Free An Unlikely Match by Arlene James

way.”
    Asher frowned, uncertain whether he liked or trusted this fellow. He seemed awfully flip for a convicted felon on parole. Everyone in town knew the story of how he’d gone to prison for beating his stepfather, who by all accounts had been a brutal man and murdered Garrett’s mother. No one in the family had been especially pleased when Magnolia had hired Garrett. Deciding to ignore that last statement, Asher went back to the beginning.
    “So you were just riding down Charter Street, on your way where exactly?”
    He felt, rather than saw, the fellow’s smirk. “Church.”
    On Thursday? Asher thought. The fire had happened on the first Thursday in February. “Which church?”
    “Downtown Bible. Same as you, I imagine, though I haven’t seen you, not at the late service and not at the monthly men’s Bible study.”
    Asher tried not to let his irritation show. “And you’re a regular attendee of that Bible study, are you?”
    “Not yet. It just started in January, and I missed February. For obvious reasons.”
    “How long have you known the Monroes?”
    “Since the night of the fire.”
    “And Dallas?”
    “Since the night of the fire.”
    “But you stopped for her anyway?”
    “It was that or run over her. I almost laid down the bike as it was.”
    “So you’re just the Good Samaritan in all this?”
    Willows said nothing to that, just stood there, a big, silent shadow in the dark. Asher’s frown deepened. They stood about the same height, but the other man’s bulk made him seem larger, tougher—and somehow not particularly trustworthy. Still, his story pretty much jibed with Ellie’s. So far. Cold prickled Asher’s skin, but he’d have turned into a human Popsicle before he’d have let on.
    “Okay. Thanks. I know where to find you if I have any more questions.”
    Willows nodded but before he started off again, Asher jerked his head toward the greenhouse. “My sister in there?”
    “Your sister?”
    “Dallas.”
    That came as an obvious surprise to the man. He took a half step back, his hands sinking farther into his pockets. “No. Ellie is, though.”
    It was Asher’s turn to be surprised. “I thought my sister was supposed to be coming out here to remind you that it’s time to eat.”
    “Don’t know about that,” Willows said, walking off toward the carriage house, “but like I told Ellie, I’ll eat as soon as I wash up.”
    Asher stood staring at the door to the greenhouse. He warred with himself, torn between running after Dallas, who had obviously sent Ellie out here in her place, and finding out just how well Ellie Monroe had gotten to know Garrett Willows since coming to Chatam House. Or maybe they were both lying and they had known each other for some time—long enough to plan an arson, say. Asher didn’t really believe that. Then again, he didn’t know what he believed anymore.
    Striding forward, he wrenched open the door. Moist,welcome warmth flowed over him. Rows of rough wooden tables stacked with tiered shelves of potted plants in various stages of bloom lined both long walls. Larger plants, some that would decorate the patio in more sultry weather, filled the interior of the long, narrow building, including a number of small trees that seemed about to outgrow their space.
    Asher came to a space enclosed in heavy plastic sheeting, split down the middle to allow access. Slipping through, he glanced around at tables laden with tiny pots of seedlings basking beneath the benevolent light of long, hooded lamps. A figure turned from a shadowy corner, a figure he would know anywhere.
    “Ellie.”
    At the same time she asked, “Garrett?”
    “Where’s Dallas?” he asked, not bothering to correct her because her recoil at the sound of his voice had signaled her recognition.
    “She said she had to leave and asked me to deliver a message to Garrett for Magnolia.”
    Asher snorted at that. “Did you tell her that I know about your little plot to embroil my aunt in a