, but you got called in. What if the call had taken a lot longer? Would they have turned around and gone home?”

She felt his shrug, since his arm was around her. “I’d given them a rough estimate, so they knew I was coming. And it happens.”

“But still. It’s four hours of driving, round trip, and there was the risk they wouldn’t even see you.”

He was quiet for a moment and, since she was paying attention, she noted he started talking right after one of the guys on TV caught the ball. “They’re used to it.”

“You may as well turn the sound back on. You’re still watching it, but now you just can’t hear it.”

“I’m fine. And my family knows I might get called out at any time. It’s a huge state with a lot of rural roads that take time to drive. If there’s an emergency, you call in the guy who’s closest.”

“I don’t think I could get used to that. Forget special occasions or barbecues. How would you even plan supper? You rarely come home at the same time every day.”

Maybe it was her imagination, but his body seemed to tense up a bit. “I use the slow cooker a lot. Quick meals on the grill.”

“I guess. My mother put dinner on the table at five-thirty every single night when I was growing up.”

“And that’s what you want?”

She thought about it. “Not five-thirty exactly, but there’s something to be said for routine. Both home at five, make dinner together, then sit and eat while talking about the workday.”

“A lot of women feel the same way, I guess. At least the ones I’ve dated in the past.”

Something about his tone made her sit up straight so she could see his face. “I wasn’t trying to be a drag. I was just curious about how your family would have handled it if you hadn’t shown up.”

“They would have been disappointed, but they understand my work’s important. It’s not like I’m calculating taxes and can punch out at four-thirty on the dot. Maybe they would have camped out on my floor. I don’t know. But the hours are hell on relationships and eventually women get sick of waiting or being stood up.”

“I’m pretty sure there are a lot of happily married game wardens.”

“Yeah. They’re the lucky ones, I guess.”

His voice was tight, and Hailey guessed some woman had done a job on him in the past. It was tempting to pry a little, but it wasn’t really her business. And they’d established they were just hanging out and having fun. Poking at the skeletons in his past relationship closet was deeper than that.

“That guy just hit the ball into the audience. That’s a good thing, right?”

Matt laughed and pulled her close again. “The audience? As if I needed further proof you’re not a sports fan. And, no it’s not a good thing. We’re rooting for the guys with Boston on their shirts.”

“Oh. That makes sense.”

He hit the power button and tossed the remote onto the table next to her book. “So is that what you’re looking for? A guy who’ll walk through the door in his business suit every day at quarter after five?”

“It’s how I’ve always imagined my life.” Why she didn’t just say yes, that’s what she was looking for was beyond her. It sounded a little
Stepford Wives
when he said it.

He snorted. “That sounds boring.”

“Or stable. I guess it’s all in how you look at it.”

He ran his hand up her back until it was cupping the back of her neck. “While you’re waiting for this paragon of promptness, how about we see if I can do any better than Boston at getting to second base.”

“I could really start liking this sports thing.”

* * *

F
RIDAY
WAS
A
quiet day for Matt. He spent most of it in the woods around Whitford since he was still getting to know the trail system. Next week, school would be ending for summer break and there would be a sharp increase in the amount of out-of-town ATV riders with kids along.

He ran into a few riders, though, and checked to make sure their machines were registered. When the trails skirted homes, he stopped in and introduced himself if people were home. He wanted to have a good relationship with landowners and assure them he was out there keeping an eye on their property.

Riding through the woods, with nothing but the drone of his engine to keep him company, gave him time to think and today his thoughts kept circling around to Hailey.

He couldn’t forget her questions about his family and what they would have done if he’d been called out for a more serious issue. It was hard to explain to somebody who hadn’t lived with it, as his family had, but flexibility and learning to roll with it just became normal, the way eating at five-thirty every night had been normal for her family.

But she’d made her thoughts on that pretty clear.
I don’t think I could get used to that.
He knew a lot of guys whose wives and kids had learned to cope with their demanding hours, but he wasn’t sure how they’d managed that. It hadn’t been covered in warden school, that’s for sure. He seemed destined to be attracted to women who wanted reliability and routine, and that wasn’t something he could offer. Sometimes he’d work regular shifts for days on end, then suddenly end up in an operation—often a search and rescue—that meant days on the job with little or no sleep.

It wasn’t easy on the families, even when they went into it willingly, thinking it would be okay. Admitting up front she wasn’t sure she could ever get used to it was a big warning sign where Hailey was concerned.

And, since he was thinking about warning signs, he decided to take a ride up to the picnic area. He’d found signs of an illegal campfire, along with empty beer cans, up there after his ride with Hailey. The club had put up a sign specifically banning open fires and spelling out the consequences, so Matt wanted to check and see if there’d been any more problems. Fire, alcohol and the forest didn’t mix.

When he got to the top of the hill, he saw there was already a machine parked there and recognized it as Josh’s. He parked next to it and, by the time he got his gloves and helmet off, Josh had emerged from the woods.

“Good to see you,” Josh said. “Any problems today?”

“No, it’s been quiet. I’ve seen some people, but no issues. Thought I’d check out the area up here and see if fire’s still an issue.”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m up here. I found a few more beer cans, but no signs of fire. I’m hoping it was teenagers and the sign scared them.”

Matt was doubtful a sign would deter teenagers. “If it’s a problem again, I’ll put up a camera and see what we come up with.”

“Sounds like a plan. The club voted down buying one at the last meeting. One, they don’t want to spend the money. But they’re also afraid if we put one camera up, any landowners who have problems will demand cameras, too, and we’ll have to have video of the whole damn trail system.”

“It’s a possibility, but it’s getting hot and we’re a little shy on rainfall. Anybody building illegal fires in the woods is going to get nailed.”

“Understood.” Josh leaned against the cargo box on his machine. “You watch baseball?”

When he wasn’t rounding the bases with Hailey, he thought, fighting not to chuckle at the memory. “Yeah. When I get the chance.”

“We get together at Max Crawford’s house when we can to watch whatever sport’s on. Katie and I are going over Saturday afternoon to watch the Indians game. You should join us. Max’s is the closest thing we have to a sports bar in Whitford.”

“Max Crawford.” Matt mentally sifted through all the towns folk he’d run into. “I don’t think I’ve met him.”

“Yeah, Max doesn’t get out much. Good guy, though. We all bring food or a snack or whatever, then park it in front of his TV.”

A fleeting thought to ask Hailey if she minded brought Matt up short, but he shook it off. Even if they were looking for something serious, which they weren’t, they were still well short of him asking her if he could watch a ball game with the guys. “Sounds good. I’ve been watching them alone since my dad and brother-in-law don’t live close enough anymore.”

“What about Hailey?”

“She’s not really a sports fan.”

“I’ve got the opposite problem. Katie loves sports and she tends to get pretty wound up. It doesn’t even matter what sport it is.”