Chapter 10
Ten
Matthew loved Mondays when he was working on the murals, because it was the day he paid his team of young artists. It was sort of an underhanded way to be sure they didn’t blow their income on the weekend, but he wanted to help them feel like they were making money with their art, and when he was their age, getting paid on Fridays always made him feel broke the whole next week.
He locked down the scaffolding and put the equipment up for the night, then walked around the corner to The Wrap to grab some dinner on his way home.
It wasn’t until he walked into The Wrap that he remembered he was going to ask Don if he recognized the bracelet the woman had dropped during that freak storm, since she’d been carrying one of their take-out bags.
He’d stuck the bracelet in the glove compartment of his truck in case she showed up on the mural site, which she hadn’t. He jogged back over and retrieved the bracelet from his truck, then held the door for two women entering the restaurant.
They went straight to the bar, and Matthew waited while Don’s daughter seated other guests.
Don walked over and greeted him. “Hey, stranger. Love what you’re doing with that painting. Wish I had a corner building,” he said. “What can I get you?”
“I was wondering if you could help me with something. I got caught in that storm the other night.”
“We got like two inches in thirty minutes. I didn’t even know that was possible. It was good for business, though. People piled in here trying to get out of it.”
“I bet. Well, I was trying to get to my truck when I ran into a woman out on the sidewalk. She was carrying one of your to-go bags.” He pulled the bracelet from his pocket. “She dropped this. I thought you might know who it belonged to.”
“I’m not much of a guy for details,” Don admitted. “Now, if you knew what she ordered, I’d probably know her.”
“Yeah, we didn’t get that far,” Matthew said.
Becky walked over and peered over the hostess stand to see what they were talking about.
“Oh, I recognize that bracelet,” Becky said. “Belongs to a divorce attorney up the block. Over at Barron, Winters and?—”
“Wall,” they said at the same time.
“Yeah. Whitney,” Becky said.
“She got the special that night,” Don said. “She never gets the special. You know her?”
“Not really. Her parents bought some of my paintings.” Matthew knew she looked familiar when Mrs. Winters introduced them. How had he not put it together?
“You want dinner?” Don asked.
“Maybe later. Thank you for the information,” Matthew said. “I’m going to see if she’s still at the office.”
“I can almost guarantee she is,” Becky said. “She’s always coming down here late for dinner. She must really love that job.”
“Occupational hazard, I guess. I know how that is,” Matthew said. “Thanks. I want to see if I can get this bracelet back to her before I lose it. Thanks again for the information. I appreciate it.” How crazy was that? Skip would never believe this turn of events.
He walked down the block wondering what the odds were that the rescued woman’s mother would be the big buyer at the gallery the same night of the storm. And on top of that, Mrs. Winters scheduling a meeting after hours at the office and waltzing him right into her office, and neither of them realizing the connection?
Million to one. Had to be.
Matthew turned and walked backward at the second block, taking a moment to see how the mural was coming together from this angle. His project was about equal distance from The Wrap and the law offices. It looked good. He was happy with the personal touches that Cammy had added too. It turned out she had a real natural talent for perspective, using subtle color changes and texture to make it seem as if you could walk right into the picture.
Nice work, Cammy.Discovering new talent was almost as satisfying as the painting.
Matthew stopped in front of Barron, Winters Wall. There were no hours posted on the door, so he tried the heavy, ornate brass handle, and to his surprise, it was still unlocked.
He stepped inside. With it being so late, it felt like he was trespassing. The door closed behind him with a loud whoosh. Most of the offices were dim, but off the lobby to the right, a light was still on. He was pretty sure that was where he’d met Whitney Winters the other night.
“Hello?” he called out and waited.
When no one responded, Matthew walked toward the office with the lights on.
He patted his pocket, making sure the bracelet was still there. Do I lead with the bracelet, or that we had met before the introduction?
A flurry of nerves hit him as he got closer. Multiple voices came from the office.
If she was in a meeting, it might not be the best time to do this.
He hesitated outside the door. He didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but it wasn’t like they were whispering.
“People are miming to Kally’s audio. What the heck?”
“These are copycat videos,” someone else said.
“There has to be a way to stop them. Can we call it slander?”
“No. They haven’t said a thing that isn’t true?—”
Matthew couldn’t be sure if there were two or three people speaking.
“We can’t deny that at least four of those couples were our clients.”
“And the phone was blowing up all day long. I could barely handle the calls. I still have a stack of messages to return.”
“One caller asked what it would take to switch attorneys mid-divorce. Can you imagine if our competitors caught wind of this? They’ll think we’re stealing their clients.”
Matthew finally made out there were three distinctive voices, but none of the conversation made any sense.
The longer he stood there, the more awkward it would get. He had two choices. To bolt, which would be horrible if they walked out while he took flight or knock and announce himself.
He took a step forward and lightly knocked on the open door.
Three women were huddled behind the desk, all looking at something on the computer, and when they looked up they froze.
“I’m sorry.” He raised his hands. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
A dark-haired woman sat in the chair while Whitney and another woman stood just behind her. They were all focused on the large computer monitor angled on the corner of the desk.
“Is this a bad time?” he asked.
“No. Not at all. Of course not.” Whitney cleared her throat and offered a tight smile as she straightened and walked toward the door. “What can I do for you?”
The woman who had been standing next to Whitney stepped out from behind the desk too. “I’m going to… go return some calls.”
The woman with dark hair moved closer to the computer.
Matthew could see from the reflection in the glass-framed artwork that a video was playing on the computer screen.
“I’m Carina,” the dark-haired woman said. “Are you here to see Whitney?”
