Chapter Two

 

 

 

Earlier that day

 

Matt Brannon hugged Jen. “Thanks for lunch, guys. My place next time?”

David chuckled. “I don’t know, Matty. Last time, your refrigerator had nothing but beer and a block of cheese in it.”

“And I’m not sure I could hear myself think over the sounds of that video game Jeremy was shouting at in the other room.” Jen laughed.

Laughing along, Matt shrugged. “What can I say? The life of a bachelor. A housemate is a necessarily evil for now.”

Jen released him from the hug. “Let’s just do it here again. It’s nice to have you. Maybe next time we’ll make it a dinner party. The usual crowd—you know, Warren and Trevor, Aaron and Marce, a couple of the book club girls.” Jen’s eyes lit up. “Oh, David, we really could. And I’ll get some pictures. All of those different couples… It’ll be great!”

David and Matt rolled their eyes at each other, each laughing at the expected enthusiasm Jen had for yet another new project. Matt caught the eagerness in his brother’s smile as the men watched Jen’s enthusiasm. The sight had been rare since Lila—the couple’s paramour—had moved out a few weeks earlier.

“Another project,” David groaned. “I’ll never hear the end.”

“Didn’t think you married a workaholic, huh?” Matt taunted back.

“Oh stop, you two.” Jen smacked David’s arm, then pushed him toward the house. She called back over her shoulder, “Have fun tonight, Matt.”

David walked into the house, patting his wife’s ass playfully and dodging her attempts at retribution. Matt sometimes envied the ease between them, but he knew the couple struggled. He wished he could be of more help, but the dynamic Jen and David had was too far outside his experience. The loss of Lila seemed to have hit them hard, if the conversation at lunch had been any indication. Twice Jen had excused herself from the table at the mention of her, leaving David looking lost in an emotion he was far from used to—helplessness.

Climbing into the Hemi-powered pickup truck, Matt began the drive into downtown, toward another night with the friends he’d attended school with. Some, like Sara Dawson, had been elementary through college friends. He smiled, knowing she would never leave that restaurant she loved to come back for a reunion. The job was still too new. Maybe the twenty-year would be enough to bring her back. Others had gone away to college, vowing to get out of the small town life, only to return, settle in a home and build families a short time later.

A siren in the distance—paramedics from the sound of it—jerked Matt to attention. He leaned to his radio, flipping the volume higher. Reports were being called in about an accident on the highway junction south of town. Dispatch was calling it clear, but Matt left the radio on and turned his truck toward the incident. His heart started to pound the way it always did when the distress calls came. He slowed his breathing, focusing on the positive vibes, praying they wouldn’t need him.

He heard the additional sirens as the piercing alarm sounded on his frequency. The emergency response light on the top of his truck lit as he flipped the switch, and he picked up speed. The heavy-duty truck raced toward the fire and smoke that was now causing more drivers to impact the tipped semi, visibility dropping to zero.

 

* * * *

 

Matt pulled his truck into the parking lot, catching a lucky spot near the entrance. He was two hours later than he would have liked. He’d stopped to station his truck in a muddy embankment to be the first warning of danger ahead. He’d helped the state highway patrol lug sandbags for detour signs. He’d only left because there was no more for his team to assist with, the patrolmen had announced that there would be a body count from this disaster. The hospital already had pronounced one dead on arrival.

Matt locked the truck, his cell phone at the ready for the next emergency. He could still smell the smoke clinging around him, despite the fresh clothes and rushed shower. The little old lady at the dry cleaners was going to yell at him again. He was pretty sure it was in Korean, but the shake of her head over the grass stains and occasional spatters of blood on his shirts and pants was universal language for her disapproval. He always apologized, never sure if she understood, but her shop had been faithfully perfect in removing the blemishes of disaster from his clothing.

Matt entered the building, mounting all the steps two at a time in his eagerness to have a night out with old friends. He wondered who else would be around. Would Evelyn make it out, or was the ‘Lady Leather’ business going to keep her in the shadows? Would Ted be out with Marissa, celebrating the upward movement of his career with the local supermarket chain? Would Kayla have found a sitter for her kids so she and Chas could enjoy a night out?

His nametag was one of the few remaining on the table and he peeled the back from it, then slapped it onto the breast pocket of his only clean shirt. Entering the hall, he stopped short as he ran into the familiar form of Evelyn Grant. In greeting, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Matt hugged her back with enthusiasm. As they pulled away from each other, she wrinkled her nose.

“Oh, Matt, is that smoke I smell?” At his nod, she shook her head with a tsking noise. “Playing with candles, again? I thought you were done with wax play, darling.” Evelyn smiled teasingly as Matt chuckled.

