Page 19 of Home Team Advantage
He cleaned the area and slapped a new bandage on there, then puttered around the house for a while. He had the place to himself. His younger half-siblings were in school. Kieran was at BodyWorks, and his mother was holed up in her design studio.
After reheating some leftovers, he went into the family office/library to do a little research of his own while he waited to hear back from Ian.
Chapter Eleven
ANNA
Even though they were fifteen minutes early for the appointment, they ended up waiting over an hour to be taken back to an examination room. The nurse took Mrs. Campbell’s vitals and reviewed her health history and medications, to which Anna listened with rapt attention and took notes. Elsa had been up front about things, so none of it was a surprise.
After the nurse left, another twenty minutes passed before the doctor deigned to make an appearance, and even Anna was starting to get impatient. Thankfully, the crosswords and word games she’d downloaded onto Mrs. Campbell’s tablet kept them engaged and helped to pass the time.
As it turned out, Mrs. Campbell was spot-on about Dr. Howard. He was arrogant, condescending, and wasn’t interested in anything Elsa had to say. He continually talked over her, as if he knew more about what she was feeling than she did.
Anna had met men like him before. Had learned how to deal with them too.
Whenever Elsa began to argue with the doctor, Anna gently squeezed her hand and posed questions, phrasing them in a way that stroked the doc’s ego instead of challenging him.
Elsa was chuckling when they left the office.
“What’s so funny?” Anna asked.
“You. I didn’t realize you were quite so cunning,” Elsa said with a smile. “Or so manipulative. And the way he was peacocking? I’m surprised he didn’t ask for your phone number.”
Elsa was exaggerating, but Anna did feel that the visit had been beneficial.
“I think we should celebrate,” Elsa said. “How about lunch? There’s a new café I’ve been wanting to try. It’s very popular with the younger folks.”
“Lunch sounds great.” She’d burned a lot of calories shoveling snow earlier that morning, and her stomach was demanding sustenance.
The café Elsa was talking about was a trendy place specializing in lighter fare. They got a table by the window and selected the soup and sandwich combo.
“So,” Elsa said, sipping her hot tea, “what did you think of young Matthew?”
Anna had wondered how long it would take for Elsa to bring him up. “I thought it was very nice of him to help with the snow this morning,” Anna answered carefully.
“Yes, he’s always been a good boy. Became quite the handsome buck too.”
Anna sipped her lemon water and said nothing. There was nothing boyish about the stunning, muscled man with the piercing metallic eyes, but then again, Anna hadn’t watched him grow up like Elsa had. She tried to imagine what he had been like when he was younger. Had he been skinny and awkward? Shy or outgoing?
As if reading her mind, Elsa said, “He was always older than his years. Very mature for his age. Then again, I think he had to grow up faster than most kids. He and Faith had a hard time of it before they moved here.”
Well, that was something they had in common, although she suspected their childhood difficulties had been vastly different.
“We should do something nice for him,” Elsa continued. “As a thank-you. Cookies, I think. Yes, cookies. He’s always been fond of my peanut butter chip cookies. We can stop at the store on the way home and pick up everything we need.”
The Pine Ridge farmers market was something that ran year-round, although Elsa said there was more to it in the warmer months with the abundance of locally grown produce. In late March, it was primarily handmade items, spices, fresh meats, dairy items, and roasted nuts.
It was the nuts Elsa was most interested in. They got a pound of freshly roasted peanuts, along with a small bag of mixed nuts for them to snack on during the drive back.
“These are fantastic,” Anna told her, popping another Brazil nut into her mouth.
“Wait until you see what they can do to a cookie.”
Anna laughed. She was looking forward to it.
Chapter Twelve
MATT
