The Choice - Nicholas Sparks [3]
He paused. Who was he kidding? Had he not been here, he would have definitely spent the day with Liz’s parents, which was, in all honesty, the main reason he’d agreed to Travis’s request in the first place. But that wasn’t the point. The point was, he didn’t need this. He really didn’t.
“I don’t need this,” he said. “I really don’t.”
Travis didn’t seem to hear him. His hands were already on the box, and he was getting into position. “You ready?”
Matt lowered his shoulder, feeling bitter. His legs were shaking. Shaking! He already knew he’d be in serious, double-dose-of-Advil pain in the morning. Unlike Travis, he didn’t make it into the gym four days a week or play racquetball or go running or go scuba diving in Aruba or surfing in Bali or skiing in Vail or anything else the guy did. “This isn’t fun, you know?”
Travis winked. “You said that already, remember?”
“Wow!” Joe commented, lifting an eyebrow as he walked the perimeter of the hot tub. By then, the sun was beginning its descent, streams of gold reflecting off the bay. In the distance, a heron broke from the trees and gracefully skimmed the surface, dispersing the light. Joe and Megan, along with Laird and Allison, had arrived a few minutes before with kids in tow, and Travis was showing them around. “This looks great! You two did all of this today?”
Travis nodded, holding his beer. “It wasn’t so bad,” he said. “I think Matt even enjoyed it.”
Joe glanced at Matt, who lay flattened in a lawn chair off to the side of the deck, a cold rag over his head. Even his belly—Matt had always been on the pudgy side—seemed to sag.
“I can see that.”
“Was it heavy?”
“Like an Egyptian sarcophagus!” Matt croaked. “One of those gold ones that only cranes can move!”
Joe laughed. “Can the kids get in?”
“Not yet. I just filled it, and the water will take a little while to heat up. The sun will help, though.”
“The sun will heat it within minutes!” Matt moaned. “Within seconds!”
Joe grinned. Laird and the three of them had gone to school together since kindergarten.
“Tough day, Matt?”
Matt removed the rag and scowled at Joe. “You have no idea. And thanks for showing up on time.”
“Travis said to be here at five. If I had known you needed help, I would have come earlier.”
Matt slowly shifted his gaze to Travis. He really hated his friend sometimes.
“How’s Tina doing?” Travis said, changing the subject. “Is Megan getting any sleep?”
Megan was chatting with Allison at the table on the far end of the deck, and Joe glanced briefly in her direction. “Some. Tina’s cough is gone and she’s been able to sleep through the night again, but sometimes I just think that Megan isn’t wired to sleep. At least, not since she became a mom. She gets up even if Tina hasn’t made a peep. It’s like the quiet wakes her up.”
“She’s a good mom,” Travis said. “She always has been.”
Joe turned to Matt. “Where’s Liz?” he asked.
“She should be here any minute,” Matt answered, his voice floating up as if from the dead. “She spent the day with her parents.”
“Lovely,” Joe commented.
“Be nice. They’re good people.”
“I seem to recall you saying that if you had to sit through one more of your father-in-law’s stories about his prostate cancer or listen to your mother-in-law fret about Henry getting fired again—even though it wasn’t his fault—you were going to stick your head in the oven.”
Matt struggled to sit up. “I never said that!”
“Yes, you did.” Joe winked as Matt’s wife, Liz, rounded the corner of the house with Ben toddling just in front of her. “But don’t worry. I won’t say a word.”
Matt’s eyes darted nervously from Liz to Joe and back again, checking to see if she’d heard.
“Hey, y’all!” Liz called out with a friendly wave, leading little Ben by the hand. She made a beeline for Megan and Allison. Ben broke away and toddled toward the other kids in the yard.
Joe saw Matt sigh in relief. He grinned and lowered his voice. “So . . . Matt’s in-laws. Is that how you conned him into coming here?”
“I might have mentioned it,” Travis smirked.
Joe laughed.
“What are you guys