Lavinia Lewis - Too Many Chances by Lavinia Lewis

Author:Lavinia Lewis [Lewis, Lavinia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

“This is Lizzie, she likes chocolate,” Hope said, straightening out the ball gown on a much-played-with Barbie. She thrust the doll at Matt and picked up another.

James turned to gauge Matt’s reaction. He had a bemused look on his face, but James couldn’t blame him. Both of James’ sisters had kids, so he’d had several years to get used to children and their tireless games, but Matt had been thrown in at the deep end. Despite being way out of his element he was taking Hope’s unwavering attention in his stride.

“Does she?” Matt asked. “I hope you’ve told her too much chocolate is bad for her.”

Hope cocked her head to the side. “I tried, but I don’t think she believes me,” she said in the high-pitched voice James had always found endearing. “Maybe if you told her.”

James chuckled as Matt lifted the doll and waggled his finger in front of its face. “If you eat any more chocolate and lose that smoking body of yours, you’re going to regret it,” he said.

Hope giggled and James snorted, nearly choking on his pretend cup of tea.

“Should it bother me you’re noticing the figure of a female doll?”

Matt grinned. “Anything to keep you on your toes.”

It was good to see Matt smile. James knew how much losing his father was weighing on Matt and, although he was putting on a brave face, he had to be hurting. Matt and his father had had a good relationship once, right up until the time Hank had lost his wife. Matt’s mom had been a warm, caring woman who was full of love. It flowed out of her every pore, consuming everything in its path. You couldn’t help but feel good around her, like you knew you were in the presence of someone special. Hank never did recover from her death. It seemed he didn’t know how to cope without her and had no interest in learning how.

The funeral was taking place in three days. James had been doing his best to keep Matt occupied in the week up until the big day so he wouldn’t dwell on what was coming. Maria had gone on another date and James had roped Matt into babysitting with him, although from the look on his face he didn’t seem to mind at all. While Hope was rummaging through her toy chest trying to find a new outfit for one of her dolls, James reached out and put a hand on Matt’s knee.

“You’re good with kids,” he said, nodding to Hope. “You ever think about having any of your own?”

Matt shrugged. “Not really. I like kids. I just never thought I’d get the opportunity. You?”

“Same, I guess. Providence is not exactly the type of place you could adopt and raise kids, you know?”

“Why not? It’s as good a place as any.”

James snorted. “You haven’t lived here in the past ten years.”

Matt furrowed his brow. “What do you mean? What’s wrong with it here?”

James chose his words carefully. “There’s nothing wrong with it, exactly.

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