by Amber Lynn
“You’re staying.”
Contrary to his mom’s theory, Caleb remained in his chair facing the door. His smile appeared sincerer than his mother’s, but it faded a little a few seconds later when Paul joined them and thrust a bouquet of flowers in Meredith’s face.
Toby had entered the cabin and moved off to the side of the door to wait for directions as far as where he needed to be. There was a couch and a rickety old table with four chairs around it for seating options. None of the options looked too sturdy. The couch was possibly gray, but could’ve been white at one time. It looked about twenty years old judging by the wear.
“There’s a rumor going around that you wanted me to.”
Giving the kid his attention seemed like a good idea while he tried to figure out what exactly the dynamics around Toby were. The dozen or so red roses weren’t a friendly gift from a guy to a girl. Toothpick was playing for a relationship of some kind.
“I figure if you stay, then you won’t be a stranger and I can talk to you. Sometimes it gets boring only having Mom up here to talk to.”
After setting the flowers down on a counter in the kitchen, Meredith had gotten bowls out and was busy filling them. Paul hovered around her, trying to help, when it was perfectly clear she’d rather handle the task on her own. The first time Paul offered a hand to take a full bowl, the glare he got wasn’t exactly the friendliest.
Hearing there wasn’t a husband, Toby wondered if maybe Paul was the baby’s father. If that was the case, the arm’s length Meredith gave the guy said loud and clear she wasn’t looking for a new husband, at least not from Paul.
Neither of them seem to care about the quiet conversation going on around them. They were both quiet and the tenseness between them was something that hung in the air.
“I take it you heard we were neighbors then.”
“Yup. I wasn’t eavesdropping. I just have good ears and the windows are open.”
Eavesdropping seemed like a big word for the little guy. Toby didn’t spend a lot of time with young children, but his teammates had a few kids, as did his brother, and he was sure he’d never seen them sitting as still for as long as Caleb was. The kid’s legs swung a little, but his arms were stationary with his hands in his lap.
“How old are you?”
Rather than voice the answer, Caleb held up his right hand with all his fingers extended.
“Five, really?”
Caleb’s head bounced up and down a few times as he nodded. His shaggy, yet short hair moved along with the movement. It reminded Toby of his own hair, which was more than likely in need of a trim. The cabin didn’t have a mirror, so any styling that had been done in the week of being up in the woods was all done by touch.
“Doesn’t your mom feed you sugar? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a five-year-old as calm as you.”
“Don’t give him any ideas.” Meredith was quick to reply as she put the final bowl on the table. “When he’s in town playing with friends, he becomes a different person. At home, we like to keep things calm.”
“Especially with the baby kicking Mom so much. She wants to come out and play, but it’s not time yet.”
Toby’s eyes went from son to mother. It was hard to miss the squinting in Paul’s eyes as he stared at Meredith. His face wasn’t harsh, but he did look hurt about something. He stood behind Meredith, so the expression was only caught by Toby.
“I thought you said you don’t know whether it’s a boy or a girl.”
“Caleb has decided he wants a little sister. We don’t know yet if he’s going to get his wish.” Meredith’s eyes rolled as she said her words. “Why don’t you guys all sit and I’ll grab some bread from the kitchen.”
Toby was perfectly fine just holding up the wall where he was, watching all the interactions around him, but he followed instructions. Caleb sprinted over to him and grabbed his hand to help make up his mind. The size of the kid’s hand in his was almost comical. Toby ended up being escorted to the seat that was across from Meredith with Caleb and Paul on either side of him. At least he had something pretty to look at if the conversation ended up being a bit slow.
Chapter Six
Meredith learned a valuable lesson about inviting someone over she didn’t particularly like. Never do it. The second Paul showed up dressed like he was from some western movie, she knew it had been a mistake.
Their encounters in the store seemed harmless enough, and he seemed friendly enough. Seeing him ready for what he surely thought was a date made Meredith want to run as far away as she could. Dating had never been her thing. She met Lawrence more or less by accident and they hit it off.
That’s how it had to be for her. The work it took to do the whole dating thing and learn about another person wasn’t on Meredith’s radar. No matter how much Paul wanted it to be.
The whole not wanting to work at it was kind of funny, since at one point in her life a marriage had been arranged for her. She didn’t want to be married to that man, and she certainly didn’t want to be married again anytime soon.
Without many options for the evening, Meredith did the only thing she could and followed her son’s advice. Safety in numbers didn’t sound like a bad idea when you were petrified. It was kind of sad the fear took over even before he brought out the flowers.
Her head told her she should be more afraid of Toby being around. He was an outsider, but with how good the man cleaned up, he was sure to have someone back wherever he was from. The fact that she looked like a whale only added to the fact that he was someone safe to be around.
Safe wasn’t the right word, because someone showing up out of the blue wasn’t safe, but the chances of Toby trying to woo Meredith were slim enough that he was a better option than Paul. Since no one from her past had shown up after he made contact, she figured Toby wasn’t someone working for her parents or ex-fiancé. That made it safe to say the eye candy he provided alone set him in a class all his own. She’d thought the sweat glistening down him from a run was a good look, but cleaned up in fancy clothes was even better.
