“I’m not sure you two could be any more obvious,” Carly said with a laugh that brought Dash back to the present.
Apparently, he hadn’t been the only one to enjoy the spectacle of Matty leaving the room. He cast a glance at Marcus who looked unapologetic in his admiration of Matty’s assets.
“Hard not to appreciate the view,” Marcus responded with a half smile. Carly rolled her eyes.
“Would you guys mind giving Matty a ride home?” Dash asked, the need for space having suddenly swamped him. Again.
“Didn’t she come with you?” Marcus asked.
Dash shook his head. “She walked and I was going to give her a ride home because of the time and the storm, but I need to get home. Would you mind?”
Carly frowned. “Of course not.”
After thanking them and ignoring the curious looks they both shot him, he walked to the bar to pay the tab he and Matty had raked up. He was just signing the credit card slip when she walked up to him on her way back to the table.
“You’re leaving,” she said. He saw disappointment flash in her eyes but what really cut him was the look on her face that said she should have known better than to think he would stay.
“Marcus and Carly will give you a ride home.”
For a moment she simply stared at him. And then, without a word, she started walking away.
“Wait, Matty,” he said, putting a hand on her arm to stop her. He looked into her faded brown eyes and let out a long breath. “Look, like I said, it’s complicated. It’s a family thing I can’t really explain right now. You’ll think I’m crazy and I’m not sure I’m ready for it anyway. And I’m pretty sure you aren’t.”
“You aren’t making any sense, Dash,” she answered.
“I know. Believe me, I know. But I will explain it all. I just can’t do it now.”
Her eyes searched his, looking for something he knew she wouldn’t find. And though he didn’t expect anything else, it still didn’t sit well when she gave a dismissive “whatever” gesture with her hands.
“Thanks for joining me for dinner, Dash. I’m going to sit back down now.” And she walked away. And he let her.
He took his time signing off on the bill and when he passed the table on his way out Marcus raised a hand in farewell and Carly gave him a nod, but Matty just watched him leave.
CHAPTER 6
AFTER ANOTHER HOUR AT ANDERSON’S that Matty spent getting to know Marcus and Carly—after all, a thriller writer could never know too many cops—the pair dropped her off at home. She’d thought about making her way home on her own, but the storm had cooled the air down and the roads were wet, making a walk in flip-flops less than appealing. Again, she was thankful for the dogs when the taillights disappeared down the drive and darkness engulfed her. Entering the house, she greeted the pups and then pulled her phone out of her purse and dropped it on the kitchen table.
Once the dogs were settled, she dialed Brad’s number as she poured herself a glass of water. His voice mail picked up, again, and she left a third annoyed message. In the three days she’d been at his house, she’d had more animals than she knew what to do with, a man who flipped from hot to cold faster than a speeding bullet, and a dead body, literally, fall into her life. And she was beginning to feel a little grumpy. Not that she thought it was all Brad’s fault. If she cared to admit it, which she didn’t, her agitation had more to do with Dash than the other bizarre things that had happened.
Setting her phone down on the kitchen island and resting her hands on the slate top, she simply stood, waiting for fatigue or something else to propel in her one direction or the other. But nothing came. The silence of the night enveloped her and she realized that, for the first time in her life, a man had made her feel unsettled. And it wasn’t a very comfortable feeling.
Even though she’d left Brad a message not ten minutes ago, she picked up the phone and called him again. Maybe seeing four calls from her would worry him enough that he’d call back. Because at the moment she wanted an excuse to leave—an excuse to avoid dealing with Dash and an excuse to go back to something familiar.
Isis nudged her hand and Matty looked down at the beautiful red dog. And let herself smile a bit at what Isis seemed to be saying to her. All she really needed to do while she was here was take care of the animals and write. If she cut out all the rest, all of the noise, and focused on those two things, she’d be just fine.
