Love Enough For Two (Love Inspired) (12 page)

Matt brushed his lips against her cheek, the skin soft and smooth and as warm as the sun. “Penny for your thoughts?”

She shook her head and a hint of pink that had nothing to do with the sun colored her cheeks. “It’s silly.”

He nibbled on her ear and she jerked away, the pink turning to red.

“Matt, stop it,” she ordered. “Someone might see you.”

He lifted his hand and with one finger gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Then tell me what you were thinking.”

A knowing look filled her eyes. “Do you always find a way to get your way?”

He grinned. “Usually.”

“You’re incorrigible.”

“Enough of the compliments,” Matt said. “Tell me what made you smile.”

“It was God’s promise to Abraham,” she said quickly before his mouth had a chance to make it to her neck.

He lifted a skeptical eyebrow. “Are you making this up?”

“When I looked up at the sky, it reminded me of when I was a little girl,” she said. “Only then I was looking at a night sky filled with stars.”

He still didn’t get the connection yet, but he could see she was working toward an explanation, so he nodded and waited for her to continue.

“I looked up and said to my mother, or—” she paused thoughtfully “—maybe it was a friend, doesn’t this remind you of God’s promise to Abraham?”

Now, she’d really lost him. “God’s promise to Abraham?”

She nodded. “You know, that your children shall number as many as the stars in the sky.”

Once again, the picture that Matt had formed in his mind of Stella, didn’t jive with the woman Sierra described.

“It had to be a friend you said that to,” Matt murmured.

Sierra shrugged then smiled. “I told you it wasn’t that interesting.”

Matt grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips. “I find everything you say fascinating.”

“You do?” Her hand trembled beneath his lips and Matt smiled in satisfaction.

“Say something,” he urged. “And I guarantee I’ll be mesmerized.”

“You want to talk?” Her voice came out in a husky croak that stirred Matt’s senses.

“I’d like to do other things,” he said, nipping the soft flesh of her knuckles before pulling his lips away. “But this is a little too public and if I’m not mistaken, Sara Michaels is ready to take the stage.”

Sierra shifted her gaze to the stage, to the leggy blonde standing off to the side, waiting to be introduced.

She clasped Matt’s hand. “I’m so glad you came with me. You’re going to love her.”

He met her gaze and a strange tightness gripped his heart, the words he spoke coming from deep within. “I already do.”

I
already do.

Even as Sara Michaels took the stage and the singer’s sweet voice filled the air, the words echoed in Matt’s mind.

He loved Sierra and with each passing moment it was getting harder not to confess that love.

His gaze shifted to her, but she was too engrossed in the performance to notice his scrutiny. He let his gaze linger. Everything he saw he liked. Unlike many of the women he’d dated in the past, Sierra was genuine. Someone he could trust.

His arm tightened around her and she looked up at him, her eyes gleaming like emeralds.

“Isn’t this so much fun?” she asked, casting a quick glance at the stage to make sure she wasn’t missing anything. “I told you she was fabulous.”

Despite knowing a large contingent of her congregation was nearby, Matt couldn’t resist. She looked so beautiful gazing up at him with such happiness in her eyes that he had to do it. He leaned over and kissed her full on the lips.

“What was that for?” she asked when he’d finished, her breath rapid, her eyes even more glittery.

“It’s because
you’re
fabulous,” he said. “It’s because I—”

Before he could get the words out, she surprised him by flinging her arms around his neck and kissing him, the intensity of her response taking him by surprise.

“Wow,” he said. “What was that for?”

She smiled and cupped his face in her hands. “Because I think you’re fabulous, too.”

His heart overflowed with emotion and Matt wanted nothing more than to confess his love right then and there. But then he remembered the surprise waiting for them at home and he bit back the words.

“Let’s go back to my house,” he said, meeting her gaze.

“Now?”

“As soon as she’s through performing,” Matt said in a low, husky voice taut with emotion. “There’s so much I want to say to you, so much I want—”

“There’s something I have to say to you, too.”

The audience applauded and Sierra rose to her feet. “Let’s go.”

She wondered what he wanted to say to her. Though she was curious, she knew it wouldn’t be nearly as important as what she had to say to him.

Sierra smoothed the skirt of her dress while Matt folded the blanket into a perfect square. She liked the way he operated, with neat precision. With Matt what you saw was what you got.

What if he hates me for lying to him? Her heart clenched.

He took her hand and met her gaze. “Ready?”

She nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

“Sierra.”

