I was prepared to love you
And never expect anything of you
And there's no patron saint of sudden restraint
Baby there ain't no sword in a lake
There ain't no sword in a lake
There ain't no sword in a lake
Just a funeral wake
Weights and Measures – Dry the River
There was a certain something about San Diego that didn't feel right to Mattie, but she could not say why. Perhaps it was the overwhelming heat, all the diversity- there was just one ethnicity in Charming, white people- or how it made her think of New York. The city reminded Mattie that there were hundreds of miles between her and Tigger, the man that she loved more than she ever liked to admit. Being around her brother and his fiancé was great; they were fun and young and liked to do more than sit around the clubhouse and rough house with the boys. But seriously, if George asked her to go hiking one more time before the wedding, Mattie might just drive her ass back to Charming.
But she only had one more night in San Diego. The rehearsal dinner would be tonight, the wedding tomorrow, and then Mattie would be on her way back to Charming as George and Jessie went on their fancy, expensive honeymoon. Her job as big sister would be over, and then forward onto normal life. Well, as normal as her life could be. George asked if Mattie wanted to stay in San Diego, if she liked it enough to live there permanently, but she had no idea how to answer that without lying one way or another. Charming wasn't perfect, hell, pretty fucking far from it, but San Diego didn't feel like home whatsoever. She didn't want to get trapped in that city like she'd been in New York, but it was so goddamn good getting to know her younger brother. It felt like her family had suddenly gotten nice and round, although George still had no idea why she considered the Sons of Anarchy her family. They're not related by blood. Except Uncle Bobby. You don't have any biological ties to the rest of them. No matter how Mattie explained things, he never understood.
Most of all, he was confused about her relationship with Tig. She hadn't told George about their last meeting, about the gun pressed into her gut, how Tigger killed her best friend and was willing and able to kill Mattie too. He's too old for you, he's a criminal, he's creepy, all arguments George used in order to convince her that Tig was all wrong. Didn't her brother know that she understood that? They were reasons that she'd considered at seventeen, at twenty-one, at twenty-eight, but they never seemed to make a difference. Mattie wanted to hate Tigger, wanted to despise him enough to never need to be with him again, but it didn't work that way. It was like her body, her mind, they were wired to respond only to him.
Every time Mattie thought he was out of her life forever, one of them went crawling back to the other.
And as much as she wanted to hold out, fuck, she didn't know how much longer she could. It was weak, it was stupid, but damn, it was hard to ignore. Maybe Tig did brainwash her. Made such an impression on her teenage mind that she would never be the same. She just… she didn't know. Tig was Tig, and Mattie was Mattie, and because of that, there would always be a Tig and Mattie. It'd been that way for ten damn years and it wasn't about to change anytime soon. She didn't expect George to understand when she rambled about Tig. Brother or not, he was still a SAMCRO outsider. He was a son that didn't get raised amongst the Sons.
It was too late for him to comprehend the life. Reese had seen to that.
Jax kept Mattie filled in on everything that was going on back home, how Abel was doing and how much Moby missed her. Lowell had Neeta watching Moby until Mattie got back, but she still felt guilty for leaving the little boy. But Moby was wise beyond his years, so when she explained that she needed to take a vacation- which was the child approved, abridged reason for her departure- he just nodded and told her have fun but come back soon. And then, with a little grin, asked her to bring back a present for him.
Bobby was coming home any day now, soon as Stahl got her bitch-ass together and started his release. No witness meant no trial, although Jackson left out the details of how said witness disappeared. That was okay. Mattie could guess what happened. Jax had also talked about Tig, how he was just a touch more reserved than usual and a whole lot more drunk. I don't know how it's even possible, baby girl, but his insides are twisted. And as much as I like to see him suffer… I dunno. Seems cruel, almost.
Cruel? Cruel? Tigger murdered her best friend, and was a single decision away from offering Mattie the same fate. What was she supposed to do? Pat him on the back and tell him that it was all okay?
