Meredith learned a valuable lesson about inviting someone over she didn’t particularly like. Never do it. The second Paul showed up dressed like he was from some western movie, she knew it had been a mistake.

Their encounters in the store seemed harmless enough, and he seemed friendly enough. Seeing him ready for what he surely thought was a date made Meredith want to run as far away as she could. Dating had never been her thing. She met Lawrence more or less by accident and they hit it off.

That’s how it had to be for her. The work it took to do the whole dating thing and learn about another person wasn’t on Meredith’s radar. No matter how much Paul wanted it to be.

The whole not wanting to work at it was kind of funny, since at one point in her life a marriage had been arranged for her. She didn’t want to be married to that man, and she certainly didn’t want to be married again anytime soon.

Without many options for the evening, Meredith did the only thing she could and followed her son’s advice. Safety in numbers didn’t sound like a bad idea when you were petrified. It was kind of sad the fear took over even before he brought out the flowers.

Her head told her she should be more afraid of Toby being around. He was an outsider, but with how good the man cleaned up, he was sure to have someone back wherever he was from. The fact that she looked like a whale only added to the fact that he was someone safe to be around.

Safe wasn’t the right word, because someone showing up out of the blue wasn’t safe, but the chances of Toby trying to woo Meredith were slim enough that he was a better option than Paul. Since no one from her past had shown up after he made contact, she figured Toby wasn’t someone working for her parents or ex-fiancé. That made it safe to say the eye candy he provided alone set him in a class all his own. She’d thought the sweat glistening down him from a run was a good look, but cleaned up in fancy clothes was even better.

“Have you thought about going to the dance this year, Meredith?”

Paul’s question brought Meredith out of her thoughts. Everyone had sat quietly around the table, save for a few comments about how the stew tasted. Awkwardness hung in the air almost like a second skin.

Glancing to her left, she saw the man asking the question staring at his bowl as he pushed chunks of meat and vegetables around while he waited for an answer. Out of all the dinner companions, he’d eaten the least. Meredith was eating for two, and the baby inside her was always hungry. Caleb had a hollow leg, so it was no surprise that his spoon scraped the sides of an almost empty bowl.

Toby made it clear by taking a bite before anyone else that he wasn’t shy eating in front of other people. He was already using a piece of bread to sop up the remaining sauce in his bowl.

“I haven’t been to the dance since the first year I came here. Why in the world would I go now?”

Meredith didn’t think the question warranted a big explanation. Lawrence had only gone the one year to show her off. They both hated to dance and the pageantry that went behind the annual drunkfest.

“I figured Lawrence was keeping you to himself up here and maybe now that he’s gone, and you have someone willing to take you, well, maybe you’d like to go.”

Paul didn’t look up from his bowl as he strung words together. The nervous edge to the words wasn’t hard to miss. The flirtatious nature he hid behind at the store was completely gone and it made Meredith uneasy to think of him being vulnerable.

“I hate to interrupt, but you’ve got me curious. What’s this dance all about?”

It wasn’t like Meredith needed to stall to come up with an answer for Paul, but she didn’t mind someone taking the attention away from her for a minute. She had every intention of letting Paul down easy, but doing so in front of an audience wasn’t her idea of a picnic.

Finally looking up from his food, Paul cast a hateful glare in Toby’s direction. Meredith didn’t think the man had a mean bone in his body, but the way his jaw set and his eyes narrowed made it clear he wasn’t a fan of Toby’s.

“I’m sure you’re used to big fancy balls back in the city, but around here we have an annual barn dance that I’m sure could rival one of your black-tie affairs.”

Toby lifted his arms out in front of him in a somewhat calming manner. Or maybe he was just trying to protect himself from the laser beams that seemed to be ready to shoot out of Paul’s eyes.

“No need to get cranky about it. I was just curious since I’m new around here.”

“If you think this is cranky, you have no idea the meaning of the word.” Paul’s teeth ground together as he spoke. “What’s he doing here anyway, Meredith. When you said I could come over for dinner, I thought it’d be a chance for us to get to know each other better. I can’t very well get to know you with him here.”

Over the years she’d known him, Meredith had never seen Paul disgruntled. Seeing him bent out of shape over Toby just reiterated why they would never be together. Paul had been around so many times over the years when someone in town put her down or tried to make her feel like less of a person, and he always brushed it off with a joke. Her pain never lit a fire under him, so she thought it wasn’t possible, and she could accept that.

Throw in a man, who may threaten his status, and the truth came out. The people in town never really hurt her. Words stung from time to time, but she didn’t care what other people thought. Knowing that Paul actually had a backbone rubbed her wrong.

“Last I checked, I’m not the only person living in this house. Caleb invited him to stay, so he did. I think it’s probably a good time to reiterate to anyone who cares to listen that I’m not looking for a new husband or a father to my children.”

