My One and Only Page 3

  Matt spotted his friend immediately. The door to the kitchen was open, and Matt could see Brady busy at work, preparing for the lunch crowd.

  One thing about Brady was clear, the guy loved to cook. Even when they were in high school, Brady was always playing with his food. It was in a way that made him the center of attention and the target of ridicule from some of the school badasses. But Brady never cared, and never listened to those who called him “sissy” and “cheffie,”. Even if the names were delivered with a very female flick of the wrist, the gay inferences never bothered him. All he wanted to do was cook.

  When he spotted Matt, he blinked, his head jerked back, and he said, “Matt? Seriously, you’re here?” Brady yanked him into a back-thumping man-hug. He was wearing his white chef’s attire which, this early in the day, was still white.

  “Yep, got in just a few days ago.”

  Brady narrowed his eyes, “And I’m just now seeing you? What the hell?” He flung his arms out to the side with a grin.

  “My brother got married.” Matt said, leaning up against the smooth chrome counter and folding his arms.

  Brady let out a breath. “Wow. That is news. I guess since he moved away after he left Jessica at the altar, we all sort of lost track of him. But, man, he sure kept this wedding on the down-low.” Brady turned back to the stack of carrots that needed chopping.

  “How’d Jessica take it?” Brady asked, picking up a very sharp-looking knife. “I assume you told her.”

  As ever, Brady knew him well. “She seemed fine with it, oddly enough.”

  “Not surprising, considering it’s been five years. I mean, she’s a successful wedding dress designer. Pretty in demand from what I hear, so why wouldn’t she have moved on?”

  Matt shrugged. “Anyway,” he began, changing the subject, “how are you doing? Business good?”

  Brady looked at him and stopped chopping for a moment. “Stop changing the subject.”

  “I didn’t.” Matt offered, but he knew what Brady meant.

  “You seen her?”

  Fuck. He really wasn’t interested in talking about Jessica. He only nodded.

  “And?”

  “What is this? An interrogation? She seems fine. As I said, she’s over Will, so that’s good.”

  Brady didn’t even look up from his rapid-fire carrot-chopping. “Not what I meant. As I recall, you had a pretty powerful ‘thing’ for her when you left town.”

  “It wasn’t a thing. I mean we were friends…”

  “You gonna tell her?” The chopping continued, and Matt found himself mesmerized by Brady’s swift, deft movements.

  “There’s nothing to tell.” Matt’s voice was low.

  Brady stopped chopping and pointed the knife at him, “You know there is. Look, it’s your life, but you’ve had a thing for Jessica ever since the day you met her, which was…what? When she was twelve, and you were a horny sixteen-year-old?”

  Then he gave a chuckle and started chopping again. “I’d say it’s past time to do something about it,” he added.

  Matt shrugged, “Whatever. I have to leave soon anyway, so what’s the point?”

  “The point, my old friend, is that you have spent too much of your life taking a back seat to your brother. Who, might I add, is an ass.”

  “He’s a big-time lawyer now.”

  “So?” Brady finished the carrots and set aside his knife, then grabbed two handfuls and dropped them in a pot. He turned the heat up and faced his friend again. “You’re a fucking badass Army guy who’s been risking his life every day in the Middle East. That fancy-pants lawyer has nothing on you. It’s time you stopped being a second fiddle sibling to the kind of guy who could leave an amazing woman on their wedding day.”

  Brady had never been one to hold back when it came to delivering a hefty dose of reality.

  “We’ll see,” was all Matt could say.

  “Now, none of that wishy-washy BS. I expect to hear about how you swept her off her feet next time I see you.” His friend winked at him. “Now, are you going to just stand there, or you want help me get ready for the lunch crowd? Apron?” He grinned, holding up a white waist apron.

  “Hell, no, I’m not wearing that, but I’m happy to help. What do you need?”

  Brady pointed to a bag of potatoes. “Can you peel those?”

  “You bet.” Matt grabbed a peeling knife, dumped the potatoes on the counter, and set to work. “Is your apartment upstairs still vacant?”

  “Sure, Why? You need a place to crash?”

  “I’ve been staying with my folks, but since they moved into that cottage, there isn’t a lot of room. I want to pay you, though.”

  Brady shrugged, “I bought a house, and the apartment’s empty anyway, so no charge.” He gave his friend a stare. “And no arguments.”

  As Matt and Brady worked, they caught up on his time in Afghanistan, though Matt, wanting to keep the conversation light, was careful to skirt some of the horror he’d seen.

  But while they talked, he also struggled with an internal tug-of-war.

  Maybe his friend was right, maybe it was time to come clean. But if he did, then what? If Jessica rejected him, which she most certainly would, he’d have nothing but a wrecked friendship, and the conviction that he should have kept his mouth shut.

  8

  Friday morning, 9 am, and Matt was ready to go. Since the weather forecast still looked pretty grim, he drove his truck, and wore his heavy coat, a tan sweater over jeans, and a pair of heavy walking boots.

  When he pulled into the driveway, Jessica was just coming out with her design folios. They were big and bulky, and she struggled to get them through her front door.

