Page 72 of Home Team Advantage
She couldn’t help but wonder what Matt’s perfect match would be like, then realized whoever she was, Anna would hate her.
They hadn’t spoken much since that night at the hospital. She’d seen him around, usually from afar. Coming or going. The one time they had been in the same place at the same time—Mrs. Campbell’s barbecue—he’d sat off to the side, staring at her, sometimes glaring, but otherwise keeping his distance.
It confused her. She was certain she’d felt something between them. A kind of connection that went far deeper than simple neighborly concern.
But maybe that was just her, confusing her hero worship with something more. And he was a hero in her eyes. If he hadn’t arrived at Manny’s when he did, who knew what her fate would’ve been? Lord knew, she hadn’t been able to save herself. Cool logic and a will to survive hadn’t been enough.
Then again, Matt had been in the service for the past ten years. He’d probably saved lots of people over that time. What was one more to him?
She tried to convince herself it was for the best. The immediate threats—Eddie and Manny—had been dealt with, but she hadn’t changed. She remained a ghost reincarnated as someone else. If she got close to someone or stayed too long, she’d be endangering them as well.
Through the open patio doors, Anna heard the chime of the front doorbell. She looked over at Mrs. Campbell, who was looking intently at her tablet.
“Are you expecting anyone?” Anna asked, rising.
“Oh, yes. That must be Faith. She suggested a game night with her and the children. I must have forgotten to mention it. Get the door, please, would you, dear?”
“You didn’t mention anything about a game night.”
“Didn’t I? It must have slipped my mind,” she said absently. “What’s a five-letter word for a subatomic particle?”
“Quark,” Anna answered as she went to the door.
“Ah, yes. Excellent.”
It was Faith at the door, along with Kassidy and the triplets. Kassidy looked like her father, with her jet-black hair and bright blue eyes. The triplets were a mix of both Faith and Kieran, a combination of copper hair, black hair, gray eyes, and blue. The Callaghans sure made some beautiful kids.
“Come on in. Where’s Finn tonight?”
“He and Kieran are having a father-son bonding night,” Faith said with a grin.
Anna didn’t ask about Matt. She escorted them out to the patio, where Mrs. Campbell was waiting with twinkling eyes. She adored Faith’s kids.
“I think we’ll play out here tonight,” Elsa said. “That way, the kids can take a dip in the pool if they get bored. Anna, would you be a dear and get the pool toys from the shed?”
“Of course.”
Anna stepped into the kitchen and grabbed the key, then proceeded to the shed in the back. It was darker back there, away from the patio lights and the glow from the pool, with only a small carriage-style lamp above the doors of the shed. She paused along the way to scoop a lightning bug into her hand. She let it tickle her palm for a moment, then it crawled to her finger and flew away.
A familiar sensation ghosted over her skin, sending tingles of awareness through her. Like the charge in the air right before a thunderstorm. Someone was there, skulking in the shadows.
She wasn’t afraid. She knew exactly who it was.
“I know you’re there,” she said quietly.
His low, soft chuckle preceded him into the weak spill of light from the patio. “You are good.”
Anna ignored the urge to go to him. To wrap her arms around him and ask him where he’d been. Why he’d been avoiding her.
She stuck her key in the lock and turned the handle. “What are you doing out here? Game night is on the patio.”
Anna opened the door and stepped inside.
“I’m not here for game night.”
“What are you here for then?”
Before she could flip the switch to turn the overhead bulb on, the door closed behind her, surrounding them in darkness.