Meredith saw a difference between those two things. The father aspect didn’t necessarily mean she had an emotional attachment. A husband meant she had to agree to let someone in her life intimately, and that wasn’t going to happen. The father thing wasn’t either, but the thought of sharing her life with anyone other than her kids caused nausea in her stomach she hadn’t felt since her first trimester.

“I’m thinking about your children here. What do you know about him? He’s already admitted he’s not a developer. Why else would he be up here? He’s probably looking for places to bury the bodies he’s planning on leaving in his trail as he goes on a killing spree.”

Putting her spoon down, Meredith covered her eyes with her left hand. She had known Paul for years and she was more concerned he was a serial killer than Toby. That made little sense, but Paul was crazy enough to like living in their backward town. That put him right there next to someone who dressed up as a cowboy and went around killing hookers.

Toby was escaping from something. Meredith had figured out that much. Chances were it was work or relationship related, neither of which were her business. As long as he stayed out of her way, they wouldn’t have any problems.

“Toby,” Meredith said as calmly as she could. Her nerves were frazzled, so it wasn’t an easy task. “Are you scoping out my family to fulfill some murderous plot you’ve been cooking up since you met me this morning?”

He’d have to be extremely organized to have made any specific decisions along those lines. If he was good at the whole serial killer thing, he very well could have taken one look at her and decided exactly how he wanted to dismember her, but that wasn’t the vibe she got from Toby.

There was something about him that led her to believe he was wounded. And the hurt he felt wasn’t one that drove him into the killing business.

The man in question had finished eating and scooted his chair back. The scraping of the chair against the wooden floor caused Meredith to shiver. It was a similar sound to running fingers down a chalkboard.

Meredith studied the man suddenly under the microscope. She hoped the smile on her face made it clear she was joking, but from the way his lips turned down, it wasn’t working.

“I think I should head home. Thanks for the meal, and if you ever need anything, you know where to find me.”

Toby stood, towering over the table as he nodded and walked quickly towards the door. Meredith barely got a chance to see the beads of sweat on his forehead. He didn’t run, but it was just shy of it. The action of heading for the hills took Meredith back for a second, but only a second. She was quick to hop out of her chair and follow after Toby. Something was going on, and she didn’t think it had to do with the conversation.

“Don’t move.”

The command was for Paul, who she could hear moving his chair. She had a few choice words she wanted to share with him after she tried to smooth things over with Toby. She told herself, and anyone who would listen, she didn’t need help, but it’d be completely moronic of her to believe that would always be the case. If something happened to her or Caleb, Toby was currently the closest person to call for help.

The man’s long legs had taken him all the way to Paul’s truck before she could get the door open. He looked so out of place next to the truck in his nice dark clothes that Meredith shook her head before she started speaking. She knew nothing about the man, but clearly he lived a very different lifestyle than the one she’d gotten used to.

“Wait up a second, Toby.”

His step faltered for a second, but he didn’t stop, nor did he look back. A growl started somewhere deep in Meredith’s chest and radiated out like a pissed off mountain lion.

“I’m eight months pregnant here, so I’m not even going to pretend to be able to keep up with you. That means you’re going to have to stop, or I’m going back in the house to grab my shotgun and shoot you.”

There had to be something in her voice that made it clear the threat wasn’t a joke. She wasn’t totally serious, but she sounded enough like she was that Toby stopped. He didn’t turn around, but at least he stopped.

“If you’re looking for an answer to me being a serial killer, I’m not. I do need to get home as soon as possible, though.”

Watching his shoulders, Meredith could see the deep breaths being taken. There was something up that she couldn’t begin to guess. She worried there was something in the stew that had given him some kind of allergic reaction. It was the only thing her brain was coming up with as a reason for the sudden change.

“I never thought you were a serial killer. In fact, I’ve already cleared you of many potential crimes. So, if you’re not feeling good, I can take you to town to see Doc or you can take a few minutes and rest on the couch. Walking a mile through the woods isn’t going to make you feel any better.”

“At this point, I’d be out before we got to the doctor, and trust me, you don’t want me on the couch. Last time this happened I was out for hours.”

Toby started walking again, like his words were enough of an explanation. They weren’t, but he’d picked up his pace and there was no way she’d be able to keep up with him. He disappeared behind trees before she had a chance to say another word.

The man was trouble, but he needed help. Whether he was aware of that fact or not was yet to be seen. Meredith wasn’t about to let him wander around the woods in the dark with the threat of him passing out. There were wild animals that wouldn’t hesitate to snack on him.

Before she could deal with him, she had to get rid of Paul. If he was a little bigger, he could’ve come in handy in case Toby really was down for the count in the woods. Even at his size, he could’ve helped, but Meredith had had enough of him for one day. If he hesitated leaving, she’d use the shotgun line again, and this time it wouldn’t be a joke.