I crashed through the tree branches.
“Erica?” Matthew asked, jumping to his feet.
“Hey,” I said with a small wave.
He cocked his head, eyes wide. “What are you doing here?”
Oh boy. My gaze jumped around. “I was just, uh—”
“Don’t tell me.” He looked me up and down. “I think the outfit says it all.”
“It does?”
“You’re back looking for clues,” he said with a faint smile. “That … or you’re working on becoming a professional mime?”
I felt my shoulders drop. “The first one.”
He held out his hands. “I didn’t find anything, but you’re welcome to look around.”
“Oh,” I said. “That’s really … nice.”
“Well, consider it my apology for dumping all that stuff about my parents on you last night,” he said. “It got a little intense. I’m really sorry. I wasn’t myself.”
“Given what you’ve been through, I think you’re entitled.”
“Thanks.” He sat back down on the bench.
I walked around randomly for a couple of minutes pretending to look for clues, but really I was trying to think of way to get rid of Matthew without it looking suspicious. Shockingly, I didn’t come up with anything. This plan had disaster written all over it. After a few unpleasant flashbacks of the night before, I decided to just sit down—on the side of the bench where the body hadn’t been—and play it by ear.
Matthew smiled as I sidled in beside him.
I smiled back, nodding.
Nope, this wasn’t weird or suspicious at all.
“So,” I said, lightly clapping my hands together. “What are you doing out here?”
“Me?” he asked, taking a deep breath. “Just thinking.”
I nodded some more. “What about?” I mentally slapped myself upside the head. What the heck did I think he was thinking about? How awesome it was to be alive? Smooth, Erica.
Surprisingly, though, Matthew said, “A bunch of different stuff. Work. Crab fishing in Alaska. I like that show. Oh! And my choice of pants. I’ve been thinking a lot about that lately.”
I felt my eyes widen.
He laughed and bumped me with his shoulder.
I hit him lightly back on the arm.
“To be honest, though,” he said, looking out at the water. “I was also thinking about you and Grady.”
“I’m sorry?”
He shot me a quick smile. “Well, it’s easier than thinking about all this.” He gestured around. “I talked to Peter’s family today. It … was not easy.”
“Oh, Matthew,” I said. “That sucks. I can’t imagine.”
He patted my leg. “It’s okay.”
“It’s not,” I answered, wanting to pat him back, but that would probably just lead to more patting. “Me and Grady, though?”
“It’s just—” He paused, biting his lip. “—you two remind me of the relationship I had with my first girlfriend.”
“Oh,” I said, not really sure where this was going … or how I was going to get out of it. If I even wanted to get out of it. Suddenly an owl hooted from the trees, an owl that sounded an awful lot like Freddie.
“I won’t bore you with the details,” Matthew said. “You probably have plans after…” He looked me over again. “This.”
I laughed awkwardly. “Not really.”
“Well, I mean, it’s not like there was anything special about us.” He sighed. “Her maybe. She was smart. Funny. I mean, she still is. I’m making it sound like she’s dead.” Matthew froze. “And that was a really poor choice of words given … everything.”
“It’s fine.”
He ran a hand over his face then threw me a sidelong look. “I must be nervous for some reason.”
I darted my eyes away from his crazy magnetic gaze. A big part of me so wanted to ask him ever-so-innocently why he might be nervous, but I knew there was a pretty good chance he would say it was because of me … and I also knew there was a really good chance I would enjoy him saying that … and that would just be … wrong. Truth was, I was starting to worry that I liked Matthew. Like really liked him … as a person. Not his looks. Or his job. Or his … enormous manse … which somehow now sounded dirty in my head. But him.
“It’s fine,” I finally mumbled again, looking away. This was so not fine. And it wasn’t just the whole feelings things either. Here was this sweet, sweet man, flirting with me, sharing all this personal information—and what was I doing? Oh yeah. That’s right. I had almost forgotten. I was trying to get rid of him, so that I could dig up his grandfather’s pseudo-grave.
The owl hooted again. Matthew looked over his shoulder to the trees.
“So what happened between you two?” I asked quickly, drawing his attention back.
He shrugged. “We tried to make it work. We lived together for a while. But no matter how hard we tried, things just kept getting in the way.”
“Things?”
“Stupid things. At first it seemed like it was out of our control. Outside forces.” He sighed. “But it became a pattern. Fight. Break up. Make up. Fight. Break up—” He waved a hand. “You get the idea.”
I inhaled deeply. That wasn’t Grady and me. At least not yet.
“Finally, we just had to accept that if it had been right, it wouldn’t have been so hard. Love shouldn’t be hard.” He looked at me sideways. “Not sure if you can relate to that part.”
I shook my head. “No comment.”
He half smiled again, making a dimple at the corner of his mouth. “Sorry. It’s none of my business.”
I waved a hand, feeling my cheeks burn.
“Believe me, though, I get it,” he said, looking up again at the stars. “Those first loves … they’re the real killers.” He jolted slightly. “What the hell is the matter with m—”
“Freddie and I are here to dig up your grandfather’s memorial site.” I slapped my hand over my mouth.
“I’m sorry … what did you say?”