Page 35 of Home Team Advantage
“They own a lot of properties in the area, including that one. Shane manages most of them. He is a lawyer, and he handles the contracts and legal aspects of the family businesses. Anyway, he saw my mom’s application and decided to take a chance on us, even though on paper, we were a bad risk.”
Matt laughed softly. “We were so excited. We were finally going to have a place of our own, you know? We drove straight through from Georgia in this shitty, old Ford. Still can’t believe the thing made the trip. Shane and Kieran showed up the next day to try to clean up the place, make it more habitable before we arrived, not knowing that we already had.” Another laugh. “I think Kieran fell in love with my mom right then and there.”
“And her? What did she think of him?”
“She wasn’t quite as into it at first,” he said with a wry smile. “I think she liked him well enough, but she was—is—a very independent woman. She doesn’t like to accept help from anyone.” He paused, took a sip of his Coke, and said, “Something tells me you’re the same way.”
He wasn’t wrong.
“So, what changed?”
“Kieran refused to give up. The Callaghans believe in these things they call croies. Soul mates, basically. The one and only woman meant for them and them alone. It’s a fate thing. He was patient and persistent, and eventually, she came around.”
Sounded like romantic fantasy to her. Or the unhealthy obsession of a man who decided he wanted a woman and refused to take no for an answer. Anna hadn’t seen much romance in her life, but men who were used to getting their way? That, she was very familiar with.
“Is that what you believe? The croie thing, I mean.”
Matt didn’t answer right away. Then, he said carefully, “I believe they exist because I’ve seen it happen to my uncles. But I don’t think everyone is that lucky.”
She bit her lip before asking him if he thought he had a perfect match somewhere, waiting for him to find her.
“So, what about you?” he asked, nudging her shoulder with his own. “What brought you to Pine Ridge?”
Chapter Twenty
MATT
Matt waited, wondering if Anna would answer. He didn’t know what had made him tell her all that, but she didn’t seem to mind the word vomit. She’d even seemed to relax there for a few moments.
That changed as soon as he’d turned the tables. Her shields were back up, though she tried to shrug it off.
She picked at the remains of her sub. “A job. But it didn’t work out.”
“What happened?” He knew, of course, but he wanted to hear her version of things.
She shrugged. “I had some trouble getting here, and I missed my start date. They gave the job to someone else.”
“That sucks.”
“That’s what I thought at first, too, but everything worked out. Working for Mrs. Campbell is a better job than I would have had there.”
“How did that happen? Getting the job with Mrs. C, I mean.”
“Serendipity, I guess,” she said with a small smile. “Right place, right time.”
“Destiny, huh?”
She gave a little laugh. “I suppose so.”
“What, even after me telling you about croies, you don’t believe in destiny?”
Something changed. It was subtle, but it was there. A shadow passing over her features. A sudden chill in the air.
“I prefer to think we have some control over what happens in our lives. If not, then what’s the point?”
For a moment, he had the sense that he was seeing the real Anna. The raw, uncut version beneath the carefully guarded exterior. Something, maybe several things, had happened to put that haunted look in her eyes. She shuttered it before he had a chance to grasp it.
“Where were you before this?”
