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Mattie collapsed onto the couch, exhausted, and glanced around. The place still wasn’t as ridiculously pristine as Rebecca had kept it, but they had washed the dishes and tidied up. The clean-up had taken a good four hours, but the house no longer looked like a cross between a dorm room and a crime scene.
Plus, they had gotten some good magic practice in – Trevor making stitches that transported items across the room and Mattie spelling away stains and spills. They would need all the practice they could get if they were going to face off against the Auditors. But these were muscles they weren’t used to stretching, and it had left them feeling drained.
Mattie found herself questioning again whether they would be able to take on the Auditors in any way.
As far as plans went, they’d gotten as far as Plan E, each more implausible than the next. And Plan W, of course. Mattie tried not to think about Plan W.
A small sound startled her and she whirled to face the hallway. A sleepy Cameron stood in the doorway, rubbing his eyes.
“Mattie? What are you doing here?” he asked. “How did you get in?”
“Hey, buddy,” she stood up, grinning. “How are you feeling?”
“Like my head has been stepped on by a herd of elephants,” he admitted. “What time is it?”
Trevor sauntered in from the kitchen, glancing at his wrist. “About three o’clock.”
Cameron turned his head toward Trevor. “Oh, hey. I’m so sorry, your name is escaping me. What day is it? Did you guys clean up?”
“That’s okay,” Trevor grinned. “You’ve had a rough day. It’s Trevor. And it’s Sunday.”
Mattie gestured toward the couch where she had been sitting. “Take a load off, Cam. I’ll make you some coffee.”
“Thank you.” With one hand on his forehead and the other arm wrapped around his midsection, Cameron made his careful way to the sofa.
Mattie headed toward the kitchen and grabbed the carafe from the coffee maker, listening to the conversation from the living room as she filled it.
“So, Trevor,” said Cameron. “Not that you’re not welcome, but I don’t think you guys said why you’re here?”
“It’s kind of a long story, actually,” said Trevor. “I think you might want to wait for that coffee.”
“Oh. Okay.”
Mattie located a canister of ground coffee and a stack of filters on the counter and measured it into the machine. She hit the button to start it up and then reached up into a cabinet for a tumbler, filling it with water from the sink.
She carried the glass into the midst of the uncomfortable silence that had fallen over the living room. “Coffee’s started, Cam. Here’s some water to tide you over.”
As she set it down on the glass coffee table, Cameron reached for it and their fingers collided, the tumbler lurching slightly, splashing a little bit.
“Oh, shit, sorry,” said Cameron. He grabbed an off-white throw pillow and tossed it onto the spill, sopping up the water.
Mattie raised an eyebrow. “I can grab a towel from the kitchen if you’ll just tell me where you keep them.”
“No, I’m sure the pillow’s fine,” said Cameron. “You know me; I’m not that fussy. And these endless cushions drive me crazy. How is anyone supposed to sit down?” He tossed the pillow onto the floor, then picked up the water and drained it in one long sip. “Oh, I needed that.”
“Yeah.” Mattie eyed the empty glass as Cameron leaned forward and set it back down on the coffee table with a faint clink. “What happened with Rebecca, buddy?”
He closed his eyes. “It was a long time coming, honestly. We had one of those movie marriages. You know? Where we’re just reciting lines from a script, and we’re great actors and we bring the script to life and everyone’s convinced, but it’s still just a script.”
“You had me convinced,” Mattie agreed. “And now it’s definitely over?”
“Oh, yeah.” Cameron started to nod and winced. “Yeah, she’s gone, she’s not coming back, and frankly, I don’t think I want her to.”
“What about the kids?” Mattie asked.
“We’ll work something out,” he said. “Joint custody or whatever. Look, I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but what are you doing here?”
Mattie jumped to her feet. “I bet that coffee is just about done.” She hurried back into the kitchen.
“I’m just going to – I’ll be right back,” said Trevor. He chased her down and grabbed her arm. “What are you doing?” he whispered. “You can’t keep leaving me alone in there. It’s so awkward. I’ve met this guy like twice for about eight minutes each time and suddenly he’s woken up and found me in his home.”
“Oh, come on,” she murmured back. “You’re with me.”
“Not if you keep running away every time he asks why we’re here.”
“Well, I’m sorry.” Mattie bit her lip and glanced over at Cameron who was lying on the couch, his head tipped back on the arm, staring at the ceiling. “He’s all single now, and look how cute now that he’s sobered up.” She met Trevor’s eyes. “I’m having feelings.”
