by Gina LaManna
“I haven’t gallivanted with murderers,” I pointed out, plunking a few watermelon seeds into their places. “If you look back at the history of my sleuthing, you’ll see that I pick the winning side—usually. Matt wasn’t a murderer. I certainly wasn’t a murderer. And I’m telling you, Ryan’s not, either.”
“After what that man did to you, how can you want to help him?”
“I told you—”
“I know what you said.” Cooper tilted me toward him with the back of his hand, so the dirt didn’t get onto my clothes. Which was exceptionally thoughtful, seeing as I was wearing my new Annabeth Kleiner shirt. “But still. I read what happened in the magazines. It wasn’t a nice thing, the way he treated you.”
“I’m trying to look past that,” I said. “He’s human. He makes mistakes. Even Ryan Lewis doesn’t deserve to be convicted of a crime he didn’t commit.”
“Hey.” Cooper stepped even closer to me, nudging me so that I was forced to look up into his eyes. “You’re a pretty amazing person, you know that?”
As I gazed into Cooper’s eyes, I saw a familiarity that I suddenly longed to hold, to keep. There was care there, and—shockingly enough—wonder. I opened my mouth to respond, but before I could say anything, Cooper stopped me in my tracks.
He gently grabbed my face, dirt be damned, and pulled me to him. When his lips touched mine, I relaxed against his chest and sank into the embrace. He kissed me in a way that I’d only imagined possible. In a way that seemed fit for a movie screen. He held me softly, possessively. He demanded more but waited for me to give in to him.
And I did, until I fell right out of breath and was forced to take a step back and inhale before I passed out.
“Wow,” I murmured.
Cooper’s face broke into a wide grin. “Can I assume that’s a five-star review?”
I broke into a fit of giggles. “I hope there isn’t a Yelp page for kissing Cooper.”
He laughed, too. “No, and I don’t want you to get any ideas. I’m a private sort of guy.”
“A one-woman sort of guy?” I suggested, then felt a wave of embarrassment. “I mean—”
“I am,” Cooper said, his face turning a shade more serious despite the levity of the moment. “I want to be very clear about that.”
“I-I’m not, we’re not...”
The lazy grin returned. “Relax. It was a kiss, Jenna,” Cooper said, but as he glanced out of the corner of his eye at me, a contemplative look crossed his face. “Though, if you’re interested, there’s more where that came from.”
I raised an arm and wiped my brow nervously. When I glanced at my sleeve, I saw there was dirt on it. Not that I cared. Annabeth Kleiner shirt be damned, too. With a kiss like that, I was willing to pay for a dry cleaner.
“I might be interested,” I mumbled, still feeling like a nervous idiot. “But there’s a lot going on right now. Maybe I can, you know, have a minute to think.”
“Of course. I’m not rushing you.”
“What are you doing?”
Cooper looked taken aback. “I guess... I don’t know. I just really wanted to kiss you.”
“Fair.” I winked. “I’m pretty irresistible.”
To my pleasant surprise, it was Cooper’s turn to look flustered. I wanted to leave things that way, leave the tables turned for once so that it wasn’t me walking away with pink cheeks and a nervous giggle.
“I’ve got to get these little seeds watered,” I said. “Are you sticking around, or—”
“I have to get back to the case,” Cooper said hurriedly. “I just came here to...” He looked mystified as if he couldn’t quite remember why he’d come here in the first place after all.
“Ryan...” I nudged gently.
“Right.” Cooper cleared his throat. “I just don’t want you to get in trouble.”
“With the murder case?”
“Sure, that,” Cooper said. “Or in any other way. I saw the way he was looking at you.”
“You’re being ridiculous.”
“Am I?” Cooper asked. “I’m a man, Jenna. I know what I saw.”
“There’s nothing between Ryan and me anymore. There never will be.”
Cooper just nodded, then backed out of the greenhouse. “Give me a call, then, if you hear anything. Any... developments. Or if Ryan tries to contact you again.”
“Sure thing,” I called after him. “But don’t hold your breath!”