She knelt down and nuzzled the dog, “Thank you for reminding me, girl. Life doesn’t have to be so complicated, does it? Dash may think it does, but that doesn’t mean I have to let him complicate my life, right?”
Isis bumped her forehead against Matty’s chin. “You think it’s bed time?” At those magic words, all the dogs were on their feet waiting for her to lead them upstairs. She laughed and started toward the stairs. As she walked by the refrigerator, an old newspaper on the counter caught her eye. She paused and picked it up. It had fallen out of the liquor cabinet earlier in the afternoon when she’d made herself a much-needed gin and tonic after kicking Dash out. Of course she had told him she was fine, and really she was. But the gin and tonic had definitely helped smooth some of the ruffled edges.
Taking a closer look, she realized it wasn’t actually a newspaper, but rather a racing form, and that there were odd bumps running over the name of one of the horses. The form was dated about a year ago and provided information from one of the local, though nationally known, tracks up near Albany. Matty knew very little about horse racing, but thought it a strange thing to find in the cabinet. It was possible it had been put in there to prevent a bottle from leaking onto the bottom of the cabinet. She could see Brad doing that; his house was meticulous. But it was the raised dots that caught her attention.
She traced her finger lightly along the bumps. They didn’t mean anything to her, but they looked intentional. Frowning, she held the form up to the light to see if the bumps spelled anything or highlighted anything in particular on the form but found nothing. Not knowing what else she could do with it, certainly not this late at night, she put the racing form back down on the counter and, after one last glance at it, headed off to bed.
***
Matty stretched in bed then winced. The morning light shone bright through the window. Really bright. She hadn’t had that much to drink the night before, a whiskey and two beers over the course of four hours, and a gin and tonic several hours before that, but it was more than what she was used to and her head wasn’t being shy about telling her so.
Raising herself up on her elbows, she blinked. Of course, Bob was beside her. Lucy the mutt was at the end of the bed, Isis was on her dog bed in the corner, Rufus was stretched out in all his Great Dane glory on the rug under the window, and Roger’s big Newfie-mix body was taking up the doorway. And every set of eyes was staring at her. She glanced at the clock and saw it was close to nine. It was two hours past their breakfast time; apparently they were more flexible than her half brother gave them credit for. Or maybe they were just getting used to her.
Still, feeling guilty, she rose quickly, fed the patient animals, and let them out before getting dressed and getting herself ready for the day. She didn’t have much planned, except for writing, so it didn’t take long. Heading back downstairs, she let the dogs in that wanted in and then went out to check on the other animals and collect the fresh eggs. She wasn’t hungry yet, so she just made coffee, sat down at her computer, and got to work.
At around two o’clock, Matty sat back and stretched her back. Her stomach grumbled in protest when she realized she hadn’t yet eaten. But it was a small price to pay. She’d done a lot of good work in four hours, and thanks to the insight Chen had shared with her, she was starting to feel that this story was actually coming together.
She was making a salad when she heard a car drive up. She didn’t deny the relief that swept through when she realized it wasn’t a diesel and so unlikely to be Dash. Her day was going just as planned so far, and it was a ba
lance she wanted to keep. She opened the patio door just as Vivi and another woman were closing their car doors.
“Matty, hi!” Vivi said, walking toward her.
“Vivi, how nice to see you,” she responded, smiling at the two women.
Vivi gestured to the other woman. “This is Kit Forrester, another local—”
“Oh my god, the Kit Forrester?” Matty cut Vivi off. The woman looked a little sheepish, but there was no denying it was the very one. Her distinct golden eyes gave her away. “Oh, wow. I had no idea you lived up here, too,” Matty said, holding out her hand.
Kit smiled and shook Matty’s hand. “I moved up here five years ago and love it. Vivi thought you might like meeting another local writer.”
“You’re one of my favorites and I’m not just saying that because you’re here,” Matty was gushing. Again. But, like when she met Vivi, she couldn’t have been more surprised to see one of the country’s most prominent, and highly awarded, young writers standing in her driveway. She knew Kit was only a few years younger than she was, but the novels Kit had written had won critical acclaim both nationally and abroad and she was already considered one of the country’s literary vanguards.
