Mirror of Shadows (14 page)

“A little cafe on the outskirts of town. I was told it had great ambience.”

“Sounds lovely,” she said as he pulled away from the house.

Making small talk, she asked, “So what did you do today?”

“I had a conference call with the board of trustees about a plot of land we are trying to acquire,” Matt said.

“Yeah? Thought you were on vacation,” she teased.

“Never really on vacation when you’re an investor. You have to keep on top of the game or you’ll get trampled by the competition.”

“Sounds intense.”

“It can be, but I live for that stuff. It’s in my blood,” he said proudly.

“I can see that,” she chuckled.

“What about you? What did you do today?”

“Went through some old trunks up in the attic,” she explained.

“Looking for something?”

“Actually I am,” she said as they pulled up to the cafe.

After the hostess showed them their table and took their drink orders Matt asked, “So what is it you were looking for up in the attic?”

“You’re going to think this is crazy, but I have been having these…dreams if you will, since I moved into the house about this woman who I think was a relative.”

He looked at her blankly as he took a sip of wine. Not getting a reaction from him, she continued, “I found a portrait in the attic of the woman. Her name and a year were on the back. So I’ve been going through some old stuff of the family’s to see if I could find out more about her. Maybe even help her?”

“She’s dead, Ella. How could you possibly help someone in your dreams? She’s not real,” Matt said bluntly.

“Maybe,” she said feeling a bit unsure of herself, “but whether it helps her or not, what’s the harm in looking, right?”

“Seems like a waste of time to me, but if you’re enjoying yourself, I suppose there’s no harm in that. Of course, if I were you I wouldn’t go around telling people you’re dreaming about dead people; they might just lock you up,” he said laughing as he took a sip of wine.

She didn’t laugh. “You know, Matt, you can be quite callous sometimes,” she said.

“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. I just worry about you. If this is what you want to do then by all means, do it. I just hope it isn’t that Jordan guy that’s got you running around chasing ghosts. I wouldn’t trust him any farther than I could throw him.”

“Jeremy
has nothing to do with this although he has been more supportive than you on the subject.”

“I have no doubt. You’re making it all too easy for him.”

“Easy for him? What does that mean?” she asked sourly.

“It’s ‘take your boss for all she’s worth - 101’,” he said matter of factly. She looked at him blankly for a moment, not understanding what he was saying.

“Let me explain it to you. If you want to dupe someone out of their money, what easier way than to make everyone around them think they’re crazy? Then when they go to others with their accusations of your wrongdoing, no one’s going to believe them
—
they all think you’re crazy. In your case, you’re doing all the work for him
—
claiming to see dead people in your dreams. Add an accident to take you out of the picture and all that money is just sitting there for the taking.

“It’s so obvious. I don’t know how you can’t see it. I mean, come on, it was his knife that was found to have cut your brake lines, wasn’t it? Then your little kitty cat goes missing, and now he’s encouraging you to find dead ancestors? You’re a sweet girl, Ella, trusting, beautiful and filthy rich. Predators prey on innocents like you,” he finished.

“You have a strange view of the world and the people in it, Matt,” she said. She wasn’t sure if she was steaming mad at him or if she felt sorry for him. She took two huge gulps of wine wishing she could somehow forget the conversation that was playing out in front of her. She supposed people like the one he described did exist in the world, but to live your life thinking everyone was out to hurt and take advantage of you was no life worth living, she felt.

“I can tell by the look on your face you think I’m being a jerk and you’re right, I can be a jerk sometimes, but I’m only telling you this because I’m concerned for your well-being. You need to be aware of what Jackson is up to. No guy just moves in with a girl out of convenience and the goodness of their heart
—
he’s after something and my guess is it’s your money.”

“That’s a bunch of bologna. Guys move in with girls all the time.”

“And they want something, don’t they? They want to keep the girl close to them, to keep other guys away. Others are more sinister, like what I described earlier.”

“Is that what you think all relationships are for? To get something from the other person? If that’s the case, then what is it YOU want from me?” Ella asked, her temper rising.

“I need someone like you to tell me I’m being an idiot. I want to be a better person. Why else would I go out into the woods everyday looking for a cat I don’t even like
—
yet,” he smirked like a little boy and waited for her to respond.

“Matt, that’s really sweet. I like you too, when you’re not being…”

“A jerk?”

“Okay, yes, a jerk. I’ll admit I can be rather naive about people. I like to think people are good until they prove to me otherwise. You seem to look at people the opposite way.”

“But that’s good. Where I lack in sensitivity, you excel, and where you are optimistic, I’m pessimistic. That’s a good balance, don’t you think?”

“Maybe, I guess, but I really think you have the wrong idea about Jeremy. He’s a really good guy. He’s not out to play me. And anyone who had been at the house could have picked up his exacto knife and tampered with my brakes. It doesn’t mean he did it.”

“You may have made your mind up about him, but the jury’s still out with me, and for your well being, I’m going to keep my eye on him. I swear if he harms you in anyway, I’ll kill him.”

“Please don’t say that,” Ella said a little shocked by his proclamation.

“It’s true. I won’t let anything happen to you,” he reiterated.

“That’s very kind of you to say, but what kind of relationship can we have, Matt? You don’t live here and I don’t have any plans on moving. You said it yourself, you’re just passing through,” she pointed out.

