She places a finger over my lips. “Stop talking.”
I grin. “Can’t take the truth?”
“You never cease to surprise me.”
“Hey, at least you know I’m never gonna be boring.”
After a few moments of maternal bonding, she asks, “So, why’d you agree to take Max in?”
I shrug. “Figured I could help a dude out, and keep an eye on him.”
“You know he’s twenty-nine, right?”
“Yes, and I also know how his smart mouth works. Trust me, I’m doin’ you a favor.”
She studies me for a second. “Thank you. If I’d known he was staying in town, I would have offered, but nobody tells me anything in this family anymore.”
She doesn’t know how much her saying that —family,and including me in there, means to me. My heart beats that much faster, my palms sweating. It’s no secret Willow has always had a hold over me. Heck, I haven’t hidden it. There’s no way she doesn’t know that.
“I guess he wants to catch up, just like your dad.”
“Yeah, that’s still weird,” she says, making the guilt rise in me. “Did I mention he’s studying cold cases at the station? Hejust waltzes in like Moses, and people part for him like the Red Sea.”
“Well, he’s kind of a big deal. They probably don’t want to ruffle any feathers,” I say.
“What aboutmyfeathers?” she counters. “I’m the one who has to put up with him hanging around, looking over my shoulder. I appreciate he’s trying to help, but this is weird behavior. I know him.”
“Maybe he is checkin’ up on you, now that you’ve got your big promotion,” I suggest. “That would explain why he’s helicopter parenting.”
She chews her lip, only adding to my angst. “I guess.”
How do I broach this with her even if I wanted to?Hey, honey. Don’t be freaked out, but some weirdo has been sending creepy, threatening letters to you about all the things he plans on doing to your limbs once they’re dismembered, and that’s why I’ve lied this entire time and your dad’s in on it, as well as Max. But don’t worry, we all care about you and that’s what matters.Talk about lame. Yet, I want to come clean. Lying isn’t in my nature, even if it is to keep my loved ones safe. If she’s aware, then she can take precautions. Then again, is it worth making her life miserable when this loser is probably some teenage jerk who’s got some weird fixation? I hope it’s the latter, and not someone really wanting to harm her, because I meant what I said to her father when I told him there is no rock this piece of shit can hide under. I will find him, and I will skin the motherfucker alive. I don’t care about excuses. He is a dead man.
“Haze?”
My eyes dart to hers. She’s waving a hand in front of my face. I palm the back of my neck. “Sorry, busy day.”
She takes Crunch fully into her arms as she heads to my kitchen. “Got any cold beer?”
I grin behind her back. “Always.”
“Light?”
I deadpan and she rolls her eyes. “I’m driving.”
“Help yourself. There should be some light right at the back.”
She opens my fridge, reaches in and I don’t stop my eyes wandering to her ass. She’s mighty fine in anything she wears, and while I do miss the times she was in uniform, my girl would look good in a paper bag. I imagine what it would be like if she lived here with me. The place would be tidier, that’s for sure. Unlike me, Willow is a neat freak and everything has its place. I wouldn’t mind her girly shit hanging around.
“So?” she goes on as I take the bottle from her and knock off the cap. Handing it back, she takes a sip. “I noticed your plants out front are dead.”
“Did you really come here to bust my balls?” I sigh. “Because I get enough of that at work from everyone, now Max, your dad’s in town so it’ll only be a matter of time before he’s tryin’ to beat my head in.”
“There’s been a study showing that plants may not be sentient beings, but they do know when they’re being starved to death.”
“You plant lovin’ hippies know all about it.”
Willow has been a vegetarian for as long as I’ve known her.
