All Your Loving (Bachelors & Bridesmaids) (13 page)

"He's good," she whispered to Matt.

Matt's lips tightened at her words. "He can be good after he goes to class and does his homework."

"He's not a little kid anymore," she couldn’t help reminding him.

"He is to me."

When David finished playing, the room burst into applause.

David thanked everyone for listening and then set his guitar down and stood up. Women instantly surrounded him. It was another twenty minutes before he made his way across the room. By that time, Matt was literally seething with impatience, but he'd decided not to confront David until he was done with his fans.

David stopped abruptly when he saw Matt. There was instant tension between them.

"We need to talk," Matt said firmly.

"You shouldn't have come down here," David replied. "I'm busy."

"Give me ten minutes. You owe me that."

David hesitated and a silent battle went on between the two men. Finally David nodded and waved them toward a newly abandoned table. Since David had finished playing, the room had cleared out.

"This is Julie," Matt said. "My brother David."

"I really enjoyed your playing," she said. "You're really good."

"Thanks." David let out a sigh as he faced his older brother. "Say what you have to say."

"Connor told me you want to drop out of school."

"I'm thinking about it."

"It's a bad idea, David. Being in college is just a few years out of your life, but they are years that are really hard to complete later on in life. You need to finish school now, before you have other responsibilities."

"You quit. You took a chance on the career you wanted," David reminded Matt.

"That was different. When I went pro, the Cougars agreed to pay all my college expenses if it didn't work out. If you leave, you have no backup. And I'm not going to support you unless you're in school."

"I can take care of myself," David replied. "No one asked you to support me."

Matt gave him a look of incredulousness. "Are you serious? You've been asking me for stuff your entire life. The car you drive—that came from me. The guitar you just played was last year's Christmas present."

David frowned. "Well, if you want to count gifts…"

"I don't want to count anything. I want you to stay in school, get a degree, and then if you want to pursue music, fine."

"I don't see the point of wasting time in classes that aren't going to get me anywhere."

"You're getting an education and a degree. That's important."

"To you," David muttered.

"It will matter to you one day, too. At least promise me you'll finish out the year before you make any decisions."

David stared back at him. "All right. I'll finish out the year. But I don't know about next year. I have some opportunities in music I want to explore. And I think you would have turned pro even if you hadn't had backup," David added. "You love what you do. Don't you think I should be able to have the same feeling?"

"Of course. But you have to be practical, too. Music equipment, recording, costs money."

"I'm not an idiot, Matt. I am going to Stanford after all, and while you might pay my tuition, it was my grades that got me in here. Let's not forget that."

"I know you're a smart kid. I just don't know why you're acting so stupid right now."

Julie winced a little at Matt's sharp words, but David just laughed. "You only think I'm stupid because I don't agree with you. And if anyone is being stupid, it's Connor. Getting married after three months of dating someone he only sees like twice a week. Now that is crazy."

"I don’t disagree. Did you tell him that?"

"Yeah, but he doesn't listen to me. You're the only one who has any influence over him."

"I doubt that. He laughed at me. He told me I didn’t know what love was."

"Well, that's probably true. Look, I gotta go, Matt. I actually do have to work on a paper for school."

"Go," Matt said waving his hand in the air. "But promise me you will talk to me before you drop out of school or make any other big decisions."

"You'll be busy once the season starts."

"I can answer the phone. And if I'm tied up, I'll call you back.

David rolled his eyes. "Fine, but no one calls anymore. I'll text you if I need you." He looked at Julie. "Nice to meet you."

"You, too," she murmured. As David left, she said to Matt, "That seemed to go pretty well."

"Did it?" Matt sighed. "David tends to tell me what I want to hear and then does whatever the hell he wants."

She smiled at his irritated tone. "Stubborn independence seems to be a family trait. You just have to find a way to let go—like the mama bird."

"The problem isn't me kicking David out of the nest. He wants to fly; I just think he's going to fall on his face. He needs to be better prepared before he leaves school. He's being stupid. Don't you agree?"

"I honestly don't know. I think degrees are important. It's hard to get good jobs without one. On the other hand, your brother is really talented. I can see why he's torn."

"It's so impossibly difficult to make it in the music business."

"I'd say the odds are even bigger for someone to make it as a professional baseball player, so I don't think you can really talk to your brother about odds."

"I know. I'm not the best example for this situation. Maybe I'll call Claire and get her to talk to David. She might be able to get through to him."

"You're a good brother, Matt. One day I'm sure you'll be a good father and not just a surrogate father."

A strange look flitted through his eyes. "I don't know about that," he muttered.

"What do you mean?" she asked, surprised by his words.

"I don't know if I want to have kids."

"Really? But you're so connected to your family."

"Exactly. I'm too connected. In some ways, I already feel like I raised a family or that I'm still raising them, and I'm not doing that good of a job."

"But these are your siblings. Your kids would be yours. You'd be there from the beginning."

"I was there for the beginning of my siblings' lives," he argued.

"But you were a little kid. Connor is only three years younger. Of course he's not going to listen to you. And David and Claire see you as their brother, not their dad. They had a dad, apparently a really good one."

"He was good, but I told you that David doesn't even remember him. I try to keep him alive in everyone's memories, but as time goes on, it's not that easy."

She liked that he tried to keep his dad alive. And she liked how much he cared about his brothers and sister and mom. But she didn't really like the thought of him not wanting kids.

