Matthias laughed. Pat’s father—Sheriff John Mason—walked over. John had arrived only weeks before, his arrival sparking a turn of events that left two town residents dead, one in jail and one almost convicted of a murder she didn’t commit.
Matthias was glad it had all worked out, but didn’t figure he’d be able to come through it as unscathed as they all seemed to be. In fact, now John and Andra were engaged it was almost like everything had always been fine. Maybe that was how it worked. And why love felt like the Promised Land he’d always been denied.
“Hey, Matthias.”
He shook the sheriff’s hand. “John. How’s it going?”
Matthias glanced at Frannie, still talking with his mom. She was nodding her head and smiling, like she had nothing better to do than hear what Olympia had to say.
“Thought so.”
Matthias looked at John. “What was that?”
The sheriff smirked. “Nothing.”
“Don’t you have a deer to find, or someone to give a citation to for bike riding too fast?”
“Not today.” John was still smiling. “Today I have nothing better to do than hang with my boy and my fiancé, and eat cake at a kids birthday party.”
“Lucky me.”
John laughed; his eyes caught on Matthias’s hand and he frowned. “Is the other guy okay?”
Matthias waved off his concern. Apparently it was a little noticeable. “It’s nothing. I just lost my cool with Diego is all.”
“That explains the sunglasses.”
Matthias looked where John motioned. Diego was talking with two women, laying on the charm as usual, but with sunglasses to cover what was likely a black eye given how much Matthias’s hand hurt.
“You wanna tell me?”
About the punch, or all of it, Matthias didn’t know which. He shook his head. “It’s fine.”
“Just let me know, you need anything. Yeah?”
Matthias kept his face straight. “You’re available to help hide the body?”
John didn’t react. “He’s getting that bad?”
“Never mind.” Matthias sighed. “You wouldn’t get it.”
John’s eyebrow rose. “Because I don’t have three meddling brothers who are a pain in my rear?”
Matthias had met John’s brothers, but wasn’t sure how much they could interfere when John lived in a town like this one.
Sure, one was the director of the Marshals, so he was technically John’s boss, given John was the sheriff of a town of federal witnesses. But there was also the quarterback for the Dolphins—Nate—and the other brother… Well, that guy had perfected skulking for sure. Matthias had only met Ben once, but could admit at least to himself he was slightly scared of the guy, even though he’d shown up to help John rescue Andra.
John lifted his arm, and his fiancé walked to his side. Andra smiled up at Matthias. “Hey.”
He cleared his throat. “Hey.”
Matthias had always been intimidated by Andra. Not just because she had light skin and dark coloring that made her look like Snow White, but because until recently she’d lived a reclusive life up in the mountains.
The rumors had been more than slightly terrifying, and finding out she’d been a government assassin hadn’t really helped the intimidation factor. Now Andra was living with her best friend, Nadia Marie, and planning a wedding. Matthias figured if John cared about her enough to ask her to be the mother of his son then she was worth knowing.
The tall, slender salon owner joined them, too. “Hey, Matt.”
“Nadia.”
She grinned. Usually Nadia Marie would object to someone shortening her name. But since she did it with his, he’d mentioned her lack of standing to complain about it. Now it had just become a regular joke when he went by her salon to get his hair cut.
Frannie stood beside her, wringing her hands together. “I should set out the cupcakes.”
Matthias jumped into action, ignoring the smirks. Frannie came to stand beside him. He didn’t move away but held his ground and opened a cake box before he slid it over to her.
It was torture, and he should give the whole idea of her up. Nothing was going to happen between them even though she’d given him a gift in allowing him to talk about Maria even a little. His emotions didn’t usually get a whole lot of air time, so it was weird and actually nice she’d asked him about Maria. It wasn’t judgmental, even if she’d assumed Maria might cause a scene at the party.
The simple fact Frannie had understood he felt like he had to hold everything together allowed him to take his first full breath in forever.
