Carla Neggers - The Spring At Moss Hill

“I don’t consider Moss Hill my turf.”

“I’m staying across the hall from you. I’d consider that my turf.”

Meaning she was on his turf. His bottom line, maybe. “I’m coming up for air after a series of tight deadlines. I only expected to stay in Knights Bridge for a few months when I moved here. Now it’s been ten months, and I’m trying to be more social and meet people in town.”

“That’s it, huh?”

Obviously he didn’t believe her. “Maybe I knew you were jet-lagged, and I thought I’d be a good neighbor and accompany you to lunch. Welcome you to town. Make up for our bad start.”

“Yeah. Maybe.” He shifted his long legs, clearly having difficulty getting comfortable. “I’ve been in little seats too many of the past twenty-four hours.”

“You didn’t demand a first-class seat?”

“Coach is fine with me.”

Kylie glanced at the river, quiet and shallow, without any steep drops away from the dam. “I haven’t seen anyone sneaking around Moss Hill, in case that was your next question,” she said. “I don’t keep track of all the comings and goings. Probably not even most of them.”

“Does Mark Flanagan have enemies?” Russ asked.

She’d expected the question. “Not that I’m aware of. It’s my understanding that Mark grew up in Knights Bridge. People in town know him and like him, from what I can tell. But I’m not the best one to ask, since I’m new here.”

“Where did you grow up?”

“East of here. Near Mt. Wachusetts.”

“Any enemies?”

“Me?”

“You. Yes.”

She attempted a smile despite his probing questions. “I don’t get out enough to have enemies.”

“It could be an ex-boyfriend, ex-husband, ex-friend, ex-colleague.”

“I can’t think of anyone in my life who would spread rumors about Moss Hill, for any reason.”

“I’m not asking you to draw a conclusion. I’m asking if you have enemies.” Russ’s tone had softened, as if he’d realized he’d gotten intense. “You’re the only resident at Moss Hill, and you’re new in town. You seem to know more about the people here than they do about you. Why is that?”

“A natural consequence of being new here. I want to get to know people now that I have more free time. Everyone is busy with their lives and the people they already know.”

“And you’re reclusive,” he said.

“Busy, not reclusive.”

“Hair-splitting.”

Fair point, she thought. “Focusing on me is a waste of your time, but feel free. I’m sure Ruby’s taking idle talk to an extreme conclusion.”

“Could be,” Russ said. “Who is Christopher Sloan?”

The abrupt shift in subject caught her by surprise, but she welcomed it, could feel her grip on the steering wheel ease. “He’s one of two full-time, professional firefighters in town,” she said. “The Sloans are another local family. They own a construction company. There are a bunch of them. Christopher’s older brother Brandon is married to Ruby’s sister Maggie.”

“The Sloans worked on Moss Hill?”

“Some. I don’t know details. Christopher and Ruby...” Kylie didn’t finish.

“He and Ruby what? They’re an item?”

“I don’t know for sure. You know what it’s like when you’re the newcomer in a small town.”

“I don’t, actually.”

“People sometimes say things in your earshot they might not say if they knew you from when you were in kindergarten.”

“So, you’ve heard talk about Ruby and this firefighter.”

“There are sparks between them.”

“Sparks, Kylie?”

She heard the amusement in his voice and instantly felt heat rise in her cheeks. She resisted glancing over at him, but was aware of how close he was in the tight quarters of her small car. “You know what I mean,” she said finally.

“I’m not much on noticing sparks, I guess. Let’s just say my friends don’t come to me for romantic advice, at least not more than once. I ask them if they want to stay in or get out of the relationship. Only two options.”

“You’re a black-and-white thinker.”

“When things are black-and-white. What about you? Do your friends come to you for romantic advice?”

He’d set her up, she saw now. “It depends on the friend. And I don’t tend to be a black-and-white thinker. I was up for the sunrise this morning. Did you see it on your flight? So many colors. Then they all melted into the blue sky...” She slowed for a curve. “Let’s say that’s the kind of thinker I am.”

“Is that what we call a blue-sky thinker?”

“Or the sunrise thinker, maybe.”

He looked out his window. “I didn’t see the sunrise. I don’t sleep much on planes, but I was reading. Julius Hartley gave me a copy of The Three Musketeers. He said I would understand Knights Bridge better if I read it.”

“One for all and all for one, or a lot of sword fights?”

“I was hoping for a scantily clad damsel in distress.”

Kylie laughed as she turned into the Moss Hill parking lot. “No luck there. Still too cold. Your Hawaiian shirt with the palm trees suggests you like your warm weather.”

“As I said, my brother gave me the shirt. He binge-watched Magnum, PI over the winter.”

“He lives in Los Angeles?”

“He does.”

“Does he know Daphne Stewart?”

“They’re friends. I met Daphne and Julius through Marty. That’s how I ended up at Sawyer & Sawyer.”

Without trying, Kylie thought of a dozen questions she wanted to ask him about his life in California, his work, his past, his brother—where they’d grown up, what he’d done in the navy, why he’d become an investigator, what Daphne Stewart was like. But she didn’t ask any of them and instead turned off the engine and got out of the car.

Russ met her on the breezeway, stretching his lower back. “Thanks for the ride into town.”

“You’re welcome. Thanks for lunch. There’s a parking garage under the residential building, in case no one mentioned it. If you need anything while you’re here, feel free to knock on my door again.”

“I won’t disturb you?”

She smiled. “Oh, you’ll disturb me, but I won’t mind.”

“I’m going to take a look around the place.”

“I won’t call 911 if I see you, then. If you see anything suspicious, by the way, there’s decent cell service here. You should be able to call 911.”

He stared at her a moment, then broke into a slow, thoroughly sexy grin. “I’ll keep that in mind, Kylie. Working the rest of the day? Should I worry if I see the lights on at 3:00 a.m.?”

“If you do, it’ll be because I got up early, not because I stayed up late.”

His gaze held her for longer than she found comfortable. “I might take a walk later, or settle in and have a beer on the balcony—assuming it’s warm enough.”

“Evenings still can get cool this time of year, but that can be nice, too. I had wine on my balcony during a snowstorm after I first moved in here in March. It was magical.”

Russ raised his eyebrows. “We need to work on your idea of magical.”

Kylie felt heat rise in her face. “Well, enjoy the rest of the day.”

“I will, thanks. Knock on my door if you think of anything else that could help unravel what’s going on with these rumors.” He reached into his jacket and withdrew a card, handing it to her. “Or call or text.”

“Sure thing.”

Kylie took the card and slipped it into her pocket, eager to get back to her worktable.

Time to disappear.

She waited for Russ to go into the main building before she headed inside, her pace picking up the closer she got to her apartment and a locked door between her and her temporary neighbor. She wasn’t afraid of him. She just didn’t want him prying into her life.