“Not on your life. Make your way up the steps to the porch and get on your knees.” The man followed his instructions. “Lay prostrate, then slowly toss whatever you wanted to show me behind you.”
He did as instructed, tossing a wallet behind him. “My name is Mat Ryan; Ms. Everett invited here me. Sh-she is expecting me.”
“If she invited you, then what were you doing sneaking around like some prowler in her bushes?”
“I dropped my phone.”
Jackson was about to ask another question when he heard the click of the lock and saw Aja opening the door. “Aja, go back inside until I know it’s safe.”
“Jackson, put the gun away!” She dashed in front of him, kneeling on the floor to help the stranger up.
“Aja, what are you doing?” Jackson lowered the barrel of the gun and fought to keep himself from snatching her up by her neck. What kind of crazy game was she playing at?
“Hopefully, I’m keeping you from killing this harmless soul.” Once she and the stranger were standing, they both faced Jackson. “Jackson Dean, my new foreman, please meet Mat Ryan, Brooklyn and Seneca’s parole officer.”
Chapter 9
Aja placed a warm cup of tea in front of Mat as he sat shivering at the kitchen table. A quick glance at the digital thermostat on the wall told her the poor man’s body wasn’t shaking because it was cold, so she assumed the big Texas Ranger sitting across the room terrified him.
Aja squinted her eyes and gave the best scowl she could to Jackson. He was leaning against the counter with wide, bulging arms folded across his chest while he mean-mugged poor Mat. An angry curled lip and a low growl slipping between clenched teeth were all that was missing from the menacing picture.
She put her hand on her hip and tilted her head to the side, doing her best imitation of Aunt Jo’s I’m-not-too-pleased-with-you-right-now look. But Jackson didn’t seem to care about her displeasure. The only thing his sharp features appeared concerned with was scaring Mat to death.
“Tell me again how you ended up creeping around in the backyard at this hour of the night.”
“Jackson—”
He held up his fingers, silencing her in her own damn kitchen.Who the hell does he think he is? This is my house.She was about to tell him the same when she heard her uncle’s voice sounding off inside her head.“Do what he says, Aja. Don’t give him any trouble.”
She folded her own arms and continued to glare at the belligerent Ranger standing across the room.
“I was supposed to meet with Ms. Everett and her charges yesterday morning for a home-and-community meeting for Ms. Daniels and Ms. Osborn. She rescheduled for this evening. Appointments that ran over delayed my arrival. I called Ms. Everett to reschedule, but she told me to come no matter what the hour. I had my phone in my hand as I walked from my visit with Ms. Daniels and Ms. Osborn at their residence. It slipped through my fingers and landed in the bushes. I was attempting to retrieve it when you found me.”
Aja smoothed a comforting hand over Mat’s shoulder, hoping to soothe the anxiety Jackson was causing the man. “I can verify everything Mat says, and I’m sure Seneca and Brooklyn will too. He’s not trespassing, simply clumsy.”
If Jackson knew Mat like she did, he would understand how typically Mat this story really was. Over the year he’d visited Restoration to check on Seneca and Brooklyn, he was always tripping over one thing or another, especially if Brooklyn was around. Seeing her always seemed to make his clumsiness worse. If something could cause him to break his neck, he’d make contact with it in the most awkward way. It was honestly a miracle the man hadn’t broken or sprained something while conducting his check-ins with her workers.
Aja ignored Jackson’s semipermanent frown and softened her features as she looked at Mat. “Please forgive Jackson. He’s doing his best to prove he’s the best foreman ever hired. Don’t let him worry you.”
Mat gave her a trembling smile and took a sip of his tea. When he finished, he looked up at her. His smile read a little less panicked and closer to his standard level of everyday nervous instead.
“My visits with Ms. Daniels and Ms. Osborn went well. I need you to sign the review forms I emailed to you, and I’ll be out of your hair.”
She snapped her fingers, remembering where she’d placed them, and walked over to the small cove in the kitchen where she dropped mail, bills, or anything important when she entered the house. She looked in a pile marked Outgoing, flipping through a few pages until she found the packet of forms she was looking for.
“Here you go.” She handed the forms to Mat. He folded them, grabbed the wallet sitting on the table that Jackson had demanded when Mat was facedown on the floor, and offered her a shaky smile, one filled with more fear than warmth.
“It’s getting late, Ms. Everett. I don’t want to outstay my welcome. I’ll call you if there’s anything more I need.”
Aja glanced back at Jackson, mustering as much cold as she could in her sharp glare before she turned back to an already retreating Mat. “Mat, please call me Aja. You’re welcome to stay for another cup of tea. There’s even a slice of pineapple coconut cake if you give me a second to cut it.”
Mat shifted his eyes from her to somewhat beyond her shoulder before he shook his head. She didn’t have to guess what or who had captured his attention. “I really must go. Thank you for your hospitality. I’ll call you soon.”
A few quick steps and he was at the door, twisting the knob back and forth until he could finally get it open. Before she could raise her hand to wave goodbye, Mat closed the door behind him with a sound thud and disappeared into the night.
She turned on her heels slowly until she faced Jackson. “You could’ve at least apologized to the man.”
“For what, exactly?”
