Ken rolled his eyes. “Families are a chain around your neck. You have to cut them loose or you’ll never have any peace.”
Raven hated when he talked like that. Her head and her heart were constantly in a struggle about family and she didn’t like hearing it so blatantly from a bohemian with no morals and no ethics. If Ken weren’t such a great cameraman…
She dialed Matt’s number while Ken looked on. It rang four times then a child answered. “Hello? Who is this?”
“I’m not allowed to say,” the child replied. “Who’s this?”
“Is—is this the Strong residence?”
A long pause on the other end.
“Hello? Are you still there?”
“Yes,” came the whispered reply.
“Is this the home of Matthew Strong?”
“I’m not allowed to say.”
“Who are you talking to, Jamie?”
As if caught playing phone pranks, Raven quickly disconnected.
“What?” Ken stared at her, his eyes asking the obvious question.
“A kid answered. I think I must have gotten the wrong number.”
“Maybe it was Matthew’s kid.”
Raven scowled. “And no one knew about a wife and child? Come on.”
“Yeah, that’s true. So what now?”
Raven took a sip of the too-sweet, chocolate-flavored coffee and pinched a bite from her muffin.
“Matthew was always a creature of habit. He probably still works out at Randy’s Gym on Harrison.”
“Mr. Senator at that dive? I don’t see it.”
“Trust me.” Digging into her purse, she tossed some bills on the table, then stood.
“Where are you going?”
“I think it’s time to get back into shape. See you later.”
With a grin, she exited Corner Coffee and headed to her car. First stop—the sports shop two blocks away. She’d need exercise clothes and gym shoes if she were going to pull this one off.
Now, please God, let Matthew still work out at the gym.
The memory of that phone call this morning irked Matthew. Jamie knew better than to answer the phone. Only the girl’s insistence that the caller had been a woman stopped Matthew from calling the phone company and changing their number.
He couldn’t explain to Jamie. And that made things hard. The kid was growing more independent by the day. Answering the phone was taboo. She knew that. If one of her friends called, she could talk. But she could not answer on her own. Why had the little girl picked now to start testing the limits?
Dusk was settling as he pulled into the parking lot. His muscles twitched, anticipating the welcome punishment. He knew he could trust Randy not to let anyone know he was coming in to work out. The salty characters at his gym were serious body builders who didn’t care if he was a senatorial candidate or a factory worker named Ed. As long as he didn’t hog the free weights, they were cool. Never once had he had to deal with the press before, during or after a workout. And right now he needed to sweat. To push his body to its limits and clear his head.
He kicked the treadmill up a couple of more notches and increased his running speed. His heart responded with the appropriate rise in beats per minute.
The newest CD from his favorite worship band blasted in his ears through headphones, upbeat music lifting his spirits and setting his mind on things above. Soon he became lost in the rhythm of the music and his own body’s rhythm as he pounded out mile after mile on the soft surface.
You’re with me on the mountaintop
When my world comes full stop.
With me in the darkest times,
With me when the sun shines bright.
I know Your hand is guiding me
In trusting You I find release.
Matthew swallowed down the lump in his throat. Trust had been difficult. He couldn’t see where the rest of his life could possibly go. It would be nearly impossible to practice law again any time soon. Too many people knew him. Politics were out of the question—at least until Jamie was grown, and by then, it would most likely be too late.
He supposed he could move to a quiet little town in a different state and start a bookstore or a café or something.
I know Your hand is guiding me.
In trusting You, I find release.
I want to trust You, Lord. But I can’t see what You possibly have planned for me.
He might have continued the prayer, but movement caught his attention through the mirror in front of the treadmill. A woman entered the workout room. Every eye in the place followed her as she glided to a cross-training machine. Matthew’s throat went dry. She looked so much like…
Just then she looked around and spotted him. Her eyes went wide with surprise. Matthew nearly stumbled. To avoid falling flat on his face, he peeled his eyes away from Raven and turned his attention back to the treadmill for just a second to slow to a walk and then a stop. He grabbed a towel and swiped at the sweat streaming from his face, neck and arms as he walked toward her. Not exactly the impression he wanted to make on Raven Mahoney after fifteen years.
Her lips curved into a gorgeous smile that did more aerobically for his heart than the last four miles on the treadmill.
“Matthew,” she said breathlessly. “You still work out here?”
Ignoring the twinge of suspicion niggling through his mind, Matthew took her proffered hand, wishing he didn’t reek of sweat so that he could pull her to him and bury his face in the silky strands of her hair.
“You know me. This is the only place I can get a decent workout. Luckily the press hasn’t gotten wind of it yet.”
Her expression clouded.
“I didn’t mean you.” He smiled.
Relief crossed her features and she smiled back, flashing teeth that were just a little more perfect than he remembered.
“So what have you been up to?” he asked.
“Oh, I just got back from my sister’s wedding in Rolla.”
“Which one?”
Raven smiled. “Denni. Keri married her childhood sweetheart a year ago.”
“So you’re the only unmarried Mahoney girl left?”
She shrugged and her nostrils flared a little the way they did when she was trying to pretend she wasn’t irritated. “I guess so.”
“You didn’t have to be.” Matthew could have kicked himself. Now why had he gone there? Her expression hardened.
“I’m sorry. That was uncalled for.”
“Don’t worry about it, Matt. You want to show me how this thing works?” She indicated the cross trainer machine. Clearly the subject was closed.
“How about if I take you to dinner instead?”
“What about my workout?”
He leaned in. “Between you and me, I think you can afford to skip it.”
Pink crawled to her cheeks, charming Matt. So the self-assured reporter still had trouble taking compliments.
“What do you say?” he pressed.
She narrowed her gaze and studied him as if trying