9. Chapter Nine
ANNA
Elsa’s bedroom door was slightly ajar.
Anna knocked lightly and called in, “I have your breakfast.”
“Come in, dear. I’m just working my way through the morning crossword. Must keep the neurons firing, you know.”
Elsa set down the tablet and accepted the tray.
“It looks exceptionally bright out there this morning,” Elsa said. “Did it snow last night?”
“Yes, about six inches.”
“We should reschedule my appointment with Dr. Howard.”
“We’ll be fine,” Anna assured her.
“The roads will be treacherous.”
“The plows have already been through twice, and I have plenty of time to clear the driveway before it’s time to go.”
Mrs. Campbell looked doubtful. “Kieran usually takes care of that for me. He has a snowblower.”
That was all well and good, but who knew when he’d come by? Besides, how hard could it be?
“I’m perfectly capable of shoveling a little snow, and we don’t want to reschedule if we don’t have to.”
“I don’t mind rescheduling,” Mrs. Campbell said quickly, and Anna was beginning to think Elsa was using the snow as an excuse to miss her appointment.
“Mrs. Campbell, is there another reason you don’t want to see Dr. Howard today?”
“He’s a snot-nosed little upstart,” Elsa said with a huff. “Thinks he knows everything. What does a thirty-two-year-old man-child know about aging? He’s barely old enough to shave.”
Anna hid her smile. “He’s a geriatrician. I’m sure he knows something.”
“Bah. Book knowledge perhaps,” she grumbled. “Why do I need to worry about cholesterol? I’m ninety-seven years old, and I’m not about to give up sweets now. If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it, I say.” Mrs. Campbell shook her head. “Why Dr. Phillips appointed him as his successor is beyond me. The young man simply doesn’t listen.”
“Tell you what. How about when we get there, I go in with you? Between the two of us, we’ll make sure he listens.”
Mrs. Campbell looked at her, surprised. “You would do that?”
“Of course I’ll do that,” Anna said, wondering when the last time was that Elsa had had someone to stand up for—or at least stand beside—her. “But first, I need to clear the driveway. Can I get you anything before I head out?”
“If you’ll just help me into my chair, I’ll start getting ready.”
“You got it.”
Once Elsa was situated in front of her vanity, Anna went into the mudroom and donned her parka, gloves, hat, and scarf, then went out to the garage. She pressed the button to raise the automatic garage door, which left a solid wall of snow about half a foot high. Off to the right, the sound of a powerful engine suggested the neighbor was doing some clearing of his own. She couldn’t see who it was, however, from the front of the house.
She grabbed a shovel from a hook and began working outward. It wasn’t the first time Anna had ever seen snow, but it was the first time she’d ever tried to shovel it. It wasn’t as easy as she’d thought. The snow was heavy and wet, forcing her to take small scoops and limiting her throwing distance.
She heard the roar of machines up and down the street, and suddenly, she had a much better appreciation for snowblowers. If she was still here next winter, she was going to suggest purchasing one. Just a modest one, nothing fancy. Elsa’s driveway wasn’t all that big, but Anna hated to think of what shoveling a foot or more would be like.
Fifteen minutes later, Anna was sweating under the bright sun and physical exertion. The temperature was in the low thirties, but it felt much warmer. She removed her hat and scarf and gloves, then eventually her heavy coat. The thick hoodie was more than enough.
“It’s good exercise,” she murmured through gritted teeth, the twinge in her back reminding her not to put as much snow on the shovel. “Cardio, strength, and endurance. A complete workout. People pay good money for this kind of self-abuse.”
As she paused to stretch and give her back a break, she noticed a large figure at the top of the driveway, working on the dam of snow and ice created by the earlier plows.
Not Kieran. The bronze god. Matt looked up at that moment, smiled, and waved at her.
Anna returned his wave with one of her own, biting back the assurance that she had things covered and didn’t require his assistance, even though a part of her was intensely relieved she wouldn’t have to do it alone. Clearly, she’d overestimated her snow-removal abilities.
And her current level of fitness.
She forced her eyes away from the tall, broad figure making quick work of the snow and got back to work, stuffing down the momentary flare of suspicion. There didn’t have to be an ulterior motive for his presence. According to Mrs. Campbell, that was what people did around here. Neighbors helped neighbors, just because. To not accept or to make a big deal out of it drew more attention than just going along with it.
Anna kept her head down and her focus where it belonged—on her shovel. Small scoops. Lift with your legs, not your back. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
The snow seemed to be getting heavier and wetter by the minute.
Or maybe her muscles were simply liquefying.
She could feel Elsa’s eyes on her, watching through the big bay window while she waited patiently.
And his—because he was watching her too. His gaze was as tangible as a physical touch, and that made her uncomfortable. She was feeling more than warm enough already. She didn’t need him inciting more hormones.