Take a life to save a life. It's what Mattie had heard since she was old enough to understand the concept. But then there was the old adage brains before bullets, and well, seemed like Tig didn't quite have a handle on that one. On one hand, Mattie understood why he didn't want to look Opie in the eyes while killing him, but on the other… Tig was a coward. She might not ever be able to say that to his face, but she knew it was true. She felt it every time she thought about fateful night.
Tig was never sloppy. Crazed, over eager, yeah, but not completely reckless. If it had been Opie- if he'd actually been proven a rat- maybe Mattie would've been able to scrape up some pity for Tig.
Instead, he made a mistake that she just wasn't ready to forgive.
In her worst moments, she always wanted to blame Stahl instead. That cunt had made Ope look unbelievably guilty, to the point where Clay questioned Opie's loyalty. Opie. Raised by a founding member, never had any dreams besides the MC Opie. Stahl must've pulled off some masterful tricks if she was able to get more than one Son to believe her lies.
And then there was David- who sat back and watched Stahl's puppetry routine without breathing a word. He could've saved a life that night. He could've protected Charming's citizens- which was his excuse for standing back, if she remembered right- and cooperated with SAMCRO in order to do it. Fuck his badge, fuck all the oaths. Donna would still be alive. Both sides of the law were responsible. Tig pulled the trigger, Clay ordered the hit, Stahl made Opie look like he flipped, and David watched it happen.
There were so many people bearing the weight of Donna's death that sometimes, Mattie couldn't hold Tigger solely responsible. She wanted to, so badly, because when she focused her revulsion towards him it made her feel less pathetic. Tig might have remorse for his actions, but Mattie didn't know if she wanted to forgive them. Donna was her best friend. Her sister. Now her children had no mother and their father was riddled with grief. According to Jax, Mattie wasn't the only one taking a vacation from life.
Beyond the scope of Donna's death- which Mattie wanted desperately to stop grieving, but it seemed her every thought lead straight to her best friend- there was Chibs, who she was sure didn't believe a single one of her reasons for hightailing it out of Charming. But there was no way that she could explain, that she could make a grand, sweeping confession without incriminating Tig and Clay in Donna's murder.
The last thing she needed was the threat of her own life being taken away by the Sons of Anarchy.
Chibs, however, was not deterred by Mattie's reluctance to talk about her 'vacation.' He, like Jax, called a few times with updates of life in Charming, usually stories of what Half-Sack or Juice had been up to. She thought some of his tales were pure fiction, but she appreciated Chibs' attempts to make her laugh. He blamed Tig for her disappearance, she could feel the Scots' jabs throughout their little chats, but he never pressed. He'd learned that Mattie kept her own secrets safe, that any and all attempts to elicit them would be ignored until she was good and ready for the discussion.
Just one of the reasons Mattie liked Chibs. They'd become unlikely friends since she came back to Charming, but she knew that he had some feelings for her. At Abel's party, when she decided to give up on Tig being a decent human being- which was before she discovered just how despicable he could be- she'd gravitated towards Chibs, towards the hands that he at first rested on her shoulders, later on the small of her back, and by the end of the night, encircled around her shoulders. It felt strangely comfortable, even if Tig had been staring daggers at both of them.
Abel had wound up in her arms some time before all the shit went down, bundled in his blanket with that little blue beanie on his head, and Mattie just held him close and marveled at the little boy. He was so small, so soft, so damn adorable. She didn't think about the child she'd lost very often, but she felt that absence heavily with Abel so close. Having a baby at twenty-one wouldn't have been glamorous, far from it, but she would've loved that kid with her whole heart. Tig too. He didn't talk about them too often, but he missed his girls, even if they were all grown.
Mattie and Tig's baby would've been a second chance at fatherhood. When she lost it… devastation was not even the right word. There was no adequate way to describe that sort of sadness. That sort of absence. Compounded with the fact that Tigger abandoned Mattie at the hospital, well, it was kind of a miracle that she eventually wound up somewhat whole. She still held it against him- the action completely warped their relationship- but it was such an old wound that she hardly felt the ache of it anymore.
