“Not much for rental cars here,” he said, with a sniff. “This one’s a private car I had to rent.”
“Oh, do people do that?” she asked in amazement. “It seems a little off.”
“Well, when people need money,” he said, with a negligent shrug of his shoulders, “they’ll do almost anything. Including renting out their vehicle.”
“Interesting,” she said, not quite knowing what else to say to him because he had yet to clarify why he was here. So she just stood and waited, trying to use Mack’s patience strategy to get Mathew to blurt out something first.
He studied her for a long time. “You look different without all that makeup.”
“Well, I look like me,” she said, with a bright smile.
He nodded, and there was a seriousness to his tone, as he said, “I like it. It’s very fresh looking.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “You used to tell me how I looked tired and old without it.”
“And you did,” he said, with another sharp nod. “So, whatever you’re doing here has changed you.”
“At that, I can agree,” she said, with a bright laugh. “My life is very different, and I’m quite happy with it.”
He looked at Nan’s house, looked at the neighborhood, and shuddered.
“Nope, it’s definitely not for everyone,” she said, with a nod, “but I’ve made a place for myself.”
“But you could also unmake it,” he said. “It’s obviously not up to your standards.”
“It takes money to live up to the standards I used to live within, when we shared our home,” she said. “But you weren’t into sharing anything.”
“Of course not,” he said. “I earned the money. It’s mine.”
“Well, you didn’t earn it all on your own,” she said, glaring at him. She remembered what Mack and Nick had said. They were right. She had spent a lot of time helping him build that business. “Particularly when we first got married,” she said. “You didn’t have any big fancy businesses then.”
“Exactly, but I spent the marriage building them. You didn’t.”
“You mean, the marriage where I got to be this little arm candy and look pretty every day, all day, and talk to your business associates and dig out little bits of information from their wives?” she said, with a sniff. “It was all part of the business.”
“But it’s not like you were making any money. It’s not like you were doing any of the business work,” he pointed out. And then he held up a hand. “And I can see that you’ve probably had a tough time of it. I mean, look at where you’re living,” he said. “And I’d be more than happy to talk about a settlement.”
At that, she could feel a bolt of awareness go up and down her spine. “What settlement?”
“Well, I can see that the last few months have been rough on you,” he admitted. “And I should have had more compassion for where you’d have ended up.”
“Well, I think you were too busy looking at Robin’s booty,” she said, with a little tartness to her tone. “You two didn’t even wait till the ink was dry on the paperwork before she was in my bed.”
“No, that’s quite true. She worked her way in there very quickly,” he muttered. “But it’s over between us.”
“Nice,” she said, with a shrug, wondering at his wording. Did he not know she was dead? “And I care about that, why?”
“Because your bed is empty again,” he said. He looked at her with a manufactured, boyishly appealing expression. “And I’d like you to come back and to give us another chance.”
At that, she stared at him, truly shocked. “What?”
“You heard me,” he said. “I’d like you to come back. I’d like us to try us again.”
“Why would you want that?” she asked, stunned. Was he just throwing out ideas to confuse her? Why would he mention a settlement and her returning, unless the return idea was just to get out of paying her settlement money. She looked at him, and, although she could see that he’d gotten a little seedier, a little chunky, and a little older, she didn’t see that he was any more truthful, any more open, or the slightest bit honest, which is what she would much prefer at this point in time. “I mean, let’s face it. You dumped me for her, so you’ll just do it again with some other broad.”
“Of course not,” he said. “What being around Robin showed me was that she wasn’t you.”
“Well, she would never be me,” she muttered. “And you made it very clear that you were looking for a much younger bride.”
He winced. “Well, let’s just say, I had it, and it wasn’t as good as the old comfortable one I owned.”
At that, she glared at him. “Owned?”
“Okay, that’s not the right way to put it,” he backtracked, holding up his hand, “and I certainly don’t want to upset you. Can we maybe go for a coffee somewhere?”
She hesitated because the last thing she wanted to do was spend any time with him. But what wasn’t coming across with his coffee offer was anything fake or put on about him. So what was he up to? “And yet you just said you wanted me to come back. I’m still really confused. Not to mention your talk of a settlement.”
“Well, I thought maybe, if we spent a little more time together, it would help both of us realize we want to get back together again.”
She shook her head. “Like I said on the phone, why would I want to get back together again with you? As soon as I thought I was secure again, you would dump me.” Then she stopped, looked at him, and said, “You do know that Robin is dead, right?”
His face turned somber. “I did hear that,” he said softly. “Such a great waste.”
“In what way?”
He looked at her in surprise. “Well,