Every now and then, she paused for a breather, discreetly doing some look-arounds herself, noting his progress. Unsurprisingly, he made much faster progress than she did. She’d barely cleared a third of the driveway before they met up.
Anna resisted the urge to nod, offer a quick thanks, and run back inside. Don’t be weird. Be polite. Be neighborly.
“Thanks for the help,” was what she said, summoning what she hoped was an appreciative but not too friendly smile.
Even if she hadn’t suppressed the urge to flee, she wouldn’t have been able to move. Just like that day at the door, the moment she met the man’s eyes, she was frozen to the spot. The metallic gray provided a sharp contrast to all that coppery bronze and proved mesmerizing.
“My pleasure,” the man said. “I would have done it all, if you’d waited.”
If it snowed again, she was definitely going to take her time getting outside. “I appreciate that, but Mrs. Campbell has an appointment in town we need to get to. In fact, we should be going.”
His gaze went over her shoulder. Anna turned around and saw Mrs. Campbell in the open doorway.
“Good morning, Matthew.”
“Good morning, Mrs. Campbell. How are you today?”
“Fine, fine. Would you like to come in for a cup of coffee?”
“Maybe another time would be better,” Anna said, hanging up the shovel. “We really should get going.”
“Nonsense,” Mrs. Campbell said. “It’s the least we can do. Plenty of time for a cup while you’re getting changed.”
Anna looked at Matt, saw the quiet amusement dancing in his beautiful eyes, and sighed, knowing she’d lost the battle.
When she entered the kitchen ten minutes later, freshened up and not wearing sweaty clothes, Matt and Elsa sat at the kitchen table, heads drawn together, engrossed in quiet conversation. How was it fair that she looked and felt like she’d just run a triathlon, and he looked like he’d just stepped off a photo shoot?
Matt noticed her first, a smile curling those firm male lips. She didn’t like the way her body responded. She cared even less for the way Mrs. Campbell’s blue eyes twinkled with secrets and mischief.
“Matthew has generously offered to drive us into town,” Elsa said.
“Why would he do that?” Anna blurted out.
He shrugged. “I’m going into town anyway, and Mrs. Campbell wasn’t sure you’d feel comfortable driving in the snow.”
Anna wondered what else Mrs. Campbell might have felt compelled to share with him. Elsa had asked her a lot of questions about her background, her family, where she came from, and Anna had given vague, practiced answers. To coin a phrase, it wasn’t her first rodeo.
And Mr. Tall, Bronze, and Gorgeous was fishing.
“I heard the plows go by several times,” she said, deliberately evading his baited hook. Addressing Mrs. Campbell, she added, “And I’m sure Mr. Callaghan has things of his own to do today.”
“Actually, it’s O’Connell,” the coppery-haired devil said.
“Excuse me?”
“My last name. It’s O’Connell, not Callaghan.”
“Oh. My apologies,” Anna said.
Elsa had said something about Faith being a single mother when she moved to Pine Ridge, hadn’t she? Her hormones were messing with her ability to think clearly. Well, that had to stop.
“No problem,” he said.
Anna looked pointedly at her watch. “Well, thanks again for your help today, but we really need to be going.”
“Of course. Mrs. Campbell, thank you for the coffee. Anna, it was nice to see you again.”
Was it her imagination, or had his voice dipped a little when he purred—uh, said—her name?
She kept the shiver of awareness under wraps through sheer will. It would be a whole lot easier to bring her mind back into line if her name on his lips didn’t cause her body to react like that.
Matt was no sooner out the door than Mrs. Campbell shot her a disappointed look and shook her head. Anna pretended not to notice and focused on getting the older woman into the van.
After several sidelong looks and exaggerated sighs, Anna finally said, “What?”
“You should have accepted Matthew’s offer to drive.”
“Are you saying I’m a bad driver?”
“Silly girl. Here’s a life tip for you: when a man as handsome and smacked together as Matthew offers his assistance, you take him up on it. There are so few gentlemen left in the world, and chivalry is all but dead, I’m afraid.”
Anna withheld her snort. In her experience, chivalry was nothing more than manipulation. A way for men to get what they wanted. Then, once they had it, the gentlemanly mask was removed. Maybe there were legitimate white knights out there, but she’d never encountered one.
“Those Callaghans, they know how to treat their women right,” Elsa said. “Just like my Gene. I used to call him my knight. The man treated me like a queen.” She sighed. “He’s been gone close to fifty years now, and I still miss him terribly. That’s the one good thing about getting older, I suppose. Every day is a step closer to seeing him again.”
The van hit a patch of ice, and the back end fishtailed a little.
Elsa’s hands shot out and braced on the dash. “That wasn’t a request for you to speed up the process, my dear.”
“Sorry,” Anna said. Note to self: drive slower and don’t scare the nice lady who’s paying your salary.
“It’s fine. I’ll take a bit of excitement however I can these days.”