Sleepy Fox Hollow nothing

Anselm realized this woman was different than the other strangers he'd met. He wrongly assumed everyone out there was nice - after all, that's what his experience had been so far. Everyone tried to help him. But this lady...

She seemed cold. Cold the way he thought the stream could be when he fell into it. He could not bring himself to meet that parking-lot-attendant scowl, because it rivaled Wylla's and --

Wait a minute.

His eyes narrowed. What did she mean she and Mahler went way back? A breath of his mother's territoriality woke in him, but not about land. Were you his girlfriend? He blurted, feeling that possessiveness of his father coil around him. He forgot she'd asked him if Mahler was okay, but he wouldn't have answered anyway since she was now trying to usurp his mother's place in his own got-dang home.