“Have you ever wondered why you do this?” Flynn frowned.
“Nope, because I don’t care why. I just know what makes me happy, and I don’t try to heal happiness.” Matthew pointed toward the waterfall. “I spent a lot of time out here at these falls when I was a kid, and then when I was a teenager. We never knew what kind of mood Mama would be in. She’d be high as a druggie after a fix one day, praising God and going to church every time the doors were open. A week later she would bottom out and forsake the church and cry all the time. Either way, I tried to steer clear of her, because she was quick to grab that belt and lay into me for anything at all. Isaac prayed a lot under that old scrub oak tree over there.” He pointed downstream a little way. “I had a lot of sex both in the creek and on this bank, starting when I was fifteen. Weren’t you about that age when you lost your virginity?”
“You know very well when that happened, and I was seventeen.” Flynn flinched at the memory.
“Yep, I do.” Matthew nodded. “The only difference in me and you, Son, is that I do marry one of my women every so often. You just love ’em and leave ’em, as you say. What happened to Amelia? I thought for sure she’d be the one that taught you how much fun a wedding and a honeymoon could be.”
“We broke up,” Flynn said.
Matthew laid a hand on Flynn’s shoulder. “Too bad, but look on the bright side. There’s always more fish in the sea.”
“Dad, why are you and Uncle Isaac so different?” Flynn shook off his father’s hand and raked his fingers through his dark hair. “And why do you hate each other? You’re brothers, for God’s sake, and you acted like you could kill each other up there at the house.”
Matthew turned to look at Flynn. “If you think living in that house was a picnic for any of us, you’re badly mistaken. The stress in the place was always so thick you couldn’t cut it with a knife. Isaac and I just took the religion and . . .”—he paused a minute before he went on—“and everything else in different ways. My brother couldn’t wait to go get close to Jesus four times a week. I couldn’t wait to go get in some girl’s underpants. We both got what we wanted in the same place—at the church. He was constantly on my case about religion. That’s why I decided to never have but one child. I was afraid I’d produce a throwback like him and Mama. You should be thanking me, not acting like I’m the devil and Isaac is Jesus.”
“Maybe, but I’m trying to figure things out about myself,” Flynn replied. “I have to understand why in order to change.”
“Why in the hell would you want to change?” Matthew was visibly taken aback by Flynn’s words.
“Because I don’t want to be your age and still be thrill seeking. I want to settle down and have a family. I want to be more like Mama and less like you. I went to a therapist, and he told me that what we both have is a form of addiction. We’ll always be afflicted with it, but we can overcome it with time. We just have to want to change, and I do,” Flynn answered.
“If that’s your reasoning, it might be best if you aren’t my best man at this one. Your attitude would spoil the whole party.” Matthew’s tone went downright icy. “I don’t think Delores and I will stay for breakfast after all. We’ll get something at Weezy’s and get on up the road.”
“Probably for the best.” Flynn wasn’t one bit disappointed. “I won’t be coming to the coast for Christmas.”
“You going to get religion like Isaac?” Matthew threw over his shoulder as he turned to walk away.
“No, just hoping to get my life on some kind of sane track.” Flynn sat down on the grass and let the bubbling sound of the water falling over the rocks calm him. “I wish you luck this time.”
“Don’t need it.” Matthew stopped and turned around. “I know who I am, what I like, and what I’ll do next time when I’m tired of this one. Like the old saying goes, you can’t change a leopard’s spots, and, Son, you might look like your mother, but you’ve got a big dose of my DNA.”
“Do you ever think about those sacred vows you make when you get married?” Flynn asked.
“Not since I broke the first ones with your mother. They’re just words, but they sure help a fella seal the deal.” Matthew chuckled, and then he disappeared down the path leading back to the house.
Flynn wondered what had happened in his youth that would cause Matthew to be the way he was. Had he inherited some of Nanny Lucy’s ways, so that he liked the euphoric days better than plain-old-living times? Did he even realize that was why he was the way he was? Maybe that preference was why he could never seem to be a real father to Flynn. He had never seen Flynn as a “good time” but as more of a huge, unwanted responsibility.
Flynn stretched out on his back and watched the dark clouds cover the sky for the second day in a row. “I don’t want to be like him,” he whispered, “and I can change. I know I can.”
Nessa had come to Blossom to find peace, and there was the absolute opposite of that standing before her in the form of her father.
“I’ll go outside,” April whispered.
Nessa shook her head and mouthed, “No!”
“Y’all come on in and sit down at the table. I’ve got biscuits in the oven and was just about to scramble some eggs. Even if you have had breakfast, you can have a cup of coffee with us.” Nessa whipped around and headed back into the kitchen.
“I’ll be glad to pour y’all a cup,” April said.
“Yes, please.” Cora pulled out a chair and sat down. “How in the world are all three of you living in this tiny place?”
By the look in her hazel eyes, Cora was tired, embarrassed, and more than a little on edge, but even when she was angry with her husband, she would be submissive, even if it went against every nerve in her body. Nessa knew the signs from her earliest memories.
Just like she remembered, her mother’s narrow shoulders slumped, and she clasped her hands together. No doubt that was to keep them from shaking with anger. True enough, she was a religious woman, but after living with Isaac O’Riley for more than thirty years, she could probably rewrite the book of Job.
Nessa crossed the small place and laid a hand on her mother’s shoulder. “We manage pretty well.”
“I take my coffee with two sugars.” Isaac’s back was ramrod straight when he sat down. His blond hair, as ever, was in place. Nessa had always wondered if he used gel or spray to keep it that way.
“This is an intervention.” Isaac tucked his chin down a notch and glared at Nessa.
“For which one of us?” Nessa could feel the heat of his eyes, but she refused to turn around and look at him. “If it was for Uncle Matthew, I guess it failed.”
Matthew pushed his way into the house. “I heard what Nessa just said. You and Mama tried that intervention crap too many times for me to remember. Give it up, Isaac. I’m not changing my ways.”
“I gave up on you years ago,” Isaac growled. “The demons in you have made a home, but I do pray for you every day.”
“Don’t waste your breath, Brother.” Matthew grinned. “I own my demons. You just cover yours up with self-righteous robes. I came in to tell my nieces goodbye. It wouldn’t seem right to run off without saying thanks for the coffee and the warm welcome. I probably won’t come back to this place again. The hate seems to come right out of the walls. Come see me if you’re ever in Houston.” He turned and headed out, then stopped at the door and turned around with a frown on his face. “Take my advice and burn this place to the ground, then run as far away as you can.”