Sierra turned and saw Carl striding toward her through the crowd. Matt must have seen him at the same time because his hand tightened around hers.

She wasn’t surprised that when Carl drew close, Matt released her hand and looped his arm around her shoulders in a deliberately possessive gesture.

“I’m glad I found you,” Carl said, his face red with exertion. “Your mother has been trying to reach you.”

Sierra’s heart stopped. It wasn’t so much Carl’s words as the look on his face. She took a step forward, her hand reaching out to touch the minister’s arm, icy fingers of dread creeping up her spine. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s Maddie,” he said. “There’s been an accident.”

Sierra swayed and would have fallen if Matt hadn’t put a steadying arm around her waist.

“What kind of accident?”

“It seems she had a little run-in with a car,” Carl said trying to joke, but failing miserably. Though she could tell he was trying to be reassuring, Sierra could see a flicker of fear in his eyes.

“But she’s okay, isn’t she?” Her voice was shrill and several people turned to stare, but Sierra didn’t care. Her baby had to be okay. She couldn’t live if something happened to Maddie.

Dear God, please help Maddie. Please take care of her. Please let her be okay.

Sierra swiped at the tears streaming down her face with the back of her hand, her entire attention focused on Carl.

“She’s okay, isn’t she, Carl?” Sierra repeated.

“Honey—” Matt tried to take her arm, but she pushed him away.

“Carl, tell me Maddie is okay,” Sierra demanded, desperation lacing her tone.

“Of course she is,” Carl said in a soothing tone. “Everyone knows Santa Barbara General has the best doctors.”

“Hospital. Doctors.” Black dots flashed before Sierra’s eyes, but she took a deep breath and determinedly forced away the impending darkness. Later, when she was alone she would fall apart. Not now. Not when Maddie needed her.

“Let me take you to the hospital.” Carl stepped closer and took Sierra’s arm.

“I’ll take her to the hospital,” Matt said firmly and Carl paused, shifting his gaze to Sierra.

“Matt will take me.” Sierra nodded convulsively and swallowed a sob. “But you’ll be there, too, won’t you, Carl?”

“I’ll meet you there,” Carl said.

“Thank you,” Sierra whispered, tears flooding her eyes. “Pray for her, Carl. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened….”

“She’ll pull through.” Carl patted her arm awkwardly. “And as far as the praying, I started that the minute I heard the news.”

“We need to get to the hospital,” Sierra said to Matt. “I have to see Maddie. I have to know she’s okay.”

They hurried to Matt’s car without speaking and it wasn’t until they were halfway to the hospital that Matt turned to her.

“Who is Maddie?” he asked, his voice filled with concern. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you speak of her.”

Sierra leaned back in her seat, the image of her daughter’s blond pigtails and infectious smile flashing before her, tearing at her heartstrings.

Dear God, please take care of my baby. She’s…

“Sierra?” Matt’s words broke into her supplication. “Who is Maddie?”

Dabbing at her tears with an already soaked paper napkin, Sierra lifted her eyes to his. “She’s my daughter.”

Matt had only been punched in the stomach once in his life. He’d been ten and he and his friend, Kevin Blanchard, had been goofing around. The air had shot from his lungs and his stomach had hurt like hell. He felt the same way now. “Daughter?”

Sierra nodded. “She’s four. And she’s the sweetest, most wonderful…”

Her voice broke and she turned her head toward the window as if embarrassed by her tears.

A daughter? She has a child? The knowledge that she’d deliberately hidden that fact stabbed him like a knife. He wanted to ask what else hadn’t she told him?

But there was a time and place for everything and this definitely wasn’t the time for twenty questions. He couldn’t, wouldn’t, add to her stress. There would be time enough for answers later.

She didn’t have to tell him to go fast, his foot stomped heavily on the pedal and if there was even the slightest chance of making a light, he made it. They arrived at the hospital in record time.

The moment he pulled into the parking lot and stopped the car, Sierra was out the door and headed toward the front entrance. Matt had to run to keep up.

“I’m looking for Maddie Summers,” Sierra said to the clerk at the information desk. “She’s my daughter and she was hit by a car.”

The white-haired woman punched the name into the computer and the eyes behind the bifocals were kind when they rose to meet Sierra’s gaze. “She’s still in the emergency room. It’s down the hall—”

“I know where it is.” Sierra tossed the words over her shoulder as she raced down the hall.

Matt followed behind.

A trim stylish woman about fifty paced in front of the nurses’ station. Her eyes were red and puffy and what lipstick she may have put on, had long ago been chewed off.