Mattie once trusted Tig wholeheartedly. He wouldn't get that sort of allegiance ever again.
Chibs had cornered her while she held Abel, the baby fluttering his eyes shut, tired from all the fawning and cooing he'd endured over the past few hours. That's when he wrapped an arm around Mattie, tucking her neatly into his side. She could smell the scotch on his breath, hear the slur of it in his voice, but for some reason, didn't anticipate what he was going to say next.
"I don't know how often lover boy says it, but he's fucking lucky. If I had you, shit, baby, ain't a croweater in the word that would distract me. If I had you…" Chibs put his lips close to her ear, and she wanted to pull away, needed to, but stood still against the whisper. "If I had you, I'd never put you through the shit that he does."
And then he walked away, leaving Mattie's heart pounding. It wasn't conventionally romantic, but it was as close to a romantic gesture as a Son could manage. And it scared her. Fucking terrified her. Mattie had no idea what to do when another man tried to intervene in her relationship with Tig. She loved Tigger, even when he tortured her, but what sort of a woman did that make her? The abuse, the emotional back and forth, Mattie always just accepted it without question. Because that's who Tig was. She'd understood it at seventeen, and she understood it at twenty-eight. She never wanted to change him. That asshole, the cocky, crass, you-know-you-want-fuck me prick, that's what she'd fallen in love with. Somehow.
Tig had inadvertently saved her life when that one October back in 1997, and Mattie had been hooked ever since. It wasn't something that anybody could understand. Fuck, she didn't, and she'd loved him for a very long time. Mattie was lost in Tig without a way back. But she couldn't deny that Chibs intrigued her, that he made dumb little butterflies flutter in her chest when he said those things.
Jax always said that one day Tig would do something so unforgivable that Mattie would never allow herself to be with him ever again. She wanted to believe that, she really did, but she was so used to all the shit that honestly, whatever that big event he thought would occur probably did already.
Mattie wasn't a doormat. Really. She could stand up for herself, her family, but her words always failed when she was face to face with Tig. All the bullshit that she swore she couldn't take anymore vanished the moment they had the smallest confrontation.
In loving Tig, Mattie always ended up hating herself.
And now, on the day that she was supposed to be spending at the beach with Jessie had turned into a pity party. Jessie luckily didn't notice, she was busy soaking up the sun with her already golden skin, showing off her taut abs with her tiny bikini. Mattie, pale and just the littlest bit soft in the middle, was hidden underneath both a beach umbrella and a cover-up, pretending to be reading and instead just feeling sorry for herself. She loved the ocean, loved swimming, but hated all the skinny, pretty people enjoying the shore. Mattie wasn't nearly as teeny-tiny as all the girls running around on the sand, looking trim and sporty.
She was neither of those things. Mattie would never be a waif, all long limbs and jutting bones. Even when she was a teenager, she'd been curvy. Bigger tits, a decent amount of ass, hips that made her waist look deceptively narrow. Always a little extra layer of flesh over muscle that no amount of exercise would do away with. Hell, she'd tried, and tried hard, to be model-skinny when she lived in New York. It didn't work. Mattie had come to accept her shape a long time ago, hell, even liked it most of the time, but on days like this one, when nothing seemed to be going right, her body was just another thing to whine about. Men always seemed to like the way she looked, but she was a woman, and to her, all the proportions were wrong.
Jessie sat up, probably to flip over and roast her back, but instead propped up her sunglasses and smiled. George's fiancé was ridiculously nice, personable, and pretty much the opposite of every girl Mattie had known growing up. She was athletic and cheerful, always ready to do something fun. Mattie had gone out a couple times with her, to bars and clubs, and enjoyed herself.
Jessie and George seemed to fit together. They were young, yeah, but Jessie seemed to be the levelheaded voice of reason to George's naivety. Mattie, despite all that she'd been taught about outsiders, kind of liked her soon-to-be sister-in-law.
