Chapter 3
Chapter Three
SHERIFF HUDSON
If I can count on one thing in this town, it’s Kindred getting up to something in one way or another. The town adores her. Not that I can blame them. It’s impossible not to. She is the heart of this town.
Hollis walks beside me. I’d spotted him across the street at the diner, his attention fully on the library. The second I walked toward it, he was headed my way. He didn’t say a word.
We still aren’t super chatty. I’ve never been a giant fan of his. He was already the mayor by the time I fully moved here and became sheriff. I hated him. He hadn’t done shit to me, but he was close to Kindred. He became mayor solely because of her influence.
Kindred might act like a goofball, but she owns this town. If she didn’t want Hollis to be the mayor, she would seriously run in the next election. It doesn’t matter how rich he is. He couldn’t buy the residents of New Hope if they had Kindred in their ears.
At one point, I thought I might have to kill Hollis.
Then I watched him and Kindred together, and I never saw a trace of attraction or romance.
I even observed her hit him in the back of the head.
She appeared more bothered and sisterly than she even did with her own brother.
I thought I could let it go until I heard they were engaged.
It was at that moment I knew Hollis had to die. The only thing that saved him in the end was Candy and the truth. There was no engagement. Well, not between Kindred and him but between Hollis and Candy.
I should have known. The source going around telling people about the engagement was Mary, Hollis’s mother. The same woman who is always poking me about Kindred. The woman really does have a broad set of interrogation skills. She would have made a hell of an operative.
Once Hollis and I cleared that up, he asked for my assistance. I was inclined to help, not only because I was the sheriff but also because I understood the expression on his face when he spoke of Candy.
That only made it all the more clear there was never anything between him and Kindred. Which I was thankful for. It's midwinter, and it would be a bitch to dig a hole this time of year.
We could hear the girls the second we stepped through the library front doors. Not to mention their bright flashlights were hitting every window in the place. I’d known the second Kindred slipped down the walkway between the post office and library that she was up to no good.
Also, my girl was in all black. That in itself stood out like a sore thumb, letting me know her intentions weren’t on the up and up.
She left Town Hall early today to return in sneakers.
I didn’t know she owned any. Kindred loves her heels and would wear boots when needed but change out of them when she got to her office.
She is always dolled up. She lights up the room brighter than any star on top of a Christmas tree.
I could simply watch her flit about town and be pleased.
I'm a simple man when it comes to clothes and day-to-day shit, but I’ve enjoyed the fuck out of every outfit she's put on. A few might’ve pissed me off, but that was just me being jealous.
I did my best to keep my mouth shut when it did flare to life, but there were a few times I cracked and made a comment. Like most of the others, I stuck my foot right in my mouth.
I flip the lights on in the whole building, not wanting to spook them. I made sure each one of my steps was loud so they would hear me coming. I don't get the chance to say a word; I didn't think I would. Kindred pops up from behind the front library desk.
"Oh my God! I thought we were going to die. We've been locked in!" She stumbles around by the desk, appearing lost. Her acting isn't half bad.
“I’m in labor!” Candy pops up next.
“I said follow my lead.” Kindred shoots her a look. Candy cringes.
“Okay, I’m not in labor.” She gives Hollis a sly smile while blushing at the same time.
“But she could have been, and”—Kindred holds up her hands to make air quotes—“the librarian locked us in here.”
“Is she not really a librarian?" Candy asks. That gets her another look from Kindred. “Right, the hussy librarian.”
“Hussy?” Hollis barks out a laugh. Now it’s Hollis that gets a look from Kindred, and this one is not so nice. He quickly locks down any further laughter.
See, that's my problem. When I see I'm getting her worked up, I keep going. I get off on those glares of hers that can cut a grown man down to size. I don't give a shit. Kindred could cut me any and every day. As long as I had her attention, I wouldn’t care.
"Is there a reason you're breaking into the library?"
"I didn't break shit." Kindred puts her hands on her hips.
"All right, then why are you sneaking around the library?" I am curious as to why, but I'm curious about everything surrounding her.
