“I like that idea. You can always stay for dinner too.” He chuckled and her lips curved into a smile at the sound. He had the ability to make even her dullest day bright again when she was a gangly teenager, and she doubted that would have changed. How he’d remained a widow all these years baffled her. Women went weak at the knees when he spoke. “I’ll make sure we have a stash of marshmallows for the s’mores and light the fire out in the yard just like we used to do for you and the gang.”
“The kids will love it. Thank you.”
“Glad you’re back, April. We can use you around here. Missed your smiling face all these years.”
And she’d missed him too. She’d missed all of them more than it was safe to admit.
“I can’t wait to catch up too. Bye now.” April disconnected the call and sat with her hands in her lap. A sailboat skimmed past the ferry coming in from the mainland and tacked out toward open water, its sails billowing in the breeze. She sat and watched the ferry dock. The passengers began to get off and set about discovering Hope Island. A truck piled high with lumber followed a line of cars and she watched it pull over and park beside the ferry office.
“Sitting here won’t get you a home, April. Move it and stop daydreaming.” She slid off the seat and checked her purse for money. A walk down to the real estate office would clear her head, giving her the incentive to get the ball rolling. She had a job, the children were in school, and now all they needed was a home of their own.
Who was she kidding? It would take more than that, but at least it would be a start. Forgiving herself would go a long way to making her feel better. Perhaps one day she would. April shut the door to her room and skipped down the stairs. Matt walked out of the laundry with a pile of fluffy white towels in his arms. “Talking to yourself again, April? You know nothing good will come of it, right?”
She batted him on the shoulder, used to his smart remarks. He was one of them few people she felt at ease with. “At least I already know the answers.” The twinkle in his warm brown eyes made her giggle. “You are such a tease. Listen, I’m heading down to check out a couple of rentals. I’ll collect the kids from school and be back later this afternoon. Anything you want me to pick up while I’m out?”
He thought for a moment. “Nope. Can’t think of a single thing unless you come across a cute little blonde that wants to help me clean rooms and fold sheets, then keep me warm at night. Grab her.”
“Mattie, all the girls love you. Gosh, I remember how they followed you around at school. It used to drive your brother’s insane. Those sexy eyes and that facial hair you’re sporting now must be a magnet for the ladies.”
He snorted, stroking a hand over the long, perfectly groomed dark beard. “Sure. So sexy that I can’t seem to get a date these days. The only people I see apart from customers are tradespeople trying to sell me stuff. I have to live my life through my family’s escapades.”
“Really?”
He sighed. “No, not really. And before you ask, Drew isn’t dating anyone that I know of, okay?”
Was she so transparent? “I wasn’t going to ask.”
Matt put a hand around her shoulder and pulled her close. “I know you weren’t, but the question was in your mind, wasn’t it?”
“Maybe.” It shouldn’t matter but it did.
“The only one dating is Gigi from what I can gather. And we don’t want to go there anyway.” He gave a dramatic shudder which made April burst out laughing. “Nobody wants to even imagine geriatric sex.”
“That is so mean! Your aunt deserves to have a life after all she’s done, and I’d hardly call her old yet.”
Matt placed the towels on a side table. “Oh, I know it. After putting up with us all these years, she should have her own romance, but she won’t leave Dad on his own. Says he’ll miss her and I reckon he would too. She makes do with ‘little painting trips away’ as she calls them, for a night or two. I have the feeling there’s more horizontal tango than painting involved in those adventures.”
“It seems funny that she’s been with you since your brothers Snow and Linc were born. And seems very happy where she is, according to Aggie. I can’t imagine life without her.”
“Me either and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Best surrogate mother we could have had. We all love her to pieces.”
“I don’t blame you. She certainly soothed enough of my childhood moments to win my undying love too. Can’t wait to catch up with her.” April gave Matt a tight squeeze and let him go. “Right, I must get going. See you later.” She walked out the front door and paused on the top step, breathing in the fresh sea air. Gosh, she’d missed it.
“Don’t forget the cute blonde.”
When she turned around, Matt stood leaning on the door frame, the goofy smile she loved on his face.
“I’ll do my best.” April headed down the hill for the town center, ready for her house hunting adventure to begin. It only took her ten minutes to walk to the real estate office.
Once she was seated at the desk, it didn’t take long to put forward her request.
“We have a couple that might suit you, April.” Jeff Billings turned the computer screen around to show her. They’d been in different grades at school, but knew each other as most of the permanent people on the island did. “There’s this little house a street back from the school. Three bedrooms, one and a half baths, and a decent back
