Yours Forever

He rapped his knuckles on the door to the file room, where Carmen stood before an open cabinet drawer. “I’m heading to the bank and then over to Emile’s for a quick bite. You want anything?”

“Yes,” Carmen said, shutting the drawer with her hip and walking toward him. “I want to know what’s up with you and Professor West.”

Matt’s forehead creased in a frown as he followed her out of the file room. “There’s nothing up with me and Professor West.”

Carmen tossed the manila folder on the desk, then perched on the edge of it. “For a lawyer, you are a horrible liar, Matthew Gauthier.”

“I’m not lying. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t give me that.” She pointed toward his office. “There was more chemistry in there than in the science lab at Gauthier High School. What’s going on with you two? Did you know she would be here?”

“Hell no. Didn’t you see how shocked I was to see her standing in my office?”

She crossed her arms over her chest and continued to stare at him. Carmen Mitchell had only been two years ahead of him in high school, but she’d become his father’s secretary right after she graduated, which meant she had more than a dozen years’ seniority over Matt at the Gauthier Law Firm. It was something she never let him forget, despite the fact that he was technically her boss.

Matt blew out a tired breath. “Okay, so I met her last night,” he admitted. “But I didn’t know who she was at the time. I was out for a ride on my bike and found her stranded with a car that had a busted radiator. She’s staying at Belle Maison. I brought her there, then went back for her bags.”

“And you didn’t realize she was the same Tamryn West who’s been calling here every week for the past six months?”

“How was I supposed to know she was the same woman? I had no idea what she looked like.”

“Oh, come on, Matt. I knew who she was the second she walked through the door. Haven’t you heard of Google?”

“I never thought to look her up online.” And he was sorry he hadn’t. He would have been better prepared to handle the shock he’d had when she waltzed through his door this morning. He sure as hell hadn’t visualized that when he’d pictured the professor who had been making a pest of herself all these months.

He’d taken torts with a Professor West back in law school, and whenever Tamryn West’s email popped up in his inbox, that was who he pictured. The wrinkle-faced, bald-headed white guy was the exact opposite of the woman who’d left his office a couple of hours ago.

“She’s even more gorgeous in person,” Carmen mused. “Maybe you should ask her to dinner.”

“Be real, Carmen.”

“What? You’ve been through all the single women in this town already.”

“First of all, I have not been through all of the single women in Gauthier. And second...” Matt released a sigh. “I already asked her to dinner last night. She turned me down.”

Carmen barked out a laugh. He didn’t join in.

“It’s a good thing we didn’t go out last night,” he reasoned. “It would have made things even more awkward this morning.”

“She’s always very pleasant when she calls. I still don’t get why you’re so stubborn when it comes to talking to her.”

“I don’t like people snooping in my business.” Carmen silently mimicked his words. Matt rolled his eyes. “Do you want anything from Emile’s?” he asked again.

“Only if they have bread pudding for dessert. Oh, wait a sec.” She reached for a parcel of envelopes on her desk and thumbed through them, handing one to him. “Give this to Theresa at the bank. She’ll know what to do with it.”

Matt took the envelope and left Carmen with a promise to return in an hour. He walked along Main Street, Gauthier’s central attraction. Despite the slight breeze that ruffled the purplish-pink petals of the saucer magnolia trees lining the street, the humidity had him wishing he’d left his suit jacket back at his office.

Like his family’s law practice, many of the other businesses along Main Street had served this small community for well over a century. Matt strolled past Cannon’s Dry Cleaner’s and the Gauthier Pharmacy and Feed Store on his way to Gauthier Bank and Trust. The bank had long been taken over by a larger regional chain, but after an uproar over plans to change the logo and remove the ornamental clock that had hung over the bank’s entrance for more than 150 years, the corporate offices had agreed to make an exception. The checks and debit cards had the chain’s name and logo, but the sign and clock out front remained the same.

He entered the bank and spotted Theresa Rushing behind the counter. He and Theresa had graduated together from Gauthier High School.

“Hey there, Matt. How’s the campaign going?” Theresa greeted.

“It hasn’t officially kicked off yet, but my opponent is already slinging some heavy mud.”

“That’s a good sign. It means he’s taking you seriously, which he very well should. Patrick Carter has been in office too long already. He’ll probably run for dogcatcher after you whip his butt in this election.”

“That’s probably the only seat he hasn’t held,” Matt agreed with a laugh. He handed over the envelope. “Carmen said you’d know what to do with this. And I want to deposit this into the Katherine Gauthier fund,” he added, slipping Theresa the money he’d drawn from his private equity account. He used his dividend checks to fund the account he’d set up in his mother’s name to sponsor various charitable projects around Gauthier.

“No problem,” she said. She cast a sly smile in his direction. “By the way, a very nice-looking woman came in asking about you not too long ago. If I wasn’t happily married, I would be jealous that some newcomer is scoping out Gauthier’s most eligible bachelor.”

Matt’s stomach dropped. “Was she wearing a red top and black skirt?”

“Yeah,” Theresa confirmed.

Dammit.

“What did she want to know?”

“Just stuff.” She shrugged. “Whether or not you’ve lived in Gauthier your entire life. How long you’ve been practicing law in your grandfather’s old building. Stuff like that. So.” Theresa raised her brows. “Is she someone special?”

“Yeah, a special pain in my ass,” Matt muttered. “Any idea where she went?”

“I think she said she was heading to Claudette’s.”

“Aw, shit.” Anywhere but the beauty parlor. “I’ll come back later for the deposit receipt. Or better yet, have someone bring it over to Carmen at the office.”

“No problem,” she called.

Matt quickly made it out of the bank and across the street to Claudette’s Beauty Parlor. He opened the screen door and was nearly bowled over by all the estrogen. He usually avoided this place at all costs, mainly because he’d dated two of the beauticians who worked here.

Dread crept up his spine as he spotted Tamryn sitting in one of the twirling salon chairs, her lean legs crossed. His gut clenched at the sight. It had done the same thing this morning when she’d assumed a similar position across from his desk.

“Well, look who’s here,” Claudette Robinson called, waving a comb at him.

“Hi, ladies,” Matt greeted.

Joelle Richardson gave him a wave from where she stood at one of the shampooing basins along the back wall, washing someone’s hair. Mariska Thomas grunted at him and rolled her eyes.

Things had ended amicably with Joelle. With Mariska, not so much.

“We were just telling Tamryn here about you running for state senate,” Claudette said.

“They sure were.” An amused glint lit up her eyes. “They also told me about your work with the Boys and Girls Club, and the scholarship you award at the high school, and the work you do with the elderly. You really are a Boy Scout, aren’t you, Matthew?”

“Everybody loves Matt around here,” Claudette chimed in.

There was another grunt from the station where Mariska was slathering cream in a customer’s hair and folding pieces of foil over it.