Matty walked out of the kitchen, just as a knock came to the hallway door.
"Come on in, Wendy."
Wendy opened the door and walked into the living room.
"Just leave it open. We closed it to give you guys some privacy.
Would you like a coffee?"
"I would love one. Black is fine, unless you have some Irish Creme to add."
"Sit at the table, Wendy. Be there in a sec."
A minute or so later, Matty returned with two mugs of coffee and a bottle of Irish Creme, on a tray. She put the tray on the table and sat down.
"Help yourself," she offered, as she lit a cigarette.
Wendy prepared her coffee.
"Shit. I left my cigarettes in the room."
Matty pushed the pack toward her.
"Help yourself."
Wendy looked at the package.
"This is a pic of Tuckamore Bay."
Matty laughed.
"Local cigarettes. Handmade right here in the Bay."
"Is that legal," Wendy laughed.
Matty shrugged.
"Who knows. They have been doing it for years here."
Wendy lit a cigarette.
"Smooth."
She sipped her coffee.
"Have you seen the men?"
Matty nodded.
"Bill left me a note to let me know that he and Daniel left at the crack of dawn and were taking a tour of the Bay."
"Well at least your husband left a message. Mine just left."
Wendy drew on her cigarette and smiled.
"It is nice though. Its been a long time since I have seen Danny so relaxed. Sitting around the outdoor fireplace last night was just so incredible. You and Bill are so lucky."
"Why do you say that?"
"Well just look around. You have an absolutely unbelievable home in an incredibly beautiful little village, filled with people who obviously adore you.
I would kill to have this again."
"Well, it is not always as it seems. It has been a fucking nightmare at times."
Wendy's face got serious.
"We talked to Commander Lukeman. he told us about the troubles you have had."
Matty took a deep breath and forced a smile.
"Funny thing is. I wouldn't trade one second of the last five months. It has been a ..."
Matty searched for the right words, as she sipped her coffee.
"It has been one fuck of a journey. But having met Bill has made every minute worth it."
"You two seem very much in love."
"We are. But running this village and being responsible for all these people has really taken a toll on us. We don't get a break."
"Why don't you just take some time?"
Matty drew deep other cigarette and blew out smoke rings.
"I just wish we could. Every time we try, something else comes up. It just never seems to end."
Wendy sat back in her chair and stared at Matty.
"Okay? What's wrong?"
"Why don't you and Bill come to St. John's with us and spend some time at our place. Turn off the cellphones and stay off the internet and just take some time for you two."
Matty shook her head.
"We couldn't impose. Besides, you and Daniel are always so busy, I am sure."
Wendy shook her head.
"No."
Matty smiled.
"What do you mean, no?"
"Not taking no for an answer."
Wendy finished her cigarette and put it out in the ashtray.
"You know, when me and Danny went to bed last night, we talked for about an hour.
And by the way, that bed."
Wendy rolled her eyes and took a deep breath.
"It was heaven. I slept like a baby."
"That was my Nanny Dove's bed."
"It was heaven.
Anyway.
Danny and I talked and its not like Danny to take to people quickly. Its the politician in him, always a little suspicious of new people, but you and Bill.
He ... we'll, to be honest, Matty, I have not seen him so relaxed in a lot of years. It was like this house just took all his worries away.
He said he felt like a child, safe and secure."
"The Bay tends to have that effect on people, Wendy."
"Any way, Danny, well both of us, have taken a real liking to you and Bill. You are honest people who are looking to give, rather than looking to take.
You both seem so sincere. No bullshit."
Matty shook her head.
"We are what you see, Wendy. We are real people who care about real things and we are focused on saving the Bay."
Wendy lit another cigarette.
"Well, I can guarantee you that will not be an issue."
"What do you mean?"
"Danny is not going to let Tuckamore Bay disappear. He is extremely impressed with both you and Bill and those beautiful woman that were here last night. Well, they made his day.
Please tell me all the women in this Bay aren't that beautiful."
Matty thought for a moment, as she sipped her coffee.
"Well, now that I think about it, they are."
"Maybe I should be a little jealous."
Matty shook her head.
"No shit like that goes on here. The women respect each other. There is a lot of flirting and I mean a lot, but it is all in fun and just a way of showing how people feel about each other."
"Well if the three women I met last night are any indication of the women of the Bay, then I am impressed and a little overwhelmed."
Matty had to smile.
"Lindsay and the others are amazing women. All the women of the Bay are amazing. It is one place where equality is a real thing. There is no hierarchy here. Every person is equal."
Matty laughed.
"Actually that is not one hundred percent true."
"The women rule, don't they?"
Matty nodded.
"Pretty much. But, you don't fuck with the women. The men here are unbelievably loyal."
Matty sat forward.
"Do you know that there has never been a divorce in the Bay?"
"Really?"
Matty shook her head.
