Chapter 22 #2
She waved me over, and I nodded, changing direction, heading for her, Nona, Eden, and Rory.
“Hey, honey.” Sage lifted her arm as soon as I got close, and I moved in, giving her a squeeze. We broke apart and I moved to the others, giving them the same as I had Sage.
“How’s everyone doing?” I asked, taking in my friends’ sad, drawn expressions.
“As expected, I guess,” Rory answered. “It’s just so damn sad.”
“You knew the family, didn’t you?” Nona asked.
I gave her a small nod. “A bit, yeah.”
“You know how his wife is holding up?”
I turned to Eden who’d just asked that question. Shortly after it happened, I’d gone by their house to check on Sid and drop off some sweets for her and the girls, but I didn’t want to impose, so I didn’t stay long.
“Not good,” I answered. “I went to see her a few days ago, and she wasn’t able to stop crying the whole time I was there.
” The poor woman could barely get a word out, so I’d left her with her mom and dad, giving her a hug and telling her I was there if she needed anything.
It hadn’t felt like much, and I didn’t have the words that could offer her any kind of peace, so I’d left there feeling just as helpless and sad as I had when I arrived.
I turned to Nona, asking, “Do you know if Leo and Micah have any leads yet?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. They can’t discuss an ongoing case, so if they’re telling Trick and Hayes anything, they aren’t telling us. All I know is that the two of them look wrecked. I can’t imagine how hard it is to investigate a murder, let alone one of their own.”
I couldn’t imagine either, and if I were being honest with myself, I’d been thinking about Leo constantly since it happened, worried about how he was doing. My hand reached for my phone about a hundred times a day, wanting to call or text, just to check up on him, but I always stop myself.
“Incoming, Dani,” Sage said in a whisper. “Mini-Leo at two o’clock and closing in.”
I turned around to see Hardin coming my way. He stopped just outside our little huddle, his expression and mannerisms nervous as he looked around at the rest of the ladies.
“Uh . . .” He cleared his throat nervously. “Hey.”
I smiled gently. “Hey back.”
“Um, Dani. Could I . . . well—”
“We’ll just leave you guys to talk,” Eden said, giving Hardin a beautiful grin that made him blush.
My friends moved in to give me hugs and cheek touches, then took off, leaving me and Hardin alone.
My attention returned to him to see he was growing more anxious by the second. Reaching out, I placed my hand on the arm of his sharp-looking suit jacket. “Honey, is everything okay?”
“Yeah . . . I mean no. What I mean is . . .” He shook his head as though trying to clear his thoughts. “I was an asshole to you that day at my Pop’s house,” he stated. “And, well . . . it wasn’t right. You’ve never been anything but really nice, and I just . . . I guess I—”
“Hardin.” He stopped, lifting his gaze off the ground. “You have absolutely nothing to apologize for, okay?”
“But I do. I’m not that guy. I mean, I’m not like that. I’m not mean. And I was mean to you, so I need to make it right, and to do that, I have to apologize.”
God, this kid. “We’re good, sweetie. We’ll always be good. I promise.”
His lips parted in surprise and those hazel eyes, so much like his dad’s, grew wide. “Really?”
“Really,” I returned on a giggle.
“Okay. Well, then . . . good.”
“Hardin!” I watched with concern as his back stiffened at the sound of his mother’s voice. When I turned my head to look in her direction, I saw her standing there, gripping Macie’s hand, her face was a mask of anger. “Come on,” she continued shouting. “We’re leaving.”
I saw the struggle carved into every inch of his expression and quickly moved to put him at ease. “Swing by Muffin Top some time. I’ll have something sweet waiting for you.”
“Thanks,” he muttered. He started to turn away, but stopped himself. “You know, my Dad, he really likes you. Like a lot.”
“Hardin—”
“Just somethin’ to think about,” he finished, and with that, he turned and started across the grass to his mom.
Macie glanced back over her shoulder and gave me a little wave that I quickly returned as her mother dragged her off.
I watched as they disappeared into the crowd, letting out a sigh before turning for my car.
The minute I did, my eyes landed on a familiar pair of hazel eyes that never failed to make me shiver.
That shiver quickly worked its way up my spine, sending my heartbeat into overdrive.
Leo didn’t wave or smile, he didn’t tilt his chin in that way guys always did or acknowledge me in any way.
But his gaze remained locked on mine, even as the officers standing near continued their conversations around him.
He just stood in the middle of it, staring at me.
Everything inside of me was screaming to go to him, but I pushed it down, beating it into submission until I could finally force my eyes from his and unroot my feet from where they’d planted.
Then I headed for my car and started for Muffin Top, thinking the whole time that I’d just made a mistake by walking away.