“Where is she?” Sierra demanded, rushing up to the woman.

“In X ray,” the woman said, taking Sierra’s arm. “They think she might have a slight concussion.”

Sierra’s mouth opened and her hand rose to her mouth.

“She was unconscious when the paramedics brought her in,” the woman said in a reassuring tone, blinking back her own tears. “But she’s conscious now and I told her you’d be here soon.”

“So she knew you?” Sierra asked. “She talked to you?”

The woman nodded. “She wanted to know if we could go for ice cream.”

Sierra closed her eyes and lifted her face. “Thank you, Lord.”

“Praise to God, indeed,” the woman echoed. “It was a miracle she wasn’t hurt more seriously.”

“What happened?”

“She was playing out in the drive with her ball and it rolled into the street.” The woman’s face blanched just remembering. “She went after it. I called for her to stop, but she didn’t listen. When the car came…”

The woman shuddered and tears slipped down her cheeks.

“Mother, it’s not your fault.” Sierra wrapped her arms around the woman and pulled her close. “Not at all.”

Matt could only stare, wondering when he’d slipped into the twilight zone. First Sierra says she has a child, now she’s calling this woman, Mother? How could that be? Stella Carlyle was a blue-eyed blonde and this brunette had brown eyes.

The two women clung to each other for several heartbeats before separating, each of them sniffling.

“I knew you’d gone to the Praise Festival but I didn’t know how to get a hold of you,” the woman explained. “Then I saw Carl in the hall—he was here seeing a parishioner—and he said he’d find you.”

“He did,” Sierra said.

“Where is he?” The woman looked around, her gaze brushing right over Matt. “Didn’t he bring you?”

Sierra shook her head. “Matt brought me.”

Her mother’s puzzled gaze settled on him. “Matt?”

Sierra’s gaze shifted to him and it was as if she could sense his confusion. Her lips curved up in a sad smile.

“Matt, this is my mother, Peggy Summers,” she said. “Mother, this is my friend, Matt Dixon.”

“Dixon?” Peggy paused. “Any relation to Lawrence Dixon?”

Matt nodded. “He’s my father. Do you know him?”

Normally, when someone found out he was Dix’s son, they were excited. After all, Dix was a celebrity of sorts in the region. If they didn’t know him personally, they’d read of his exploits in the paper or seen him interviewed on the six o’clock news.

But Peggy didn’t seem excited, or even pleased. She cast her daughter a disapproving look. “
This
is the man you’ve been seeing? What is wrong with you?”

“Mother, Matt is nothing like his father,” Sierra said. “He—”

“You know my father?” Matt interrupted, casting Sierra a questioning look.

“She should,” Peggy interjected. “He represented her ex-husband in the divorce. Jerry should be in prison now, instead of walking the streets with law-abiding citizens. But your father—”

“Mother, that’s quite enough,” Sierra said sharply. “Not another word.”

Peggy shut her mouth, took a deep breath and shot Matt an apologetic look. “I’m sorry. The sins of the father don’t fall on the son. I know that.”

The woman wiped a trembling hand across her face. “This has just been the most trying day. Please forgive my rudeness.”

“I understand,” Matt said, though he didn’t understand at all.

When this was over, he and Sierra would have to sit down and have a long talk. And he would get to the bottom of what was really going on.

I
t was after nine by the time Sierra got Maddie back to their apartment and into bed. The CT scan had shown only a slight concussion and although she had lots of bumps and bruises, miraculously nothing was broken.

Sierra had been able to take her daughter home from the hospital, with strict instructions on symptoms to watch for in the next few days. Her mother had wanted to spend the night, but Sierra had sent her home, knowing if she stayed her mother would spend the night sitting at her granddaughter’s bedside, watching the little girl sleep.

Instead, Sierra thought, I’ll get to be the one watching her sleep and sending prayers of thanks heavenward. She leaned over and brushed a light kiss against the purple bruise on her daughter’s forehead.

Thank you, God.

Matt had left the hospital shortly after Carl had arrived, pronouncing her “in good hands.”

Matt had been polite, but distant, patting her on the shoulder when he’d said goodbye. She’d seen the hurt and confusion in his eyes. At the time there had been nothing she could do but let him go. Maddie was her focus, her priority and there’d been no time to give him the explanations he deserved.

But there was time now, and it wasn’t going to get any easier the longer she waited. She lifted the cordless from its base and, before she lost her nerve, quickly dialed his number.

He answered on the first ring.

“Matt,” she said. “It’s me.”