Cooper disappeared to his cruiser. I watered my seeds. Then, feeling out of breath, I made my way back to my house and climbed the stairs—so distracted I clomped dirt all through my house because I forgot to remove my boots. I went straight into my bathroom and took one look in the mirror.
My face was streaked with dirt. So streaked it looked like war paint. I quickly rinsed it off, kicked my boots off, and then returned to my room where I flopped on the bed and lost myself in daydreams of kissing Cooper Dear.
Chapter 7
The next morning, I was wide awake by seven. Buzzing with energy, I found myself showered and dressed and sitting at my kitchen table with nowhere to go before eight.
I peeked out my window for the third time, the one that provided me a perfect view into Matt’s kitchen window—and finally saw movement in the kitchen. Letting out a breath of relief, I grabbed the little surprise I’d had time to prepare in all of my spare time and headed out the door.
When I reached Matt’s, I gave a light tap on the door with my foot since both of my hands were full. When Matt pulled the door open, he had a confused look on his face.
“Since when do you knock?” He glanced at me, and his look of confusion deepened. “What am I missing? Why did you bring me coffee?”
“Repayment for being such a great friend,” I said, sliding past him into the kitchen. I raised the carafe in my right hand and the two coffee mugs in my left hand. “Can I tempt you into a coffee?”
“I was just getting ready to make a pot...” Matt closed the door behind me, sliding a hand over his chin with another look of confusion. “What’s going on, Jenna?”
“What on earth do you mean?” I piped, a little too cheerfully, as I plunked the mugs on the counter and poured hot coffee into both of them. “Like I said, I’m just—”
“You’re buzzing,” Matt said. “What’s got you on edge?”
“I might be dating Cooper,” I blurted.
We both froze. I hadn’t meant to say anything to Matt about why I was feeling anxious, and especially not the truth. But I made for a very bad liar, and oftentimes, the truth ended up popping out anyway.
Eventually, my hand got tired of holding the carafe, so I set it on the counter with a clink. The sound jerked us both back to reality.
“Uh—” Matt squinted at me. “Okay.”
Matt raised a hand and skimmed it through his morning hair. He wore gym shorts and a white, V-neck tee. A bit of stubble was on his jaw. It enhanced his features, if anything, making him seem a little more rugged than the clean-shaven Matt I knew. It wasn’t a bad look.
“I’m sorry,” I said quickly. “I didn’t mean to say that. I’m sort of—I’m confused, to be honest. And I’m a bad liar. Mostly, I’m just confused.”
“You’re rambling,” Matt said with a slow smile. “Why don’t you sit down and just talk to me?”
I eased onto a stool. “Are you sure you want to hear about it?”
Matt rounded the counter and stood opposite me. He pulled one of the two mugs I’d poured toward himself and raised it to his lips. He took a sip. “What the hell,” he said. “That’s what friends are for, right?”
I winced. “I know... well, things are sort of—were sort of—complicated between us. But yesterday, Cooper and I sort of... kissed.”
“Sort of?” Matt’s eyes twinkled with amusement. “Usually, if I’m kissing someone, they know damn well they’ve been kissed.”
I laughed and shook my head. “I mean, it just wasn’t planned.”
“Right. The best on
es aren’t.”
I exhaled a huge sigh. “I feel pretty awkward talking to you about this.”
“We’re adults,” Matt said. “We’re friends. You’re obviously stressed about something, and I want to help you, first and foremost.”
“Okay, well we were—”
Matt raised a hand. “I’m just going to stop you there and say I don’t need details. I’m more interested in what’s got you so antsy.”
I exhaled another bigger sigh. Then offered Matt a flash of a smile. “Thanks for listening. You know me probably better than anyone here, maybe aside from my family.”
“Aside from Cooper?”
“It’s different,” I hedged. “You guys are just different.”
“We sure are.”
“Well, here’s the thing. Cooper and I have been... on and off a tiny bit. You know, friends and enemies and all of that. But lately, we’ve been more friendly but nothing serious,” I said. “Then yesterday, he sort of kissed me.” I revised quickly, “I mean, it was definitely a kiss. And I’m not sure what that means for me and him. Or me and you. Or me in general.”
