Read Impervious (City of Eldrich Book 1) for Free Online Page B

Eldrich.”
    Jamie chuckled. “Not as dinky, you mean.”
    “Ouch. Am I that transparent?”
    Jamie smile widened, his eyes crinkling. It was a freer happier expression than the nervous grin in the hallway or the smile he’d given Matthew. In that moment, she could see the boy he had once been. It was extraordinarily disarming.
    He must be magic with a jury, Meaghan thought. What’s he doing in Eldrich handling municipal slip and falls?
    “No,” he said. “You aren’t transparent at all, but I remember how I felt coming back here after law school in Philadelphia.”
    “Which school?”
    “Temple. Not in a great part of town so it was even a bigger shock to come back to Eldrich.”
    Meaghan smiled. “Well, I’d be lying if said I wasn’t suffering Internet withdrawal and all the trees didn’t freak me out a little.”
    Jamie leaned forward, now serious. “It’s hard to see your dad like this.”
    It wasn’t a question for her, she realized, but a statement about Jamie.
    “You’ve known Matthew since you were a kid?”
    He nodded. “It was a bad time. We had to leave . . .” A moment’s hesitation. “We had to leave the place we lived really fast and got here with nothing. Matthew helped us get on our feet.”
    “How old were you?”
    “I was twelve.”
    “And you’ve lived in Eldrich since?”
    He sat back. “Not the whole time. I went to Mansfield University for undergrad. It’s real close so I got back to Eldrich on weekends a lot. And then the three years in Philly.”
    “But you came back.”
    “I did. I feel at home here. It’s safe. My wife had some culture shock at first. But she’s good with it now.
    If he’d known Matthew for what must be almost twenty years, Meaghan calculated, then he must know something of their turbulent history. Best to deal with it right away.
    “I guess you know Matthew and I haven’t been very close over the years.”
    Jamie’s face flushed. “Uh, yeah . . .” He stopped, embarrassed.
    Now it was Meaghan’s turn to blush. “I’m sorry. I put you on the spot there. It’s just . . .”
    Just what? It would help to clear the air if she had to work with this kid every day. But beneath the pragmatism, she realized, lay jealousy, coiled like a snake. Jamie had found Matthew in his life at about the same age Meaghan had lost him.
    She continued. “I know you’ve been closer to him than I have. I figure it’s better to deal with that upfront than tiptoe around it.”
    Jamie nodded. “I get that.” He looked away from her. “I don’t . . . my father and I . . .” He met her gaze again. “I understand how things go wrong. And it’s none of my business anyway.” He smiled again, but it was restrained, sad even. “But you’re here now.”
    He looked so woeful for a moment that Meaghan felt a pang of . . . maternal instinct? Like I’d know what that felt like, she thought. “I’m here now.”
    The conversation was more casual after that. Less about work, more personal details, but easy. Two people getting to know each other.
    His wife was named Patrice. He had two small children. His daughter, called Liddy, short for Elizabeth, was four and his son, Ben, was not quite two. With pride, he pulled out his cell phone and showed her some photos. Patrice was petite and lovely, with a determined set to her jaw. Liddy had wild curly red hair and Ben had his father’s blue eyes.
    They lived in a pre-war Tudor cottage—another storybook house, Meaghan thought—in the newer part of town, within walking distance of city hall. Patrice worked as a nurse at the local clinic. By Eldrich standards, they were doing well. They didn’t need Patrice’s paycheck to get by, but Jamie said she loved her job and it kept her from going small-town bonkers.
    In spite of herself, Meaghan’s cynical heart warmed. Jamie was a good man, with a good head on his shoulders, who loved his wife and his kids. He liked to fly fish and play softball. He was a