Matthias handed her the next cake box, and she looked up at him. Smiled. “Thanks, Tias.”
Movement behind them brought his attention around. Matthias looked back to where Andra, Nadia and John were smirking. Andra had her hand over her mouth. There were tears in her eyes from laughing silently. Matthias kicked out his leg in John’s direction.
They all laughed.
“Huh?” Frannie turned to the group.
Nadia said, “I’ll fill you in later.”
Matthias’s face whipped around to pin her with a look, but she didn’t take her statement back. Nadia just smiled at him.
“I have to go help Mama with something.” He strode away, feeling like an idiot for retreating, but what else was he supposed to do? Frannie couldn’t get the wrong idea. That would just make things worse than they already were.
Diego stepped into his path, so Matthias didn’t have time to move before he collided with his brother’s shoulder. They both turned to face each other. Diego’s sunglasses concealed both the black eye and the usual distain when he looked at Matthias. Did he want another black eye, or was this retaliation time?
“This isn’t the place for this.”
Diego stepped closer. “You think I’m going to let a black eye slide?”
“I think—”
“Matthias! Diego!” Their mother’s voice wasn’t a hundred percent ecstatic, but it wasn’t unusual given the look in her eyes. She squeezed Matthias’s arm, just above his elbow. “Will you round up the boys for games, my love?”
“Sure.”
Matthias caught the boys and brought them to the middle of the gathering, where his mom and Tom had set up ring toss and a sort of mini obstacle course the kids could run over, under and through. Adults mingled, snacking on the food his mom had made while Matthias was dragged through the games by Reuben and Simeon. Not that he minded, except when he stopped and saw Diego laughing with Frannie.
“Uncle Tias, come on!”
Frannie looked over then. Diego kept talking, trying to hold her attention, but it was on him now. Matthias couldn’t help the small smile that curved his lips and probably made him look like a weirdo.
Simeon pulled on his arm and Reuben joined in, grunting and trying to drag him along. Frannie turned back to Diego, and Matthias’s heart sank. It was for the best.
“Uncle Tias!”
He laughed and followed the boys to more games. His focus needed to be on giving the twins the best life possible.
Maria, dressed in a red floral sundress with her hair curled, strode through the crowd. “Reuben, Simeon! Mama’s here.”
It was so surprising Matthias actually stumbled. The boys let go of him and ran to hug their mom. Whatever was going on, he was glad she had decided to be present for this, even if he was determined to be, too. Just in case. Her yo-yo emotions had short-changed so many occasions for the boys, even when Tom attempted to cover for her. Matthias’s job was to soften the blow of whatever was coming next.
Chapter 4
Frannie heard Maria’s arrival, but Diego’s hold on her arm kept her from turning around. The grip wasn’t painful, but it was firm enough to let her know she wasn’t getting away any time soon.
“You really should come with us sometime. We’d have a great time. Your mom and Izzy always do.”
Frannie tried to pull her arm away again. He didn’t look l
ike he was all about the fun, even if his reputation was exactly that. He looked almost…predatory. Still, there was nothing special about her, he probably did this with every woman he came across. Although the thought didn’t make her feel any better.
“No, thank you, Diego. That’s not going to happen.” Frannie pulled away then, to make sure he understood. “I have to get back to the bakery and check on things.”
She turned but didn’t get anywhere, halted by what was going on in the middle of the party. Maria’s face had whitened to look a lot like sheer terror. The twins glanced between their mom and their dad, who stood behind where she knelt in front of them.
Maria looked up at Tom. He sighed. “Boys—”
“Found it!” Matthias’s voice didn’t sound like he’d had a success. His smile was almost brittle as he handed the boys a wrapped package. He stepped back, a gift tag in his hand, which he slid in his back pocket.
Maria beamed.
The boys tore the box open and pulled out boots—a black pair and a brown pair. Simeon and Reuben both took a boot in each color and kicked off their sneakers to pull on one black and one brown boot.
Everyone laughed. They reached in again and took out matching cowboy hats. “Awesome!”