"You gonna stay wrapped up in that fancy cover-up all day?" Jessie teased. "I feel underdressed."
Mattie shrugged, trying to be a good sport. "I'm a little doughy for the suit I picked up on the trip down here."
Yes, that trip to Target had been a particularly ambitious one. Or maybe Mattie had just been in a better mood.
"Shut up. I bet the moment you let those puppies breathe, every man on the beach will run over, panting." She stood, the movement causing a little bit of sand to fly in Mattie's direction. "Come on, I'm boiling. Let's go for a dip, cutie pie."
The two girls had opted to leave their more expensive items in Jessie's pick up, just taking towels, something to read, and a cooler full of drinks with them. There was just a wrinkled twenty floating in the ice, so Mattie didn't exactly mind leaving her things unattended on the beach full of strangers. What she did mind however, was peeling off her gauzy cover-up and letting everyone see her lily-white fleshy skin. But Jessie had been so good to her in the past couple weeks that Mattie didn't want to turn her down.
So Mattie abandoned her extra layer of protection, and walked down to the shoreline with Jessie. Jessie's bikini was bright yellow and sporty, showing off her volleyball toned body- that's how she and George met, during a USC sports awards dinner at the end of their freshmen year- while Mattie's… didn't. Bright red with little white hearts printed all over the fabric that she swore barely covered her breasts and called attention to her not-so-trim middle, her bikini was not even close to the confidence booster that she needed.
Seriously, Mattie normally didn't care about what size she was. Tigger loved her curves- correction: her tits. But all the shit that was going on with him back in Charming seriously threw a wrench in her self-confidence. And the snarky wolf whistle from a buff asshole putting on tanning oil didn't help either.
"'Ey, Red! Come ova here, baby!" He called, and Mattie immediately flushed all over.
But Jessie just brushed it off with a little bit of laughter. "See, I wouldn't lie to you, Matt. All boys think you're sexy. Good thing George isn't here."
George? What about Tig? Jax? Hell, if they were in Charming, that prick would already have his ass handed to him. Maybe that was why Mattie felt so naked in San Diego. It wasn't the protection of the cover-up that she needed; it was her family back in Charming. That circle of safety that she'd come to depend on during her months at home. Being around SAMCRO had become so natural that regular people were starting to give Mattie the creeps. How fucked up was that?
They waded out into the ocean, the water refreshing as Mattie paddled out a little. She'd learned to swim at the Charming community pool- which didn't exist anymore, not since somebody dived in the shallow end, cracked their skull and sued- and had spent many a summer there. The SAMCRO babies played Marco Polo, splashed and got yelled at by both lifeguards and Gemma. Mattie remembered little Thomas floating around in his neon orange water wings, always throwing himself into their games and giggling when he lost.
It was at that very pool when Mattie first saw Tig's rage when her safety was threatened- even if, at the time, she hadn't even been in danger at all. The summer just after her sixteenth birthday- before she even considered the idea of her and Tigger- the air conditioning at the clubhouse was on the fritz, so some of the Sons had decided to head to the pool for some relief. She and Jax were horsing around, shoving one another back and forth. Hell, Mattie didn't even protest when Jax pushed her head underneath the water, knowing that she'd have a chance to return the favor, though she never really got the opportunity. The sound of a sloppy dive and a short scuffle erupted just as she surfaced, not anticipating the jostle of chlorinated waves. Jax and Tig struggled against one another, grunting and cursing while Mattie could do nothing but watch in confusion.
If you touch her like that ever again, I'll kill you, you little shit. I'll kill you. That's what Tigger howled while attempting to drown Jax, until Book clawed the Sergeant-at-Arms away. At the time, Mattie thought it had something to do with Jax's status as Prospect, a bit of club-inflicted hazing, but thinking back… maybe it wasn't.