  “Wait,” Matt called from his truck, “let me help you.” He threw his truck into park, set the brake, and hopped out.

  “I’m fine, I’m used to this,” Jessica said, still wrestling to maneuver the awkward folios through her door.

  “Forgive me, but you don’t look used to this.” He winked at her and whisked them out her hands, returned to his truck, and propped the folios on the jump seat in his truck.

  “Thank you,” she sighed. “I’ll go get my suitcase.

  “We need to hurry if we’re going to beat the storm.” The prediction of snow had been upgraded to a possible blizzard, but it wasn’t due to hit their area until nightfall, and the drive to New York City was two hours give or take, depending on traffic. Still, Matt wasn’t keen on taking chances with severe weather.

  “All right,” Jessica said as she emerged from her house, overnight bag in tow, and locked her front door. Matt took the suitcase from her and stashed it next to his, behind their seats. There was ample room, thanks to a spacious cab addition.

  Jessica glanced over the side of the truck and into the bed, “What’s that?” She pointed to a backpack in the back of his truck.

  Matt slid behind the wheel, “A rucksack, MREs, first aid stuff. The Army taught me to always be prepared.”

  Jessica got in, and Matt took a moment to notice her. She wore a light blue turtleneck that matched her eyes, a snug pair of jeans, and a pair of knee-high designer riding boots.

  “Isn’t that the Boy Scout motto?” she asked, and he forced himself to drag his gaze away from her and back the truck out of her driveway.

  “Same difference.” He grinned at her and saw her cheeks flush. His heart thumped, and he knew it would be impossible for her to look more beautiful than she did that very moment. And here they were, on the road together for a weekend in New York.

  “What do you have lined up for this weekend, Jessica,” he said as they headed back to the main highway.

  “Well, I won’t make you try any of the dresses on, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  He glanced at her and winked. “White’s not my color anyway.”


  “Mostly I’ll be meeting with one of my main boutiques to discuss my summer collection. I have the designs for the summer wedding dresses in my folio. Hopefully, I’ll get a huge order.”

  “Have I told you how proud I am of you, Jessica?”

  “It’s really nothing.” She shrugged.

  “It’s not nothing. From what I’ve gathered, you’re a pretty damned successful wedding dress designer. You should be very proud.”

  Once they were on the interstate, the traffic was heavy, so Matt kept his eyes on the road.

  In the distance, though, he could see a line of dark grey moving closer to them. The storm everyone was talking about. The storm seemed to be moving in faster than anyone predicted.

  “I am,” Jessica continued the conversation. “I mean, I love what I do. I love being able to design beautiful gowns for a living.”

  When he didn’t respond, she looked at him.

  “Matt, what’s wrong?”

  “The storm. I think it’s moving in much faster than what was forecasted.”

  “What does that mean?”

  Matt answered without taking his eyes off the road. “It means I think we should head back home.”

  “Please, no, Matt. Let’s just go a little farther and see what happens. This weekend is a huge deal for my business.”

  She touched a hand to his leg, and then yanked it back. That spark she felt, when she touched him. It was something she had never felt before.

  “Please,” she added, feeling a tiny bit out of breath. “I’m sorry, I know this must sound selfish.”

  “We’ll keep going,” Matt said. While they continued down the highway, she asked him questions about his life in the Army, and his life in Afghanistan. She got some watered-down response with nothing more than vague details. She knew in her heart something was wrong. She knew that it also wasn’t the right time to push it.

  After an hour on the road, the snow started to fall, gently at first, and then harder.

  “We have to turn back.” His tone was final. “This is going to be too dangerous.” As soon as he spoke, several sets of brake lights flashed ahead of them, and everyone came to a stop.

  “There must be an accident. Damn. We’re not going to wait here like sitting ducks.” Matt steered them onto the emergency lane and then, throwing his truck into four-wheel drive, he maneuvered it off the highway and onto a narrow road running alongside it.

  The truck bounced wildly from left to right while Jessica held on to the “chicken strap” above the door for dear life, as well as to the armrest.

  “What are you doing, Matt?” Jessica tried to smooth out the panic in her voice.

  Once they hit the road, the drive evened out.

  Matt touched her arm, and even in her semi-panicked state, his touch ignited something.

  “I needed to get off the highway,” he explained. “This road will get us back home. Jessica, I’m sorry, but I can’t get you into New York today.”

  The snow fell harder and faster now, and was beginning to pile up on the road. The visibility dropped while Matt drove slowly and meticulously through the storm.

  The temperature was dropping. She could feel it on the inside of her door. The chill was working its way into the truck. Matt reached over and cranked the heater up a bit more.

  She sat quietly beside him, knowing better than to protest at this point.

  He had turned the radio to an AM local all-news station, and they reported that the storm was by all accounts already a blizzard, arriving well ahead of the nighttime predication.

  “Warning,” the male voice began, “the blizzard has already begun to hit in Essex county. If you’re outdoors, please get to shelter immediately. We are expecting wind chills of up to 30 below zero. It’s not safe for man nor beast out there today, and speaking of beasts, please make sure your animals have proper shelter and enough food. This storm is predicted to last well into the night and through tomorrow.”