They ran around, hugging first their mom then their dad. Matthias looked at Frannie then, but his smile died. Frannie felt Diego’s heat behind her back, before his hand slid around her waist. She jumped out of reach, but it was too late. Matthias had already looked away.
Frannie moved. Too late she realized it made her look like a frightened mouse. She turned to face him. “That was not okay.”
He looked her up and down. “I could have a lot of fun with that sweet body of yours, Frannie Peters.”
Before she could retort back, her friends showed up. On either side of her, the cavalry flanked Frannie. Nadia Marie’s perfume was unmistakable, and Andra stood slightly in front in a protective stance. But Frannie didn’t relax, she couldn’t. Not yet.
Andra Caleri folded her arms. “You say anything like that to her again, Diego, and I’m going to hear about it.”
He blustered for a second, and then said, “Yeah? So what?”
“You know what.”
“You’re not going to kill me. You’d get kicked out of Sanctuary. Everyone knows that.”
Andra smiled, but there was nothing amusing about it. “You think anyone would find your body? I don’t make a mess, and I happen to have the ear of the sheriff. Everyone will assume you simply tried to leave…and got lost in the woods.” She waved her arm in a graceful move, encompassing the mountains all the way around town like a moat. An impenetrable moat.
Diego swallowed and backed up a step. Frannie wanted to whoop, but that wouldn’t be classy. It wasn’t a good idea to catch the eye of an assassin, even one who didn’t kill anymore. Well, except when the deputy sheriff had tried to kill Andra, and she ended his life in self-defense. But that was pardoned by the president, so it didn’t count. Diego looked like he wanted to save face, but evidently thought better of it and stalked off.
Nadia Marie nudged Frannie’s shoulder with her own. “What was that about?”
“Just Diego being Diego, that’s all.”
Nadia’s eyes narrowed. “That’s all?”
“It’s fine.” She turned to Andra. “Thank you.”
“No problem.”
“I appreciate you saying it, even if you wouldn’t actually kill him.” To be honest, the former assassin made Frannie a little nervous, too. Okay, a lot nervous—enough to try and laugh off her concern.
“For Diego, I’d like to think I would make an exception.”
Now Frannie was the one trying to swallow. She coughed and inhaled. “I really should go. The first lady is looking after the bakery, and I need to make sure she’s okay.”
She wasn’t ungrateful they’d come to her rescue. It just didn’t stop her from being disappointed Matthias hadn’t been the one to come over. If it’d been so obvious to Nadia and Andra she needed help, why hadn’t he seen it?
Frannie glanced over at him and saw the muscle in his jaw move. The twins looked happy, so why was he upset?
“Maria misplaced their present, or forgot it, or didn’t even buy them one.” Nadia’s voice was low. “He gave them the present from him and then claimed he was the one who forgot to bring his. Like we all don’t know he’s covering for Maria, who can remember a hair appointment she made six weeks ago without me even writing it down.”
The disgust on her face was plain.
Frannie said, “You have no idea what is going on with her.”
“And you do?”
No, but if Matthias was willing to defend his sister then maybe there was something worth defending.
Nadia Marie shook her head. “It’s like she doesn’t even care.”
“That you know of.” Frannie shrugged. “It’s possible there’s a whole lot that none of us are privy to.”
Andra stepped closer to them. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m just saying, what you see isn’t always a measure of everything that makes up a person. We all have things about us no one ever knows, or sees.”
“So you’re hiding something?” Nadia Marie frowned.
“Aren’t you?”
Nadia’s brows twitched like she was trying to hold the frown and it slipped for a second. There was definitely something about this woman no one knew, and it wasn’t the fact she had a thing for Bolton Farrera, because that was obvious even if she hadn’t come out and said it.
Andra shifted. “So you just hold everything in and never get close to anyone? Trusting someone with the truth is harder, but eventually a whole lot more rewarding.”