Tig didn't particularly care about inflicting pain on women; violence was an equal opportunity activity. He'd always had a strange soft spot for Mattie though, even when she was little. As kids, when Jax and Opie would make a mess, got in his way, Tig would roar and act as menacing as possible, but when Mattie did the same thing; he'd just set his mouth in straight line and touch the top of head. She'd say that it something to do with the fact that he had daughters, but she knew that wasn't it. He did things like that before Dawn and Fawn were even born. Probably just because Mattie was a club kid.
Christ, when she thought about things like that, even she realized how creepy it made their relationship seem.
"Hey," Jessie's voice jarred Mattie from her memory, "Can I ask you a strange question?"
"Sure thing." Mattie replied, enjoying the sway of the waves.
"Well, I guess it's more a comment than a question. You have a lot of tattoos. I never noticed before."
Her tone was nervous for moment, and Mattie immediately realized why. The bridesmaid dresses were strapless with sweetheart necklines and showed a lot of back. Where most of her ink was located. Not just the little gems that Chibs had found that one day back at the garage, but a lot of the pieces she'd 'collected' over the years. Images, quotes, lyrics, whatever Mattie felt a strong connection to went onto her skin. At home, nobody would've questioned her tattoos, but here… fuck. Jessie had already picked out the dresses before Mattie came down, and the only time Mattie tried hers on was in the presence of the tailor, not Jessie.
"Yeah… I don't think about them most of the time." Mattie absentmindedly touched the archway etched on her hip. The one she'd gotten just before her birthday, that informal reference to Tig. Shit, why did every thought lead straight to him? "I can probably cover them up for the wedding."
"No! I mean, girl, it's no big deal. All those tattoos make you kind of like the coolest person I know. And you already did me such a huge favor by coming down and helping."
Mattie grinned at Jessie's little compliment. "It's no problem. I hardly see George; it's been great to get to be around him. And to get to know you, too."
"Seriously though, you have no idea how happy I am that I got to do this with you, instead of his mom. Your mom, too, I guess. If she was involved, I think Jesus might have been featured somewhere on our invitations." Jessie sighed. "George never really explained why you two were raised separately."
Mattie's stomach twinged and her mouth went dry. That story was in the realm of private things that she didn't talk about, especially not to strangers. But Jessie was about twenty-four hours away from being Mattie's sister-in-law. It was one of those times where Mattie wished Opie was around, because he always knew when she was uncomfortable about a topic of conversation. He'd direct it down a more manageable road to help Mattie out and never made a big deal about it. He understood her need to keep things under wraps.
And Reese… Mattie had so much unhealthy hatred for her mother that it probably wasn't a good idea to talk about her, however, she was going to be Jessie's mother pretty soon, so the kid should at least have an idea about what she was in for.
"Did George ever tell you about our dad? I think that's a better starting point for this conversation." Evaluating how much Jessie knew about the Sons of Anarchy would give Mattie an idea of how to edit the truth.
"Ernest?"
Mattie flushed with irrational anger. Reese had been with Darby, leader of the Nords, right after she decided to rip Book in half. Even somehow convinced the poor fuck to marry her. How that made any sense- going from SAMCRO to the Nordics seemed like trading in a solid Chevy pickup for a bicycle with a basket full of crank- letting George grow up in that environment of white hate. Darby wasn't too much of an asshole though, and was always nice to Mattie when she was forced to visit Reese. It was her mother's next boyfriend, the murderous Hirsch, that tried to do Mattie in. The one that she had to shoot in the chest in order to save herself. Mattie wondered if her mother knew that it was her fault that her daughter had nearly died. Yeah, Hirsch was a sick prick, but it was Mattie's connection to Reese that got her in trouble. Not only did Reese abandon Mattie, she pretty much sent her own kid to the slaughter. Reese wouldn't be eligible for mother of the year for a long, long time, no matter how many times that bitch appealed to Jesus.