"I'm not sneaking. See, I'm right here."
"You were under the desk," I point out. I know this conversation isn't going anywhere but in circles, which again, I'm more than happy to chase her around in that circle. It’s like our foreplay; she just isn’t attuned to that little fact yet.
"I thought I dropped something." She juts that stubborn chin of hers up a few notches.
"Glitter?"
"Glitter? Do I look like a stripper?" Now it's me narrowing my eyes on her.
"You're not a stripper," I grit out. The thought alone pisses me off because I could see her as a stripper in my mind. Believe me, I’ve fantasized about her stripping for me many times.
That show would be for my eyes only. Kindred has the legs for it, and I swear she could do anything in heels if she wanted.
"I could be a stripper!" Kindred snaps back.
"Yeah, she can strip," Candy adds. Kindred was hard enough to handle, and now she’s got a sidekick in Candy to egg her antics on.
"You think I couldn't be a stripper?" Kindred's expression goes from a hurt one to a pissed-off one in a blink of an eye.
Fuck me. This is how I'm always putting my foot in my mouth. I suppose I'd rather that. It's never my intent to hurt her.
"You think Shelly could be a stripper?"
"She doesn’t have the hips for it."
Kindred's mouth opens and then closes, her cheeks flushing. Shit, now I'm done. She’s got that look that tells me I’ve crossed some line and she’s going to make me pay. It might not be now, but it will come in some shape or form when she deems fit.
"All right, we all know Shelly isn't going to be stripping." Hollis cuts in. "She still has to get her second hip surgery next month, so stripping isn’t even possible."
"She'll be sixty-five by then," I add.
"Oh, her birthday is coming up? We should get her a gift," Candy says, glancing over to Kindred, making her tune change. "A gift she can choke on, obviously. Little hussy."
I have to bite back a laugh. “Are you going to tell me what you’re up to, or do I need to take you down to the station?” I keep my gaze pinned on Kindred.
“We’re being arrested?” Candy hisses.
“No, precious girl. No one would dare arrest you,” Hollis tells her.
Kindred’s face softens a fraction at their exchange before she remembers she’s pissed at me for one reason or another. She’s probably got a list of them on her phone.
My girl is both organized and chaotic. I have no idea how she manages that, but that’s what makes her Kindred. She’s different and stands out among us mere mortals.
"You wouldn't dare?" she challenges, having no clue that I have spent many a nights plotting her kidnapping. I've done it a hundred times, getting all the details right. If I am good at anything, it’s making a plan, except when it comes to her.
"Try me, Cupcake."
"Don't call me that." She stomps her foot, almost tripping herself. "Stupid sneakers," Kindred huffs under her breath. She's not wrong. Her little stomps are cuter when she's got those heels on, and more dramatic too.
"Or what?" I toss back at her.
The name fits. Kindred might be feisty, but she is sweet, cute, and endearing like a small, delicious treat that I want to get my mouth on. One I want to savor every bite of.
"You think I'd tell you? No." She shakes her head, smirking. Nah, she'd rather catch you by surprise.
The thing is, I'm not surprised. I'm always ready when it comes to her. That is, after all, why I'm here and not home reading another one of the books I got today. If Kindred isn't home tucked in for the night, neither am I.
“All right, it’s getting late.” Hollis has been slowly inching toward the desk to get closer to Candy. “I need to get my girl home.”
“I’m in the middle of something here,” Candy hisses at him, not willing to leave Kindred’s side. These two are quickly becoming Frick and Frack.
"Babe, Kindred can't break into the library. She has keys to all the buildings owned by the town."
Candy's nose scrunches. "What?" She turns toward Kindred, who is looking anywhere but at us. "Hey." Candy pokes her in the side. "You have keys to this place?"
"Maybe," she admits, picking an imaginary piece of lint off her black sweater. The whole library goes silent for a few beats. Silence isn't Kindred's strong suit. "It was more fun this way, okay?"
Candy's confused expression turns to amusement. "It was fun." A small laugh leaves her.
