Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
KINDRED
Ihop right up on the counter to sit on it. Shelly smirks, turning in her rolling office chair to face me.
“How’s the chair?” I ask. I’d gotten it for her and made sure it was here when she came back to the library after her surgery. The thing cost a grand, but it’s got special cushioning on it. I know Shelly has no plans to retire anytime soon, so it was needed.
“I love the chair. Now ask me what you really want to ask.”
"No clue what you mean." I swing my legs back and forth.
"I know you snuck in here last night."
"I didn't sneak. I merely came in the back door. With the holiday season, I didn't want to use the sidewalk out front."
"Yeah, foot traffic is killer out there," Shelly snickers.
"You see there's a new deputy in town?" I change the subject. No use lingering on last night. We have bigger snowballs to melt.
“Haven’t met her yet, but news travels fast around here.”
“What have you heard?” I lean forward, ready for any gossip.
“Probably the same as you have. Rumor has it she’s got eyes for the sheriff. Heard they’re having lunch at the diner together as we speak.”
Oh, I know that already. I heard her tell him she’d order him a coffee as she touched his shoulder. Don’t people know about personal space? Well, people who aren’t locals, and she’s not a local.
I’m still reeling from when Hudson said that us being a couple would never happen.
I swear something wilted inside of me when he made that comment.
I’ll never understand that man, or maybe I do and don’t want to face it.
He doesn’t flirt with me or give me those heated looks I’ve heard about passing between two people.
“That doesn’t bother you? Doesn’t he often come here for lunch?” Shelly is now the enemy of my enemy.
“I think he got his fill of me yesterday.” Okay, Shelly is back to being an enemy too.
“Oh, I know about you plying him with dirty books.” I make a tsking sound and shake my head disappointedly at her.
“Open your reader app on your phone,” Shelly challenges.
“I’m not opening it.”
“You are the one who told me about Smashwords.”
“Oh my God.” I hush her. “There are children around. Your behavior is getting out of control.” Shelly laughs.
“He gets romance books.”
She shrugs. “Interesting.”
“I know that you know.” Of course she does. “I would never have guessed he was reading a romance book. I would have guessed war books or something.”
“I saw him lingering in one of the romance aisles one day, so I started giving him recommendations.”
“You’re really giving me nothing here.” I pull out one of Noel’s cookies from the bakery.
“You brat, you bought them all, didn’t you?” Every morning Shelly gets a cinnamon M he had lunch with her. This man is really getting around.
"I need to grab something," I tell him so I can make my escape.
"I take it you're going back to town for some reason."
"Yes."
"Where?"
"A girl has to have her secrets, Hudson," I scold him teasingly.
"Go, I'll wait."
"You can come in if you want. Loiter in my living room." The fight for me to take Travis's truck back myself will be useless. I’ll never win, and I don’t have time to argue tonight.
"I think it's best I wait out here."
"Whatever," I mutter, heading into the house, making sure I slam the door extra hard.