And the fact that George didn't recognize Book as his father was absolutely heartbreaking to Mattie. So fucking what if their dad was a criminal? He loved his children to no end, would've done anything for them. Because of Book, Mattie had an extended family on which to depend. George just had Reese. Now, that was damned depressing.
"No. Our father's name was B- Wyatt. He was a member of a motorcycle club. You know, mechanics, Harley-Davidson enthusiasts, that sort of thing. They live a very different kind of life from the one that you or George know. It's off the grid; it's kind of anarchistic, a lot of booze and good times to be had. Fighting, fucking, the whole nine yards. But it's a great big family. As corny as it sounds, everybody comes together and depends on one another."
"Wow." Jessie sighed, raising an eyebrow. Mattie took that as a cue to continue.
"George never grew up like that. He was two when Reese decided she couldn't take that sort of life anymore and left my father and me. Literally, one day she was fine, the next day, their bags were packed and she was gone. My dad fought for custody, but the courts gave him the barest of visitation rights. Reese never attempted to gain parental rights for me. But that was okay. Because really, she wasn't ever my mother." Mattie explained.
There were big gaping holes in the story, like the club's illegal activities, Book's title as MC hitman, how fast Reese went to Darby, but it was enough to explain things. Mattie never had any sympathy for her mother, because no matter what, your children were your children. You don't get to pick and choose. Yes, Mattie would never have consented to living with her mother, she was always more Book's daughter than Reese's, but her mother didn't even bother. Reese treated Mattie with barely-veiled disdain and disinterest until she got reintroduced to religion.
And then she became truly unbearable.
"Oh. That explains things a little bit better, I guess." Jessie frowned despite her light words, her gaze becoming more invasive. "George is worried about you, Mattie. He's not going to say it to your face, but he is. Said that he met your… boyfriend when he went up to Charming. And you just leaving New York without a word of warning, well, that freaked him out."
Boyfriend. What a silly word to attach to Tig. "George finds my life sort of incomprehensible. I left New York because I wasn't happy. Simple as that. I went home. People do that all the time."
"Not people with fiancés and jobs, Matt. I know we barely know each other, but George is especially nervous about your relationship. Says that your guy is rough around the edges and completely wrong for you." Jessie plead her case with just the littlest bit of trepidation. "I'm just telling you how he feels, though, because he's not going to say it himself. You're his big sister, and he wants to support you in whatever you choose to do. He doesn't want to see you go down the wrong path either."
Mattie didn't know what to say. She was used to Jax ripping Tig to shreds, but George? How sad was it if her younger brother was nervous about the choices she was making?
But George didn't know her or Tigger well enough to say that he was completely wrong for her. Tig had tiny little redeeming factors that were hard for others to see, but obvious to her. He would always protect her; keep her out of trouble the best he could. And he'd never discuss it in front of his brothers, but Tig was always up for a home cooked meal and a movie with her and Moby. There were mornings when he woke up first and put coffee on for her. How he would leave a note on the kitchen table that said, fly to the club later, birdie. Despite his reluctance to even breathe the words, 'I love you," those touches were enough to convince her.
Although, the whole thing where he murdered her best friend was a big argument against all the points she was tallying inside her head.
"I know George's intentions are good, but he met Tig for about five minutes." Mattie thought about how to phrase the next part of her statement. "I love my baby brother, but he barely knows me. It's not his fault, and I know that. I promise you though; I can take care of myself. I've been doing it for a long time. If I get hurt, I'll pick myself back up and try again. Plus, not all of us are so lucky to find our husbands at an awards dinner."
Try high school, for instance. Although, if Mattie ever tethered that word to Tigger, he'd probably have a shit fit. No, there were never going to be any legal documents binding them together. No receptions and ceremonies or invitations.
And honestly, Mattie was sort of fine with that.
"Okay, okay. I was just trying to tell you how George felt. I'll let him know that you're a big girl." Jessie smiled. "Whaddaya say we pack it in and head home? I've got a rehearsal dinner to get ready for and I've got sand in unspeakable places."
