Page 85 of Tangled Emotions

“Someone thinks you eat here so much because you can’t.” He winked.

“I’ll take care of that.” I nodded and finished my breakfast.

I threw some bills on the counter and made my way to work.

When I got to my office, I saw Matthew sitting outside my door. “Matt? You okay?”

He jumped up and ran over to me. “My mom has a date. What if she marries him?”

“When is her date?”

“Friday.” Panic filled his face.

“It can’t happen that fast.” Unlocking my office, I motioned for him to go in. “Have a seat, son.” I hung up my coat and took a seat. “Peoplecanget married overnight, yes. But most people don’t rush. Does your mom do things on a whim?”

“That means without thinking, right?”

“Yes.”

“No.” He shook his head and then stopped. “Well, sometimes.”

I sat back in my chair. “Give me an example.”

“Well, like last week, instead of cooking dinner, she decided we could order pizza. That was on a whim.”

“You’re not wrong. But I mean something big.” I held my hands up. “Like massive.”

“Hm. Like buying me a game system?”

“Yeah, like that. Does she do things like that without thinking about it for a while?”

“No.”

“See.” I smiled. “And? Do you think she would just up and marry someone without them meeting you and you giving approval?”

He sighed. “No.”

“So where’s the worry?”

Matthew sat there for a moment. “What if Frank doesn’t like me?”

“How could he not?”

He frowned. “My dad knew about me and never got to know me, and he just decided I wasn’t worth being around.”

Scratching my beard, I knew if I ever ran into that motherfucker, I’d lay him out. No one should ever make a kid feel this way.

“Matt.” I sat up. “Do you trust me?”

His little head bobbed.

“Good. I bet when you meet Frank, he’ll love you.”

“How do you know?”

I shrugged. “You’re a great kid, and I like you.”

He smiled at me and perked up a bit. “I like you too, Doc.”