A Case For Trust by Gracie MacGregor Page B

before. I made a promise.’
    â€˜And that promise means more to you than your sons’ peace of mind?’
    â€˜I made it for your peace of mind. Yours and Garrett’s. I did it for you, Matthew.’
    â€˜So you keep saying. But don’t expect me to thank you for it.’
    ***
    The same old argument, over and over. Whether he was arguing with his mother or with his own self, Matt couldn’t make sense of the rights and wrongs of the family secret that had wrecked his relationship with his mother and sent his youngest brother searching the far corners of the globe for self-acceptance.
    Or rather, his half-brother. The identity of Garrett’s father, the man with whom Eleanor had betrayed Matt’s own father, remained a secret to all but Eleanor and Matt. The bitterness of knowing she had withheld the truth from him, Matt, who had always felt he’d had an extra-special bond with his mother, ate at his guts and tarnished every loving memory, as much as the knowledge she had cheated on his father. It was a subject she refused to address. The rest of the family, he was sure, were oblivious to her infidelity and its devastating result, and he was perfectly happy to keep them oblivious. But recently he’d realised Garrett might have begun to suspect, and while the last thing he wanted was the inevitable family rupture that would come from the disclosure of Garrett’s paternity, he knew that in Garrett’s shoes, he’d want the truth.
    If he’d needed an example of the fickleness of women, it was there in his mother. All his life, he’d believed the deep, warm and loving relationship he’d perceived between his parents was genuine, the real deal. It was only after his father’s death three years ago that he’d discovered a façade. The discovery had shaken his world, had made him question everything he’d ever believed about love, and marriage, and trust; had led him to politely but coldly dump the woman he’d been dating for six months. If Eleanor, who from his earliest years he’d placed on a pedestal of honour and integrity, could prove so easily toppled, then no woman could be trusted. It was as simple as that.
    Matt finally allowed the rage that had burned like a dull ember in his gut to fan into a firestorm. Philippa Bloody Lloyd had come straight from the bed she’d shared with him to his family home, sat in his family living room and allowed herself to be pawed by his brother, right under his own eyes. She’d promised she wouldn’t see Justin again; that was a lie. She’d said she wasn’t interested in Justin. Clearly another lie. She’d said she wasn’t having an affair with Justin, and but for timing, that would also soon prove a lie.
    It was history repeating itself. Two brothers, and one woman determined to play them against one another to advance her own interests.
    Except this time, Matt was determined, the woman wouldn’t win.

Chapter 7
    Pippa moped about the house. With the kindergarten job finished and no other landscaping contract in sight—assuming she’d blown any chance of working on the Masons’ garden—she ought to be spending time on her marketing plan or her accounts or her filing. But … instead she moped.
    If she tried to pinpoint exactly when she started to feel like she was losing control of her life, it would be that horrible evening at Byron Bay when she first met Matt Mason. Since then she’d been confused, abused, had her phone stolen ( now you’re exaggerating, Philippa ), nearly missed a wedding, got drunk, got laid and probably got sacked from the best landscaping contract she could expect to win as a new business. And Matt Mason had been there every step of the way.
    She had no doubt, as soon as she’d left last night, Matt would have told his mother and brother of their affair. She didn’t remember a lot about the night she’d spent with