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Matt shook his head. “Wow, you’ve grown up.”
“Dave, your sisters should be here soon, but I want to have some alone time with Matt first. If they come, tell them I am occupied and to finish getting dinner ready.”
“What about…?”
“Don’t worry about that,” Molly interrupted. “And I mean it. When Matt and I are done, we’ll focus on that.”
Davy shrugged his shoulders and walked away.
“Is Uncle Dave here?”
“Yes, he’s in the office. Let’s go say hi.”
An hour later, Matt, Dave, and Molly exited the office laughing. Matt shouldn’t have waited so long to visit. Molly and Dave were the only family that truly made him feel valued and of worth. He vowed to be more like them… including with his own siblings. The sounds of voices he was sure belonged to grown cousins came from the kitchen. But there was one voice he recognized.
“Matt?”
“Amanda?”
Matt stared at his little sister as she stared back with mutual astonishment. He might as well start his vow to be more like his aunt and uncle now. He took three steps and pulled his sister into his embrace before she could utter another word.
He had two more days until he would call Evie and he still intended to honor that… but having Amanda in the same house as he was would make that very difficult.
“Where do you want me to put the salad?” came a voice from around the corner.
Matt immediately released Amanda and stared in the direction of that voice. His heartbeat elevated and he put his hand on Amanda’s shoulder for support.
“This ought to be fun!” Davy laughed.
The moment their eyes met he knew he was home.
The sound of something crashing on the floor brought them both out of their trance.
Evie had been holding a glass salad bowl and had evidently dropped it in surprise at seeing Matt. Noticing that Evie hadn’t been wearing any shoes, he took three steps in her direction and swooped her up into his arms.
“Are you hurt?” he asked glancing at her bare feet and searching for glass shards embedded in her skin.
“I don’t think so,” she breathed heavily. “What are you doing here?”
“At least it wasn’t her homemade apple pie she was holding!” Amanda hollered.
“Let’s go make sure,” Matt insisted.
He carried her to the kitchen and placed her on the counter. He carefully examined each foot and sighed with relief. “Your feet are okay.”
“What are you doing here?” Evie asked again.
“I could ask you the same thing,” Matt smiled. Matt looked around and saw various cousins with others whom he figured were their spouses and offspring… and his aunt and uncle. “Can we use your office?”
Molly’s smile widened and she nodded.
Matt picked Evie up again and carried her toward the office.
“I can walk,” Evie insisted.
“Not until the glass has been cleaned up,” Matt reminded her.
“Davy,” Molly called. “Please clean up the glass.”
