but I’m not happy he’s dead.”
Ella and their mom had listened to the exchange from the kitchen doorway, Ella’s expression one of repressed fury, his mom’s resigned. While Fiona was growing up, she’d often argued with her mother, and the death of Sean Dempsey, Sr., when Fiona was nineteen had not brought them closer together.
When a car pulled up outside, Fiona declaimed, “My taxi is here. Enjoy your lives without me.”
Jesus Christ. If he hadn’t suspected his mom would smack him, Mat would’ve laughed at that. Fiona always did have a flair for the theatric.
“Let me help you with your bag.” He crossed the room to pick up her enormous suitcase.
“No, thank you.” Wrenching open the front door, Fiona had dragged her bag outside and down the front steps, the bang, bang, bang echoing across the property. The waiting driver popped his trunk, and Fiona didn’t argue when he climbed out to help her with her luggage.
With her suitcase stowed safely in the trunk, Fiona had climbed into the back of the taxi and slammed the door behind her. They’d watched the driver back his car around and head down the driveway to the main road.
After a few minutes of wishing he was asleep but having to acknowledge he was fully awake, Mat dragged himself out of bed, pulled a sweatshirt on, and left his room. There was no reason to stay in bed, and now that—judging by the quiet—his mom was apparently off the phone, she’d probably like someone to talk to other than Niall Hamarsson’s dog. Ella and her daughter, Riley, had flown back to Houston after Sean’s funeral.
The dog in question met him at the bottom of the stairs. He’d been staying with Mat and Alyson while Niall took care of business in Seattle. Understandably Niall hadn’t wanted him underfoot while he got his condo ready to sell, but Fenrir had done nothing but mope for the first few days.
“Hey, Mom,” Mat said as he wandered into the kitchen.
“Good morning, sweetie. You were out late last night.”
Mat rolled his eyes. Thirty-seven, and his mother still called him sweetie. “Fire at the Wainwright place.”
“Oh, no!”
“Not the house. One of their barns. It was empty.”
“Well, thank goodness for small miracles, but I bet Merle and Joella are upset. I seem to remember they had plans for that barn.”
Mat nodded, moving past her to reach the coffee pot. He reached into the cabinet for his favorite mug and filled it, then sipped and leaned back against the counter. “Merle told me they’d been thinking about completely renovating it.”
Alyson nodded. “That’s what Joella had been saying. I think they’d been to the bank for financing already. With tourism growing, it only makes sense, and people did like that barn.”
The barn had been a pretty one, painted a traditional shade of red with white trim.
“It’s a shame. I have to admit I’m concerned about these fires.” He took another sip of his coffee, the warmth of it comforting as it slid into his stomach.
“I would be too,” Alyson said.
Fenrir nudged her hand and then looked imploringly toward the kitchen door. Alyson obliged, opening the door and letting him outside into the backyard.
“After you moved to California, there was an arson here—do you remember? Your dad caught him, though. One of the Delacombes burned down his hotel in Hidden Harbor to collect insurance money.”
“A hotel is a bit bigger than some garages and an empty barn.”
“I’m just saying it’s not the first time. Maybe somebody remembered and thought they could get away with it.”
“Mom, this is not an episode of Bones. Who was it?” Mat knew the hotel had burned and been rebuilt, but he hadn’t known it was arson. There’d been a time when he hadn’t come home for years and had purposely not paid attention to island news.
“Shay Delacombe’s father. Useless man. Claribel’s brother’s son David. Except remember how he started pronouncing it Dahveed? Believe me, that wasn’t what Alice and Donald named him. If you’re going to change your name, change your damn name.”
Somehow Mat thought his mom was talking about something else entirely, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to know what. There was a thump against the kitchen door. Alyson reached over and opened it again to let Fenrir back inside. As she did so, a knock sounded at the front door.
“Oh, that must be Niall.”
“What?” Mat said, following his mom out of the kitchen to the front room.
“Did I forget to tell you? He texted last night