“What do you want it to mean?” Matt asked gently. “Because if it meant nothing, you wouldn’t be sitting at my kitchen counter panicking.”
“I’m not panicking,” I said, then considered. “Okay, I am panicking.”
“Why? What are you afraid of?”
“Hurting you,” I said without thinking. But once my fear was out there, I looked up and met Matt’s eyes. I knew it was true. “I love you, too, Matt. In a different way. I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to apologize for who you love,” Matt said. “And you don’t have to be afraid of hurting me. It is what it is, Jenna. You love who you love.”
“I didn’t say anything about love,” I said, then thought back, and realized I was wrong. I had said love, though I hadn’t actually planned to say any such thing. “I mean—”
“I know what you mean,” Matt said. “I knew something was up the second you came over here bearing coffee.”
“Yeah... I couldn’t sleep this morning. And I felt guilty.”
“Well, don’t feel guilty. I’m here for you. And you don’t owe me any explanations.”
“Thank you,” I said. “That means a lot to me.”
“We’ve been through a lot together,” Matt said. “Two murder investigations. Your dating someone isn’t exactly going to keep me away, given that Cooper’s fine with you staying my friend.”
“He’d better be,” I blurted. “I mean. If not, where would I get my coffee?”
Matt raised his mug. “Looks like you’re all grown up, Jenna McGovern. This coffee isn’t half bad.”
“I’ve been practicing,” I admitted. “Which is as embarrassing to say as you might think.”
He winked. “Not at all. Now, is that all that’s on your mind?”
“That, and the fact that I’m not sure if Cooper and I are actually dating.”
“Isn’t that more of a...” Matt glanced around. “A girlfriend-type conversation?”
“Good point,” I said. “Well, I should get going. I just wanted to...”
“Get my blessing?” Matt winked. “You’re free to go kissing whoever you want, Jenna. Have a ball.”
I smacked Matt on the arm. “Thanks for that. Anyway, I’ll leave the coffee here because I made it for you, but I’m going to take a mug to go if that works.”
Matt handed me the mug of coffee.
“By the way,” I said, “if you think this gets you out of feeding me breakfast, you’d be wrong.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
Matt walked me to the door. I turned to face him.
“I appreciate everything,” I said. “More than you know.”
“It’s great to have you as a neighbor,” Matt said. “And a friend. I’m glad to hear that won’t be changing.”
“Absolutely not,” I agreed. “What are you up to today?”
“I’ve gotta get to work,” Matt said. “Did you hear about the scene they’re filming today?”
“They’re still filming?”
“Guess so,” Matt said. “They need a slew of extras. Some of the guys from the fire department have been roped into helping with crowd control.”
“Crowd control.” I snickered. “In Blueberry Lake?”
“A Hollywood movie is filming in Blueberry Lake,” Matt corrected. “Everyone and their mother, and grandmother and great-grandmother, will be there. I even heard Ethel Louise Schroeder tried to break out of the nursing home so she could stand in.”
“Yikes.”
“You won’t be standing in?” Matt asked.
“I’m sort of trying to avoid things there,” I said. “It’s complicated.”
A surprised expression crossed Matt’s eyes before one of understanding settled into place. “Ah. Gotcha. Well, I’ve gotta get a move on before the cops get word of Ethel Louise’s breakaway. Maybe I can steer her in the right direction.”
“You’re a good man, Matt Bridges.”
I leaned in and gave Matt a quick hug. As I did, he cleared his throat, and I straightened. But he wasn’t looking at me when we separated. His eyes were focused on my house.
“Speaking of men,” Matt said, “I think complicated might’ve just shown up at your door.”
I turned and felt my stomach sink to my toes. There, outside of my house, stood Ryan Lewis. He held a bouquet of beautiful spring flowers as he knocked. When there was no answer, he raised onto his tiptoes to peer into the windows and knocked again.
