Just Around the Corner

“Could be she ate well yesterday or got enough sleep last night,” she said now. “The symptoms you described happened over a period of time. The weight loss, for instance.”

“Yeah,” he sighed. He rubbed his hand over his face, then pulled open her back door. “I’m sure you’re right. I’d really just like the whole thing to disappear.”

Phyllis gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thanks.” For a brief moment there was warmth in his eyes. “I’ll be in my office if you need to talk to me….”

That sounded very much like goodbye.

Sure enough, Phyllis watched him turn and step one foot outside.

“Wait.”

He stopped.

“Matt.”

Looking over his shoulder at her, Matt raised a brow in question.

“Can’t we talk about last night?”

“I think enough has been said.”

She knew that wasn’t true. Not by a long shot. But she also knew when to push and when pushing was just going to push someone completely away. Matt was leaving without any push at all.

And if she let him go, he might never come back. Not as her friend. The man she’d slowly been getting to know. The real Matt Sheffield.

So she’d start out slow. See if she could regain the trust she’d done nothing to lose.

“How old were you when you went to prison?”

“Twenty-four.” His back still to her, he spoke to her yard.

It was cold outside. She should ask him to shut the door. But the November chill was a small price to find him again.

“How long were you there?”

“Two years.”

A long time.

While she did some quick math, he turned around, but his expression wasn’t encouraging. She had a feeling he was searching for words that would tactfully tell her to mind her own business.

She had a feeling he wouldn’t find any. Because he was her business. If you considered the baby growing inside her.

And Phyllis did. Every minute of every day.

“So you had your teaching degree before you…were incarcerated?”

“My bachelor’s. I went for my master’s when I got out.”

“Did your time in prison have anything to do with your father or your family?”

“No.”

“You aren’t going to tell me why you were there, are you?”

“No.”