“He’s a friend of my mother’s.” Whitney took two steps in his direction. “Are you two meeting here again tonight?”
“Uh, no. Actually, I’m here to see you.”
“Oh?” Whitney stepped closer to him, almost backing him toward the door.
“Oh,” Carina remarked in a sassy way.
Whitney flashed her a warning look. “How can I help you?”
“I told you I thought I recognized you when I was here the other night,” Matthew said.
“I remember. Yes.” She glanced back toward Carina, who was steadily typing with her eyes on the monitor.
“The night of that big storm, you had a bag from The Wrap in your hands,” he said.
“I did. It was soaking wet. I’m surprised you could make that out.”
“The storm caught me by surprise too. I was running toward my truck when I heard you scream, then saw that umbrella soaring down the sidewalk.”
She looked suspicious. “That was you?”
The dark-haired woman stopped typing and jerked her head up. Her eyes darted between the two of them.
Whitney glanced back at Carina and then walked Matthew out into the hall. “Did my mother put you up to this?”
“No. It was me that night.” He lunged and pretended to catch the umbrella and hand it to her. “See?”
Carina laughed from behind them, still in the office.
Whitney looked frustrated. She stepped back and looked at the woman still seated at her desk. “This is private.”
“Sorry,” Carina said, loud enough for anyone on the floor to hear.
Matthew tugged the bracelet from his pocket. “In the scuffle, you must have dropped this.”
“Oh my gosh. I wondered.” She held her hands to her heart. “I’ve been looking everywhere for that. It’s very special.”
“I tried to catch you when I saw it, but you’d already run off. I don’t think you could hear me over the storm.”
“How? I mean?—”
“I remembered the bag. I was down at The Wrap getting my dinner tonight, and I asked Don and Becky about that night. When Becky saw the bracelet, she knew it belonged to you.”
“That’s crazy.”
“It is.” He craned his neck. “What is it y’all are trying to hide back there?”
“Nothing.” She blocked his view and shrugged it off.
He stepped back toward the doorway and pointed to the picture on the wall. “Looks like some kind of video,” he said. “See the reflection?”
They froze. Two people had never looked so guilty.
Carina’s eyes widened, then she spun around in her chair. “Dang.”
“I overheard something in the hall. I didn’t mean to. I was just in earshot as I was walking up.”
A very clear “THANK YOU, WHITNEY” suddenly blared from the computer.
Carina cringed. “Sorry, I meant to hit mute.”
“What is it?” He walked around the desk next to Carina and started laughing. “Are they talking about you? Do you host a dating app or something?”
“No, we do not,” Whitney said. “It’s all a huge coincidence.”
“Wait. Are they talking about—? Ha! Did they just call y’all the Fixie Chicks?” He laughed.
“It is not funny.” The videos continued to play. One after the other.
“I’m sorry.” He tried to gather his composure but was hopelessly failing at it. “Come on, you have to admit, it’s a little funny.” He leaned forward. “Savvy Sisters Matchmakers? You two are sisters?”
“Sisters-in-law,” Carina corrected him.
“Now that is funny.” He was clearly amused. “Sisters-in-law who are practicing law? And matchmaking?”
“How did you two meet again?” Carina asked.
“Even a bigger coincidence than that… that… stupid video.” Whitney gave Carina the quick version of their accidental meeting during the storm, and then Matthew filled in the part about meeting Mr. and Mrs. Winters at the gallery and Mom insisting he come see where she planned to hang all that artwork, when he officially met Whitney. Sort of.
“You’re the new artist?” Carina commented. “I love that painting in the second-floor conference room.”
“Thank you. We hung that one the night I met her.” He pointed to Whitney. “It was a no-brainer. Although, I’m not a new artist. New to Mrs. Winters, perhaps, but I’ve been a full-time artist for several years now.”
Carina lifted a finger to her lips. “Wait, Whitney, I thought you said some homeless guy knocked you over that night.”
“Ha!” Matthew shouldn’t have been surprised. He had looked horrible. By the time he saw himself when he got home, after running through the rain and wiping down with paper towels, it was bad. He couldn’t even imagine what he looked like before.
“I’m sorry,” Carina said. “You are obviously anything but homeless. Am I getting this mixed up?”
“No.” Whitney’s eyes widened. “He was. Well, he’s not, but that night he was covered in dirt. He did not?—”
“Paint,” he corrected.
“Paint?”
He nodded.
“Well, then a lot of paint. You were more paint than person that night.” Whitney defended her position.
“I was trying to get out of there before I got struck by lightning. The storm blew the paint cans from the scaffold. Yeah, I had no idea how big a mess I was until I got home to get dressed for the gallery.”
Whitney continued to explain, turning her back to him. “And his clothes were torn.”
“Okay, that was my painters’ smock, and I cut the sleeves out so that I can reach above my head since I paint multi-story images.” He swung his arms around and up over his head. “I have to be able to move.”
“You did not look like…” She waved a frustrated hand up and down. “This.”
Carina gave an approving nod. “Something must’ve blown in with that storm. El Ni?o doesn’t have anything on this.”
Whitney shot her a look.
“Wasn’t me,” she said. “I had nothing to do with this. I’ve never met him.” She looked at Matthew. “We’ve never met. Have we?”
“No, ma’am.”
“There you go.” Carina looked pleased with herself. “Everything happens for a reason.”
“Then what is the reason, exactly, that you two are at the heart of so many trending videos?” Matthew asked.
“It’s a long story, and we’re still figuring some of that out,” Carina said.
“I’ve got nothing but time.” Matthew leaned back and smiled.