Matt raised his eyes. “Looks like he really wants to talk to you.”
“Great.”
“Want to hide inside?” Matt thumbed. “He obviously hasn’t seen you yet—”
Matt stopped himself as Ryan turned to look in my direction. He raised a hand in a wave, then he saw that I was standing next to Matt, and his smile faded. His hand dropped, and along with it, the bouquet of flowers.
I blew out a breath. “I should get going.”
“Want me to come with you?” Matt asked, crossing his arms protectively over his chest. “I’d be more than happy to.”
“Nah,” I said. “Thanks, though. I can handle him.”
“I’ve no doubt about that,” Matt said. “But I’m just a stone’s throw away. Holler if you need anything.”
I left Matt standing on his front stoop as I made my way back to my house. I could feel his eyes on my back while Ryan’s eyes were on the front of me. It was a very intense tug of war. My new life with my old life. I shivered uncomfortably as I approached Ryan.
“What do you want?”
Ryan half-heartedly raised the flowers. “I brought you these.”
“Pretty,” I said hollowly, pointedly taking a sip from my coffee mug. “What do you want?”
“Aren’t you going to take them?” Ryan asked. “Invite me inside?”
“Why should I? You haven’t told me what you want.”
A quick glance over my shoulder told me that Matt was still on his front steps. The look wasn’t lost on Ryan.
“Neighbor?” he wondered. “Or something else?”
“None of your business,” I said. “Why are you here?”
Behind me, the sound of Matt’s door echoed as he returned inside and closed it. Though he was gone, I didn’t believe for a second that he wouldn’t be keeping an eye on me until Ryan had left.
Ryan dabbed at his forehead with the back of his hand. “What if Tennison doesn’t make it?”
“Have you heard an update?”
“Not exactly,” Ryan said. “But he’s in critical condition. If he dies... Please, Jenna. Come with me to the hospital. Maybe if we can be there when he wakes up...”
“Me?” I shook my head. “I’ve met him once, and it was years ago. He won’t want to talk to me.”
“You have to come to the hospital. If he worsens more, we might not get the chance to talk to him. He might be able to set the story straight.
You’ve got to help me, Jenna.”
I didn’t ask why I needed to help him because there was no good answer. I’d already been over this a million times in my head, and there were two choices. Tell Ryan flat out I wanted nothing to do with it and turn away completely. Alternatively, I could quit grumbling and get on with trying to find out who shot Tennison.
“Fine,” I said. “I’ll come with you. And I’m keeping the flowers, but it doesn’t mean anything.”
“Great,” Ryan said. “Thank you. Not that you need flowers since you’ve got...” He nodded toward the greenhouse. “That’s yours?”
“Yessir.”
“I thought you didn’t like dirt.”
“Well, things change,” I said, snatching the bouquet from his grasp and tucking it under my arm. “Let me put these flowers into water. Then we’ll head out. We’re driving separately.”
Ryan nodded while I unlocked my house. He started to follow me inside, but I held up the flowers against his chest.
“Not so fast,” I said. “You can wait out here.”
“Jenna,” Ryan pleaded.
“Do you want my help or not?”
He stepped back. “I’ll be in the car. You can follow me.”
Chapter 8
The drive to the hospital didn’t take long. We parked outside in the lot, then I followed Ryan inside to the front desk where we somberly secured visitors’ passes.
“Who would’ve ever thought,” I grumbled as we walked down the hallway. “You and me in the middle of Minnesota, in the middle of an attempted murder investigation.”
“Almost seems like a movie in and of itself, doesn’t it?” Ryan offered a small smile. “Maybe it’s fate, bringing us together again.”
“Fate?” I looked at him. “How did you end up here, Ryan?”
He shifted uncomfortably. “We’re filming a romantic comedy set in a small town. I don’t know that many small towns. Supercheap to film here—”
“Supercheap to film in some small town in California, I bet,” I said. “Why here?”
He sighed. “Fine. Yes, I knew you were here. I knew I didn’t deserve to have you back, but I thought... maybe...”