Tere Michaels - Faith, Love & Devotion 4 - Cherish by Tere Michaels

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

Chapter Nine

“Excuse me,” Matt said as soon as Miranda ran past and up the stairs. He gave Katie a glance as he stood up. She slid into his spot on the chair, her smile bright and animated.

“Did you guys have to go to school for that? To own a nursery?” she asked politely, and Jesus, Matt was putting so much extra money in her account next month…

He walked into the kitchen and found exactly what he was expecting, Evan standing in the middle of the floor, looking devastated and hopelessly lost.

“Baby?” It was a multitude of questions in one—are you okay? Can I do anything? What do you need?—and Evan responded by pulling Matt into a tight embrace as soon as he was close enough. But even as Matt slid his arms around him, he felt his lover tense up.

“What?” he asked, mouth against Evan’s ear. Evan shook his head, clinging tighter, tension vibrating his entire body.

The doorbell rang in the other room. ”I’ll get it!” Elizabeth yelled, loud enough for everyone in the house to hear.

“Helena and Shane I’m guessing, unless it’s the men in the white coats,” Matt whispered, stroking the back of Evan’s neck. “I’ll go say hey. You get busy with the food, and I’ll keep everyone out of the way.” He kept adding words, hoping that one of them would stop the shuddering of the man in his arms.

Evan nodded, pushing his way out of Matt’s embrace clumsily. When he looked up at Matt, his face was etched with grief.

“I love you. You know that, right?” he asked, soft and sad.

“Of course.” There was no sarcasm there, not in that moment. Matt could feel Evan’s conflict and his retreat into bad memories and painful places.

They stood like that for a long second, a tableau of anxiety, until Evan turned away.

Matt paused but didn’t stop himself from leaving the kitchen.

As if by telepathy, Helena and Shane filled the quiet of the living room with happy chatter. Shane loved an audience, and he didn’t mind pulling out the “well, I’m a Broadway playwright” card for a new crowd. He told a few animated stories about opening nights and celebrity gossip, all of which reduced the tension in the room from code red to politely strained. Matt had never loved Shane more.

He refilled drinks and tried to be unobtrusive, even as everyone attempted to catch his eye for some silent communication.

What’s wrong? They all wanted to know.

He thought that was obvious, but maybe not.

Evan came out a half hour later to request the kids come set the table. Kent cast a look upstairs to where Miranda had disappeared, and a small part of Matt was irritated with his youth and indecision.

“Why don’t you go up and let Miranda know it’s almost time to eat,” he said finally.

Kent looked grateful as he cast a sideways glance to his parents, who didn’t seem all that impressed with Miranda’s disappearing act.

The younger generation scattered as Helena and Shane continued to try and brook some sort of conversation with Blake and Cornelia.

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