Frannie folded her arms. “Until they realize you’re not what they thought, and then you’re all alone again. No thanks.”
“With the right person, you can let go of the fear.”
“It’s not worth it.”
She wanted to glance at Matthias again. Was he the exception instead of the rule? She couldn’t let herself hope for what would never be. It was fine to spend time with him when she had to, but there was zero point in seeking him out. Not when Diego was intent on making her life miserable.
If she made it clear she was interested in Matthias, things would get so much worse. Diego would get mad, Matthias would pull away and she would lose the small connection she had with Tias now. She couldn’t risk it. She wasn’t willing to let that go, not for the sake of what maybe could be. Not when it would end in awkwardness and a broken heart.
He deserved better than her.
“From your lips to God’s ears.” Andra grinned, and beside her, Nadia chuckled.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“One thing I’ve discovered about God? The thing you’re holding onto so tightly that you think is right? You’re about to be proven wrong.”
“No way.” God wasn’t like that. “I don’t have that kind of faith, not like you guys. God is God and all, but it’s not like it needs to be more than that.”
Andra glanced at Nadia Marie, and they both smiled. “Sure.” Andra laughed. “Whatever you say.”
“It’s not like I actually come to church. I have to work on Sundays. Someone has to bake the pastries you all eat after service. Did you think of that?”
“And then you bring them with you to the Meeting House.” Nadia Marie grinned. “Maybe sometime you should sit and listen in.”
Because she didn’t do that when she was in the kitchen? It wasn’t like she could close her ears. Church was fine and all, even if it didn’t resemble anything she was used to. But she’d had religion as a child, and it wasn’t going to help Frannie figure out this mess that was her life now. She was stuck, permanently holding the dissonant fragments of her existence together by sheer force of will. If she let go, even for a second, her whole life would crumble. And then where would she be?
“Happy birthdays!”
Frannie’s hea
d whipped around. “Oh, please. No.”
Andra’s hand touched her shoulder in a move of camaraderie, but it didn’t help. Nothing was going to help the fact her mom was tottering across the grass. The stiletto heels of her red sandals sank into the ground, but from her pasted-on smile no one would ever know. She crouched in her denim skirt—which made several people wince and look away—and held out her arms.
The twins hesitated but accepted her gesture. Izzy walked over after her, carrying a present wrapped with blue paper. The boys moved from the hug to the gift and tore into it. Izzy smoothed down her hair, running her fingers through it while she smiled and looked up under her lowered eyelids at Diego.
Frannie didn’t look at him; she didn’t want to know what was there. Whatever it was made Izzy flash her perfect white smile at Matthias’s brother.
Mimi clapped. “There’s cake, even? How darling!”
Why was she here? Mimi didn’t care about these kids; neither of them did. Diego held out his elbow, and Mimi wrapped her arm in it while he escorted her to the cake table. They both bit into a cupcake Frannie had baked.
Maria held out her arms to the twins. “Let’s sing Happy Birthday!”
Tom stepped up beside her and touched her arm. “We should light the candles, so the boys can blow them out.”
Her smile faltered. “Yes. Of course.”
Tom shook the box of matches. Diego and Mimi strode away, tossing their cupcake wrappers in the direction of the trash. They missed, the blue-smeared casings falling on the grass.
Mimi looked up at Diego. “Kind of airy, don’t you think? I like my cake rich and moist. Dark. The same way I like my men.”
Frannie spun around. Nadia Marie and Andra were still right behind her, which meant she almost collided with them. “I’m going back to the bakery.”
Frannie didn’t much care if she had to walk back. Nothing in Sanctuary was far from anything else. The longest distance anyone could travel would be to walk in circles around town, but who wanted to do that all their life? Frannie didn’t like the idea of never getting anywhere.
The beat of her sneakers on the sidewalk pushed down the frustration with every step.
One day she should take up running. It had to be easier to escape your problems when you were rushing by, leaving the world behind.
Sanctuary Buried WITSEC Town Series Book 2 Page 5
