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It had sent him into a bit of a faith crisis.
It ended up being a good thing, because he had come out of it more grounded in his beliefs than he ever had before, but it had definitely changed him. He loved Nora and wouldn’t trade her for the world, but so many times he wished he could go back and do that summer over.
He would have had a lot more barriers up. He’d always kind of laughed when his mom had warned him about doing things that everyone else did. Kissing, holding hands, silly things that were totally innocent. Except, they led to other things that weren’t so innocent. And at some point, one had to draw the line. His mom had always suggested that he draw the line at not even starting, and then he didn’t have to wonder and worry about where to stop.
In hindsight, that advice was spot on.
But as a teen, he thought it was silly. He thought he knew what was right and what was wrong, and he wouldn’t have a problem making sure he only did what was right. Except, what was wrong was so tempting.
And he had been with a girl who didn’t have any compunctions at all about being intimate before marriage.
The warnings that his mom had given him about not dating girls that weren’t Christians had totally gone in one ear and out the other. It seemed a little judgy to only want to date people who believed the way he did. After all, that was cutting out about eighty percent of the dating pool. And he didn’t want that. All the good-looking girls, all the girls who wore short shorts and skimpy tops, were pretty much in the eighty percent who didn’t go to church.
He’d determined in his heart that he wasn’t going to make that mistake again.
And he’d done everything he could to do right by Eva and Nora.
They agreed that he got Nora in the summer and two weeks around Christmas time, and occasionally for other holidays. Normally Eva and he talked about it and he knew when to expect them. This year, Eva hadn’t said anything. He assumed the end of the school year was busy—he’d already driven to Indiana twice to see Nora in several productions and awards ceremonies. But as he watched the car pull to a stop, he was certain it was Eva in the driver seat with Nora’s blonde head bobbing around on the passenger side.
Opening the gate, he put Boots in the side pasture, unhooked the lead, and watched him kick up his heels, then gallop twenty yards before dropping and rolling.
So much for all the brushing he’d just done.
He walked back around the barn, hung the lead on a hook, and then walked toward the cottage where he stayed. Nora and Eva were both out of the car and had walked to the trunk, grabbing Nora’s things.
Seemed like she had a lot more things than usual.
“Hey there, kiddo,” he said, going around the car and putting a hand on Nora’s shoulder.
“Dad!” Nora said, turning and throwing her arms around him. “I didn’t think you’d be back from your ride yet.”
“I was just brushing Boots down. If I had known you were coming, I would have waited and we could have taken a ride together.”
“Maybe later. Tonight if it’s not too hot.”
“I don’t think it’s going to be that bad; there’s a nice breeze today.”
He lifted his eyes, meeting Eva’s over the top of Nora’s head. Her eyes skittered away. “I guess I missed your text to say that you were coming.”
“Mom said we were going to surprise you. She let me skip the last four days of school.”
“She did?” Matt said, unable to keep the surprise out of his voice. Eva hadn’t said anything about that. He wasn’t sure he approved. Although he had to admit that he’d allowed all responsibility for the schooling to fall on Eva’s shoulders. He typically showed up for anything they invited him to, of course, Christmas concerts, plays, and programs, but as for making sure that Nora did her schoolwork or that she studied for tests or anything like that, it was all on Eva’s shoulders.
He didn’t like that, but it wasn’t necessarily something he could control. After all, because he wasn’t married to Eva, because Nora had to be shuffled back and forth between the two houses, there had to be a few things that weren’t ideal. That was one of them.
Still, Eva wasn’t meeting his eyes. Usually she dropped Nora off, said a few words, and tore out of town as fast as she could.
“Hello, Eva,” he finally said while she busied herself in the trunk and didn’t look up.
“Matt. I’m sorry we didn’t give you any warning, although it’s not like you have anyone to look after other than yourself.” Maybe she didn’t mean that the way it sounded. “I decided I was coming to Strawberry Sands for the summer.”
That was new.
Matt tried to contain his...consternation.
“Nora, honey. Want to grab your stuff and run in and put it in your room? I got everything ready so that you and your dad can take it right in to your bedroom.”
So she was getting Nora out of the way so she could tell him whatever was going on. It must be worse than what he thought.
