The Marriage Contract (Anderson Brothers) - Page 58

Matt stood up to hug his mother, and a wave of the weird feelings came back. It felt a little wrong accepting the quilt. It was something extremely special to her, something that reminded her of her beloved husband and the time they spent together. She thought she was giving it to her son as a cherished wedding gift, something for us to pass down to our children. It felt like the biggest deceit so far.

But she looked so happy. I couldn’t take that away from her.

“Are you ready for lunch?” Matt asked. “Or do you want to just eat gingersnaps?”

She laughed, brushing away a tear from under her eye. I was relieved and glad for Matt. He knew how to seamlessly handle an emotional moment and move on from it.

“Lunch sounds good,” his mother said.

“Chloe?” Matt said.

I nodded. “I’m famished.

“Perfect. Then let’s go,” he said.

We ended up at a little hole-in-the-wall burger place with a banner outside that announced “Portland’s Finest.” It didn’t specify whether the restaurant itself was the finest in Portland, which seemed an overly confident proclamation to say the least, or if they just had the finest burgers in the city. But I was willing to give them a whirl.

“We’re not going to tell Tyler that we came here,” Matt said when we were sitting down at a booth on one side of the restaurant.

“Oh, yeah,” I said. “I heard he has an affinity for burgers.”

“To say the least,” Matt said with a laugh. “But I have to admit he probably does make the best burger in Astoria. Some of the specials he comes up with are pretty amazing.”

“Why hasn’t he given you any of those recipes?” I asked, remembering the dinner he made a couple of weeks back.

“Those he will hold on to until he is lying dead in his grave,” Matt told me. “He’ll let us experiment with anything else, but the burgers are sacred.”

I laughed and noticed Mrs. Anderson smiling at us. We both looked at her for a few seconds.

“Mom?” Matt said.

She straightened up a little like she was startled to have been caught. “I’m sorry. The two of you are just so cute together. It makes me happier than I can possibly tell you to see it. Not too long ago, I felt like my whole world was coming down around me. Dealing with cancer and watching my husband go through it, then surviving but losing him. Seeing how stressed my boys were and how hard they were trying to pull together and make things easier.”

“Of course we did,” Matt said. “We would have done anything for you and Dad.”

“I know you would have,” she said. “And because you did, look how far you all have come. The bar in Astoria is thriving and getting more successful by the day. You were able to open the other location here in Portland, and it’s already making a name for itself. It’s incredible to see what you’ve been able to accomplish together. And I’m so proud of you for all of it.

But what I’m most proud of is the men you’ve become. That all of you are married to the most wonderful women. They all became part of the family, stepping right in to join the fold rather than expecting you to break away. I was so worried about you, Matt. I didn’t think it was going to happen for you. I didn’t think you wanted it to. But look at you now. Look at the amazing wife you found. You finally discovered your other half and the two of you are perfect together.”

Matt reached over and held my hand on top of the table. I turned to look at him, and he smiled, squeezing my hand. I couldn’t think of anything to do but squeeze back. For the rest of her visit, I played my part as well as I could, but the entire time, I felt incredibly guilty about lying to such a sweet, sincere woman. After everything else, I felt like the real weight of the decision we made was weighing down on me.

27

Matt

“So, what’s for dinner, do you know?” Chloe asked as we neared Jordan and Hannah’s house.

“If I know Mom, she likely insisted on making something. Considering that she kind of sprung this on us, I don’t think it’s something she spent all day on, so that takes out lamb, roast chicken, and turkey. Probably her pasta sauce or soup, unless she brought some of the jars with her, which would be on-brand for her. Essentially, I have no idea,” I said. “Just prepare to stuff yourself, whatever it turns out to be.”

“I can handle that,” Chloe said.

Things were good between us, and I was happy for that. Chloe had seemed to settle into the rhythm and routine of playing wife in public, and when we were back at the apartment, it was easy hanging out. It felt like we were getting into a pretty good routine.

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