“Have you thought about going to the dance this year, Meredith?”
Paul’s question brought Meredith out of her thoughts. Everyone had sat quietly around the table, save for a few comments about how the stew tasted. Awkwardness hung in the air almost like a second skin.
Glancing to her left, she saw the man asking the question staring at his bowl as he pushed chunks of meat and vegetables around while he waited for an answer. Out of all the dinner companions, he’d eaten the least. Meredith was eating for two, and the baby inside her was always hungry. Caleb had a hollow leg, so it was no surprise that his spoon scraped the sides of an almost empty bowl.
Toby made it clear by taking a bite before anyone else that he wasn’t shy eating in front of other people. He was already using a piece of bread to sop up the remaining sauce in his bowl.
“I haven’t been to the dance since the first year I came here. Why in the world would I go now?”
Meredith didn’t think the question warranted a big explanation. Lawrence had only gone the one year to show her off. They both hated to dance and the pageantry that went behind the annual drunkfest.
“I figured Lawrence was keeping you to himself up here and maybe now that he’s gone, and you have someone willing to take you, well, maybe you’d like to go.”
Paul didn’t look up from his bowl as he strung words together. The nervous edge to the words wasn’t hard to miss. The flirtatious nature he hid behind at the store was completely gone and it made Meredith uneasy to think of him being vulnerable.
“I hate to interrupt, but you’ve got me curious. What’s this dance all about?”
It wasn’t like Meredith needed to stall to come up with an answer for Paul, but she didn’t mind someone taking the attention away from her for a minute. She had every intention of letting Paul down easy, but doing so in front of an audience wasn’t her idea of a picnic.
Finally looking up from hi
s food, Paul cast a hateful glare in Toby’s direction. Meredith didn’t think the man had a mean bone in his body, but the way his jaw set and his eyes narrowed made it clear he wasn’t a fan of Toby’s.
“I’m sure you’re used to big fancy balls back in the city, but around here we have an annual barn dance that I’m sure could rival one of your black-tie affairs.”
Toby lifted his arms out in front of him in a somewhat calming manner. Or maybe he was just trying to protect himself from the laser beams that seemed to be ready to shoot out of Paul’s eyes.
“No need to get cranky about it. I was just curious since I’m new around here.”
“If you think this is cranky, you have no idea the meaning of the word.” Paul’s teeth ground together as he spoke. “What’s he doing here anyway, Meredith. When you said I could come over for dinner, I thought it’d be a chance for us to get to know each other better. I can’t very well get to know you with him here.”
Over the years she’d known him, Meredith had never seen Paul disgruntled. Seeing him bent out of shape over Toby just reiterated why they would never be together. Paul had been around so many times over the years when someone in town put her down or tried to make her feel like less of a person, and he always brushed it off with a joke. Her pain never lit a fire under him, so she thought it wasn’t possible, and she could accept that.
Throw in a man, who may threaten his status, and the truth came out. The people in town never really hurt her. Words stung from time to time, but she didn’t care what other people thought. Knowing that Paul actually had a backbone rubbed her wrong.
“Last I checked, I’m not the only person living in this house. Caleb invited him to stay, so he did. I think it’s probably a good time to reiterate to anyone who cares to listen that I’m not looking for a new husband or a father to my children.”
Meredith saw a difference between those two things. The father aspect didn’t necessarily mean she had an emotional attachment. A husband meant she had to agree to let someone in her life intimately, and that wasn’t going to happen. The father thing wasn’t either, but the thought of sharing her life with anyone other than her kids caused nausea in her stomach she hadn’t felt since her first trimester.
“I’m thinking about your children here. What do you know about him? He’s already admitted he’s not a developer. Why else would he be up here? He’s probably looking for places to bury the bodies he’s planning on leaving in his trail as he goes on a killing spree.”
Putting her spoon down, Meredith covered her eyes with her left hand. She had known Paul for years and she was more concerned he was a serial killer than Toby. That made little sense, but Paul was crazy enough to like living in their backward town. That put him right there next to someone who dressed up as a cowboy and went around killing hookers.
Toby was escaping from something. Meredith had figured out that much. Chances were it was work or relationship related, neither of which were her business. As long as he stayed out of her way, they wouldn’t have any problems.
“Toby,” Meredith said as calmly as she could. Her nerves were frazzled, so it wasn’t an easy task. “Are you scoping out my family to fulfill some murderous plot you’ve been cooking up since you met me this morning?”
He’d have to be extremely organized to have made any specific decisions along those lines. If he was good at the whole serial killer thing, he very well could have taken one look at her and decided exactly how he wanted to dismember her, but that wasn’t the vibe she got from Toby.
There was something about him that led her to believe he was wounded. And the hurt he felt wasn’t one that drove him into the killing business.
The man in question had finished eating and scooted his chair back. The scraping of the chair against the wooden floor caused Meredith to shiver. It was a similar sound to running fingers down a chalkboard.
