Family Matters Read Free Page B

her own plans.
    Opening her eyes, she looked at him and faked a reassuring smile.
    He smiled back, tentatively at first, but then quickly recovered his normal happy-go-lucky grin. “It’ll all work out, Kerry. That lawyer won’t bother us again. You’ll see.”
    All she could envision was the intensely bothersome Matt Lawrence as she’d seen him last, standing in the hallway with Albie and glaring at Kerry and Uncle Bren. Even the warm sunshine couldn’t chase away the chill that sight had given her. This told her plainly their troubles with him weren’t over yet.
    In fact, they might just have begun.
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    W EARILY, M ATT MOVED TOWARD the exit door of the clubhouse, his thoughts chaotic. He’d gotten nowhere with Albie Gardner, who insisted MacBride could have time to pull things together.
    To Matt’s way of thinking, that wasn’t going to happen. But he was stymied now, stuck waiting for a couple of days before he could shoot down any cockeyed plan the man came up with. And Matt felt certain he could do it. He would have to.
    He had to get his mom out of this mess.
    She’d been taken in once before by a con man—the one she’d married. The one who had repaid his family’s love by walking out on them.
    The memory of his father storming out the door filled Matt with disgust. Still a child, he had sworn from that day forward he would protect his mother.
    A promise he had spent all his adult life trying—and failing—to fulfill.
    This time, he would succeed.
    â€œOh, Matthew.”
    The voice came unexpectedly from behind him, and he turned back. An older woman approached him, her step quick and sure. With her white hair, flowered dress and fluffy scarf, Maeve MacBride looked the picture of innocence. The perfect sweet old granny. Only she was the snake’s mother, so how sweet and innocent could she be?
    He tried to ignore the fact, attempted to think of her as any other elderly lady.
    â€œAre you leaving us?” she asked, her lilting Irish brogue evidence of a childhood spent in the old country.
    â€œYes.” They moved toward the exit. He held the door and escorted her out of the building. “But not right this minute.” He’d just caught sight of MacBride across the walkway from the clubhouse. Mom’s so-called friend. Beside him stood the cute redhead who’d defended the man during that fiasco of a meeting.
    With mixed emotions, Matt moved forward.
    Maeve sidestepped in front of him so abruptly he almostcrashed into her. Quickly, he rested a steadying hand on her arm. “What’s wrong?”
    â€œJust a touch of the sun.” Her voice faltered. “Need a minute to get my old eyes adjusted.”
    He looked around. There was a sturdy wood and cast-iron bench conveniently placed just a few feet from the entrance doors. “Would you like to sit down?”
    â€œWell, I…” She glanced toward her son and the redhead, then back at him. “No need. You can unhand me, laddie. All’s well.”
    Matt followed her gaze. The redhead now stood alone. MacBride was long gone.
    He snapped his gaze back to Maeve. Sure enough, she stood peering up at him, her eyes bright and cheery—and in no way affected by the sun. His suspicions confirmed, he frowned. So, she was sharper than she appeared, and a scam artist in her own right. “Looks like I’ll need to keep a close watch on two …MacBrides,” he muttered.
    â€œYou’ll need to do more than that,” she said. “The girl you’re eyeing six ways to Sunday is my granddaughter, Kerry Anne. Haven’t you noticed the family resemblance?” She cackled a laugh and turned away.
    Good thing he wasn’t facing a jury right now, because he’d abruptly lost the power of speech. No wonder, back in the game room, Kerry Anne had hung so tightly on to MacBride.
    With an uncle like that one, he felt for the woman. But that