A shelf designed to hold knickknacks was sparsely populated. On one end, a wizened old wizard, his hands gnarled with age, held an orb and a scepter. On the other end, a dragon. Toby didn’t recall the Wizard Art craze of years past all that well, but his mother had definitely been a fan.
Between those two pieces stood a castle—perhaps the castle wherein the fair maid awaited rescue? If true, that would be a real anomaly.
The image of that middle piece triggered a memory, and for a long moment he stared at it and let his mind figure it out. No, not a castle. A…hall. He’d seen that image before. His former partner had been an avid reader of mysteries, English mysteries at that. And that hall had featured prominently on some of his book covers. The author had a name that at first glance Toby had thought had to be some kind of a joke. His mind pulled that data out of storage. The book series had been Thornbury Hall Mysteries, and the author’s name was B. Reel.
Pleased he’d remembered all that, he stepped closer and only then noticed there was an inscription on the piece. He read it in seconds.
“Hey, Wyoming, are you co…um, going to join us?”
Toby laughed because she’d almost said “coming.” He turned on his heel and followed her voice and the scent of coffee. She met his gaze the instant he entered the kitchen. One instant of her being off guard and he read a lot of emotions swirling within her.
Sweet Mary thinks entirely too much. Hopefully, he and his best friend would be able to do something about that little thing, and soon.
Anthony looked comfortable, leaning back against the counter. The gurgling sound of the coffee being spit from the machine into a cup seemed an apt bit of background music.
“You figured it out,” Anthony said.
“I think I have, actually.” He grinned at his partner. He’d never have believed that at his age he could have a “best friend.” He’d never before experienced that sense of simpatico with another man. But as soon as he met Anthony Corbett, he knew he’d found another brother—and one that was closer to him than any who’d been born that way.
“It’s interesting, isn’t it? If you only pay attention to the nuances, undercurrents, and facts in plain sight, the things you can learn are often surprising.” Mary held up a coffee pod. “Medium, right?”
“That’s right.” Rather than standing, he sat at the kitchen table. He didn’t make too much out of the fact that there were three chairs instead of four. That might have been some of his Aunt Samantha’s wishful thinking when she set this place up for Mary. Or it might be that a fourth chair had been removed, to be used elsewhere.
He’d bet it was in her bedroom, placed in front of a desk.
Once she’d made her own coffee, she joined him at the table. Anthony held her chair—sneaky devil—and then took his own seat.
It certainly wasn’t lost on Mary that she was sitting between them. She smirked at him and then rolled her eyes.
“So what, paying attention to nuances, undercurrents, and facts in plain sight have you surmised about us?” Toby watched her face to see her reaction to his question.
“Well, let me see. Anthony, you are a deliberate thinker. You like your facts laid out in a neat row, and your focus on the job is absolute. You’re more than a friend of the families, and that tells me that you’re trustworthy and nonjudgmental. You don’t hold much of yourself back, and you really do expect the people you meet in your day-to-day life to be as upfront and honest as you are, yourself. But you can spot a con a mile off, and if you are rigid in only one area, that would be in your respect for the rule of law.”
“She nailed you,” Toby said.
Anthony toasted her with his coffee cup. “You did, cupcake. What can you tell me about Toby?”
Mary’s cheeks became a light pink, and Toby thought that look was sweet on her, and one she didn’t wear often. She wasn’t used to compliments, and that was a damn shame.
She turned her gaze on him, and it was all he could do not to squirm. I should have thought through my challenge to her better.
“Toby is a man of absolute loyalty, but he doesn’t suffer fools gladly. If he has your back, he has it, period. He’s also a man who takes insults to heart. And if he feels betrayed, then all bets are off.”
Toby didn’t think it was his imagination that her look, just then, turned tender. “And at some point in the recent past, something happened that upended his world. Something that left him feeling raw.”
Toby felt everything within him go still as stone. Mary’s words felt like a laser, one that threatened to cut out the poison that had so recently seeped into his soul.
That she would say exactly those words let him know she not only thought too much but she thought too well.
He was usually fast to come up with a quip or a line that would redirect the attention of whoever got too close to his wounds.
But before he could do just that, she toasted him with her cup. “So tell me, Wyoming, what have you figured out about me?”
Chapter Four
Well, that’s interesting.
Toby was so focused on her and the words she’d given him that he hadn’t even noticed the look in his best friend’s eyes.
Anthony Corbett had not been surprised by Mary’s revelation about his best friend. The expression on his face had been admiration and had been directed at her. She didn’t think for one moment that Anthony knew the nuts and bolts of whatever had happened to Toby, just
