Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 131387 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 526(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131387 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 526(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
Also as noted, he’d hung up that bat, so he was not going to go there.
She noticed his reaction, and he firmly buried how it felt to watch the hurt shift through her face, telling himself he much preferred the annoyance that came in after.
“Easy, hotshot,” she snapped. “I already have a date.”
Fucking fuck.
That didn’t make him feel better.
Nope.
It felt far worse.
“I’m meeting Abigail and her family there. We’re scoping out the artists.”
He had no clue who Abigail was, but if she had a family, she was not a date.
“Right,” he replied, now refusing to allow himself to relax with the relief it brought to know she hadn’t hooked up with another guy.
“I wanted to know if you thought Tonks would be able to handle going with me.”
“Why not?” he asked.
“I…”—she gazed down at the dog and came back to him—“don’t know.”
“It sucks she was surrendered, Mabel. It was uncool. Uncalled for. At least, she’s a six-hundred-dollar dog. At most, fifteen. But even if money’s the point for many, it’s not the point. But she’s home now. You click. You know what she needs. You give it to her. You have to stop babying her. Animals do experience trauma. But just like humans, they can heal from it.”
“Okay.”
“So take her.”
“Okay.”
“You get worried, I’ll be there with Hannibal.”
Now, why did he say that?
Her gaze sharpened on him. “You will?”
“Stony Bluff has a booth. We’ll have some dogs and cats we hope will get adopted, and we’re selling organic pet treats Winona makes.”
“Right. A fundraiser.”
“It’ll be busy, the whole town will be there—”
Before he could finish, she asked, “The whole town?”
“MP turns out when there’s shit to do,” he explained. “Last year, Lillian, Harry’s wife, and her neighbors got into a big outside Halloween decoration fight that got so much attention, Harry had to put cruisers on each end of the block to shut it off from traffic because everyone with a kid, and just everyone, showed up on the night to trick or treat. This year, it’s happening again. They’re making a thing of it, and I talked Lillian into giving all her neighbors a donation bucket for the rescue.”
“Smart idea.”
He knew it was.
What fucked him was, he liked to hear she agreed.
“What I’m sayin’ is, we don’t have many big city ways here, but we find shit to keep us busy, and when that’s on offer, people take advantage of it. It’ll be a good test for you both. Tonks, to see how she manages crowds. You, so you know you can manage Tonks. Worst that can happen is you have to leave. But I doubt that’ll happen.”
“Great, then I’ll take her.”
“Can I go?”
As he planned, their always-short détente ended swiftly.
“My apologies for keeping you,” she sassed.
“Maybe see you tomorrow,” he said, then gave Tonks some extra pets, walked to his truck, swung in and didn’t hazard looking at her as he pulled out.
But he didn’t turn right at the end of her drive.
Because he was a moron, he turned left and headed into town.
Several times on the ride into MP he considered turning around.
Each time, he didn’t.
So he found he was parked outside the sheriff’s department before he could do the smart thing and get his ass home to his dogs.
That said, if this got sorted, he wouldn’t worry so much about Mabel, and they might be neighbors, as such, but he doubted he’d see her very often.
Oh yeah.
And he wouldn’t allow himself to think about how that made him feel either.
Rus was talking with Polly behind the counter when he swung in.
He thought he’d get some resistance, but surprisingly, Rus just jerked up his chin, then jutted it toward the swinging door.
Hutch used that door.
“Let’s go see if Harry’s in his office,” Rus said as greeting.
Hutch was not going to look this gift horse in the mouth.
“Heya, Hutch,” Polly greeted.
“Hey, gorgeous. You ready to leave Pete so we can drive off into the sunset?”
She blushed, but hit him on the arm and warned, “You know, one day, hot stuff, you’re gonna be in trouble when I take you up on that offer.”
She’d never leave Pete.
But one thing Hutch knew, Polly Pickler was one of the good ones.
She was old enough to be his mother, but he was happy for Pete (the owner of the Double D diner, and a good, solid man) that he found a loyal, loving woman.
He smiled at her then turned and followed Rus.
Harry was in his office.
Another surprise, he didn’t offer any resistance either, so Hutch found himself sitting in a chair opposite Harry, Rus in the one at his side.
Harry started it. “How’s Mabel?”
“Good,” Hutch replied.
“No other incidents?” Harry asked.
Hutch shook his head.
“Not even a sighting?” Harry pushed.
Hutch again shook his head.
“Right, so it’s my prerogative to communicate any part of an investigation that I see fit to communicate, but even with that preamble, I’m going to tell you I want a tight circle on this.”