“I’ll say the same to you, and also not just because you’re standing right in front of me. I loved your last book, The Solace, it was amazing,” Kit responded.
Matty laughed. “What I write is pure escapist entertainment. Don’t get me wrong, I love it, but it’s nothing compared to your talent. Now,” she said, cutting off Kit’s protest, “before we start comparing ourselves even more, why don’t you come inside for a drink? I was just about to make myself some lunch, would you guys like to join me?” Both women had eaten, but they joined her in a glass of iced tea as they all sat.
“I just wanted to stop by, say hi, introduce you to Kit, and let you know that Ian will have your truck delivered by four or five this evening. Clean,” Vivi added with a smile.
“You ran into Marcus or Carly, I take it?” Matty asked, taking a bite of the salad she’d thrown together.
“This morning at the lab. They said they saw you and Dash Kent at Anderson’s last night.”
She heard the question in Vivi’s voice and laughed. “You’re not very subtle, you know,” she said.
Vivi made a face. “I know, you’d think I’d be better at it considering what I do for a living, catching bad people who do bad things, but I suck at subterfuge and subtext myself.”
“And besides, everyone is curious when Dash is seen out with a woman since it doesn’t happen that often,” Kit added. “Don’t get me wrong, he’s far from a monk if the rumors are anything to go by, but he’s usually discreet. It’s the being out in public with a woman that tends to catch people’s attention. And you can imagine that, looking the way he does, he’s a bit of a hot topic of conversation among the ladies.”
“Yourself included?” Matty asked Kit.
Kit laughed and shook her head. “Nope. As fine as he is to look at, he’s a bit too standoffish for my taste. Nice guy and all, but just not my type.”
“He does run hot and cold,” Matty conceded.
“Meaning?” Vivi pressed.
“Nosy much?” Matty rejoined, laughing at her new friend.
“I saw the way he was looking at you yesterday. There was nothing standoffish about it,” Vivi answered.
Matty shrugged. “He stopped by Anderson’s last night to check in on me. I walked down on my own and we ended up having dinner together. Marcus and Carly drove me home. Nothing too exciting to report, I’m afraid.”
“Not your taste either?” Kit asked.
“When I date a man, I prefer that he be certain that he also wants to date me. Not for forever, but for the time we’re together. Dash can’t even be sure, one way or the other, over the course of a dinner. It’s too much drama for me,” Matty answered.
“He looked pretty certain when I saw you two together yesterday,” Vivi said.
“And fifteen minutes later he was running for the hills,” Matty responded. “He’s, well, I can’t quite figure him out. And then he said the strangest thing to me last night,” she said, pausing with her fork in midair as she remembered. “He said something about it being a family thing and that it was complicated and that someday he’d tell me but he wasn’t ready and neither was I.”
“That does sound weird,” Kit said.
Matty’s brow furrowed. “I know, I can’t for the life of me figure out what he meant. And now I find myself wondering if I should even care. All I really want to do while I’m up here is write. And take care of the animals,” she added.
“I can’t blame you there, there’s something about this area that’s conducive to creativity,” Kit said. Matty nodded her agreement as she rose to take her plate to the sink.
“Dash is usually pretty straightforward and that doesn’t sound—oh!” The surprise in Vivi’s voice made Matty turn.
“Oh,” Vivi said again. “I think I know what he meant.” The grin that spread across her face wasn’t comforting.
“Do I want to know?” Matty asked, returning to the table with the pitcher of iced tea.
“Uh, I’m not actually sure you’ll want to know,” Vivi answered.
“Well, I want to know,” Kit interjected. Vivi looked at Matty to get her opinion on the matter. Matty shrugged, how bad could it be?