  Matt flipped off the station. The roads were already worse than he could have imagined, but he didn’t want to tell Jessica, at least not yet.

  “This is bad, isn’t it?”

  Of course, she knew, he chided himself. How could she not know?

  “Yes, it’s bad, but I’m going to get us home safely, I promise.” When they came to a fork in the road, Matt stopped the truck and grabbed his phone.

  “Damn it.” He turned to her. “No reception. The storm must have already cut out cell service. I was hoping to pull up a map and see where we need to go.”

  “I don’t know this area at all,” Jessica said as she pulled out her phone. “Mine is out, too.” She held it up and then slipped it back in her bag.

  “So, what do you think, left or right?” He nodded toward each road, adding emphasis to his question.

  Jessica shrugged, “Maybe all roads lead home. Let’s try left.” Matt took the left fork. Fifteen minutes later, they were hopelessly lost, with snow coming down unbelievably fast. Soon, they’d be stuck on a road with no cell coverage with no idea how to get home.

  9

  Matt threw the truck into park, but left the engine running. “I can’t turn back, Jess. There’s no time.”

  Jessica’s stomach twisted.

  “What are we going to do, then?”

  “Keep going, I’m betting there’s an abandoned cabin somewhere along this road. Or, if we’re really lucky, a motel, or someplace else to stay for the night.”

  Jessica nodded, but didn’t say a word. She knew Matt needed to focus on keeping the truck on the road at this point, much less figure out where they were going. She also knew they’d never survive the night sleeping in his truck.

  “There!” Matt nodded ahead of them.

  “I don’t see anything.”

  “It’s a cabin, a hunter’s cabin.”

  “How on earth would you know that?” Jessica felt the panic rise in her throat like bile.

  “My dad used to take me hunting, and we’d sometimes borrow a hunter’s cabin if we stayed out too late. Even if I’m wrong, it’s a cabin nonetheless—maybe abandoned, maybe not, but either way, we’ll see if we can stay there.”

  He stopped the truck and twisted in his seat to look at her. “I’m going to drive the truck up as far as it can go, but we may have to hike the rest of the way.”

  “T-That’s fine,” she nodded, but she knew her voice lacked conviction.

  “I have been in worse situations in Afghanistan.” He took her hand and squeezed it. “I promise I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  “I know,” she said softly.

  With that, he let her hand go, put the truck into drive, and headed up a small road buried in snow. The fencing surrounding fields on either side showed them where the road was. Every wheel of his truck was working as hard as it could up the slight incline of the road, and the engine roared as it struggled and bounced through the mounting snow and heavy blizzard conditions.

  “Hold on!” It wasn’t a request, but an order.

  Jessica gripped the strap with both hands, but then the truck came to a sudden stop and she could hear the wheels spinning.

  Finally, Matt put it in park and said, “We’re stuck.”

  She could barely see the cabin through the snow at this point.

  “What do we do now?” she asked, though she sort of already knew the answer.

  Matt blew out a sigh and shoved his fingers through his hair. “I’m going to hike up to see if it’s habitable, and then I’ll come back and get you.”

  Jessica’s heart pounded. He was leaving her, in this weather?

  “You’ll be fine.” Matt’s voice was low, and he clasped one of her hands, then the other. “I promise I won’t leave you here.”

  “I’m not afraid,” she mumbled, though she was pretty sure Matt could tel
l she was.

  “I am not afraid.” She repeated it, as if saying it again would make it true.

  Matt leaned closer to her. So close, in fact, that she thought for a split second he was going to kiss her.

  Why the hell would he do that?

  “Whatever you do, keep the truck running and the heat on, okay?” His voice was soft and low. “And I know you’re not afraid.” He leaned in further and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek. He quickly opened the door to prevent much snow from coming in, jumped out of the truck, and slammed it shut again.

  In spite of how quickly he moved, the wind that blew in the cab was like ice and came with a cloud of snow. Jessica watched as Matt plowed through the deepening snow as he walked the rest of the way. She watched him until he was swallowed up by the storm.

  10

  “Now would be a good time to pray,” she said aloud, and then did just that. Jessica wasn’t overly religious. She did attend church, although not as often as she should, she thought. Jessica kept her eyes open and fixed on where Matt had disappeared into the storm, praying aloud to get him back to her safely. They just had to make it out of this alive and unscathed.

  It seemed like an hour passed, maybe two, and Jessica began to worry. Her stomach twisted and flopped around while fear sliced through her. What if he doesn’t make it? What if I never see him again? What if…..? As her last ‘what if’ darted through her mind, the driver’s door whipped open, and Matt climbed into the truck.

  “Oh, God!” Tears flooded Jessica’s eyes, she threw herself against him, hugging him tight.

  “You were gone so long,” she buried her face against his heavy coat that was now icy cold and covered with snow. He wrapped his arms around her.

  “I wasn’t gone very long,” he said gently, “I’m sure it felt longer under the circumstances.”

  “I was so worried,” Jessica breathed into him while he continued to hold her tightly.

  “I have good news,” he said and she could almost hear a smile in his voice. “The cabin is empty and habitable, so we can stay there overnight, or at least until this storm blows over.”