“I may have said that then, but I’ll make it work. I can get a place here and commute, teleconference in, and work on my computer. Sure I’ll have to travel and go to the city now and again, but it could work.”

“You’d do that for someone you hardly know?”

“No, but I’d do it for you. I’ll make it work.”

“I’m flattered, but truly, Matt, you really don’t know much about me,” she argued.

“I know what matters. You’re intelligent, beautiful, caring and sweet, you love cats, you see ghosts…” he winked at her, “and I think you are the most amazing woman I’ve ever met.”

“Well, that’s saying something. I suppose in your travels you’ve met a lot of women,” she joked.

“It’s true. I have and they all pale compared to you. Most of them were only interested in my money. As long as I kept my checkbook close, they were willing to put up with my arrogance, but you call me on it and I need that.”

“You might not be saying that twenty years from now,” she joked.

He laughed heartily. “Maybe not, Ella, maybe not, but I’ll be a better person for it, that I do know.” He reached out for her hand and caressed it sweetly.

She found herself thinking he really did have a sweetness under the overconfident rich boy persona and it really was a pleasure when he showed her this side of himself.

The rest of the evening was lovely. He was sensitive, kind, and funny. This time when he walked her to the door, their kiss was much more to her liking. It didn’t feel rehearsed and cold; it was tender, soft, and somehow respectful. When she said her goodnights and closed the front door she thought to herself,
that was a great date
.

*****

Ella woke to a warm shaft of sunlight on her face.
The sun
, she thought,
how lovely to see you!
Not that Ella didn’t like the rain. She did, but it was nice to see the sun out and about, warming up things a bit on occasion.

She slipped on her slippers and robe and went galloping down the stairs with Boo right behind her.

“Good morning, Sunshine,” she said to a coffee-drinking Jeremy.

“You’re in a chipper mood. Someone get lucky last night?” he said disinterested.

“In a manner of speaking,” she replied.

Jeremy choked on his coffee a bit.

“Not like that,” she said in a reprimanding way. “I think Matt has a heart after all.”

“Not sure about that,” Jeremy said sarcastically.

“Don’t be that way. If you had heard the way he spoke last night, you might think differently about him too,” she said happily.

“I seriously doubt that,” Jeremy murmured and opened the sports page.

She shoved his shoulder. “Now you stop that. Be nice.”

“Do I have to?” he mimicked a little boy’s voice.

“Yes, smart aleck. You do.”

He smiled another one of those cheesy fake smiles. “So are you going to do some more research today?” Jeremy asked.

“I’m not sure what else I can do. I’ve pretty much gone through all the trunks in the attic.”

“You could call Marlin. He’s got connections all over town, I’ll just bet he can find something interesting,” he suggested.

“That’s a really good idea. He might even know something right off the top of his head about Grandma’s family and the Owens family. You’re very smart
—
guess I’ll have to just keep you around,” she said playfully.

“Ha ha ha! Very funny,” he said as she started to leave the kitchen. “By the way, be careful coming and going through the front and back doors. I’m going to be putting up the scaffolding today and I don’t want to accidentally drop anything on you,” he yelled after her.

“Okay. I’ll do that,” she yelled back already climbing the stairs.

*****

Jeremy was making some final cuts on the copper piping and sweating what joints he could before crawling under the house. It was a lot harder to be upside down on your back with a soldering torch and cutting pipes to size than in the shed, so preparation was key.

Behind him he heard the door open and without looking he said, “Hey! What do you need?” while he sweated an elbow piece to a long pipe.

“Just wanted to talk,” Matt’s voice came from behind. Jeremy just about dropped the torch on the floor.

“Yeah?” he said trying to compose himself and act as if Matt hadn’t just rattled him. “What about?”

“Ella,” Matt stated.

“What about her?”

“Look, I’ll be straight with you. I don’t trust you, and I don’t particularly like you…”

“That’s blunt,” Jeremy stated.

“Yeah, well, I get the feeling you feel the same about me.”

“I don’t really think about you at all, Matt,” Jeremy said, still not making eye contact with him.

“Right. The point is, our ‘going at it’ bothers Ella and I’d like to maybe find some common ground between you and me—for her sake.”

“Really…that’s very noble of you. I just don’t see that we have anything in common BUT Ella.”

“Maybe, maybe not. I was going through one of your magazines last night when I was waiting for Ella. I see that your last name is Hickey. That’s Irish, isn’t it? For….
healer
.”

“Yes and yes. I believe Geier is German for
vulture
, isn’t it?” Jeremy said without missing a beat.

“Yes. I believe…yes,” Matt admitted, taken aback by Jeremy’s quick wit. “I didn’t really mean to get off on names; what I meant to say was the magazine was about architecture. I took architecture in school.”

“Did you now,” Jeremy said turning off the torch and turning to Matt. “Well, I guess that makes us practically brothers then,” he said sarcastically.

“Look, I can see this isn’t going well. I’ll just go,” Matt said, turning towards the door.

“Wait,” Jeremy said pausing as if it was painful. “You’re right. We should at least be civil…for Ella’s sake. Why are you here anyway? You didn’t just come here to talk to me, did you?”