“Did he ever hurt you?” Hank reminded me of a lion ready to defend his pride. His chest was puffed out and there was a deadly calm about him. “Or Luna?”
“No!” I rushed out. “Never! Nothing like that.”
I could see that Hank didn’t believe what I was saying. “He didn’t. Not directly. But his actions have consequences. The first time a dealer showed up at my door it was for a few hundred dollars. This time it was more serious.”
“What did they do?”
My mind flashed back to walking in with Luna holding my hand. The cushions on our couches and our mattresses were slashed and all the stuffing was strewn about. All the drawers in the kitchen, bathrooms, and our bedrooms were pulled out and the contents were scattered on the floor. The television and my laptop were destroyed. I would have thought that since Richie stole from them, logic would dictate that the intruders would have stolen from us. But I supposed a forty-inch flat screen and a five-year-old Mac probably didn’t have that much street value.
“They just trashed the place.” I did my best not to let the fear bleed through my voice as I brushed over the break-in.
“What did they do?” Hank repeated.
Apparently, he wanted specifics. “You know, they cut up the furniture, broke glassware, smashed the television and computer.”
Hank’s nostrils flared and I noticed a vein pop out in his neck. I knew that it shouldn’t be hot that he looked like he wanted to kill someone, but it was. “What did the police say?”
“Umm…” Suddenly feeling a rush of nervous energy, I licked my lips. “I didn’t report it.”
A twitch in his eye told me that Hank did not approve of my actions, or in this case my inactions.
“If I reported it, Richie would have been implicated.” It wasn’t until I made that admission that I’d even known that was part of why I hadn’t called the authorities.
“You were protecting him?”
The subtext in that question was so much louder than the actual question itself.
“He’s not a bad person. He’s sick,” I repeated the same thing I’d been telling myself all of these years. “And he’s Luna’s father. But also, I wasn’t just protecting him. I was protecting us. The people he owes money to are dangerous. I decided it was best to just leave. So I packed up our stuff and moved here.”
Hank was silent for a beat and my shoulders started to relax thinking that this conversation was over.
“How much does he owe them?”
“Fifty grand.” Or at least that’s what he’d told me on the message he’d left explaining that he’d stolen my debit card the night before the break-in when he’d come by to visit Luna out of the blue and had taken the money out of my accounts. I’d tried to call him back for details but his phone was shut off.
Hank closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then opened them. I could see that my story was affecting him on a very real level, I just wasn’t sure why it was. He didn’t know us. But it looked personal to him.
“Where is he?”
“Richie?”
He didn’t respond verbally but I knew that the answer was yes.
“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “His phone is turned off.”
“Does he know where you are?”
“No. I did tell my neighbor, but she won’t tell anyone.”
Before he could ask any more questions, the timer went off.
Saved by the bell.
Without saying a word, he opened the screen door and I walked past him. We worked together in silence. After I drained the noodles, I took the pan back to the stove and he got to work under the sink.
I kept sneaking peeks as I prepared the mac and cheese and cooked the hot dogs. When I was slicing the hot dogs leaving about an inch at the end for the head and slicing them lengthwise, then rotating them and slicing again to create the tentacles, I got a particularly drool-inducing view of his triceps.
There was just something so sexy about a man that could fix things. I think the voice in my head that sounded like Ashley was right, I definitely had a type.
I had just put little holes in the top of the dog for eyes and was placing the final octopus on top of the third bowl of mac and cheese when Hank slid out from beneath the sink and washed his hands. I stared at his back for a moment, enjoying the view.
His T-shirt pulled taut on his broad shoulders revealing the lines and planes of his chiseled back. My mouth watered and it had nothing to do with the cheesy dinner I’d just prepared.
When he turned around and caught me staring I panicked.
“Dinner’s ready!” I called out to Luna as I scurried to the table and set the bowls down.
I could hear giggling and the click, click, click of Sherlock’s nails as the two ran down the hallway to the dining room. When they came around the corner, I could tell from Luna’s face that something was up, but other than the fact that she’d changed into a different dress than she’d had on before I couldn’t figure out what it was.
After losing the game of what doesn’t belong in this picture, I cried uncle. “What?”
“We played beauty shop,” she proudly announced.
Beauty shop? That meant…I looked down and sure enough, Sherlock’s nails were painted sparkle pink.
My head spun, worried about what Hank’s reaction would be. He was smiling. Seeing him grinning from ear to ear caused all the stress, all the tension, all the anxiety I’d been carrying around just melted away.
When he looked over at me, we both started laughing. Luna giggled and Sherlock ruffed.
In that moment, life was perfect. Nothing else mattered. Not Richie and his issues. Not my zero-balance bank account. Nothing. Moments like these, that’s what really mattered.
CHAPTER 17
Hank
“Alright, old man. It’s been fun.” I pulled up my baby brother’s driveway and cut the engine.
Sherlock lifted his head and stretched out his neck. I sighed as I patted him on the head. I was going to miss the big goofball.
When Jimmy texted yesterday saying that they’d be back in town late last night and they’d pick Sherlock up, I offered to bring him home today. I told him that it was because I’d be asleep by the time they got back in town. But the truth was, I hadn’t wanted to give him back just yet. I’d bought myself another day. He’d slept in my bed one more night and I’d brought him to the job site again today and he’d hung out in the trailer with me.
These past couple of days had made me see what my life was missing. I’d spent my evenings over at Skylar’s working on projects to make her house safe and habitable.
We had dinner together, all four of us. Luna and Sherlock were inseparable. They were joined at the hip. Sherlock had joined me in reading Luna her bedtime stories. Which was great until it was time to sneak out of her room to let her sleep and he ignored my command to come. It took a very stern look to let him know that I meant business.
I wished he could stay with me a little longer, but it was time for him to go home.
I was getting out of the truck when my phone rang. I pulled it out hoping that it was Skylar. She hadn’t called me yet, but that didn’t stop my heart from hoping.