17. Chapter Seventeen
ANNA
Anna left the diner as quickly as she could without actually running.
Matt Callaghan—O’Connell, whatever—was trouble. Too attractive, too charming. And too damn interested in the likes of her.
It certainly wasn’t because she was a stunner. In fact, she made a point of downplaying her appearance. Kept her hair in a practical ponytail. Wore unattractive glasses and didn’t bother with makeup. Chose comfortable clothes that did absolutely nothing for her figure and ugly but supportive footwear.
His interest raised red flags. Especially when there were plenty of women who looked as if they wouldn’t mind his attention. Three in that diner alone. He’d been so focused on her that he hadn’t even noticed.
She hated that her heart thumped quicker at the thought. Hated even more the full-body tingles that had sparked up the moment she put her hand in his. It was a purely physical response conjured up by her overactive imagination and the hormones she refused to acknowledge.
What was his deal anyway? She found it hard to believe he was seriously attracted to her. Maybe picking up women was so effortless for him that he liked a challenge. If that was the case, he would soon learn the difference between a challenge and an unachievable goal.
Though that might be like waving the proverbial red flag in front of a bull if that was his thing. Oh well. He’d get over it. She had no intention of playing his game.
And that was all it was to him—a game. He was a player, for sure. The hair, the piercings, the ripped body, and the sex-on-a-stick smile told her as much.
The walk to the municipal lot was a short one, and before long, Anna was picking up the ladies at the spa. From the sounds of it, they’d had a wonderful time. The four of them had been friends for more years than Anna had been alive, and it showed.
Everyone should have friends like that, she thought.
Anna dropped them off one by one. One lived with her married daughter in town. The other two shared a two-bedroom cottage in a retirement village. The place was neat and well tended with a central community center and dining area.
“This seems like a nice neighborhood,” Anna commented.
“Oh, yes. Millie and Esther love it here. They keep trying to convince me to sell my house and move there, but it’s not for me.”
“Why not?” Anna couldn’t help but ask.
“Too many old people,” Mrs. Campbell said with a quirk of her lips. “So, what did you do today?”
“I ran some errands and did some exploring.”
“Oh? Do tell.”
“Nothing much to tell. I went to the library and a bookstore, then got a bite to eat at a diner on the square.”
“Alone?”
The hair on the back of Anna’s neck prickled at the woman’s too-innocent tone. She shot Elsa a sidelong glance. “Who else would I go with?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” the older woman said unconvincingly. “I just thought you might have run into someone. Pine Ridge is a small town, you know.”
The very limited number of people Anna had met since her arrival made the probability of running into one of them astronomical. Which made Matt’s conveniently timed appearance at the diner extremely suspect.
“Like Matt, for instance?”
“Well, now that you mention it, yes.”
“I ran into him at the diner.”
“Did you? How fortuitous.”
Fortuitous? Or contrived? “Mrs. Campbell, did you have anything to do with him showing up there?”
“What? No, of course not,” the woman said, bringing her hand to her collarbone and managing to sound offended. “I did perhaps mention that we would be in town today and that I would be otherwise occupied for several hours, but I suggested nothing. No, dear, if he was there, it was purely because he wanted to be.”
Anna sighed. She couldn’t even be angry. Mildly irritated that Elsa seemed determined not to listen to her, yes, but not angry. The older woman would discover soon enough that she was hanging her hopes on an impossibility.
“Well?”
“Well what?”
“How did it go? Your lunch with Matthew, I mean.”
“I said I ran into him, not that we had lunch together.”
“Oh.”
There was so much disappointment in that one word that for a moment, Anna nearly took pity on her and told her that they had, in fact, eaten together. She remained strong, however. The less encouragement the wily old matchmaker had, the better.
When they got back to Mrs. C’s house, the older woman suggested an early, light dinner and an old movie, so that was what they did. With all the excitement of the day, Mrs. C was in bed by nine.
Anna couldn’t help looking out the window while she did up the dinner dishes. The Callaghans’ cottage was aglow with warm yellow lights spilling out of diamond-paned windows and smoke curling out of the multiple chimneys.
Once again, it reminded her of an illustration in a storybook. Not that Mrs. Campbell’s house wasn’t nice, but there was just something about the Callaghan home that made it seem almost magical. From what Elsa had told her, the cottage had been empty for years and in bad shape before Faith and her son moved in. It was hard to imagine that, given the way it looked now.
Appearances were often deceiving, however. People built pretty facades to create an illusion. They surrounded themselves with beautiful houses, lawns, cars, and clothes to hide the real ugliness behind it all. Her family had been like that. Beautiful on the outside. So ugly on the inside.
Not the Callaghans. At least not according to Mrs. Campbell.
Anna wondered what it would have been like to grow up in a house with people who cared about one another. Who valued each other more than they valued power or wealth or status. Whose parental interest went beyond how they could use their children for their own gain.
She shook those thoughts away. None of that mattered now.
A small light appeared in the shadows of the Callaghans’ house. At first, Anna thought it was a captured reflection in the window she was looking through, but a closer look revealed a human-shaped silhouette moving back and forth along the side, as if pacing. The light, she realized, was a phone held to the ear.
Then, the movement stopped. Based on the warning tingle at the back of her neck, whoever it was, was looking right at her. The tingle in her lower belly told her exactly who it was.
If you can see him, he can see you, she chided herself. She was making it exceptionally easy, standing in front of the window, backlit by the bright lights of the kitchen.
Her first instinct was to step away from the window, but she forced back the fight-or-flight response. This wasn’t Chicago. No one knew her here. She wasn’t doing anything more nefarious than washing dishes.
She rinsed the last pot, set it in the rack, and made a show of drying her hands. Leaned forward and flipped the switch on the tiny light above the sink. Then, she calmly turned around and left the kitchen, turning off the overhead light as she did.
She moved to her bedroom, which was on the same side of the house as the kitchen and also had windows that faced the Callaghans’ property. With the door closed and the room in total darkness, she lifted the side of the drawn drapes and peered down that way.
Matt remained in a fixed position for several minutes more, then started pacing again until, eventually, he went back inside.
Anna let out a breath and willed herself to calm down. There was nothing suspicious about a neighbor stepping outside his own house to make a private phone call and get a bit of fresh air. You’re being paranoid, she told herself while another voice argued that those who became complacent got dead.