10. Chapter Ten
MATT
If he’d suspected Anna of hiding something before, he was now sure of it. He had spent years developing his skill to read people. The ability had saved his life more than once, and now, it was going to help him solve the mystery of Anna Black.
And it wasn’t because her pretty eyes had a way of gleaming like black diamonds when she felt challenged or the way his body lit up from the inside when he was in her presence. It definitely wasn’t because she didn’t seem interested in him at all.
Exactly what she was hiding, he didn’t know. It might be something completely innocuous. Perhaps something she was embarrassed about. A part of her life she wanted to leave behind.
Or it might not be. Maybe she was, as Elsa’s grandson seemed to think, a woman who made a habit of taking advantage of elderly women who lived alone.
He sincerely hoped that wasn’t the case. Not only because he was fond of Mrs. Campbell, but also because there was something about the woman that intrigued him. Made him want to know more.
That he could do, if only from a purely platonic standpoint. In six months, he’d be leaving Pine Ridge and not looking back. In the meantime, there was no reason why he couldn’t kill some time and look out for his elderly neighbor in the process.
The good news was, he now had a last name to add to Ian’s arsenal. That and a few other tidbits of information Mrs. Campbell had been able to wheedle out of the woman.
“Anna Black,” he said into his phone. “According to Mrs. Campbell, she came to town for a job with Willow Haven, but didn’t arrive in time, and they gave the job to someone else.”
“Easy enough to confirm,” Ian said. “Any chance she told Mrs. Campbell why she was delayed?”
“As a matter of fact, she did. She said her car was stolen at a rest stop off I-81, along with most of her things. Anna was down to her last couple of bucks and had no place to stay. She was applying for a job at IHOP at the same time Mrs. Campbell was there, having lunch with her friends.”
Ian whistled softly. “If that’s true, that’s one hell of a sob story. No wonder Mrs. Campbell took her in like a stray. Fortunately, that, too, is easy to confirm.”
“Thanks, Uncle Ian.”
“Anytime. I’ll call as soon as I have something.”
Matt set down the phone, then went to his old room and gingerly peeled off his shirt and the bandage underneath. As expected, the white rectangle was now completely red.
It wasn’t a big deal. He was mostly healed, but that wound had been especially deep. Physical exertion—like shoveling snow and manhandling a heavy-duty snowblower—tested the integrity of the stitches.
He cleaned the area and slapped a new bandage on there, then puttered around the house for a while. He had the place to himself. His younger half-siblings were in school. Kieran was at BodyWorks, and his mother was holed up in her design studio.
After reheating some leftovers, he went into the family office/library to do a little research of his own while he waited to hear back from Ian.