Page 30 of Trick or Treat with the Mountain Man
Seeing Cordelia’s resting place left all four of us somber.
Abby said, “It’s so sad what happened to her and her family.”
Tyler responded, “I put out feelers through a few of my contacts. Myers is a pretty common last name, but Orson, Cordelia, and Wallace are less common first names. They’re looking into a few leads.”
I jerked my head to look at him so fast I almost strained my neck. “Why didn’t you tell me you have leads!”
“I wanted it to be a surprise.”
“That’s great news.”
He nodded and glanced at Silas.
Silas was even quieter than Tyler. But I could tell these two men would get along.
Since I wanted to give them time to bond I said, “Come on, Abby. Let’s head back to the house.”
We’d let the men do their man thing out here, whatever that might be. I imagined it would involve a lot of looking into the forest, followed by a grunt or two.
As soon as we were out of hearing distance Abby whispered, “He’s hot!”
“Iknow.”
“Is he nice, too? I couldn’t get a read on his personality.”
“He’s nice once you get to know him, but he’s got some walls up.”
Abby gave me a sweet smile. “Silas did too… at first.”
We both laughed. We knew howthathad turned out.
As soon as we made it back to the courtyard behind the house, Abby called out, “Gavin! It’s time for lunch! Do you want to help me and Ava pick veggies from the garden?”
Wherever Abby went, her brother Gavin was always by her side. Except just now out to the graveyard. She didn’t want Gavin to know there was a small family cemetery on the property in case it scared him.
Gavin ran over and gave me a hug, nodding his head the whole time. He’d adopted me as a big sister the first time we ever met. And considering I’d known Abby since grade school, it had been a while. Gavin and Abby were like family to me.
The three of us headed over to the garden to pick the ingredients for today’s soup.
Chapter 13
Tyler
Silas didn’t look like a military man.
I hadn’t quite got a read on him yet.
We were sitting inside an old barn on his property that he’d converted to a man cave. We had two brews in our hands.
The day had turned cold, and it was obvious November was here. We were moving straight through fall into winter. But winter was just playing right now, hinting at colder days to come. It felt invigorating out here, and I loved it.
After a while, Silas grunted and said, “I’m not originally from here either.”
Interesting. I’d pegged him as a local.
“How long have you been here?”
“Just a couple of years.”
