Free Matthew's Choice by Patricia Bradley Page A

you something.... ‘Dear Mom, I’m sorry I went to find something to eat. Maybe if I had stayed you’d be all right. You have to get better. I love you. Noah.’”Matt cleared his throat. “Sis, don’t leave your son. Not like this.”
    Shoes squeaked behind Matt, and he looked around. A nurse charted her vitals. “Can you tell me how she’s doing?”
    “She’s...actually improving. I know right now it doesn’t appear that way, but the doctors have her sedated. Her heart has really calmed down.” The nurse put Mariah’s chart back in the holder on the wall. “I’m sorry, but I need you to return to the waiting room.”
    He nodded and stood. “When is the next visiting time?”
    “Not until eight.”
    Three hours. Matt glanced at the monitor over Mariah’s head like he had so many times before with his mom. Her heart rate beeped a steady eighty-two times a minute. A good sign.
    Back in the waiting room, Allie’s arms were still wrapped around the sleeping boy.
    “He’s exhausted,” she whispered when he sat in the chair across from them. “I’m glad you came.”
    Noah stirred, and she shifted his weight. Slowly his eyes opened, revealing blue eyes just like Mariah’s. When he saw Matt, he jerked upright and pulled away from Allie.
    “Noah, this is your Uncle Matt.” Allie brushed his blond hair out of his eyes.
    The boy needed a haircut, and he didn’t seem at all pleased to see him. Matt stuck out his hand. “It’s good to finally meet you.”
    Noah ignored it and wrapped his arms across his chest. Allie leaned over and whispered in his ear. The boy shook his head.
    “Noah, I’d really like for us to be friends,” Matt said. “I’d like for you to stay with me until your mom gets better.”
    “No!”
    “Why not?”
    Noah jutted his jaw. “Mom said not to trust you.”

CHAPTER FIVE
    H IS UNCLE ROCKED back in the chair, looking at Noah as if he didn’t know what to do next, but Noah wasn’t about to be friends with this guy. His mom didn’t trust him. Neither would he. He glanced up at Miss Allie. Even she looked at him funny.
    “I’d like a chance to get to know you,” Matt said.
    “Why?”
    “Uh...” His uncle scratched his head. “You’re my nephew? I know I haven’t been around, but that’s not entirely my fault. Your mom never told me about you.”
    “Give him time, Matt.” Noah blinked as Miss Allie smiled warmly at him. “Your Uncle Matt really didn’t know.”
    Matt leaned forward. “I really do want you to live with me until your mom gets better.”
    “No, you don’t. Mom said you didn’t want to be bothered with us, that you were too busy getting rich.”
    His uncle looked like he’d eaten a lemon, but Miss Allie seemed to think what Noah said was funny.
    “Well, your mom had it wrong, but if you’d rather stay at the shelter than to trust me...” Matt shrugged. “I’ll just return to Memphis so I can go back to getting rich.”
    The shelter. Noah hadn’t thought about that. His stomach growled. He was hungry—really hungry.
    “Tell you what,” Matt said. “I haven’t eaten since lunch, and it’s kind of hard to think when I’m hungry. What do you say we go get a burger? Then we’ll sort all this out.”
    He wasn’t going anywhere with this guy by himself. “Can Miss Allie go?”
    Matt shrugged. “If she wants to.”
    Miss Allie didn’t look like she thought it was a good idea at all. His stomach growled again, and both of them looked at him. “You are hungry,” Miss Allie said. “Tell you what. Matt, you can follow us in your car to this great burger place over on Second Street.”
    Suddenly his uncle gasped like he had a pain. “I have something in my car I need to check on. Are you ready to go?”
    “Can we come back here later?” Noah asked.
    Miss Allie and Matt looked at each other, and then Matt checked his watch. “I don’t see why not. There’s one more visiting hour tonight at eight. We can come back for that.”
    They