Murmurs of agreement reverberated around the room. In that moment, Matt realized just how much Gauthier had embraced her as one of their own. He stood there in disbelief, stunned and incredibly humbled as she spoke on his behalf.
He’d spent the past twenty-four hours preparing to end his candidacy and begin what he knew would be a long journey of gaining the forgiveness of fellow Gauthier residents. And an even longer journey of gaining Tamryn’s forgiveness.
But here she was, like an apparition conjured by his imagination. Speaking on his behalf, standing up for him.
What in the world had he ever done to deserve someone like her in his life?
“We’re not letting you quit,” Eloise said. A majority of the crowd began to applaud.
“Now, wait a minute,” Carter started.
Matt turned, a smile on his face. “I was mistaken,” he said. “Looks like we have a debate to start.”
He looked at Tamryn, who had a soft smile on her lips.Good luck,she mouthed.
He didn’t need luck. Now that she was there, he had everything he needed.
Tamryn stood off to the side of the church hall, unable to wipe the grin from her face as she watched Matt completely annihilate Patrick Carter in their final town-hall debate. She still couldn’t get over the fact that he had been about to drop out of the race. Was he crazy? Matt was so much worthier than his opponent. Anyone who listened with even half an ear would know within minutes of hearing the two expound on what they would provide as members of the state senate that Matt was the better man.
He had the people of this area’s best interests at heart. They would be fools not to elect him. Based on the raucous applause when he gave his final statement at the conclusion of the debate, Tamryn was pretty sure they would all have the chance to see just what type of state senator he would be.
The debate ended and Matt was immediately swarmed by residents from Gauthier. Several of the ladies from the civic association gave him hugs and kissed his cheek, their reassuring smiles warming Tamryn’s heart. These people loved him, and for good reason. Matthew Gauthier’s heart was pure gold.
She’d gone over the reasons he’d kept the diary hidden from her over and over these past two days, and had come to realize what he was up against. For some reason, Matt had taken it upon himself to rectify what he saw as a lifetime’s worth of transgressions by his family against the people of Gauthier. As misguided as he was, Tamryn now understood. She’d posed a threat to all the plans he’d had in place to make up for his family’s past misdeeds. As much as she wanted to hold it against him, she knew she couldn’t.
He finally came to stand before her. The myriad emotions on his face made her heart hurt.
“Thank you,” he said.
“You’re welcome. Although I didn’t do anything.”
“Except stop me from making the biggest mistake of my life?” he asked. “Make that the second biggest. The biggest mistake of my life was hurting you.”
It was painful to pull in the deep breath she took. “Matt.”
He took her hands in his. “Don’t say anything. Let me first tell you how sorry I am.”
“You don’t have to.”
“Yes, I do,” he said. “I lied to you, willfully.”
“Because you thought you were doing the right thing.”
He shook his head. “Don’t make excuses for me. I was trying to save my own ass. I knew how much that diary meant to you, and I still kept it from you. I will never be able to make up for that, even though I will try for the rest of my life. Even if it means flying to Boston every weekend to grovel at your feet.”
“Unless you’re going to see the changing of the leaves or a Red Sox game, you won’t have much reason to go to Boston.”
His forehead crinkled in confusion. “What are you saying?”
“I lost my position at Brimley,” Tamryn said.
His eyes slowly shut. “If you’d had that proof for your research, you could have saved it, couldn’t you? Dammit, Tamryn, I am so sorry.”
“You shouldn’t be,” she said. “Now that I’m no longer at Brimley, I can take the position Ezekiel Marsh offered me yesterday when I called to tell him I’m available.”
Matt’s eyes popped open. Tamryn couldn’t contain her smile.
“I won’t be able to start until the spring semester, but that’s actually perfect. It gives me time to find a place to live and to finally finish writing Adeline West’s story.”
