I open the door, and immediately the alarm control pad starts beeping at me.“Sorry, sorry, hang on.”I type in my security pin code to shut off the alarm.“Hey, Matthew.I’m glad you dropped by.”
“Really?”He grins and stands a little taller.His t-shirt is a size too small, stretching at his shoulders and biceps.I wonder if he wears it like that on purpose.
“Yeah.”I offer a tight smile—not too warm, not too open.I don’t want him to think I’m flirting.“I’ve been meaning to thank you for helping me.I have something for you in the kitchen.”
The kitchen where it happened—where Crane and Derick tried to kill me.
Matthew follows me toward the kitchen, commenting, “It seems like you’re really making this place your own.”
“Ah, well, I have time right now.”I take in the wallpaper I replaced in the entryway.The tacky green paisley hadn’t suited me at all, so I put up a peacock blue with subtle, gold-foil star outlines.Of course, that meant I had to get a rug to match, and I’d found a large abstract painting with highlights in the same blue at an art studio downtown.“I haven’t done anything to the kitchen yet, though.”
He examines the art deco style of the kitchen floor, and the matching walls and counters.“It’s like stepping into a time portal, except the appliances are new.”
“Right?”I laugh and pat the counter affectionately.I probably won’t change this room much, if at all.
“I could help you remodel it.”He leans against the wall, not far from where my cousins and their hired guys had tied me up.
I’d been so scared—I thought I was going to die.
Shoving away that horrible memory, I grab the bottle of whiskey resting in the breakfast nook.I already tied a pretty little bow around the neck, to make it look more gift-y.I smile and hand it to him.“Here—I got this for you, after the…after everything.Your actions that night were heroic.Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.And thank you, for this.”He admires the label before turning his attention back to my kitchen.“We could start with the cabinets and go from there.”
“I didn’t know you were a contractor.”
“Oh.”He hesitates.“I’m not.Home reno is something I like to do in my spare time.”
“Lucky Charmaine.”
His smile is forced.“I don’t think she’d agree with that take.”
And, that’s officially my cue to kick him out.I’m not here to listen to my neighbor’s marriage troubles.And it would be totally inappropriate for him to complain about his wife to me, a near stranger.
Wait, why did he stop by, anyway?
As if he realizes this at the same time I do, he says, “There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you?—”
My stomach sinks.I remember the way he looked at me when we first met, like he could see through my clothes.There’d been something oily and off about it.
“There’s someone hanging around your house.”
Wait.I pause.I’m grateful he didn’t come onto me, but… “Someone’s hanging around my house?Like, outside?”
“I think so.”He shrugs.“I see movement sometimes, when you aren’t home.Do you ever notice things aren’t where you left them, or anything strange?”
“No,” I say slowly.I don’t like the thought of him watching my house, whether or not I’m home.“I have cameras.And a good alarm company.”
He’s kind enough not to mention how the whole system failed three weeks ago, when my cousins made their attempt on my life.Instead, he shrugs again.“I just, after everything, thought you’d want to know.Maybe set up more cameras or something, to be safe.”
I’m so unsure of his angle, I don’t know how to respond.Thankfully, at that moment, someone else knocks on my front door.I’m saved.
“Matthew!Matt!Are you in there?If you don’t come out in ten seconds…”
“Is that Charmaine?”I ask, alarmed.She sounds super angry at him.
He rolls his eyes.“I guess I better go.”
He doesn’t seem in a hurry, but I hustle to the front door and open it for Charmaine.She stands on the welcome mat in her work-out clothes, vibrating with rage.
