Free The Spyglass Portal: A Lighthouse Novel by Stacey Coverstone Page B

any other woman? Women, with the exception of his dear, deceased mother, had given him enough trouble to last a lifetime. Besides, it was obvious Samantha had a screw or two loose. Didn’t she?
    The one lie he’d definitely caught her in was the one about mixing him up with another guy who had a dog. She wasn’t good at fudging the truth, because he’d seen right through that one. But it made him think. Maybe a dog wasn’t such a bad idea. Dogs loved you unconditionally. They’d never leave. And they’d jump on you and wag their tail when you walked through the door. That was more attention than he’d gotten from most of the women he’d been with in the past.
    Then again, Samantha Landers sure didn’t seem like most women.
     
     

 
     
    CHAPTER ELEVEN
     
     Samantha flattened her back against the door and closed her eyes. Aidan claimed to not have a dog, said he didn’t ask her out, didn’t know the hostess at the restaurant, and didn’t remember her telling him about Chad. How could it be possible? Was he lying? If so, why?
    She opened her eyes and glanced at the cell phone on the coffee table, not caring if she bothered Linda at work. She needed to talk to her. Grasping the phone carefully, as if it were hot metal, she flipped it open and punched Linda’s number. A man’s voice answered.
    “Hello.”
    Her chest tightened. She thought she’d only misdialed yesterday when she’d reached the voice mail of someone called Antonio. “Can I speak to Linda Callison please?” she asked with hesitance.
    “No Linda here, lady.”
    If this was one of Linda’s new boyfriends, Sam already didn’t like him. “I don’t have time for games. Please put her on. It’s very important.”
    “Like I said. You got the wrong number,” the voice complained. “Ciao.”
    “Wait! Is this 207-555-1000?”
    “Yes.”
    Her head began to swim. “Why do you have Linda’s phone?” she accused, suddenly worried for her friend’s safety.
    “Look, lady. This is my phone. I don’t know any Linda. I’m going to hang up now, okay?”
    “Please wait,” Sam begged. “I’m sorry, but I’ve called this number a thousand times in the past two years. It belongs to my friend, Linda Callison. Are you sure I’ve reached 207-555-1000?”
    It sounded like his patience had run out when he gritted, “This is the last time I’m going to tell you, lady. You must have dialed my number by mistake. There’s no Linda here. Never has been. I’ve had this phone and the same number for over three years. Look up your gal pal in the phone book and don’t call me again.”
    Click . The phone went dead in her ear. Three years? That couldn’t be. She eyeballed the phone. His idea was a good one, except phone directories didn’t list cell numbers and Linda didn’t have a landline.
    Sam’s paranoia kicked in full-tilt. Had Linda changed her number unexpectedly for some reason? That seemed the only possibility. Maybe someone had started stalking her on the phone, and she’d had to switch numbers quickly and hadn’t had a chance to call and tell her yet. A stalking seemed unlikely, but not impossible given her friend’s penchant for attracting the wrong kinds of men.
    Troubled, she decided to call Linda’s mom, to make sure Linda was okay. After looking up the number in her address book, and about to hang up after five rings, Samantha finally heard the click of the receiver and a soft voice came on the line.
    “Hello.”
    “Mrs. Callison?”
    “Yes.”
    “Hi, Mrs. Callison. This is Samantha Landers. It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other. I’m Linda’s friend. I’m the one who flips houses for a living.”
    “You do what? Who did you say this is?” The woman sounded tired and confused.
    “Samantha Landers. I renovate houses and resell them, but that’s not why I’m calling. I’m calling about Linda. I’ve been trying to reach her since yesterday. She must have changed her number and forgot to tell me. I