Not that it should matter to her. She wasn't going to be his wife. She wasn't going to have to worry about that decision. Still…

"Don't you think you'd miss out if you didn't have children of your own?" she asked.

"Like I said, I've done a lot of the parenting stuff." He paused. "It sounds like you really want kids, Julie."

"I do. I love children. And I was an only child, so I was always jealous of people who had big families. Not that I wasn't spoiled with attention from my mom, but it would have been nice to have a sibling, especially after my dad left. So, yes, I do want kids some day. I'm not in a hurry. But I work with a lot of kids, and I just know that at some point in my life, I'm going to want a family." She paused, thinking that their opposing feelings about kids were just another reason why she and Matt had no future together. That thought shouldn't have been as depressing as it was. "So what now?" she asked. "I think you promised me dinner somewhere."

"I did." He straightened in his chair, pulling himself out of the contemplative mood he'd sunk into. "But I have to confess something first."

"What's that?" she asked warily.

"David isn't the only one I'm ambushing tonight. My friend Gary and his wife invited us to dinner, and they live about fifteen minutes from here."

"You want me to go to dinner with your friends?"

"I had dinner with your friends."

"Then why be cagey about it? Wait. Gary—is that Gary Hartman, the Cougars' all-star centerfielder?"

"That would be the one," he admitted. "Gary and Connie have been friends of mine for a long time. I'd love for you to meet them, but there will be baseball talk. I could say there wouldn't be, but I'd be lying. With spring training starting in a week, it's going to come up. If you don't want to go, I will call them and beg off."

"That would be rude. You should have told me, Matt. You claim to be an honest person, but you didn't act that way tonight."

"I know. I just didn't want you to say no, and I figured once we got there—"

"I'd cave," she finished.

"I can drive you back to the city. It's not really that big of a deal. I'll see them another night."

"No, I'll go with you," she said. Getting involved with Matt's baseball life wasn't her first choice, but she could handle it, and deep down she was a little curious to meet his friends. "But you're going to owe me, Matt."

"I'm sure I will," he said with a grin. "Just let me know when you want to collect."

"I will definitely do that."

* * *

As Matt rang the bell at the Hartman's two-story house, Julie felt a little nervous, and she didn't really know why. It shouldn't matter what the Hartmans thought of her. She'd probably never see them again after tonight.

Matt gave her a smile and slipped his hands into hers, squeezing her fingers. "They're going to love you. And I think you'll enjoy them, too."

"Are you reading my mind?"

"Maybe just your tension."

The door opened, and Julie found herself looking at a petite busty woman with dark red hair that fell down to her waist and a pair of curious brown eyes. After introductions, Connie gave Matt a hug and then turned to Julie.

"It's so nice to meet you, Julie. Come in." She grabbed Julie's hand and pulled her into the house. "Gary is getting the barbecue going. Why don't you help him, Matt? Julie and I will get acquainted."

"Julie?" Matt questioned, a gleam of concern in his eyes.

"I'll be fine. I'm more worried about dinner if you're going to be helping Gary cook," she said lightly.

Both Connie and Matt laughed. Connie looked at Matt. "I see she knows how good you are in the kitchen."

"Unfortunately, she does."

"Well, Gary can grill. What he can't seem to do is get the propane tank hooked up to the new barbecue."

"I'm on it," Matt said, as he headed down the hall.

"Let's go into the kitchen," Connie said. "I'll get you some wine, and you can tell me how you met Matt."

"As long as I get the wine first, I'm happy to answer questions."

"A girl after my own heart."

Connie led Julie into a beautiful gourmet kitchen.

"Wow, this is amazing," she said, looking around at the endless granite countertops and sparkling appliances.

"I designed it myself," Connie said proudly. "We've spent the last year redoing the house and we're finally done—just in time, too. Red or white wine?"

"Red is fine. In time for what?" she asked as Connie poured her a glass of wine.

Connie's eyes sparkled. "Well, I wasn't going to say anything until later, but I'm pregnant."

"That's wonderful. Congratulations."

"We're really excited. I'm not quite three months yet, and I shouldn't be shouting it to the rooftops, but I can't seem to stay quiet about it. Have a seat," she said, waving Julie toward one of the stools at the counter. "We can chat while I finish the salad. I have to tell you that I was really surprised when Matt told me he was bringing a woman to meet us. He hasn't introduced us to anyone in a couple of years. How did you two meet?"

"I work for the California Children's Foundation. I asked Matt to participate in our Celebrity Cook-Off next Sunday."

"So you're the one who got him to do that. Matt insisted that Gary and I buy tickets. How could we resist? The idea of Matt cooking in front of a crowd is just too incredible to pass up." Connie paused. "But since I now know you know he can't cook, what on earth is he going to make?"

"I taught him how to make scallops and risotto. I think he can replicate it, but we'll see. The hotel banquet kitchen has the recipe, and they'll be providing the food for everyone but the contest judges, so at the very least Matt will not poison the entire room."

"Thank goodness for that," Connie said, as she sliced some tomatoes and threw them into a salad. "So are you two a couple?"

"I wouldn't say that. We're…" She actually did not know how to finish the sentence. "Friends," she finished somewhat weakly.

Connie shot her a look that told her she wasn't buying that for a second. "Matt said you were important."

"Really? That's the word he used."