Page 97 of 7 Days and 7 Nights

She shook her head in disgust. “Thanks for the free publicity, little brother, but I don’t really want to be a part of this. If you can’t see what you’re throwing away, you’re not smart enough to be a Ransom.”

She gave a small nod toward the willowy redhead waiting for him on the other side of the room. “Dr. O is right, you know. It’s time for you to grow up. And way past time for you to stop playing with dolls."

???

Matt lifted his beer and drained it in one long gulp. It was 2 AM and he, Jonathan, and D.J. were firmly ensconced at their favorite table at Nick’s. They’d shot pool with some of the old gang and consumed more than their fair share of alcohol. Only a handful of other tables were still occupied. It was time to start thinking about calling it a night.

“Are you okay, man?” Jon was one of Matt’s oldest friends. He and his younger brother, D.J., had been Matt’s carousing partners long before they’d been legally eligible to carouse. They were guys’ guys, great to run with and no more anxious to settle down than he was.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“I don’t think you’re as fine as you think you are.” D.J.’s voice rasped from too many hours in a smoke-filled room.

“Why’s that?” Matt’s eyes felt like D.J.’s voice sounded. His head hurt, and something Dawg Rollins had said on the air about being bushwhacked by love kept teasing at his brain.

“Because you sent that redhead home in a cab at eleven o’clock. Eleven! And for the last two hours you’ve been totally ignoring the blonde over there.”

Jonathan shook his head sadly. “There is something wrong in the world when Matt Ransom doesn’t give a good-looking blonde a second glance.”

Matt sat up and studied his friend. “You don’t think I need to grow up and stop running around with women?”

D.J. motioned for another beer. “Hell, no. That would be like Steph Curry refusing to make three-pointers, or Patrick Mahomes not throwing touchdowns! It would disturb the natural order of things. What’s got into you, anyway?”

Matt ran a hand through his hair and turned to look at the blonde. She was exceptionally well put together, and when she noticed him looking she shot him a silent invitation no man could mistake.

Matt didn’t feel the slightest flicker of interest.

He cocked his head, gave her a slow once-over, and watched her run her tongue seductively across her lips.

Still nothing. He knew exactly who and what had gotten into him, and he didn’t like it one bit. He considered getting up and taking the blonde up on her offer just to prove a point, but he was getting kind of tired of making the same point over and over.

He looked at the woman once more. Then he looked at his friends. Without intending to, he’d already taken a long hard look at himself. And he couldn’t say he was too impressed with what he’d seen.

???

The following day Matt sat on a bench and watched the late afternoon sun glint on the lake. He tore the remnants of a hot dog bun into bits and tossed them to the ducks. A green mallard honked loudly before gobbling up the offering, his webbed feet paddling vigorously as he positioned himself in front of the others.

The boulder that had claimed his brother’s life looked like nothing more than a random geological formation—just a big rock, not something that could change the course of a family’s life.

He let his mind roam freely back to the summer days when he and Adam had raced around this lake with their friends and cooled off in its depths. Like he had every day for the past twenty-three years, Matt wished his brother were there to talk to. He also wished he hadn’t argued with Sandra the night before, and that it wasn’t time to go home and face Olivia. But wishing didn’t make it so.

He heard soft footsteps on the grass behind him and looked up to see his mother approaching. Surprised, he moved over to make room for her, and for a time they both stared out across the lake, each lost in thought.

The bossy mallard honked loudly, and the rest of the flock fell into a loose V-formation behind him. They paddled toward the opposite shore as his mother began to speak.

“I’ve missed this lake.” She paused. “And you.”

Matt’s gaze left the ducks to settle on his mother’s face. The old pain was still etched clearly across it, and the lines that radiated from the corners of her eyes reflected years of looking inward. Or trying not to.

“I never meant to shut you and Sandra out. I never meant to do that.”

“Mom, you don’t have to ...”

She turned away from the rock to face him... and, finally, their past. “Yes, I do. When Adam died, I was so stunned by the emptiness that I couldn’t reach out. I couldn’t make myself do what I knew needed to be done.”

Her voice broke, and Matt waited silently for her to continue.

“When you and Sandra found the strength I couldn’t, I was so ashamed. I knew you were hurting, I knew you needed me, but I just kept falling into that hole that Adam left.”

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