“Okay,” Savannah said. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Jess stood and handed Chase her plate. “I’ll go with her. See you guys later.”
After the girls hurried away, Matt sat back in his chair and took a drink of beer. Hot beer. He emptied the rest onto the ground, crushed the can in his fist and tossed it into the fire. “Looks like your plan to throw me and Rachel together backfired. Hope you’re both proud of yourselves.”
Sam eyed him a long moment. “Man, I didn’t realize things were that bad between the two of you.”
“Yeah, they are.” Real bad. “According to Saint Rachel, I drink too much and I don’t talk enough about my feelings. When I do try to talk to her, she doesn’t give a tinker’s damn about what I have to say. I can’t win for losing.”
“And you’re giving up on working it out, just like that?” Chase asked.
Matt shrugged. “She doesn’t want me near her, so I’m going to give her space. Lots of space.”
“Like I told you earlier today,” Sam began, “you’re traveling down the wrong road if you don’t do something and soon. Anything worth having is worth fighting for.”
He’d grown pretty sick and tired of the ongoing war and the advice. “If you’re so damn wise, how do you propose I change her mind?”
Chase forked a hand through his sandy hair. “Be persistent. Use every trick in the book to get her to come around.”
“Seduction usually works well,” Sam added. “Worked wonders for me and Savannah when she came back to town.”
Hard to mount a seduction when Rachel wouldn’t let him within five feet of her. “You can’t seduce an unwilling woman.”
Chase grinned. “You can if you play your cards right. Have you been married so freakin’ long that you don’t remember how to charm the pants off a girl?”
Sometimes he wondered if that could be the case. “I don’t take too kindly to rejection.”
“Here’s what I think you should do,” Sam said. “Give her a while to cool down tonight, then march over to Wainwright’s grand estate and politely convince her to let you in the house. After that, do your best and let nature do the rest.”
Easy for Sam to say. He didn’t run the risk of getting booted out on his ass. “And if she doesn’t let me in?”
“Then try again tomorrow,” Chase said. “Try every day until she finally listens to you. She’s bound to get tired of you hounding her.”
Maybe in a year or so. But his friends were right. He had to keep pushing until they hashed everything out. Otherwise he might never get her back home, and that wouldn’t do. “Fine. I’ll pay her a visit in a half hour or so. But right now I’m going to have another beer.”
Before Matt made it to the cooler, Sam blocked his path. “Didn’t you mention that Rachel thinks you drink too much?”
He could use a little liquid courage if he planned to see this through. “It’s only one beer. I didn’t even finish the last one.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Chase said from his chair. “If you’re going to get anywhere with your wife, then you better go there stone-cold sober. And since I’m the law, I can’t let you drive if you’ve had too much to drink.”
He’d been waylaid by the booze police. “Okay. You win. No beer.”
And no expectations. Matt had a hard time believing Rachel’s attitude would change in less than an hour. That she’d suddenly decide to hear him out when she’d done nothing but close him out of her life since after the first of the year.
Only one way to find out, and he would in a matter of minutes.
CHAPTER TWO
“DO YOU WANT US TO COME IN?”
Rachel appreciated Savannah’s offer, and she loved her friends dearly, but at the moment she needed solitude. “I’ll be okay. I’m going to take a shower and go to bed. I’m sure I’ll be asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.” And that was a colossal lie. She’d be lucky to get any sleep at all after the disastrous day.
“You should eat something,” Jess said from the backseat.
Her appetite had diminished the moment she’d laid eyes on Matt. “Don’t worry about me. I’m going to be fine.”
“Are you sure?” Savannah asked. “It seems you and Matt have a lot of issues to work out.”
“That’s an understatement,” Jess muttered.
Yes, it was. “I agree, and I plan to tackle that in the near future. Right now I need some rest.”
Savannah reached over the console and laid a hand on Rachel’s arm. “Let me know if you need anything. Anything at all. Just pick up the phone and call me.”
“Same here,” Jess said. “Even if you only need to talk. And if you need someone to verbally beat some sense into your husband, I’m your gal. Ask Chase.”
Jess could talk all day to Matt and it wouldn’t make a difference. Rachel had learned that the hard way. “I do have a favor to ask. Make sure someone takes Matt home if he has too much to drink. He’s been doing a lot of that lately.” One of the major issues with their marriage.
“I assure you neither Sam nor Chase will let that happen,” Savannah said. “But we’ll serve as backup, just in case.”
“Thanks.”
After doling out hugs to her friends, Rachel left the car and walked into the house alone. She flipped on several lights, hoping to make the place seem a bit more warm and inviting. But even though the two-bedroom, two-bath guest bungalow was nicer than many people’s houses, it still wasn’t home. It had afforded her some independence, at least until her father returned and insisted she move into her old bedroom, not the guest quarters. Maybe by that point she’d be back in her own house with her husband, though that seemed highly unlikely under the current circumstances. Maybe she should find a place of her own. She didn’t have enough energy to worry about that now.
Rachel set her purse on the counter, walked to the large picture window and made sure the main house was completely dark. Zelda, the maid, always went to bed with the chickens and awakened with the roosters. Meeting a millionaire’s demands was tough business.
Still restless and somewhat tense, Rachel decided a dip in the hot tub might help her relax. On that thought, she went into the bedroom and, after a brief consideration, bypassed the drawer containing her swimsuit. Normally she wouldn’t dare go outdoors in the buff, but the remote estate allowed enough privacy to stay concealed from prying eyes. Besides, she highly doubted anyone would come calling this time of night, and even if they did, they’d have to get past the security gate.
She stripped out of her clothes, wrapped an oversize towel around her torso, pulled her hair into a clip and headed toward the deck. Just to be on the safe side, she flipped off all the lights before she opened the French doors and stepped onto the deck. She stopped at the control panel mounted on the wall and turned on the jets and heater. Then in a fit of daring, she tossed the towel onto the nearby chaise and lowered herself into the tub.
After she settled into the swirling water, she leaned her head back to study the host of stars and the three-quarter moon partially concealed by the wisp of cloud. But she couldn’t fully appreciate the night sky or the country quiet. Not with so much turmoil spinning around in her brain.
She closed her eyes in an attempt to block the childish scene she and Matt had caused back at the pond. Forget that the remarkable, caring man she’d always loved had become almost a stranger