“Come on, let's get you home.” Hollis holds his hand out to Candy. She comes around the counter to take it, and they both head out together.
“Well, then. I suppose you should be on your way too.” I’m not going anywhere. Not when I don’t have a clue what she is up to or why she’s pissed at Shelly. The woman is sweet and is part of the local sewing group the Knotty Knitters. They make hundreds of gloves and hats for donations each year.
“I’m going right here.”
“Hudson.” She sighs. “I’m fine. You don’t need to watch over me like a hawk. You can tell my brother I’m fine. I’ve been fine since he left for the Army.” Not sure I agree with that.
She might have been for a few years, but then her grandmother passed. The woman who raised her and Ethan. I’d only gotten the pleasure of meeting her once. Even in that short encounter, I saw where Kindred got a lot of her personality.
“You think I report back to your brother?” Why the hell would I do that?
When he calls, Kindred comes up in conversation, but it’s not me giving him a rundown about her. I don’t go that deep with Ethan about his sister. They are completely separate in my mind. In fact, it’s Kindred that has my loyalty, and she is different from everyone else in my life.
"Of course you do." She rolls her eyes at me.
"I don't talk about you unless you're brought up." Kindred flinches, hurt crossing her beautiful face before she quickly masks it.
What the hell did I say wrong now? Does she or doesn't she want me talking about her? The truth is, I don't talk much in general, and when it comes to her, that shit is personal to me in a way I can't describe. I just know it is.
"Whatever." She dismisses me. Now that irritates me. I'd rather she be mad.
"What did I say wrong?" I ask, going with a piece of Shelly's advice about simply opening my mouth and asking. That might help me figure out Kindred more than reading books.
"Nothing." Kindred sits down at the desk and starts clicking away, ignoring me.
It's cute that she thinks that I’m going to let her off that easy.
I grab a chair from one of the many tables and set it down in front of the desk counter.
Kindred isn't terrible at anything, except keeping those tempting lips closed.
Even when she's alone, she keeps talking to herself as she completes a task.
It's adorable. I've even seen her fight with herself a few times.
Kindred fidgets in her seat, wiggling around, trying to pretend my presence isn't bothering her. She’s trying to act as though she couldn’t care less, but I know she does. If she didn't, she wouldn't get so worked up.
"What?" she whispers to herself, leaning closer to the computer.
I watch as her eyes move up and down the screen, her brows rising higher and higher as she does.
I stand, wanting to know what has her attention now.
I don't make but a couple of steps toward her, and she's closing and shutting everything down.
"You want to tell me what you needed to see so badly that you orchestrated a covert mission?"
"It's terrible, really." She turns the corners of her mouth downward, faking a frown while her eyes are downcast, pretending to be sheepish. "I looked into Shelly's internet history to see if I could get any ideas—you know her birthday is coming up. I wanted to get her something nice."
"The hussy?"
Kindred gasps. "Don't talk about Shelly that way." It takes all my control to not chuckle. Then she'll think I'm laughing at her. That will only add to her growing list of reasons to dislike me.
"How about yarn?" I suggest, wanting to be helpful.
"Oh, of course you know what to get her." Kindred launches herself to her feet. "I'll see myself out." That chin of hers tilts up again as she tries to walk past me.
I reach out, my hand wrapping around her forearm to stop her. “What did I do, Kindred?” Her lips press together. I used her name, and that ticks her off too.
“Nothing, you didn’t do anything.” Her tone is flat and a touch defeated. I know she’s not faking it, either. I can see it in her eyes.
“Well, I’m sorry either way.” I release my hold on her.
“Me too.” Kindred's response is whispered. I turn to watch her go. When I hear the door close behind her, I walk over to the computer, firing it back on.
Now it's me that goes back in history to see what she was really searching for. I'm taken aback when I see it's me. She pulled up the books that I've checked out over the past few months.
What the hell does that mean? I run my hand down my face, as frustrated as before. I don't have time to dwell on it. Not when I have a feisty blonde I need to make sure gets home safely.
I don't care how safe the town of New Hope is or how close she lives. I can't help myself, and I'm not going to try.