“You have to be prepared for it, Matt. You have to protect her and yourself by accepting it up front and understanding how to deal with it. If you mean to make something with her, you’re going to have a lot of hurdles. Other people may pretend that’s not a problem but I’m not other people and I love you too much not to say what everyone is thinking.”

Marc chuckled. “My fragile flower. So shy.”

“I never thought of it that way. Well, I don’t care what people think. I only care what I know. All my life people have just assumed I’m shallow. Kyle, he’s the sensitive one, Shane is the gruff one, Marc’s the happy-go-lucky one and I’m the pretty one no one thinks much of. I’ve gone out with dozens of women. I’ve been able to have a decent conversation with maybe three and only one has ever had the same feeling about family I have. I’ve gotten to know Tate over the last few months, this isn’t sudden. She’s the one. She doesn’t judge me, she doesn’t look at me and think about how much money I might inherit or how much my family name can do for her. She doesn’t look at me and think that grabbing the last Chase bachelor would be a feather in her cap. She just sees Matt. No one else does. Do you know how special that is?”

Marc looked at Liv and then back to his brother, nodding. “I do. If you want her, you know you have our help and support.”

“You know Momma will be in your corner. If anyone says a word about it in her presence they’ll rue the day.” Kyle and Maggie looked to him. “I’m looking forward to getting to know Tate and making her part of our family. You’ve got our support.”

Matt looked at them, the people he loved and smiled. “Thank you. Looks like I might just have a job and a half ahead of me. Good thing I’ve never shied away from a challenge.”

“That’s putting it mildly.” Kyle winked.

Chapter Five

“Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?” Beth looked to Tate as they stood just outside the trailer.

“Sure? Fuck no. I know I don’t want to do this. But Jill and Jacob are in there and they need our support. If Mom and Dad don’t sign those papers, it’ll be hard for the kids to get their loans. We can pay for most of it but without those loans, it’s awfully hard. Plus, damn it, with their signatures they can keep getting state grants too. They deserve at least that from those two worthless ass**les. So we do this once a year and thank the heavens it’s just that rare an occurrence.” Tate took a steadying breath and reached out to Anne on one side and Beth on the other. It fell to them because Tim, William and Nathan couldn’t be in the same room with their father without violence breaking out. They all played to their strengths and worked together. Dealing with their parents was her cross to bear.

The door opened up and Jill stood there, relief on her face. “Hi guys, come on in.” Her eyes sparked a warning and Tate steeled herself for the inevitable.

Once she walked up and through the creaky door, the assault of her entire childhood plagued her like it always did. The cloying stench of stale sweat, cheap perfume and alcohol assaulted her. God, she hated that smell.

Her mother raised a hand in halfhearted greeting from her place on the tattered sofa. Tina Murphy had a drink in the other hand. Her hair was currently platinum-blonde with three inches of red growout at the roots. No matter that her daughters were excellent hairdressers, no, Tina had killed her own hair with repeated home dye jobs that rendered it to straw.

Bracing herself, she bent to kiss her mother’s cheek. “Hey, Mom.”

“Hey, honey. I like that color on you.” In her own way, Tina was closest to Tate. What passed for love in Tina’s world was a scarcity but she did seem to care about Tate when she could be bothered to come home.

“Too bad orange isn’t slimming. Those shoes are hideous. Trying to take the focus off your fat ass? You’re late as usual, Tate. Stop at a drive-thru on your way over? Let’s eat, we don’t know when your mother will decide to cat off somewhere else.” Her father’s words had already taken on a heavy slur.

Jacob started to speak but Tate shook her head once, hard. If anyone engaged with their father, it would make matters worse. If you just ignored him, he gave up after a while. Or he passed out. Either way, he’d shut the f**k up before she gave in to her urge to smack the shit out of him with a frying pan.

“Good evening, Dad.” She walked past him toward the tiny eating area. Her mother may have a lot of faults but when she concentrated for long enough she was a pretty good cook.

It was just a matter of holding out through dinner. Just finish, make nice and get the hell out of there before anyone cried.

“Did they sign the papers?” she asked Jill in an undertone.

Jill nodded imperceptibly.

Only one more year.

“Don’t pass the potatoes by lard ass. I told you to make her a salad, Tina.”

“Bill, shut the hell up already.”

Tate drank her tea and kept her head down. Finally, after bickering back and forth, her father shut up. She didn’t bother eating, it would only prolong the evening.

After strained small talk they all made an exit.

“Come back to my place?” Beth hugged Tate tight.

Tate shook her head and hugged Anne, Jill and Jacob too. “I need to be alone for a while. Shake this off. I’m not good company.”

“Yes you are. Honey, don’t do this alone.” Anne kissed her forehead.