“Oh, I am. You know that pain thing isn’t really my strong suit.” Matt took a moment to appreciate Evelyn’s outfit. “You look great in leather, as always, Evie.” She had paired a high-waisted leather skirt with a pretty pink top, making a piece she had surely worn to the Sanctuary play parties into a functional skirt for cocktail parties as well.

Evelyn posed prettily. “Why, thank you, kind sir. I’m thinking of wearing it to the next party. Will we be seeing you out this weekend?”

Matt grinned. “I’m planning on it, but you know how it goes.” Tapping the cell phone on his belt, he continued, “Duty calls.”

“So true,” Evelyn responded. “So, tonight… What happened?”

Matt relayed the story, constantly interrupted by hellos and handshakes. A small crowd soon surrounded Matt and the tall woman as he detailed the tipped semi and the work he’d been able to assist the officials in doing.

In answer to a panicked question of whether the highway would be open and safe to travel, Matt smiled and assured them, “When I left, the road was clear and open.”

He heard a collective sigh and was surprised to hear a smattering of applause start. It quickly gathered until the clapping surrounded him. Speechless, he looked at Evelyn, who shrugged, smiling and clapping along.

She leaned close to his ear and urged, “Take the win.” Then she stepped back to allow him an exit from the group.

He waved, a bit self-conscious at the unexpected attention, then walked by a few more people before he heard the quiet question.

“Matty?”

He met her unusual gray-green eyes. Her hair was different. The color was wrong somehow, like the unnatural wrong that he only saw in magazines and on the hair color boxes at the pharmacy. It was shorter, too, and sharp. She looked good—he couldn’t deny that—but it was the good a guy would only admire from a cover photo and not in the real world.

His smile dimmed slightly as he looked her over. This surprise may not be as welcome as he had expected. “Claire,” he stated carefully, measuring his syllables with no inflection. “You came.”

She chuckled softly. “I did. I had a special invitation.” Her gaze traveled over his plaid shirt and charcoal pants. He shifted uncomfortably at the scrutiny. He took the same opportunity in the quiet moment, though, and looked at the dress that wrapped around her. It enhanced the sharpness of her with its slash collar and hem. Her stockinged legs were sex personified, but ended with those tall shoes women seemed to covet and that made men cringe. Everything about her seemed like a knife aimed to cause pain. “How are you?” she asked, after her inspection of him, making Matt wonder how he measured up.

“Good,” he replied. “I didn’t expect to see you here.” Matt approached, closer, until he stood at the chair beside her. “May I?”

Claire looked up at him, speculation in her eyes. “Sure.” As he sat beside her, she continued. “It seems we both get to be surprised today. Look at you, Matty. What happened?”

He shifted in discomfort. “Just Matt. No one calls me Matty anymore, except David. Not even Mrs. Putnam.”

“Oh. She’s still kicking around, is she?” Claire laughed. “She was ancient even when we had her in third grade.”

“She’s over at Heritage Farms now, but she’s still sharp most days.” Matt leaned on the table, braced on his elbows. Of all the people he’d expected to see tonight, he’d been sure she wouldn’t be one of them.

Claire’s disappearance from town had felt abrupt, especially after that summer night following graduation. For most of that summer, Matt had beaten himself up, sure he could have done something so she would have stayed. Her parents had been sure she would return after school, but that tune had changed. They’d spoken often of the success Claire had been having in the city. When they visited with the Brannon family, the conversation had circled around her career and her new adventures in the nearby metropolis. The few calls Matt had made to her hadn’t left him as convinced, but she had been adamant that she was too busy for visitors and trips back home. After the accident that had taken her parents, Claire seemed to have changed. She didn’t call anymore to check in. Instead, Matt had taken to calling her with news that seemed important. Strange to think those calls were fewer with every passing year.

He didn’t know what had made him call her this time. Maybe it was a wild hope. Claire had answered, which was strange in itself as he had spoken more to her voice mail in recent memory than to her. He had asked her if she was planning to attend the reunion. Her voice had gotten distant and she’d responded with the old familiar phrase.

“Oh, I’ve been so busy.”

Matt had interrupted her, something out of character for him and he’d simply said, “I miss you, Claire. A lot of us do. Please just come. We’d like to see you.”

She’d gone silent before a quiet ‘okay’ had come over the line. Matt had said his goodbyes quickly, afraid to give her a chance to change her mind. Now, though, he wondered if it had been the right thing, inviting her back here like this. She didn’t look like someone who belonged here anymore.