This whole town is practically my family. Including that hussy, Shelly. I need to ask her what day her surgery is to make sure things are taken care of. Last time I made sure she had aride to the city and back. Then I set up a rotating schedule of people to check in on her.
I’ll be leaving one particular person off that list this time. No need to have Hudson spend any more time with Shelly than he already has.
I don’t care that she’s in her sixties. Sixties are the new forties! At least that’s what TikTok told me.
When I step out onto my porch, I let out a small scream, Hudson scaring the crap out of me. “The hell?”
“Morning, Cupcake.”
“Morning, weirdo. Why are you stalking my porch?”
“Got you this.” He hands me over a coffee from the bakery.
“Thanks.” I take a sip, and like always, it’s perfect.
“What’s going on?” Anytime he’s at my doorstep, it’s because something is broken or he needs to check on something inside. Hudson might not be telling my brother everything, but my brother sure is telling Hudson.
“You have a flat.” He nods toward the white Bronco my brother got me for my birthday.
“What?” I step over to get a look for myself, and sure enough, the back tire is flat.
I don’t live far at all from town. Technically, I am in town, only a handful of streets from the main road. I can do most things in heels, but it snows almost every day, and the sidewalks aren’t always clear. It doesn’t matter what kind of shoes you have on when you hit ice.
“I’ll take you to work and then see to the tire.”
“I can call someone.”
“I’m fixing the tire.” I stare at him. Well, up at him. It doesn’t matter how high of heels I wear, Hudson still always manages to loom over me. The man is a mountain that will come and cast a shadow over me at any moment.
No joke. I swear he can pop up out of nowhere. How he can move that quickly for as big as he is, I have no clue. They must teach you those Spiderman things in the Rangers.
“You know what. Have at it. I’m not going to fight you on it.”
“Good, you’re learning.” He takes my bag from me.
“You’re lucky. I was about to whack you with it.” I glare. “I’m not a dog. You’re not teaching me tricks.”
“You’re a confusing woman.” His eyes search my face. I haven't got a clue what he is trying to find. All there is is annoyance. I mean, I hope that’s all he can see. Otherwise, he’d know that I actually thought the learning comment was hot in a strange way.
“I am not. If I were, then it wouldn’t always feel like you’re two steps ahead of me.”
“Two steps ahead of you?” he asks, opening the passenger door of his black sheriff's patrol SUV. I hadn’t meant to say that out loud, but because I’m in the habit of talking to myself when I work, I also blurt out things when I shouldn’t because the thought went through my mind.
"Nothing."
"Kindred. Will you stop doing that to me?"
"What?"
"Not answering me when I'm confused about what you're saying." He's serious. I thought he was poking at me when he made those kinds of comments because it felt like it should be obvious. "My social cues aren't great when it comes to the opposite sex."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"That my unit didn't have many females. I always feel like I’m getting it wrong with you." He runs his fingers through his short hair, actually appearing flustered. Guilt hits me. He’s doing something nice for me, and I’m being a bit petulant.
He's not used to being around women? I have seen my brother in action before. Especially when he came home and went out in his uniform. He got mobbed by tourists. Women can’t resist a man in uniform.
People often call my brother pretty boy handsome. He is in a more classic sense, but Hudson checks every damn box for me, and I know I can't be the only girl in this town that notices.
