Page 227 of A Matter of Time

“Just hurry up. If I don’t get the damn crib put together today, my life is gonna be hell.”

“Fine, I’m coming.”

“Don’t forget the half gallon of paint and the staple gun and staples.”

“I won’t.”

“And that blue tape you use when you’re painting.”

“You mean painter’s tape?”

“Screw you, smartass,” he grumbled before he hung up. I was smiling as I turned and stepped into someone.

“Sorry.”

“Jory.”

My head snapped up, and there I was—without fanfare, not even a trumpet—face-to-face with Sam Kage. He reached instantly to steady me, but I was faster and stepped back before he could put even a finger on me.

His hands went instantly deep into the pockets of his jeans.

“Hey.” I stared up into his eyes.

He took a quick breath. “How are you?”

“Good. You?”

“Good.” He nodded. The way he was looking at me, uncertain and curious at the same time was…funny. “What’s it been? Three years?”

“Somewhere around there,” I agreed with him.

We were silent several seconds before he squinted at me. “You know, this might sound weird, but you don’t seem that surprised to see me.”

I smiled at him. “No. I saw you, like, a year ago at a street fair downtown.”

“You did?”

I nodded. “Yeah, and right after that I did some work for your brother’s firm, and he caught me up on the events in your life.” I spoke fast. “Not that I asked—he was just making conversation.”

“Was he?”

“Yeah.”

“Huh. So then you know I’ve been back for a while?”

“Yeah.”

“But you never…”

I shrugged. “No, but you didn’t either.”

His eyes narrowed. “No…I didn’t.”

“Okay, so, I’ll see ya.” I smiled again, stepping around him.

Hand on my arm, he stopped me, shifting back into my path. “What is it you do now?”

“Oh,” I said, not minding the safe topic. “Well, I don’t know if you remember my partner, Dylan Greer, but⁠—”