“And a husband and children?”
Shrugging, she brought the plates to the stove. “I haven’t thought that far yet.”
“Sure you have. Every woman dreams.”
“Every man does, too,” she countered.
“But I asked you first. What do you want in a husband? What do you want for your children?”
She put two pieces of chicken on Matt’s plate, a single piece on her own. “The same thing I want for myself, I suppose. If a person is happy, and feels good about himself, everything else falls into place.” She added an ear of com to each plate before bringing both to the table.
“How can your parents argue with that?”
“They believe that certain things make a person happy. We just disagree on what those things are.”
Matt was standing with one hand on his hip as he watched her. Straightening suddenly, he tilted a chair out and gestured for her to sit. “Brad’s philosophy was similar. It’s amazing how alike you are in so many ways. Then again, there are differences.”
“Tell me more about him, Matt. Did he really feel the same way I do?”
Matt slowly seated himself and didn’t speak until he’d pulled his chair in and spread a napkin on his lap. His expression was pensive. “He felt that what your parents wanted was different from what he wanted. But you already know that. I think he would have been surprised that you agree with him. He saw himself as the black sheep of the family.”
“So much so that, regardless of what he did, it didn’t seem to measure up?” she asked.
Matt frowned, then shifted in his seat. He drew the salad bowl toward him and prodded the lettuce with the tongs. In a sudden spurt of movement, he began to pile salad on Lauren’s plate. “Is that the wayyoufeel? That nothing you do can measure up?”
“Hey.” She put her hand on his and pushed the tongs toward his own plate. “That’s enough.”
He served himself. “Do you feel that way, Lauren?”
“No. I’m pleased with what I’m doing. Brad tried to meet my parents’ expectations, failed, then took off. I went along with their wishes and was fairly successful at it before realizing that it wasn’t what I wanted. I left because I chose to. Brad left because he had to. I could have gone on forever up there, I suppose. Brad couldn’t have survived.” She took a breath. Her fork dangled over the chicken. “It wasn’t that he didn’t have the brains for it, but his temperament was totally different. He was more impulsive, more restless. Hyperactive, my parents always said, but I think they were wrong. He just wanted to use his brains for things other than scholarly pursuits.”
“He did that,” Matt drawled under his breath, but there was no humor in his expression. When he saw Lauren staring at him, puzzled, he spoke quickly. “Designing houses, interesting houses, takes brains, although it’s not considered a scholarly occupation. It’s too bad your parents couldn’t have seen some of the work Brad did.”
“They never even knew about it” was her sad reply. “They didn’t know who he worked for or what he did. They were shocked at the amount of money that came to me when he died.” She rolled her eyes. “For that matter, so was I.”
Matt’s hesitation was a weighty one. “They didn’t begrudge it to you, did they?”
“No.” She snorted. “The only thing they begrudged was what Ididwith it.” Spearing a tomato wedge, she waved it for an instant. “Family interrelationships are weird things. Expectations are often so unrealistic. It’s as if we have blinkers on. I suppose I’m not that much more understanding of my parents than they are of me, but it’s a shame. I’m an adult now. They’re adults. Wouldn’t it be nice if welikedone another?”
“It’s not that simple. You’re right. Unrealistic expectations can stand in the way. Or ego needs. It must be difficult in a situation like yours, where it would be impossible for you to rise above what your parents have done. They’ve been so successful in their fields. Maybe that’s why both you and Brad felt the need to strike out on your own.”
“Maybe. I hadn’t thought about it that way.” Lauren mulled over the prospect for several minutes, but what lingered with her was how insightful Matt was. “What about you? Are you close to your family?”
“Very.”
“Are they in San Francisco, too?”
He shook his head. “L.A. I guess I needed a little distance, just as you do. The pressure coming from my parents was a more traditional one. They’re retired now, but for years they both worked in a factory. They wanted my sister and me to rise higher, to advance socially. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much money for college. I suppose I could have tried for a scholarship, but I wanted to work. Once I got going, I discovered that I could get the education I needed on the job. I’ve taken business courses here and there, and I’ve advanced, so I can’t complain.”
“How about your sister?”
Matt warmed Lauren with a grin. “Maggie’s a speech therapist. Shedidgo for a scholarship, won it and wowed ’em all at UCLA. I’m really proud of her. We all are.”
“I can see that,” Lauren said. His grin was contagious, or was it the way his cheeks bunched up and his eyes crinkled? Whatever, she was grinning back at him, wondering how a man could be so gentle and giving, yet so wickedly attractive. “Tell me more,” she urged. “About when you were a kid, what you were like, what you did.”
He made a face and tilted his head to the side. “It’s really not all that exciting.”
“Tell me anyway.” She perched her chin in her palm and waited expectantly.
