Page 24 of Philly
She grimaced at that thought as she pulled on her lightweight running jacket. Maybe they’d left him alone because they knew him better than she did, and hepreferredto be alone.
In staying, had she given him more cause to hate her? Nearly twenty years ago, she’d made one monumental mistake that he had every reason to hold against her, but she tried not to give him any more.
She stepped outside, sucking in a sharp breath at the temperature. The cold air hit her lungs, and a slight pain radiated through her body. She steadied her breathing as she locked the door of her cute little cabin, then walked to the end of the driveway. The eight-mile loop she’d mapped out would keep her out of the downtown area. A novelty. Running in DC required lots of stops for traffic lights. With a smile, she started a slow jog to warm her body up, and as she fell into a rhythm, her mind turned back to Gabriel.
Maybe he liked to process things alone. But she’d offered to leave, and he hadn’t told her to go. And if he’d really wanted her to, he wouldn’t have held his tongue. Which meant he either wanted her to stay or, more likely, wasn’t sure what he wanted.
She snorted at that thought. Yeah, she could identify. She wanted to resolve this case, find out what really happened to Liza, then run away—not just from her past, but from Gabriel andtheirpast. When she thought about never seeing him again, though, an ache squeezed her chest. She wasn’t fool enough to think it meant there was still something between them. But maybe she needed absolution. Maybe she needed his forgiveness before walking away.
That quasi-logic sounded good in her head. Gabriel was the “one who got away.” That she’d pushed him away made it worse. He didn’t owe her his forgiveness, and if he chose not to give it, she’d have to accept that.
She rounded a bend and startled a deer, which in turn startled her. She chuckled to herself as the lovely animal bounded into the forest. Definitely not something she’d see in DC.
As she soaked in the beauty of the space around her, her mind shifted from Gabriel and her complicated feelings to thoughts about his home. In their ten years of friendship, she’d never seen where he lived in their small town outside Philadelphia. There’d been plenty of rumors, though. Rumors that it was little more than a decrepit trailer, barely big enough for one person, let alone the three people who lived there.
If the gossip back then was true, he’d come a long way from those days. His home wasn’t fancy or huge, but it was homey, charming, and solid. Set on about a half acre that sloped from the road down to the river, it looked to be a single-story with a walk-out basement. She hadn’t been inside, but she’d peeked through the glass panes when she rang the doorbell. She’d spotted dark wood floors, the edge of what she thought might be a kitchen island, and a sliding door leading out onto a deck at the back. With its peaked gabled roof, it would look like a gingerbread house when the snow came. And the big picture window to the left of the front door—presumably a living room—would be the perfect place to display a Christmas tree.
She frowned as a thought took hold. Stone and Mantis commiserated on occasion about the fixer-uppers they owned, and Viper lived in an apartment. Gabriel’s house wasn’t an apartment or one that needed work, though. It was a nice house. The Falcons did well for themselves. But did they dothatwell? Real estate in Mystery Lake didn’t come cheap. Not even for homes a few miles from the ski resort and lake.
How had he afforded it?
If the rumors were true about his family life, he hadn’t inherited any money. Actually, now that she thought about it, his dad might still be alive. She had no idea. And as to his mother, well, she couldn’t remember anyone ever mentioning such a person.
Maybe when he bought it, ithadbeen a fixer-upper?
She frowned. The house didn’t have the look of being newly remodeled. It looked settled. It even had a pair of antique skis mounted on the hallway wall between the front door and back room.
Skis. She slowed her pace as a hint of a question formed. Hadn’t Laura Nolan’s brother been an Olympic skier? She’d grown up in LA, and if they were a skiing family, it wouldn’t be unusual for them to have had a home in Mystery Lake. It was the closest real skiing to the city, and they had one of the best youth ski programs on the West Coast—even she knew that.
She shook her head and picked up her pace again. She was grasping at straws. She had no idea if Laura’s family ever came to Mystery Lake, let alone whether they owned a house there. And even if they did, why they would sell it to Gabriel.
But as her feet pounded out the miles, the thought wouldn’t let go. It was beyond a stretch, but by the time she made it back to her cabin, she’d accepted two things. First, the possibility would nag her until she looked into it. And second, she didn’t have anything better to do. She needed to talk with Gabriel, but after the time they spent together last night, they needed a breather before she approached him again.
It wasn’t the best logic, but as she let herself inside, she resigned herself to chasing the wild notion, if for no other reason than to assuage her own curiosity.
Four hours later, she leaned back in her chair and stared at her computer. Certain she’d find nothing and she’d feel a fool, she hadn’t started her research right away. Instead, she’d stretched, had some water, showered, stretched some more, then eaten breakfast before facing the task.
Only to find—after more than a little digging—that Gabriel Walker had indeed purchased his house from Kenneth and Diane Olmstead, Laura’s parents, eighteen months ago for an under-market price of half a million dollars. From what shecould tell, it even appeared to be seller-financed, meaning the Olmsteads held his loan, not a bank.
She drummed her fingers on the table before absently picking up her coffee mug. She winced when the cool liquid hit her mouth, but she sipped it anyway. She had a feeling she’d need the caffeine to get through the next few hours. Hours she’d use to figure out the best way to reach Gabriel. The best way to get him to talk to her.
Rising, she began pacing the small space. She loved the little place she’d found online, but the seven-hundred-square-foot one-bedroom didn’t offer a lot of room to move, and she ended up twirling more than pacing. With a grunt of defeat, she walked to the fireplace and, grateful for the gas appliance, flicked it on before taking a seat on the sofa.
Minutes, then an hour, ticked by as she weighed and discarded different ideas for approaching Gabriel. Finally, annoyed at herself for not being able to come up with a good one, she decided her best option was the most straightforward. She’d ask.
Without giving herself time to second-guess the decision, she turned the fire off, pulled on her jacket, boots, and hat, grabbed her purse, and headed out. She’d try his house first, then the club. If he was out working, well, he had to come home at some point. She’d wait for him there. Because today, she’d finally have some answers.
14
The doorbell rang as Philly climbed out of the hot tub on his back deck. Needing a distraction from the events in Bakersfield, he’d offered to take on the construction delivery schedule that day. It had been what he’d needed, but damn if his body didn’t ache.
It rang again as he wrapped a towel around his waist. He didn’t need to look at the app on his phone to tell him who stood at his door. No one he knew was as impatient as Callie Parks. Although, admittedly, last night, she’d been anything but.
He glanced down the hall toward his bedroom as he entered the house, debating whether to change before answering. But then a sharp knock sounded. With a shake of his head, he decided she’d get what she got.
“Callie,” he said, opening the door.
Her eyes widened and darted over his bare chest, then down his body, then back up again. The idea of it being a bad idea to be near her in nothing but a towel occurred to him too late. But then she jerked her gaze away, turning her whole body to the side so that she stared at the garage rather than him. He almost laughed.
