“Well, thanks.” Matt wiped his brow with his forearm. “I, uh, think the girls are going to stay and help us out for a while.”
“Looking for anything in particular?”
“It’s buried treasure!” Zoey informed her.
“Wow. Sounds intriguing.”
Neither Matt nor I bit at the bid for information.
“Need an extra hand?” Jillian asked.
“No, thanks.” Matt’s tone was just short of being curt.
“Okay. Is meatloaf all right for dinner?”
“I, uh, won’t be home for dinner. Peggy and Griff are watching the girls.”
“Oh?” Jillian arched her brow inquisitively.
Matt straightened. “I’m taking Hope out tonight.”
“You mean on a date?” Zoey scowled.
I felt my face color.
“Yeah,” Matt said.
Jillian’s cheeks blotched red. “I—I see.”
“Thanks for asking, though. About the meatloaf.” Matt turned on the metal detector again.
“No problem.” She headed back to the house, her back stiff.
A wave of pity swept through me. I felt like I should say something, but nothing appropriate came to mind.
“Well, that was awkward,” Matt said.
It still was, I thought, as Zoey glared at me. I smiled at her. “Want to help us dig? I think there are extra shovels in the shed.”
“We’re gonna hunt for buried treasure!” Sophie said, hopping up and down.
I could tell the lure of treasure was vying with loyalty to Jillian as far as Zoey was concerned. Apparently the treasure hunt won out, because she was still there when I came out of the shed, and immediately started arguing with Sophie about who got the bigger shovel.
39
matt
We were seated on the wooden deck of a restaurant overlooking the Tchefuncte River in Madisonville. The sun had just set, the fireflies were out, and a boat slowly drifted by. Across the table from me, Hope smiled. She was wearing a white sundress, and it made her skin look like apricots. It was a setting ripe for romance.
Except for one thing. Two things, actually.
“Can I have another dinner roll?” Sophie asked, squirming in her chair.
“No. You won’t have room for your dinner,” Zoey said authoritatively.
The girls had happily dug in Miss Addie’s backyard the rest of the day, then Hope had suggested we invite them to join us for dinner.
“Saturday is one of the few days you and the girls get to be together,” she’d said.
