One side of his mouth pulled up in that smirky smile of his. “Not always.”
“You’re right about that. Most people would expect you to be friendly to a cousin you’d just met, or at least polite to a house guest.”
He glanced away.
“Listen, Matt, I didn’t want to come here.”
“Then why did you?”
“Grandmother asked me to,” I replied.
“Do you always do what others ask?”
“Not always,” I said, giving him the same smirk he had given me a moment ago. “My father talked me into it. And I’m not brownnosing Grandmother-l’m not here for her money, if that’s what you’re worried about. Dad’s hoping I can heal things between Grandmother and Mom. I think he’s wrong, but, as it turns out, I’m glad I’m here.”
Matt remained silent.
“I believe in making the best of a situation,” I added. “Why do you keep trying to make the worst of it?”
He didn’t reply, just stared down at my face as if he were searching for something.
“Too bad you have such beautiful eyes.”
Seeing him blink, I realized I had said that aloud.
“You have no problem speaking your mind,” he replied, those eyes now bright with amusement.
I turned away from him. “Grandmother’s standing in the window, waiting for us to come in, and looking annoyed.”
I headed toward the porch and Matt followed.
“Good morning, Grandmother,” I greeted her as we entered the kitchen.
“Good morning, Megan. Matt, you’re up early for Sunday. I heard you come in before midnight last night. Were you ill?”
“No.”
“Well, for once, you can get a good start on your studying,” she remarked.
He nodded, strode over to the kitchen cupboard, and got out a glass.
She turned to me. “Megan, your mother has written that you’re an honor student. Perhaps you can help Matt.”
I saw Matt’s hand tighten around the glass and I shook my head. “No, he’s a year ahead of me.”
“But you’re taking Advanced Placement courses and getting straight A’s,” Grandmother insisted.
I looked at her, surprised. Apparently she had more contact with my mother than I’d realized.
“Matt, most definitely, is not getting A’s or even B’s,” she went on.
Why was she comparing us? I doubted it was grandmotherly pride in my achievements.
“He’s never been a good student,” she continued.
Matt poured juice in his glass, his face expressionless.
“Perhaps you can motivate him,” Grandmother added.
This wasn’t about motivation, it was a comparison aimed at making him dislike me even more than he already did.
“Thanks for letting me have dinner with Ginny,” I said, deliberately changing the subject.
Grandmother nodded and began eating her banana.
“She was impressed with the way you handled customers.
Matt, did you hear that Megan was offered a job?”
He kept his back to us as he returned the carton of juice to the refrigerator. “I saw her working yesterday.”
“Did you know she was asked to continue?”
“That’s nice,” he replied.
“I have wanted Matt to get a job since last spring.”
“Well,” I said lightly, “I can’t really see him selling purses and lace handkerchiefs.”
She didn’t smile and wasn’t diverted from her goal. “He claims he has enough to handle with athletics and school, and of course his social life. I suppose it’s my fault for continuing to give him money.”
I wasn’t getting into that. And I wasn’t going to allow her to play me against him.
“Anyone want a muffin?” I asked, retrieving the bag from the counter where I had left it last night. “They’re from Tea Leaves.”
Matt didn’t reply. Grandmother glanced at the bag, then lapsed into silence, sipping her coffee. Had she said her piece, or was she resting before unloading another round of antagonizing comments?
She washed her dishes, then walked over to the shelf where I had seen her put the Bible the day before. “Where is it?” she asked, turning quickly to us.
“Where’s what?” Matt asked casually and dropped a slice of bread in the toaster.
“My Bible.”
“It’s not on the shelf?” He craned his neck to look around her.
Her eyes bore down on me. “Which of you has taken it?”
“I haven’t touched it, Grandmother,” I said, surprised by her accusatory tone.
“And you know I never do,” Matt added.
“Someone moved it. I put it here last night. It is always here,” she insisted.
“Maybe you carried it into another room,” I suggested.
“I did not. I know what I’ve done and what I haven’t.
“But everybody misplaces things,” I reasoned with her. “I’ll look in the library.” It was an excuse to get away as much as a desire to help. She seemed bent on raising a fuss this morning, and I didn’t want any part of it.
I checked her desk first, then the tabletops and mantel.
Matt came in and began searching even more thoroughly, beneath tables and chairs, under a pile of magazines. I returned to the desk and tried to open the drawers, the ones he’d been looking through Friday night.
“They’re locked,” he said.
“Where’s the key?”
“I don’t know,” he replied. “Some things Grandmother tells no one.” Except you, I thought.
“The Bible wouldn’t be in there anyway,” he added.
“How would you know, if the desk is locked?”
His eyes met mine steadily. “I’ve seen the drawers open when she’s working. They’re full of junk. There’s no room for anything else.” He turned to survey the shelves of books.
“Are you sure you didn’t borrow it or put it away for her?”
“I’m sure.”
His eyes continued to travel over the volumes of books. “If she put it on one of these shelves, we’ll be lucky to find it.”
He was acting as if we had a major problem on our hands. “It’ll show up sooner or later,” I said. “And it it doesn’t, she can buy a new one-it’s still in print.”
He didn’t smile. “You look in the music room, I’ll search the parlor.”
I checked the room thoroughly; nothing but dust had settled there for a long time. I returned to the kitchen, figuring that Grandmother had found the book or decided it was not important.
She spun around when she heard me enter. “It is a sin to steal.”
“I know, Grandmother. The Ten Commandments are posted in my bedroom.”
She glared at me, then started pacing back and forth.
“We’ll find it,” I assured her. “Meanwhile, it’s Sunday. Is there a church service you like in town? I’d be glad to go with-”
“I don’t go to church,” she replied shortly. “I refuse to sit among the town hypocrites. As for the ministers these days, they can’t tell right from wrong.”
Matt returned. “Should I check your bedroom, Grandmother?”
