“God, I’m glad I wasn’t here alone,” she says. “And you’re right, filing a report might make sense. Just in case they come back.”
“Exactly.” I crush the protective feeling that rises when I see her hunched over like this, a small sparrow of a woman seeking shelter. “I don’t want this rattling you more than it has. If you’re not okay, you tell me.”
“Just shocked, I think. If someone was watching me…” She trails off and holds out her hands, examining her nails. Her fingers are trembling. “The Babins were being weird, too.”
“That’s where you went? Their place?”
She nods.
“I said I’d drop by, and it seemed like as good a time as any.” She glances at me, then looks away quickly. “But they just felt overeager or something. I knew they wanted to buy the place, but they were super strange about it. Too enthusiastic. A little snippy. I dunno, it’s hard to explain.”
I drop into a chair next to the bed, facing her until she looks at me. My mind works, wondering if they would’ve had time to sneak over here after she left.
They could have associates, too. Someone told to come snooping while they knew she was occupied.
“Try me,” I say.
“Um, well.” She tucks a lock of hair behind her ear. I force myself not to think about the way it felt like silk when I kissed her, just like her skin. “It’s like they wanted to hide how desperate they are for me to sell. They were pretty open about needing some leeway with financing, too. But it also felt like they wanted all their cards on the table.”
I feel the hair on the back of my neck rise, thinking back to when they dropped by the house.
I didn’t think much of them then, when I was more annoyed by Margot than anything else.
They seemed like your average overly friendly, slightly eccentric rural folk who’ve lived in the sticks for too long without much socializing with strangers.
I lean forward, my forearms braced on my legs.
Margot’s gaze darts over me before it settles on the floor.
“Why do you think they’re so interested?” I ask. “Do they want the house or the land?”
“The land for sure.” She sucks her lip as she thinks. “It just felt like they were trying too hard, y’know? A little too twitchy about the whole thing. I think they expected me to sign it over right there. It weirded me out, so I left.”
“You drove straight back here? How long were you parked outside?”
“Yeah, pretty much. My friend Hattie called and I was talking to her when I pulled in.” She runs her fingers along the duvet idly. “I don’t know how long I sat in the car. Ten minutes or so, maybe? It wasn’t a long conversation.”
Still, that’s enough time for either Babin or a sneaky friend to come creeping if they decided to go full psycho.
Why, who knows, but when she tells me something’s up with the Babins, I believe her. The timing feels suspect as hell.
I’ve never been a big believer in coincidences.
“I’ll keep an eye on them,” I promise, leaning back in the chair. “Also, we should talk to other folks in town. Find out more about the history, if your grandfather ever left anybody with hard feelings.”
“It shouldn’t take too long with the gossip train here. The Babins knew we went to the hardware store.” She blushes.
“We’ll be careful. Last thing we need is them suspecting anything.”
“Yeah,” she agrees. There’s a shy tilt to her thin smile I haven’t seen before. “Uh, so, about earlier…”
Earlier.
The kiss.
The attic fuckery, hot and heady and hungry.
Her lips on mine, stirring a thirst that had me kissing her back like I wanted her for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
