Page 52 of Guarded from Treachery

Sighing, Matt shakes his head. “I can’t believe I said that, Isles. I’m really sorry. It was meant as a compliment.”

“I know it was.” As we sink onto the couch, his legs bump against mine. And rather than moving away to give him some space, I decide to stay put and see if he’ll move instead.

He doesn’t. And I’m glad.

“So.” He glances at the coffee table, now covered with all the gifts I just got. “Did you enjoy meeting everyone? I hope it wasn’t too much? Lucy was asking about it; I thought a few days of settling in might be good, but?—”

“It was great. Really. I already knew Jade and Lucy and Sarah were nice, but Blythe and Milena and Hope are great, too. And it was so sweet of them to bring all this over.”

“I’m glad.” Matt leans forward to inspect a little bottle of lotion, which I decidenotto tell him is for reducing the stretch marks I’m sure I’ll eventually get, no matter how much walking and yoga I do. Talking about the pregnancy in general terms is one thing, but stretch marks? No thanks.

Turning back to me, he says, “If you need more stuff, supplies, anything like that, just let me know. I can arrange for a trip into Seguin; there’s a little baby store there. Or… I don’t know. What do they call stores that sell pregnancy and baby stuff?”

I giggle. “I’m not sure, to be honest. Baby store works.”

Matt smiles back at me, his eyes soft with friendship? Affection? Something more?

A frisson of something moves between us, and my heart makes a little jump.

Then he asks, “Did I hear you singing before? When I was at the door?”

This time I’m the one who blushes. “Yes. You heard me?”

“I did. You have an incredible voice, Isla. I had no idea.”

Pride wars with the shame my parents inflicted. “I haven’t sung in a really long time. Years.”

Surprise ripples across Matt’s face. “Years? Why?”

I hesitate for a second before answering. No one knows, not even Rory. It’s not that I don’t trust her with the truth, or that it’s some scandalous thing… I guess I’m just ashamed that I let something my parents do affect me for so long.

But this isMatt. I trust him. And I know he won’t judge me. So I take a steadying breath and say, “I used to love singing. Songwriting, too. I had a solo in elementary school and I was so excited about it. But my parents got angry, said it wasn’t appropriate to flaunt myself like that. So they made me stop.”

Matt frowns. “Flauntyourself? In elementary school? Are you kidding me?”

“Unfortunately not. I told you, they weren’t very nice.”

“And they made you stop singing? How?”

“They pulled me out of chorus, said I couldn’t take music anymore. And they punished me anytime they heard me singing at home. Eventually, I stopped trying. And in time, I just… let it go completely.”

The lines in his forehead deepen. “Isles. That’s terrible. I’m so sorry.”

I barely resist smoothing his brow. “It’s okay. I mean… it happened. Being upset about it now isn’t going to change things.”

A muscle in his jaw twitches. His thumb brushes across the top of my hand. “Still. It’s not right.”

With a little shrug, I reply, “Maybe not. But I won’t do that to little Dove. That’s why I was singing. So she can hear me.”

“Or Eagle, you mean?” Matt knows about my theory that the baby’s a girl, but he insists it’s a boy. And he thinks we should stick with the bird theme by naming the baby Eagle instead.

I grin at him. “Or Eagle.”

He stares at me for a moment, his gaze going pensive. “It’s funny the way things stick with us, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it is.” But I have a feeling he’s not just talking about me.

“You know about my parents,” he says after a long pause. “They didn’t care about things like new clothes and school supplies and haircuts. We didn’t look neglected, not enough for CPS to step in or anything. But Levi and I—we got made fun of in school. I tried to cut his hair myself, find him clothes that matched, but it was hard.”

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