A Needful Heart (6 page)

Gina stepped back and opened the door wide to
let him slide by. “Well, we had an accident, and Matt is here to
work on the railing we broke. Come on in and I’ll show you.”

She led him down the hallway and stopped
outside the living room doorway. Matt was removing a spindle but
paused when she came out. Gabe’s eyes widened when he saw the
damage to the railing then widened even more when he saw Matt. Gina
could understand his reaction, because even sitting folded over on
the step the way he was, he could tell Matt was a huge man.
Probably intimidating to a small boy.

“Matt, this is Gabe. He’s my next door
neighbor and a buddy, so you may see him over here every once in a
while.”

Gabe looked at her in surprise when she
called him her buddy, and it was difficult for Gina to hold in a
smile.

Matt nodded his head to Gabe, then turned
back to un-mount the spindle. Gina was dismayed by how much he
already had done. The broken post was outside on the porch and the
rest of the spindles were in a pile at the bottom of the stairs. At
this rate, he’d be done within a day or two.

“So, how did you break that?” Gabe
questioned, motioning to the post on the porch.

Heat washed up through her face, and she
smiled. “Well, I kind of hugged Matt and we tripped and fell down.
You know how much of a klutz I am.”

Gabe looked at her strangely, as if he didn’t
believe what she told him. He glanced up at the stairs and Matt
nodded, agreeing with her.

“Wow.” There was awe in the boy’s soft
exclamation.

Gina laughed and ruffled his hair. “He took
his hug about as well as you do yours.”

Gabe dropped his eyes to the floor and
studied his ragged shoes. Gina felt like a schmuck for making him
self-conscious. Desperate for a change of topic, she asked him if
he’d had lunch. He continued to avoid her eyes as he shook his
head, and Gina had to wonder if he had even eaten breakfast. “Want
a meatball sub?”

He nodded and headed for the kitchen when
Gina motioned in that direction but avoided her hand on his bony
shoulder. “Matt, can I get you a sub?”

He glanced up only long enough to shake his
head and give her a hard stare. “I’m fine.”

But he was lying. She could see it in his
eyes. The smell of the marinara drifted through the house now, and
even Gina’s mouth was watering. She didn’t challenge him, though.
She just went into the kitchen and dished out meatballs for the
boy. They weren’t actually warm enough, so she threw a bowl into
the microwave to heat them all the way. Gabe was starved. She knew
as soon as she set the sandwich in front of him. He waited long
enough for her to spread mozzarella on it and sit down with her own
sandwich, then he dove in. Within minutes, the sandwich was gone
and he was working on his second one. This one he savored, though,
as if he knew it was going to have to hold him for a while.

“Thanks, Gina.”

Smiling gently, she crossed to the cupboard
and pulled down a box of granola bars. She passed him a handful.
“Here, put these in your pockets.”

Gabe looked like he was going to argue for a
minute, but his stomach must have overruled his head. He shoved
them into the pockets of his jeans with a mumbled thank-you and
disappeared. The screen door slammed shut behind him, and Gina
wondered what he was going to do the rest of the day. He hadn’t
said whether Chuck was home or not. Probably not. Chuck refused to
let him come over if he was home.

Dishing up more meatballs, she made two subs
and sprinkled them with mozzarella. Matt didn’t say anything as she
walked out and put the meal on his toolbox lid, with a cola beside
it. “I know you said you didn’t want any, but I didn’t want to have
to put away left-overs.”

Swinging a straight back chair out of the
living room, she sat down in the hallway. He looked at her
dubiously as he brushed off his hands and reached for the plate. He
turned and sat on the step with one leg stretched out.

“How’s your head?” she asked.

“It’s fine.”

Gina felt her eyes widen as she watched him
eat the first sandwich. It was the same as with Gabe. He ate so
fast. As if somebody was going to come along and steal the food
from his hand.

“How’s your wrist?”

The question surprised her. “It’s not too
bad. I’m trying to avoid the pain pills. I don’t like feeling so
loopy. I take ibuprofen every few hours and it seems to work.”