Meredith studied the man suddenly under the microscope. She hoped the smile on her face made it clear she was joking, but from the way his lips turned down, it wasn’t working.
“I think I should head home. Thanks for the meal, and if you ever need anything, you know where to find me.”
Toby stood, towering over the table as he nodded and walked quickly towards the door. Meredith barely got a chance to see the beads of sweat on his forehead. He didn’t run, but it was just shy of it. The action of heading for the hills took Meredith back for a second, but only a second. She was quick to hop out of her chair and follow after Toby. Something was going on, and she didn’t think it had to do with the conversation.
“Don’t move.”
The command was for Paul, who she could hear moving his chair. She had a few choice words she wanted to share with him after she tried to smooth things over with Toby. She told herself, and anyone who would listen, she didn’t need help, but it’d be completely moronic of her to believe that would always be the case. If something happened to her or Caleb, Toby was currently the closest person to call for help.
The man’s long legs had taken him all the way to Paul’s truck before she could get the door open. He looked so out of place next to the truck in his nice dark clothes that Meredith shook her head before she started speaking. She knew nothing about the man, but clearly he lived a very different lifestyle than the one she’d gotten used to.
“Wait up a second, Toby.”
His step faltered for a second, but he didn’t stop, nor did he look back. A growl started somewhere deep in Meredith’s chest and radiated out like a pissed off mountain lion.
“I’m eight months pregnant here, so I’m not even going to pretend to be able to keep up with you. That means you’re going to have to stop, or I’m going back in the house to grab my shotgun and shoot you.”
There had to be something in her voice that made it clear the threat wasn’t a joke. She wasn’t totally serious, but she sounded enough like she was that Toby stopped. He didn’t turn around, but at least he stopped.
“If you’re looking for an answer to me being a serial killer, I’m not. I do need to get home as soon as possible, though.”
Watching his shoulders, Meredith could see the deep breaths being taken. There was something up that she couldn’t begin to guess. She worried there was something in the stew that had given him some kind of allergic reaction. It was the only thing her brain was coming up with as a reason for the sudden change.
“I never thought you were a serial killer. In fact, I’ve already cleared you of many potential crimes. So, if you’re not feeling good, I can take you to town to see Doc or you can take a few minutes and rest on the couch. Walking a mile through the woods isn’t going to make you feel any better.”
“At this point, I’d be out before we got to the doctor, and trust me, you don’t want me on the couch. Last time this happened I was out for hours.”
Toby started walking again, like his words were enough of an explanation. They weren’t, but he’d picked up his pace and there was no way she’d be able to keep up with him. He disappeared behind trees before she had a chance to say another word.
The man was trouble, but he needed help. Whether he was aware of that fact or not was yet to be seen. Meredith wasn’t about to let him wander around the woods in the dark with the threat of him passing out. There were wild animals that wouldn’t hesitate to snack on him.
Before she could deal with him, she had to get rid of Paul. If he was a little bigger, he could’ve come in handy in case Toby really was down for the count in the woods. Even at his size, he could’ve helped, but Meredith had had enough of him for one day. If he hesitated leaving, she’d use the shotgun line again, and this time it wouldn’t be a joke.
Chapter Seven
Her voice was the first thing he heard. Calm and confident she asked for a bottle of water. It was the least hostile Toby had heard her voice, and that scared him. Her voice shouldn’t have been anywhere near him as far as he remembered. His memory tended to be hazy when he came too after one of the headaches.
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He recalled eating and feeling the beginning of pressure behind his eyes. There was a conversation about him being a killer that he could barely pay attention to. After that, everything was dark.
The only thing he knew was that somehow he’d gotten home. There was no denying the lumpy mattress underneath him was the one in the cabin. The stale smell he was used to also hung in the air. He’d wondered while he cleaned things up if it was a dead animal of some sort, but he hadn’t found one.
“What are you doing here?”
Toby’s head felt better, but he kept his words quiet, much like Meredith had when she requested the water. He hoped she didn’t have ideas of throwing it on him to see if it would wake him up. He wouldn’t blame her, but he preferred to keep the bed dry.
“Making sure you aren’t dead. I was worried you were having an allergic reaction to the stew and were running home for one of those pen things people use.”
He shook his head. He needed to open his eyes to get a handle on the situation, but he wasn’t ready. He had no idea what time it was and any amount of light threatened to keep him in bed longer.
“It’s just a headache. The food was great, like I said repeatedly.”
“Thanks, honey. Why don’t you go sit down in the living room and play with your toys for a few minutes while I talk to Toby.”
The direction of going to play wasn’t needed to know Meredith wasn’t speaking to him. If she was for some reason calling him honey, he would’ve had to hit his head hard.
“Is he gonna be okay?”
“I think so. Let me just talk to him for a few minutes and then we’ll head home and let him rest some more.”
Toby didn’t hear Caleb’s retreat, but he assumed the boy left. From what he’d seen, there wasn’t much of a troublemaker bone in the kid’s body.
