Chapter 50
I couldn't resist one more road tip photo. We're crossing the Mississippi River. Big sky, big river, big trip... I like road trips, so maybe that's why I've moved Jenn around so much. Hey, it works for me. Maybe this summer I should scout out a new setting to plunk her into!
Hidden Secrets
Leona Palmer Haag
Chapter 50
"Where is Nick?" It was the first and only
question Jenn had. Nothing else mattered. Nothing. The whole earth could be at
war, earthquakes could be splitting everything apart, tornadoes could be
ripping up the countryside and floods could be washing humanity away, but that
meant little to Jenn. "Where is Nick?" she asked louder as Matt
looked around himself, first up the wide circular stairs, then around the
corner into the opulent formal living room.
Jenn grabbed Matt's shirtsleeve as he headed toward
the back of the house. "Answer my question!"
He laughed. "In good time." He whistled when
he reached the family room and kitchen area. "Wow. Are you set up in
style, or what!"
Jenn sprang in front of him. "Where is my
husband!" she hollered.
Matt smiled. "Busy. I was sent to fill in. I
think I'll retire now that the office has provided me with a proper
dwelling." He strode to the back windows and looked out. "A pool?
Cushy life you've been leading here!"
"Not!" Jenn yelled. "Where is Nick?"
Matt yanked open the back door and stepped onto the
deck. "Let's take a dip," he invited. He turned back and there stood
Jenn, glaring like a cornered bobcat ready to leap. His throat was the target.
He pushed past her and reentered the house before she came to her senses and
shoved the door shut and locked him out.
Matt explored the main level, then headed up the back
stairs. "I guess Katie's up here?" he called over his shoulder to
Jenn as she followed.
"That is the female floor, so technically, you're
not allowed up there," she fumed.
"Got it. After the initial inspection, I'll keep
my distance."
"Good," Jenn muttered as she followed him
like a ghost from room to room, closet to closet, window to window.
"What a set up," he whispered to not awaken
Katie as he examined the master bedroom suite. "How is Nick ever going to
get you home after this?"
Jenn gasped. "He's home?"
Matt stopped at the master bedroom balcony door. He
pushed it open and stepped out and looked over the yard. Jenn was on his heels.
"He's home?"
He turned and faced her. "Nope. Not last I
heard." He shoved past her and started down the wide circular front
stairs. He stopped halfway and with a whoop hopped on the railing for a ride.
He jumped off before his behind hit the decorative finial at the bottom.
Jenn raced to keep up. Matt was silent as he descended
another staircase and inspected the basement level. Jenn finally cornered him
between the wall of mirrors and the treadmill. "Where is Nick? Give it to
me straight, and give it to me now!" Her voice rose in desperation.
"Where were you going?" Matt calmly asked.
Jenn remembered the half full suitcase upstairs. He’d seen
it. She whispered a lie. "Home."
Matt shook his head slowly. "Bad idea at the
moment."
"I've been here for almost three weeks—and all
because some guy in the airport pretended he went to high school with me? Who
was he? Where is Nick? Why are you here? What is going on?"
Matt paced past the mirrors revealing all the horror
of the unknown in Jenn's eyes. He headed up the stairs and stopped in the
family room. He turned a couple photos right side up. "Why am I upside
down?"
Jenn glanced at the pictures. There was nearly one
face down on every level surface. "You're not my husband," she
testily replied.
Matt turned and faced her. Jenn felt like he saw in,
through, and all around her at once. When he spoke, his voice was gentle. Kind.
"Until Nick comes home, I'm Samuel Morgan, you're Dia Morgan, and Katie is
the Morgan's daughter."
Jenn bit her bottom lip to stop the quivering. Finally
she whispered, "How bad is it this time?"
Matt shook his head. "Come on, Jenn, no one said
anything about bad. Work is work. It comes calling and in return, it dishes out
a paycheck. Last I heard, you got one—direct deposit—after Uncle Sam pilfered
out his cut."
"Be honest with me. Either you don't know where Nick
is, or you won't tell me?"
Matt shrugged one of his: closed subject, let's move
onto a new topic, shrugs.
Jenn let her breath out slowly so she wouldn't come
unglued. "Just tell me," she quietly said.
Matt grinned. "Aw, come on, Jenn. You already
know the answer. If I tell you, I'll have to kill you."
"That is the most overused stupid line I've ever
heard," she muttered.
"Yeah, well, I knew you'd kill me if I'd said,
'If I tell you, I'll have to take you to some remote cabin in Montana
and…'" He didn't finish. He was too busy dodging a stuffed teddy bear
launched by Jenn the Furious.
While down, Matt grabbed a fluffy blue puppy with a
pink bow and lofted it back. He ducked behind the sofa and called out,
"You're still a lousy shot, Jenn.
"I missed on purpose. I knew if I gave you a fat
lip you'd never tell me."
"Truce?" he called.
A pile of stuffed animals tumbled over the back of the
sofa and buried him. "Yeah, but only if you'll answer my questions."
Matt smiled and climbed out of the mess. "Like
always, Nick is unavailable at the moment. Don't over react just because he
hasn't called or isn't here, kid. He's good at what he does. Maybe the best if
you don't count me."
Jenn rolled her eyes. "You think you're so
hot."
"True. So let's go swimming. Do you mind if I
wake up Katie bug?" Without Jenn's permission he turned and sprang up the narrow
back stairs two at a time calling for her daughter. Jenn sank into a sofa and
put her face into her hands and wept. From shock at seeing Matt? Relief that
someone besides Kevin knew she existed?
Because it wasn't Nick.
End Chapter 50
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