Matt nodded and started on his second
sandwich, but he glanced at her occasionally. Gina struggled for
something neutral to talk about. “Where did you learn to work with
wood?”

Matt didn’t say anything for a long time, and
she was just about to ask again in case he hadn’t heard her. “From
Rick, I guess.”

“Your dad?”

He frowned as if he didn’t like the title of
who the man had been. “Yeah.”

Gina tried to lighten the atmosphere. “You
know,” she told him, “I think what you do is pretty artistic.”

Matt glanced at her with one brow raised.
“What do you mean?”

“Well, I’ve seen the children’s toys you make
for the Christmas auction every year.” She motioned to the wooden
spindles. “And I have a feeling you’re not going to put blocks of
wood there.”

“No, I’m not. You can buy spindles at
Lowes.”

That stymied her for a moment. Maybe she was
wrong. He handled the wood as if it were fragile and precious, and
she noticed he completely avoided the toy reference.

“Well,” she said finally, “I’m sure whatever
you do will be very nice.”

Matt smiled slightly and took pity on her. “I
actually do turn my own spindles.”

She laughed and smacked her hand against her
knee. “I knew you would.”

Curiosity tightened his brows as he looked at
her. “How did you know?”

Gina smiled and looked pointedly at the
precisely piled wood. Nothing was thrown or ripped. It had all been
dismantled as gently as possible. “You treat that staircase as if
you were undressing a woman.”

Matt’s greenish eyes flared with heat, and he
stared at her for a long moment. Gina’s breath stalled in her lungs
as the tension built between them.

“When I undress a woman,” he said, whisper
soft, “she will be treated more delicately than any piece of
wood.”

Gina felt her skin flush and she gasped in a
breath of air.
Oh, hell
. Her heart raced, and she clenched
her hand around her casted fingers to remind herself where she was.
Desire tingled down through her belly and settled low. He was
talking to her. Specifically to her. A smile spread across her lips
as she acknowledged the need that spread through her.

“I’m sure you would,” she murmured, trying
not to squirm in her chair.

Matt seemed to realize what he had said,
because he turned to his plate and shoved the last bite of sandwich
into his mouth. He set it carefully back on the toolbox and brushed
his hands off, then picked up the small crowbar lying beside him.
“Thank you for the food.”

Gina knew he was trying nicely to dismiss her
so he could work. She hoped he thought about what he had said. She
was certainly going to. Forcing herself to her feet, she collected
the plate, carried it to the kitchen and loaded it into the
dishwasher.

She was honestly surprised by his solemn
words. Matt was quiet and reserved, and that statement had been
daring. And sexy. Totally out of character. And as she went through
her day, she had to wonder what else Matt was hiding under that
intimidating demeanor and faded blue ball cap.

Matt waited until Gina was in the kitchen
before he expelled a heavy breath. What the hell had he been
thinking, telling her that? As if he didn’t have enough issues
without stoking the tension between them. He’d already decided not
to pursue anything with her, but when she perched on that chair
with the sun highlighting her kinky hair, it was all he could do
not to toss the damn sandwich away and grab her.

In the deepest part of his heart, he allowed
himself to admit that there was nothing he wanted more than to mean
something to Gina Carruthers. For four years, fourteen hundred and
some odd days, he’d wondered what she liked to eat, and what her
favorite color was, and who she talked to when she went home at
night. He’d seen her out with men before, and he wondered what he
could do to be like them, to make her want to smile at him the same
way. But he was man enough to admit he was scared, too. He knew his
life was not normal. His upbringing had damaged him to the point
that he retreated as much as he could. What right did he have to
even contemplate bringing Gina into it? Hell, if she knew how about
some of the things he’d done and gone through, she’d probably kick
him out of the house and slam the door behind him.

Then again, maybe not. That boy she’d
introduced had been so familiar. To himself. Not physically, of
course, but his demeanor had been the same. Hunted and leery.
Distrustful of anything given to him. But at the same time, so very
needful.

Sitting on the step, he rubbed at the ache in
his chest. Every time he saw her, he wanted to be closer to her.
His eyes flicked around her house, from the cream-colored furniture
to the bright paintings on the wall. Black picture frames full of
laughing people marched down the hallway in an artful sweep. Even
her house appealed to him more than any other he had ever been in.
It was lived in and friendly. It was an actual home. Running his
hand over the spindle beside him, he vowed that the work that would
be done here would be an honor to her.

