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to him.
They actually like me, Billy said. Rourke and I have even been
invited to dinner by a few different people.
That s great, Billy. Matty patted Billy s hand. The man was so
excited he was practically bouncing. I m glad you followed my
advice.
I want to thank you also, Matty, for what you did for Billy,
Rourke said as he stepped up behind Billy. I also want to apologize
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for what I did. I had no reason to attack you the way I did. I hope you
can forgive me.
Matty smiled. There s nothing to forgive. You were just worried
about Billy.
It doesn t excuse my behavior.
Rourke, let it go. We both made assumptions that were wrong. I
thought you were going to hurt me, and you thought I was trying to
hurt Billy.
I did hurt you, Rourke snapped.
Oh please. Matty waved a hand at Rourke. You tossed me into
a wall. If I can survive being tossed off a horse, I can survive being
tossed into a wall.
Matty remembered being scared of Rourke, but after seeing true
evil, he knew the man was just trying to protect what was his. Rourke
would no more hurt him than he would try and hurt Billy. He was
angry and scared, just like Matty had been.
Let it go, Rourke, Matty said. There s nothing to forgive.
Matty
Rourke, Da said, listen to the boy. If he says to let it go, then
let it go. Matty doesn t blame you, and you shouldn t blame
yourself.
Yes, sir, Rourke answered.
Despite his words, Matty doubted that would be the end of it.
Rourke looked pretty upset. He wished he could convince the man
that he didn t blame him. Maybe he would get together with Billy
when he came home and figured something out to get Rourke to
forgive himself. Matty wondered how Rourke felt about mucking
stalls.
So, when can I come home?
* * * *
146 Stormy Glenn
Matty slumped against the wall of the small bench seat he sat on
and watched the rain fall outside his hospital window. He d been in
the hospital for two weeks now. Every time he asked when he could
go home, everyone avoided his question.
Matty was beginning to think he wasn t welcome at the Blaecleah
ranch anymore. Ma and Da had even stopped coming to see him.
Only Ruben and Billy still visited him, and they refused to answer any
questions concerning going home or why Quaid wouldn t come visit
him.
He missed the ranch the people, the animals, the closeness of the
Blaecleah family. But mostly, he missed Quaid. He knew he was
healthy enough to leave the hospital. His ribs were healing fine, and
most of his other injuries were already a fading memory.
Matty considered just walking out, leaving the hospital, but where
would he go? He had no truck, and now it looked like he had no home
to go to either. He wasn t even sure if Ruben would go with him if he
did leave. He d been talking about this man he had met and seemed
like he wanted to stick around Cade Creek. Matty was happy for his
brother, but that left him all alone.
Matty wiped a tear off his cheek. He wondered if he would always
be alone. Maybe there was something wrong with him that made
people stop caring for him. His parents had certainly never cared for
him beyond parading him around as the good child. The moment he
stopped being the good child, they no longer wanted him.
Matty didn t have a clue why Quaid no longer wanted him. He
had racked his brain for days trying to figure out what he had done to
make Quaid not want him anymore. The only conclusion he had come
to was sex. Brian had left him after they had sex, and now Quaid had
also. He knew he wasn t that good at it, but he didn t think he sucked
that bad.
Unless Quaid had lied to him just like Brian had.
It wouldn t explain the marriage proposal and all of the planning
Quaid had done after they had sex, but it did explain why Quaid
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refused to come see him. Quaid didn t really want him. He just
wanted sex, and he had used every means to get what he wanted.
Matty wavered between anger and misery. He wanted to be angry
at Quaid for lying to him, for leaving him. He wanted to rage at the
man for making him dream then yanking that dream away.
He also wanted to curl up in a ball and cry. His heart hurt so bad
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