Bad, Matty thought after Vivi recalled a conversation she’d had with Dash’s older sister several weeks ago about the family ‘tradition.’ They’d been at a wedding and Vivi was planning hers so, naturally, the topic came up. And Jane Kent had told Vivi all about the lightning speed at which the Kent family married.
Well, maybe bad wasn’t the right word, but it did sound crazy.
“I think you’re it for Dash and it’s freaking him out,” Vivi concluded.
“Uh, yeah, it would kind of freak me out, too,” she said. “But that’s crazy. It takes two to tango and, even if he does think that I’m that person, which I don’t think I am, I would have to be prepared for that kind of relationship, which I’m not.”
“I think it’s kind of sweet,” Kit said. Both women looked at her. “Don’t get me wrong, in the real world, I think it’s insane, but in some other reality—”
“Like one of our books?” Matty interjected.
“It could be kind of sweet,” Kit finished.
Matty took a deep breath and then let it out. “Well, I just think that if this is what is bothering Dash, the fact that it’s bothering him at all is ridiculous. I’m not interested in getting married, at least not yet, and I’m certainly not the type to get married in six weeks. Believe me, I have way too many issues for that.”
“Then maybe you should mention that to Dash,” Kit suggested.
She shook her head. “I just want to write and take care of the animals,” she repeated. “I’m not planning on seeing him again unless, god forbid, something happens to one of the animals.”
“Famous last words,” Vivi said.
Matty shot her a look. The whole thing was just too wild to seriously contemplate. “Anyway,” Matty said, changing the subject. “Did you figure out who the guy from yesterday is?”
Vivi shook her head. “No, not yet. We put his time of death about three to four days ago. We’re running some more tests to narrow down the timeline but we did a facial reconstruction and are running it through the databases along with his DNA. His fingers were too degraded to get good prints.”
“That’s gross,” Kit said, making a face.
“But you don’t think it’s someone local?” Matty pressed.
Vivi lifted a shoulder. “We don’t have any reported missing persons up here, but we can’t say anything for certain yet. The property where he was abuts Brad’s property on the other side of that hill,” Vivi said, pointing to the hill on the other side of the drive. “Did he say anything about seeing anyone around lately?”
She shook her head. “Brad hasn’t said anything. I haven’
t been able to get ahold of him. I’ve left four messages but he hasn’t returned any of my calls.”
“Is that unusual?” Vivi asked with a small frown.
“We’re not close and have barely spoken to each other at all so it’s hard to say what’s normal and what’s not. Until he called me the other day to ask me to come dog-sit, I hadn’t spoken to him in five years. When I arrived, I found a four-page set of directions for me, but no information about where he was going.” Which reminded her; rising from her seat she went to collect the racing form and brought it back to the table.
“What’s this?” Vivi asked.
“It’s a racing form. Almost a year old, as you can see. But feel the paper,” she directed. Both Kit and Vivi did so.
“There’re bumps,” Kit said.
Matty nodded. “I know, weird, right? Brad said to help myself to anything in his liquor cabinet in the note he left. I thought that was strange since he doesn’t even know if I drink, but then yesterday, when I felt I deserved a gin and tonic after the morning I’d had, I opened the cabinet and this fell out.”
“Strange,” Vivi said, holding the form up so she could look at it from different angles. “I don’t know what the bumps are, but I can take a picture and send it to my cousins, Naomi and Brian, to have a look,” she offered.
“And you think they’ll know?” Matty asked.
“If they don’t know, I promise you they can find out. They’re kind of scary like that,” Vivi rejoined.
Matty laughed and then agreed; she wasn’t sure the form meant anything, but it couldn’t hurt to have someone look into it. Vivi snapped a picture with her cell phone and sent it off to her cousins.
“I’ll let you know as soon as I hear from them,” Vivi said, slipping her phone into her purse. “In the meantime, feel free to call me if you have any questions or just want some company, anytime. I’m kind of new to the area, too, so I know what it’s like.”
These Sorrows We See Page 7
