“Truth!” Matthew crossed his heart. “There’s this old two-story house in Bay City that’s been converted into a bar called the Office. That’s where I met her a month ago, right after my divorce was final.”

“You do know there’s other places to meet women, don’t you?” Flynn said. “And you might even marry a keeper someday.”

“At my age, it’s the best place.” Matthew chuckled. “I like the chase. I like making a woman feel special when I ask her to marry me.”

“And breaking her heart when you divorce her or cheat on her?” Flynn asked.

“Collateral damage.” Matthew shrugged. “I leave them with beautiful memories, though. I swore when I left this place that I’d never live in a marriage like my folks had. When I got tired of being married, I wouldn’t stick around for a kid or because I might hurt her feelings.”

“Why not just love ’em and leave ’em? And what do you mean like your folks’ marriage?” Flynn really wanted to understand the thinking behind the way his father was and the way Flynn himself had been.

“I like being married. I like coming home to a woman and not having to go chase one down every weekend like you do, but then”—another shrug—“I start craving that chase and the thrill again.”

“Have you ever wondered why you do this?” Flynn frowned.

“Nope, because I don’t care why. I just know what makes me happy, and I don’t try to heal happiness.” Matthew pointed toward the waterfall. “I spent a lot of time out here at these falls when I was a kid, and then when I was a teenager. We never knew what kind of mood Mama would be in. She’d be high as a druggie after a fix one day, praising God and going to church every time the doors were open. A week later she would bottom out and forsake the church and cry all the time. Either way, I tried to steer clear of her, because she was quick to grab that belt and lay into me for anything at all. Isaac prayed a lot under that old scrub oak tree over there.” He pointed downstream a little way. “I had a lot of sex both in the creek and on this bank, starting when I was fifteen. Weren’t you about that age when you lost your virginity?”

“You know very well when that happened, and I was seventeen.” Flynn flinched at the memory.

“Yep, I do.” Matthew nodded. “The only difference in me and you, Son, is that I do marry one of my women every so often. You just love ’em and leave ’em, as you say. What happened to Amelia? I thought for sure she’d be the one that taught you how much fun a wedding and a honeymoon could be.”

“We broke up,” Flynn said.