He glanced up at the empty branches and then looked back at her, his eyes skeptical, suspicious. “Was there something you wanted?”
“Are you Tom Maxwell?”
“Yeah. Is that a problem?”
She blinked at his bluntness. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to disturb you.”
He raked one hand through his hair. “It’s no big deal. Did you want something?”
She tried the smile again. “My name is Annie Dawson. It sounds a little bit silly now that I’m here, but a friend of mine and her family used to live in this house about twenty years ago. I’ve been trying to find some information about her for a while now. Susan Morris.”
“I don’t know anything about twenty years ago. I bought the place from some people called Blanchard in 2000.”
“Yes, I realize that, but—”
His dark eyes narrowed. “How would you know who I bought my house from?”
“Well, I didn’t really know who you got it from, but I did find out that my friend sold it to the Blanchards back in 1989, so I just assumed …”
Annie let the words trail off. Clearly Mr. Maxwell was not impressed by her sleuthing abilities. She tried again.
“Don’t you do handyman work in the area?”
“Yeah. Do you have something you need done?”
“I might. I’m thinking of redoing my bathroom, but I just can’t decide exactly how. This is a great old house. Have you done any remodeling since you’ve been here?”
His suspicious expression did not change. “Some.”
“I hope you didn’t do very much. It’s such a lovely old place.”
“Not much.”
“I guess Mrs. Maxwell likes having her own live-in handyman.”
He shrugged. “When she doesn’t have to wait for one of my other jobs to get done. How do you know about my wife?”
“I was just talking with Ian Butler. He said he’d met you before, and that you and your wife live out here.”
His eyes narrowed again. “Why?”
“It was just small talk. We were discussing my friend and this house. It wasn’t really about you and Mrs. Maxwell.”
“I didn’t think the mayor knew that much about us.”
“Oh, Ian knows everybody in and around town. You’d like him if you got to know him. I think you’d like most everybody in Stony Point. Pastor Wallace always says—Have you met Pastor Wallace?”
“A time or two. Nice guy.”
“Anyway, he always says that our neighbors are like—”
“Look, Mrs. Dawson, we pretty much think that a good neighbor is one who stays out of everybody else’s way. Your friend sold this house years before I ever moved here, and I don’t know all that much about the place anyway. It’s a good solid house, and that’s all that matters to me. I just can’t help you with anything else.”
He crossed his arms over his chest and looked pointedly in the direction of her car.
“Do you think your wife—?”
“I think my wife can’t help you either. We’re both pretty busy. I’m sure you can understand that.”
Obviously, the conversation was over. Shoulders sagging, Annie thanked the man and got back into her car. She backed up a little bit so she could turn around in the drive. As she did so, she took one more look at the house.
A woman peered out of the window and then disappeared, perhaps when she realized Annie had seen her. Despite Mr. Maxwell’s flinty expression, Annie waited a moment more, but didn’t see anyone else. Finally, she pulled away from the house and headed for home.
Obviously the woman was Mrs. Maxwell, but why hadn’t she come outside?
And why didn’t she ever come into town?
6
“Hey, it’s Alice. Call me when you get home. I want to ask your opinion about something.”
Annie deleted the message and immediately returned Alice’s call.
“What’s up?”
“Hi. I just got my new Divine Décor catalog, and it has some darling little cornucopia centerpieces that might work great for the harvest banquet. Want to come look?”
“I might in a little while. I have to call LeeAnn back. She wants some ideas about what to get her husband for his birthday. And of course, Boots is demanding her dinner.”
The cat was already rubbing against Annie’s ankles, making assorted purrs and meows to entice her to come into the kitchen.
Alice laughed. “Naturally, the queen must be appeased. You sound tired. Everything OK?”
“Oh, I don’t know. I went out to Susan’s old house, out on Elm, and met Tom Maxwell.”
“Really? Did you find out anything?”