he said.
“Grace and I can job share a little bit. I’m good at running the front of the store and I’m getting better at creating the arrangements. I’ve had days on my own with only delivery help from Justin. I can give her a couple of days off every week if she can give me a couple of days. You don’t care when I come, do you?”
“I just can’t think about not having you next to me for more than a week,” he said. “It’s torture.”
“You might be getting a little spoiled,” she said.
“And you’re not?” he asked, an evil little gleam in his eye.
Matt couldn’t remember ever feeling this way. He was a little embarrassed by that, though he wasn’t sure how he was supposed to know the difference between a good thing and the real thing. There was no question that when he was deciding to marry Natalie his life had seemed good. If she wasn’t having some wedding meltdown or issue with having Sunday dinner with his family, he was feeling pretty damn satisfied.
But Ginger took that to a whole new level. Just being herself, she made him feel like the richest man on earth. He had never before felt this secure with a woman; he never felt even a second of doubt. He’d heard those ridiculous love songs about being willing to die for someone and he always found himself thinking, I’d be willing to give up a few things—bowling, shaving, driving a truck, cutting my hair. But die for someone? A little extreme...
But here in his arms was a woman he would do anything for. Would he leave the farm for Ginger? He just might, except she wouldn’t ask him to. If he was wrong about her he was going to retire to a mountaintop and live a completely celibate life, but if there was one thing that seemed real it was what Ginger said to him. She liked his farm. She loved him. And when someone loves you, they let you know your happiness is paramount to them. He’d never had that before.
They had a few blissful weeks together that brought them to July; long phone conversations at night, long weekends filled with plenty of time in each other’s arms and also enjoyable time with Thunder Point friends. And with his sister.
“I have to admit, I never saw this coming,” Peyton said to him. “My brother, Mad Matt, all soft and cuddly.”
“I told you if you’d just get out of my way, I knew what I was doing,” he said.
“Except, did you? Know what you were doing?”
“Not really, but fortunately Ginger did.”
“Really? And are you a man to be led around by the nose?” Peyton teased.
“Yes. I am.”
There was a moment of doubt and worry in the middle of July when Ginger became a little quiet. It was sudden. He was getting ready to go back to the farm when she seemed very tired, a little down in the dumps. He wasn’t used to seeing her eyes downcast. She wasn’t as talkative on the phone that night or the next night; she didn’t seem to have much to say. She complained of having a headache and being tired.
“I thought I drove away the headaches,” he teased.
“It’s very unusual for me and it’ll pass. Thanks for understanding.”
Of course Matt didn’t understand at all. But he just kept telling her he loved her. He didn’t know what else to do.
* * *
Al Michel climbed the back stairs to Ginger’s little apartment and tapped on the door. When she answered, it was obvious she’d been crying. “Hi,” he said. “Got a minute?”
“Is it important?” she asked.
“It is. I think it’s important. Could I just have a few minutes?”
“Is Ray Anne all right?”
“She’s excellent, but I wanted to talk to you,” Al said. “I won’t take too much of your time.”
“Okay, I guess,” she said, opening the door. “I’m a little under the weather, though.”
“Sure you are, honey,” he said. “Let’s just sit down in there.”
She shrugged and let him follow her to the sofa, where they sat.
“I know what tomorrow is,” Al said.
Immediately, tears began to run down Ginger’s cheeks. “Ray Anne told you,” she murmured.
“Sort of. She told me a long time ago but it’s possible she doesn’t even remember. I remembered. I stopped by the shop late today and you’d already left, not feeling so good, Grace said. And she mentioned you were taking tomorrow off. She didn’t think you were real sick, though.”
“I’m not