“How’s your daughter?” he asked, his tone one commonly reserved for strangers or casual acquaintances.

“Just a mild concussion and some bumps and bruises,” she said. “They let her come home.”

“I’m glad,” he said. “I could see how worried you were.”

Some of the warmth had returned to his voice and hope rose inside her.

“There’s so much I need to tell you,” she said. “So much I need to explain.”

“Yes, you do,” he agreed.

The coolness was back in his voice and the burgeoning hope faded.

“I’d rather explain in person,” she said. “And, I’d rather do it sooner than later. Could you come over?”

She held her breath, unsure of his reaction. At least he’d answered her call and had been civil. If she were in his place, she’d be livid.

“I can come over, but I don’t think I know where you live,” he said finally. “I’m guessing it’s not the house on Arrellaga.”

“No, it’s not,” Sierra said. “It’s the apartment you were at the other night. Don’t ring the bell. Just knock lightly and I’ll open the door.”

“I’ll be there in a half hour,” he said.

“Matt,” she said quickly before he hung up. “I’m sorry I lied to you.”

He paused for a long moment. “I’m sorry you did, too.”

To quell her nervousness, Sierra picked up the house while waiting for Matt to arrive. Because she’d always insisted that Maddie put away her toys after playing with them, the place wasn’t really messy. But she put the newspaper into the magazine rack, plumped up some pillows on the sofa and ran a dust rag across any bare surfaces. Then she put some tea on to brew.

The tea kettle had just started to whistle when she heard a light tapping at the door. She shut off the gas and transferred the tea kettle to another burner before moving to the door.

Her heart pounded in her chest and when she saw the grim look on his face through the peephole, whatever hope she’d had vanished.

With trembling hands, Sierra flipped the dead bolt, released the chain and opened the door.

“Come in.” She gestured him inside with one hand. “I just finished making some tea. Would you like some?”

He met her gaze, his blue eyes unflinching. “The only thing I want is answers.”

Apprehension skittered through her. Why had she ever agreed when Libby had proposed this crazy scheme? How could she have ever thought it would be fun?

“Have a seat,” Sierra said. “I’ll be glad to answer whatever questions you have.”

A half hour later, the lines between his eyebrows had deepened and if anything, he was even more cool and distant than he’d been when he’d walked through the door.

“Let me summarize.” He leaned forward and spread his fingers on the coffee table that stood between them. “In essence everything you told me was a lie. Everything that existed between us was a lie.”

“Not everything,” Sierra said, resisting the urge to reach out and comfort him and in turn, comfort herself. “I—”

“You lied about who you are, where you live, what you do,” he said, without giving her a chance to continue. “I realize now that I fell in love with someone who doesn’t exist.”

“You love me?” Sierra’s heart quickened. She extended her hand to him but he sat back, putting himself out of reach.

“Not you,” he said, the sad glint in his eyes softening the harshness of his tone. “The woman I thought you were.”

“But I am—”

He waved aside her protests. “I can’t tell you how many divorces I’ve done where the guy has told me he never really knew his wife. I’d always think, how could you
not
know her? You fell in love with the woman. You married her. Now, for the first time I understand how that could happen.”

“I’ve already explained,” Sierra said, sensing him slipping away but powerless to stop him. “Libby and I switched places just for fun. It was just a game. No one was supposed to get hurt.”

“A game?”

The condemnation she heard in his voice hit a nerve. She may have been the one most at fault, but he certainly wasn’t blameless.

“Don’t even try to tell me you weren’t playing your own little game,” Sierra said. “You weren’t looking for anything permanent, you told me that yourself. You wanted a summer romance, no strings attached. So what difference did it make that I was divorced with a child? I know what you wanted. You wanted me temporarily, not permanently in your life.”

He stared at her for a long moment. “You don’t know anything.”

Tears filled Sierra’s eyes and she angrily swiped at them with the back of her hand.

Matt rose from the chair, his face expressionless. “I need to be going.”

“Tell me you don’t hate me,” she said, rising to her feet, a touch of hysteria underlying her words. She could bear the thought of him not loving her, but not the thought of him hating her.

“I don’t hate you,” he said softly, his hand closing over hers.

When his warm flesh touched hers, it took all Sierra’s inner strength not to give in to a crazy urge to pull him close and beg him to stay.

Instead, she walked with him to the door in silence.

“Like you said, it’s probably good it ended now,” he said.

Though Sierra didn’t recall ever making that statement, she nodded her agreement.

She closed the door behind him. And not until she heard his footsteps head down the stairs did Sierra allow her heart to break.