"Fine with me."
Mattie followed Jessie back to their things, which hadn't been disturbed during their absence. Wrapping a towel around her waist, she picked up her book and folded up her beach chair, getting all the odds and ends together before heading to Jessie's pick up. Mattie had thrown her cover up on for good measure, not because she felt overweight or nervous, just to soak up some of the extra salt water from her skin.
She was tired of feeling self-conscious. In the future, Mattie would have to remember not to go to the beach when she was having a rocky period with Tigger. Her thoughts were all jumbled and miserable, and without Donna to talk to, Mattie felt alone. That hole gaped, no matter how much she tried to ignore it in order to get past the loss. The fissure was always there, reminding Mattie of what Tigger had done. For once, Mattie wasn't the sole person hurt by his actions. She wondered how he was dealing with that.
Probably didn't even notice, the selfish prick.
Just like Mattie didn't notice the guy holding a bright orange towel over his arm. They smacked into one another, him losing a camera, Mattie dropping her beach bag.
"Shit! I'm so sorry!" Mattie exclaimed, picking up the fancy Nikon that'd been dumped into the sand. "Did I break it?"
"Oh, miss, I don't think so. It's pretty tough."
"Are you sure? I can reimburse you if it's fucked." Mattie inwardly grimaced at her own language. In Charming, she was rarely forced to couch her four-lettered-words.
The man just smiled, but something about the motion seemed wrong. Mattie couldn't spot the wrinkle in his softly spoken brush off of the situation, but she could feel it in his dark eyed gaze. He looked normal enough, with short graying hair, and an average build. A sliver of tattoo was visible by his throat, part of a red circle outlined in black, but it was blocked by his high collared and long sleeved button down. Weather was a touch warm for that. Something, which Mattie still couldn't put her finger on despite her not-so-subtle assessment of his appearance, was wrong with him. Which, considering the people she'd been raised by, made her instantly wary.
Nobody would be that pleasant about their expensive camera taking a nosedive. Right? But Mattie blocked out her ill feelings and just grinned back at him. It wasn't time for a paranoid showdown anyway. She had places to be and sand to wash out of her delicate areas.
"It's alright, miss. Please don't worry."
"If you're sure. I'm sorry about bumping into you." She replied, glancing at Jessie, who didn't seem to be getting the same heebie-jeebies as Mattie.
"No problem, miss. Excuse me, though, I'm going to head down to the water. Please enjoy the rest of your day." He replied, bowing his head and smiling one last time before sweeping past the two girls.
As Mattie put her things into the pick up's backseat, she couldn't help looking over her shoulder. The mystery man had his eyes trained on her, that unsettling grin still on his lips. He waved before Mattie anxiously pulled her attention back to what she was doing. After tossing herself into the passenger seat, thankful for the tinted windows, Mattie searched for him once again. Gone.
Good.
"He was nice." Jessie remarked when they were on the road. "Polite, too. Should've gotten his number."
"I don't know. Not really my type."
"Too old?" Jessie asked.
"No…" Mattie searched for a word to describe him without pointing out his oddness. She couldn't think of one. "Yeah. Too old, I guess."
That strange feeling running up her spine didn't go away until the rehearsal dinner. Then, it would be replaced with another uncomfortable sensation- disgust.
Mattie was not sure whether she'd rather spend time with that weirdo from the beach or Reese. She was kind of leaning towards the former, although as luck would have it, she was seated directly across from the latter during the big rehearsal dinner.
Issues with Tig notwithstanding, Charming never looked so good.
A/N: Ugh, I know it's been forever since my last post! Between tax season and a billion other distractions, I haven't gotten a chance to sit down with MS Word and get some writing/editing done. But I buckled down and got this all edited up to post, even if it took about a thousand years. Just to clarify, I'm not giving up on this story, just was a little overwhelmed with life and such for a while. Anyway, thanks so much for reading (and waiting for my slow ass to put up a new chapter) and please leave a review to let me know what you think!
