“Jackpot!” Matty yelled. “I call ‘finders’ keepers’!” We both dropped to the floor and started grabbing at the notes.
“No way,” I yelled back. “Hands off! Those are private property!” We were laughing but inside I was mortified. What was in those notes? I honestly could not remember, but I was sure I had written down plenty of embarrassing information in them so many years ago. I knew I’d saved notes from as far back as the sixth grade. No way was I going to let anyone see them, much less Matty.
“Hey, what’s this?” Matty asked as he picked up a white envelope from amongst the pile of papers. “It has my name on it.”
In that moment, time stopped. I had not seen that envelope in sixteen years. I suddenly remembered that, after once keeping it hidden in a dresser drawer, I had buried it in the bottom of the box containing the notes when I left for college. I had not been able to send it to Matty when I had written it, and I could not dare give it to him now.
“Nothing. That’s nothing,” I snapped at him as I snatched the envelope out of his hand. “It was just a going-away card I bought you. But I ended up giving you a different one, remember?”
“Yeah, I remember. But…well, can I see that one?” Matty asked as he reached out his hand. “It is addressed to me, after all,” he said with a smile, clearly thinking I was just joking around.
I turned away and stuffed the envelope back into the bottom of the shoebox before quickly scooping up the rest of the notes from the floor and putting the lid back on. I pushed the box towards the wall so that my body was blocking it from Matthew’s reach. “Matty, I’m asking you to drop it, okay?” And with that, I turned around and gave him a pleading look. “Please?”
Matty was clearly taken aback, but relented as he could see the seriousness in my face. If I were him, I would have been dying to open the letter, too. But I just could not bear for him to read it. Not now. Not ever.
“It’s okay. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you,” he said, sincerely. “Hey, let’s just forget it, all right? Besides, I’m getting hungry; aren’t you going to feed me?”
And with that, we both stood up and headed back downstairs to rummage through the leftovers in my fridge. I was still pretty full from lunch, so Matty finished the other half of my sandwich and I told him to help himself to the snacks in the pantry. The letter was quickly forgotten about as we fell back into catching up. I fed the dogs while Matty did up all the dishes we had used that day. As he was finishing drying the last of the glasses, his cell phone buzzed.
“Oh, that’s work,” he said, pulling his phone out of his back pocket. “I have it on a special ring tone so that I know when it’s them. Please excuse me a sec,” he said before answering his cell. “Matthew Boyd. Yes. Uh-uh, okay, I got it. Yeah, I will be there first thing in the morning. I’ll take a ride share there, but I would like to pick up a rental in the city. Can you arrange for one to be delivered to Miller Sports Foundation in Lincoln? I’ll text you the model I’m thinking of. Great, thanks, Suzanne. I’ll talk to you tomorrow after the meeting. Bye.”
“Ugh, I totally forgot I had to work while I was here,” Matthew sighed. “Fortunately, my assistant, Suzanne, keeps me on track. I hate meetings, especially ones where I have to schmooze. Tomorrow is all about kissing butt!”
“Well, glad that’s your job and not mine as I don’t possess very strong butt kissing skills,” I said with a laugh. “Hey, I know you have an early morning tomorrow, so how about I take you back to your hotel?”
“I really hate to leave, but I guess you’re right,” Matty said as he finished tidying up the kitchen. I was impressed; he had matured, after all. I wouldn’t need to get out my hand-held vacuum to clean up after him.
“So,” Matty said as we headed towards the front door, his hands full of the pictures I’d given him, “my meeting will last into the afternoon tomorrow. Could I take you to dinner tomorrow night? As you heard, I am getting a rental car. I’d love to take you out someplace really nice, Leah.”
“Oh, nice dinner? I’ll take it!” I said, smiling. I pulled out an empty manilla folder from my briefcase, which was by the door, so that Matty could put his pictures into it.
“Don’t give me any recommendations,” he said. “I’m going to figure out the details myself. I want to surprise you, show you that thirty-two-year-old Matthew can plan events better than sixteen-year-old Matty could.”
“Well, Lakeview isn’t too big, so it shouldn’t be much of a challenge,” I said with a reassuring smile. “Whatever you come up with will be fine by me. I’ll take any opportunity not to cook.”
We headed out to my car and got in, continuing to chat on the drive back to The Roosevelt. Soon enough we were pulling into the parking lot. Matty promised to text me when he was done with his meeting tomorrow to give me the time he would be picking me up at. “I’ll probably get to your place around six, but I’ll let you know for sure, okay? I want to give you plenty of time to get all dolled up for me.”
I burst out laughing. “Dolled up for you? Are you serious? I’m tempted to just wear jeans and a tank top now.”
“No, I am very serious, Leah,” Matty said with a deadpan