"No one here even locks their doors. There hasn't been any crime of any sort, here in the Bay, for a lot of years, outside of the bullshit cause by Hirst."
"I understand that his wife is actually here in the Bay right now?"
Matty got up and started for the kitchen.
"She is. Actually Gail is a sweetheart."
Matty returned with a carafe of coffee and filled the mugs.
"Her father, Jackson Lamont, is here as well."
Matty sat down, again.
"Now there is a larger than life character."
Wendy poured some Irish Creme in her mug and passed the bottle to Matty.
"Isn't he some billionaire oil baron from Alberta?"
Matty nodded.
"Yea. But he is a real person. We like him."
Matty laughed.
"And he brought Bill a six thousand dollar bottle of scotch for a gift. And then they drank it."
"Really?"
Matty rolled her eyes.
"Well they did share a drink with me and Gail. One little drink."
Wendy stared at Matty again.
"I envy you, Matty."
"Why?" Matty laughed.
"You are married to the premier of the Island."
"I know and I love Danny with all my heart, but ..."
Wendy took a deep breath and exhaled loudly.
"Being the Premier is not all its cracked up to be. He rarely gets a good nights sleep and there is always someone looking to him to do something for them. And then there is the negative ones, who want him out of office. I mean, he even gets threats.
Danny is a good man and he has done so much for the province, but it is always a day by day thing. He feels like he is always looking over his shoulder."
She reached across the table and put her hand on Matty's.
"Then I look at you and Bill."
Matty pulled her hand away.
"Oh my God. I am sorry. I didn't ..."
Matty stood up and walked around the table, bent down and hugged Wendy.
"You are a wonderful woman, Wendy. I knew that the first time I talked to you."
She sat on a chair next to Wendy and took her hands, in hers.
"I know I am lucky. But I see the same in you and Daniel. I see the way he looks at you. You are a beautiful, intelligent woman and he sees that and no matter what bullshit comes into your lives, I can tell that you will face that shit together and you will get through it."
Matty lifted one hand and kissed it.
"I know I am lucky. I knew that the first time I saw Bill and believe me, it wasn't a magical moment."
Matty laughed, remembering the first time she had met Bill.
"You have to tell me."
"Oh shit," Matty sighed.
"I walked around the corner of the lighthouse and found him, flat on his back, on the ground, literally in terror, because he had seen a little field mouse."
"Are you serious?"
"Oh shit yea. I am so serious. He claimed he saw a mutant rat."
"Now that is a first impression. What did you think?"
A tear came to Matty's eye. She took deep breath.
"I, ah, fell in love.
I knew, at that moment, that he was going to be the man I was going to spend the rest of my life with."
"Really?"
Matty nodded.
"Yea. He was awkward, shy, stupid, embarrassing, irritating and I fucking loved him.
He is the most amazing man I have ever met. He is kind, gentle, generous.
I mean he came in here and bought the fucking village. He invested millions of dollars to save this little community. He will do anything to save Tuckamore Bay.
That is why everyone in the Bay adores Bill."
Matty rolled her eyes.
"Half of the women in the Bay are in love with him and the other half wish he was their son."
"How do you handle that?"
"Doesn't bother me at all. I know deep in my heart that Bill feels the same about me, that I feel about him."
Matty got up and walked to the desk to get a tissue.
"Sorry."
"For what? For loving a man that is obviously amazing?"
Matty walked back to the table.
"Thank you."
"For what?"
Matty smiled.
"Its silly."
"What?
Now you have to tell me."
Matty stared at her hands for a moment.
"Talking to you, is like, well, what I would imagine talking to a sister would be like."
It was Wendy's turn to get up and walk around the table. She sat in the chair next to Matty.
"That's unreal."
She lifted Matty's head, so she could look at her.
"I was thinking the same thing. I have five brothers. I love them all to pieces, but seriously, they are men.
They just don't understand. I love Danny with all my heart too, but sometimes. Every now and then. You need a woman."
Matty smiled.
She remembered talking to Gail a couple nights before, but it was just talk. Nothing very deep, just talk about anything and everything. Not the heart to heart she was having now.
She looked at Wendy.
She was different. There was a connection. A special connection.
"I know what you are saying. I feel the same."
"Okay."
Wendy got up quickly and walked to the desk.
"Now I need a tissue."
She wiped her eyes and looked at Matty.
"I know we aren't sisters, but maybe, just maybe ...
we could be friends."
Matty stood and walked to Wendy.
"I think we are something more than that."
The two women hugged for a moment.
Wendy blushed.
"Wow. Ah. What say we have something a little stronger than a coffee."
Matty agreed.
"Lets dig out one of Bill's most expensive scotches."
Wendy nodded.
"And sit outside in front of the fireplace?"
Matty laughed.
"Grab some blankets from the closet by the patio door and I will get scotch, smokes and big comfy hats."