Temptation on Ocean Drive - Jennifer Probst Page 0,59
was easier for all of us not to talk about it. Not on the day he died.”
“It’s been six years now?”
She gave a jerky nod.
“Do you ever miss talking about him?”
She spun on her heel and walked toward the window. Pressing her forehead against the pane of glass, she began to speak. “Yes, but I’m afraid if I think about it or talk about it too much, I’ll go back to the way I was. When I couldn’t cope. I can’t be weak like that anymore. Everyone is counting on me.”
“That’s not weakness, Bella,” he said strongly, trying to make her listen. “That’s just loving someone so much, you need to go away for a while inside to cope. You fought your way back to Zoe. To your sisters. And you can do it as many times as you have to—no one believes you’re weak.”
She shrugged, a sob in her throat. “I never wanted to run a million-dollar business like Avery or travel the world and be an artist like Taylor. I just wanted my own home, children, and Matt. I was the simple one. But Matt was worried about money, so he took this job in AC and had to do a lot of commuting. I kept telling him it wasn’t important, but Zoe was a baby, and he wanted so much for us.”
“I bet he was stubborn.”
“Oh yes, Zoe’s so like him. But very kind. Do you know he wasn’t that big of a guy? He got called Shorty a lot in high school before he sprouted senior year. Anyway, he saw this Hispanic boy getting beat up on the school grounds, and he grabbed this big stick and started smacking those bullies on the back of their heads. They got so pissed. They turned on Matt, but he was fast, so he got away. The school heard about it and started calling Matt ‘Gump’ in the hallways, so he joined the track team. The next year, he scored a whole bunch of medals and got offered a scholarship for cross-country.”
He cocked his hip, settling in. “You were seriously dating then?”
“Oh yeah, we were crazy about each other since junior high. We hooked up officially when we were in freshman year because my mom wouldn’t let me have a boyfriend until then. I followed him to college, and we both graduated. Got married and moved back home to see if we could stay close to our families. We were so happy when we got pregnant. I was young, and technically it wasn’t the best time since we were just starting out, but God, we were so excited.”
He was afraid to ask his next question, but that same gut instinct urged him forward. Somehow, getting her to open up today was important. He didn’t know why or how he knew, it was just a sense he needed to follow. “What happened the day he died, Bella?”
Her shoulders jerked. She raised her hand and pressed her palm against the window where no light streamed through. “It was a gloomy day, just like this. Matt was heading home from a job in AC, but he’d gotten off early. We were going to order Chinese takeout and watch a movie. So simple, but I couldn’t wait. Zoe made me tired, and I craved some downtime with Matt. I remember it was past six, and I was annoyed. I kept texting him, wondering if he’d hit traffic or got out late. He didn’t answer. I remember Zoe was cranky and crying, and I was in a bad mood, and I thought of all the ways I was going to show him I was mad when he got through the door. And then my doorbell rang and there were two policemen standing there.”
She paused, and he waited her out, not wanting to break the fragile thread between them.
“You know, it was just like in the movies. They were in their uniforms, wearing somber expressions. Asked if I was Mrs. Caldwell. Said there’d been an accident. I got ready to grab Zoe and get to the hospital, but when I asked over and over if he was okay, they just looked at me like they’d probably looked at a million other people before and said Matt was dead. I couldn’t believe it. Kept wishing it was a bad dream or a prank, but they stayed there, and I don’t remember much after that.”
Her hand dropped. She turned around and stared at him from across the