Monroe would laugh his ass off if he could
see how conflicted Matt was.

The front door cracked open, and the
tow-headed boy in dirty clothes from earlier peeked in. Stepping
inside, he raised his head and straightened his narrow shoulders,
standing firmly at the base of the stairs. His blue eyes met Matt’s
directly.

“You need to be nice to Gina,” he said
firmly, “and quit having accidents.” His little fingers put quote
marks around ‘accident’. “If you’re not nice to her, I’ll call the
cops.”

Matt’s brows furrowed as he looked down at
the boy. The kid thought he was mistreating Gina. The thought
sickened him as guilt washed through him. He
had
been
responsible for her injury. And the damage to the stairway. “I hope
you do. Gina is a good woman, and she deserves to be protected that
way.”

The little boy’s eyes narrowed, as if he
couldn’t believe Matt agreed with him. Some tension eased out of
him as he took in Matt’s earnest expression. “Well, ok. I
will.”

Matt nodded at the boy and turned back to his
work, glad to see she had at least one staunch protector.

Gabe stayed for a couple of hours, asking
questions here and there about what he was doing, and Matt found he
actually liked the company. They didn’t dig into anything
important, just made small talk. Gina brought out iced tea and
chocolate-covered cookies, and they all took a break. Matt realized
he and Gabe were much the same, soaking up Gina’s brand of
sunshine.

When a car door slammed, it all shattered.
Gabe paled, and for the first time appeared to be the scared young
boy Matt knew him to be. “He’s back,” he whispered, clutching
Gina’s hand.

Gina didn’t look any better, but she forced a
smile for Gabe. “Let’s go talk to him. It’ll be okay.”

Tugging him along behind her, they went
quickly out the front door. Matt followed, but stopped on the
porch.

A bearded man was getting out of a beat up
Crown Victoria, case of cheap beer hanging from one hand. When he
saw Gabe walking across the yard holding Gina’s hand, anger slid
over his sallow face. “What the hell you doin’ out of the house,
boy? I told you to stay inside.”

Gabe dropped Gina’s hand like it had burned
him. “I know, sir, but...”

“No buts,” the man yelled. “I tell you to do
something, you do it. You understand me?”

Gabe nodded, eyes to the ground.

Gina stepped in front of the boy, drawing the
man’s attention. “Mr. Freeman, it’s my fault Gabe is out of the
house. I had an accident, you see--” she held up her cast, “--and I
asked Gabe to come over. This is my strong hand, and there are
several things in the house he’s been helping me with.”

Chuck’s glazed eyes sparkled with meanness
when he saw the cast. “Ha, somebody probably finally put you in
your place. What’d you do, stick your nose in somebody else’s
business?”

Gina looked down at the ground, deliberately,
Matt though, looking small. “I fell, actually.”

“Right,” he drawled, as if he didn’t believe
a word she said.

“I would like to hire Gabe for a little
while, to help me out. I could pay him a few dollars a day and he
would be out of your way when you came home at night.”

Greed narrowed the man’s eyes as he looked at
the boy. Matt wondered how long that money would be in Gabe’s
possession before it disappeared. He had never met Chuck Freeman
before, but he knew the type. He was just like Rick Calvin.

Matt realized his fists were clenched and his
heart thudded heavily. He wanted to go out in the yard and beat the
shit out of Chuck. Give him back some of the grief he had been
giving the boy, it looked like. But he held himself in check. As
long as they were safe, he would stay out of it.

“Fine, but just for a little while. He’s got
chores to do at the house.”

“I’ll get them done,” Gabe promised in sullen
tones.

“You better,” the man threatened, before
turning to stomp into the house.

Gina turned Gabe and hustled him up the porch
steps. Matt stepped back so they could come in the house and shut
the door behind them. Just inside, Gabe turned into Gina’s arms.
She lowered to the floor, holding him to her. “It’s okay, buddy,”
she whispered.