Matt blinked, disbelief clouding his brain as he struggled to understand. “What? Why would they do that? Is there some old battle between them or something? I broke things off with Melanie two months before I walked into the salon for the first time and met Tate. I don’t understand.”

“Matt,” Nathan shook his head, “you’re a good guy but you don’t know what it was like to grow up the way we did. Melanie has always been this way about our family. Well, mainly Tate. Always Tate because she’s different. She…” He broke off, pressing his lips together.

“She what? Please, Nathan, she won’t tell me any of this herself. I want to understand her, I want to protect her and I can’t if I don’t know.”

“She’s already going to be pissed I told you this much, Matt. She’s ashamed. We all are but she’s the worst. She protected us all at great risk to herself.”

Sickness roiled through Matt’s gut at the thought of her suffering. Of anyone hurting her, including Melanie. He’d have a few things to tell her when he ran her to ground.

“Dinner! Come on, everyone.” Polly clapped her hands to get attention and Nicholas copied her.

Kyle laughed, scooping his son up and heading toward the dining room.

Matt went to Tate, holding his hand out to help her up, and the smile she gave him as she took it melted any anger he’d had at her for not telling him right away.

Nathan cornered her after the cake, telling her he’d let Matt know about the thing with Melanie.

Humiliation and then a sense of betrayal rushed through her. How dare he? “You did what? How could you do that, Nathan? If I’d wanted him to know I’d have told him myself.”

“He needed to know, Tate. He loves you. He wants to protect you.”

She narrowed her eyes. “I don’t need anyone to protect me, Nathan. I can take care of myself.” No one else ever had, she could count on herself, damn it. Melanie was a stupid bitch and Tate had handled her.

“You don’t need it but you deserve it. I don’t feel bad, honey, so spare me the look. It hasn’t worked on me in ages.”

“It worked on you Thursday, Nathan, when you were arguing with William.”

He tried not to laugh but he couldn’t help it. “Okay, okay, so it still works. Tate, I love you. You don’t know how much. I’ll never be able to put into words how much you mean to me, not in a million years. He wants to be part of your life, why hold him out?”

“What’s going on?” Beth approached and Nathan sighed.

“Nothing.” Tate waved it away. The last thing she wanted was to bring any drama to the Chases’ grand living room.

“I told Matt about what happened with Melanie.”

Tate gasped and then growled at him. He had the good sense to look worried.

“Well good. I don’t know why Tate hadn’t before now.”

“I’m not having this discussion. This is mine. It happened to me. Not you, not Nathan, not Matt. You don’t own it and it’s mine to share or not. You don’t get to make my choices for me. No one gets to make my decisions for me but me. You had no right, Nathan, and you’ve made me look like a pathetic fool.” He took something and used it against her. Matt would feel sorry for her and there was nothing worse than having someone feel sorry for you. Especially when she’d handled it and quite well she thought. Those women didn’t make her feel bad, she meant it when she said she was better than they were. She was.

“Tate, you know I’d never…that’s not what it was. I wanted him to know, to see you, to understand what you face.”

“Damn you, Nathan! I’m not some pathetic little fat chick who needs crumbs from the table of anyone. I trusted you. You’ve humiliated me and I don’t know if I’ll share with you so readily the next time.”

Anger burning through her, she hardened herself against the way his face fell at her words. Instead, she spun and walked away, out into the hallway. And straight into Matt. Could the night get any worse?

“I hear you had quite the little run-in with Melanie earlier this week. You planning to tell me about it before the picnic day after tomorrow?”

“Don’t start on me, Matt. It’s nothing and it doesn’t concern you.” If he hadn’t been so angry at her for not telling him about Melanie, he’d have been amused at the way her chin jutted out and her eyes narrowed at him.

He grabbed her hand and tugged her outside onto the front porch. Cassie and Shane sat snuggled on the glider swing on one side so he hustled her to the opposite end, pulling her into the large chaise with him.

“Tell me.”

“Matt, I told you, it was nothing and I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Well that’s not an option. You can’t not share with me. I care about what happens to you. When I track her down I’m giving her a piece of my mind.”

She stood, moving away from him quickly. “You will do no such thing! It’s handled. I handled it. I don’t need anyone to fight my battles for me.”

“You may not need it but I do. I need to help you, to be a part of your life.” He stood and she backed up a step. He exhaled with frustration. “Don’t do that. I hate when you do that.”

“I need to go.” She darted to the side, toward the steps to the front walk.

“Oh no you don’t, Tate Murphy! You can’t run from me every time I get close.”