“Are you freaking kidding me right now?” Trevor shook his head and threw up his hands dramatically. “We have more pressing issues right now than your libido, you sex-crazed hetero maniac.”
“Shhh,” Mattie gestured wildly at him. “Keep your voice down. You’re right. You’re absolutely right.” She grabbed a mug from a wooden rack and picked up the coffee pot. “As soon as we get back in there, we’ll tell Cam about Tillie and see if he’s willing to help out.”
“Good,” said Trevor. “Let’s get Plan B on track.”
Mattie carried the coffee into the living room, Trevor trailing after her.
Cameron sat up as she set the mug down on the table. This time he waited until she was finished before reaching for it. “Thank you, Mattie. You’ve always been so good at taking care of me, haven’t you?”
“No worries,” said Mattie. “I’m sure you’d do the same for me if you came over to my place and found me shitfaced.”
“How’s Craig doing?” He took a small sip of coffee and made a face. “I’m sorry to be a pain, but do you think you could grab me some cream and sugar for this? There’s half-and-half in the fridge and a pot of sugar next to the filters on the counter.”
Mattie stared at him for a moment, her mind stuttering, unsure how to respond. Cameron didn’t know about her divorce. “What? Oh, sure. Yeah. Trevor, would you mind giving me a hand with that?”
As she stood, she grabbed Trevor’s arm and hauled him to his feet.
“Ow! Yeah, fine. I’ll help you add cream and sugar to a single cup of coffee.” Trevor rolled his eyes at her, but followed her into the kitchen, pausing to pick up the coffee mug first. “That was subtle,” he muttered once they were out of earshot.
“What are you complaining about?” Mattie said. “You were so desperate to get away before.”
“Fair enough. What did you want to say?”
She yanked open the refrigerator, scanning the shelves until she located the half-and-half and pulling it out. “You heard him. He doesn’t know about my divorce. What am I supposed to say to that?”
“This may come as a shock to you, Matts, but I don’t have a lot of experience with romance upon which to draw here,” Trevor pointed out. “You’re on your own.”
“Do I tell him I’m single? Or would that be too encouraging? But I don’t want to lie to him.” Mattie paced the small kitchen space. “What if I tell him about the divorce, but imply that I’m in a new relationship? That way, if he finds out later that I was already separated when I was here today, he won’t be mad that I lied.”
“That’s a little convoluted,” Trevor protested. “Why don’t you just avoid the subject altogether and tell him about Tillie and ask if he’ll go in and ask Fawn about her? You know, like we had planned? Remember the plan?”
Mattie shook her head. She opened up the sugar pot and spooned some sweetener into the mug. “No, he’ll keep asking. He’s always been very persistent and hates whenever anyone seems to be evading questions.” A thought popped into her mind and she spun to face Trevor. “Will you be my fake boyfriend?”
His eyebrows shot up. “I’m ace.”
“He probably doesn’t know that,” Mattie pointed out.
Trevor shook his head. “If anything, he probably assumes I’m gay. Most people do. Apparently, I have gay mannerisms.”
Mattie frowned as she considered this. “Yeah, I can see that. But we’ll just tell him you’re not.”
Trevor just looked at her for a long moment, his eyebrows raised, arms folded across his chest.
She wrinkled her nose. “So that’s a no?”
“To pretending to be someone I’m not, just because you can’t keep it in your pants?” Trevor cocked his head and smirked at her. “Yeah, I’m afraid so.”
She nodded. “Yeah, when you put it that way, fair enough. I’ll get it under control. At least until after we find Tillie. I’ll just make something up about Craig.”
“Or just ignore the question,” Trevor pointed out again. “Go out there and start talking about Tillie; he’ll have forgotten about Craig by now.”
She glanced over at Cameron again. He appeared to have fallen asleep. “Fine. Let’s go.”
Mattie picked up the coffee once again and brought it back into the living room, nudging Cameron awake and handing him the mug.
“Oh, thanks,” he murmured. “I guess I nodded off again. Sorry. What were we talking about?”
“Craig and I are separated and getting a divorce,” Mattie blurted out. She winced and met Trevor’s eyes with a shrug.
He shook his head at her, a rueful smile playing around his lips.
Cameron sipped his coffee. “That’s the stuff. Sorry to hear that, Mattie. Guess it’s going around, huh? So what brings you to Seattle, then?”
Mattie was a little non-plussed. Apparently, Cam wasn’t quite as interested in her new singlehood as she’d thought he would be. So much for the theory about his lingering feelings.
Trevor butted in. “It’s about Tillie – Mattie’s sister. She’s missing, and we need your help.”