Charon's Crossing

"Elvira's been busy as a bee, hasn't she?" Kathryn snapped furiously.

"Calm down, Kathryn."

"I am calm. And you have ten seconds to tell me why you're here before I throw the both of you off my property!"

Amos shot Hiram a warning look.

"I told you already. Hiram's here to check things over. I'm here to let you know that I'm back and ready to help you sell Charon's Crossing. Surely, that meets with your approval?"

"Why ask me? You seem to know all the answers already." Kathryn marched through the front door and headed straight for the stairs. "I'm sure both you gentlemen know, where everything is in this house. Make yourselves comfortable and if you run out of small talk, you might want to inventory the fridge or the pantry. I'll be down in five minutes."

Back straight, she trotted up the steps, strode down the hall to the bedroom and slammed it after her with enough force so that a small, badly faded oil portrait of some long-ago Russell flew off the wall.

She scooped it up, slung it into a chair, then shrugged off the towel and hurled it across the room.

"Nosy old bastards," she muttered.

"Now, Kathryn, be polite."

She whirled towards the sound of Matthew's voice. Dressed in the jeans and T-shirt, his hair still wet from the sea, he was leaning back against the door, arms folded and feet crossed.

"Why should I?" She wrenched open the armoire, pulled out a cotton dress, and tossed it on the bed. "They weren't very polite to me! You should have heard the things they said, especially Hiram."

"I did hear," Matthew said calmly. "I was there, right beside you, all the time."

Just for an instant, her face softened. "Were you?"

He nodded. "They're concerned for your welfare, sweetheart."

Kathryn's chin tilted. "Oh, come on! They're just a pair of old gossips. You'd think the people on this island would have something better to do than waste time talking about what I bought."

"Sweetheart." Matthew walked towards her and clasped her shoulders. "Try and see it from their point of view. You're living all alone in the middle of nowhere, and all of a sudden you go into town and buy a load of men's clothing."

"So?" Her eyes flashed with defiance. "Is that a crime?"

"Elvira's probably not forgotten the day she found us talking together."

"She didn't see you, remember?"

"She saw you behaving oddly, and now Amos and Hiram come along and see what appears to be some even stranger behavior, down on the beach."

Kathryn didn't flinch. "What they see or don't see, and what I buy or don't buy, is no one's business but my own."

"You're right. But there's no need to be angry. They mean well."

Kathryn glared a couple of seconds longer. Then she sighed and slumped against him.

"I know. It's just that it's so hard pretending you don't exist."

"I don't," Matthew said softly.

"Don't say that!" She pulled back, her mouth trembling. "You do exist. Why, you're as real as they are!"

"To you."

"Matthew, stop it. If you're trying to upset me—"

"You must face facts. As far as the rest of the world is concerned, I have no substance."