As she hung up and slipped her cellphone into her shirt pocket, she felt frustrated and angry. Not just at herself for not being strong enough to tell the truth, but also at her daddy.
He had always taught her a good law officer was objective and impartial. And he wasn’t being impartial now. He was letting what happened ten years ago influence his objectivity. Maybe Jaxon had robbed Mickey’s when he was a teen, but that didn’t mean every time an alarm went off in Promise Springs, Jaxon was responsible.
Jaxon wasn’t that same troublemaking kid.
And maybe he had never been.
She knew what her father wanted her to do. He wanted her to sit on the other side of the bridge that led to Hennessys’ and watch the house.
Instead, she drove over the bridge.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Tully had always loved the Hennessys’ house. Unlike the neat brick home she’d grown up in, the Hennessys’ home looked like a kid had constructed it using different Lego kits. The main house was river rock and the additions were a variety of different material—Austin brick, stucco, wood siding.
It was as pieced together as the treeboat.
Pulling up behind Jaxon’s classic truck, she cut the engine and got out.
She didn’t know why she was there. Maybe she just wanted to prove to herself that she wasn’t like her daddy. That she didn’t hold what happened in the past against people. But when she reached the porch steps and saw the soft glow of light coming from the windows, she faltered.
What did she plan to say?
Hi, Jaxon, I just stopped by to say hi . . . and see if maybe you wanted to have a little fun.
She rolled her eyes and turned back to her car.
A deep voice stopped her.
“Leaving so soon?”
She whirled back around and looked at the dark corner of the porch where Jaxon’s voice had come from. She could barely make out the outline of him reclining in the porch swing.
“Oh! I didn’t see you.” She scrambled for a reason to be there. “I was just coming to check on the renovations.”
He sat up. “And then leaving before you even knocked on the door?”
“I decided it was too late to come calling.”
His head turned to the light coming out the window. “Yeah, it looks like we’re all in bed.” He turned back to her. “Renovations are going the same. Workers don’t show up and there’s always some problem we didn’t foresee. But Huck claims that’s just part of construction. How’s your ankle?”
“Much better. What problem didn’t you foresee?”
“Plumbing. A pipe burst, but we got it fixed.”
“Did it damage anything?” She took off her hat and moved closer. Jaxon looked like he’d just gotten out of the shower. His hair was loose and damp and his western shirt unsnapped, revealing a peek of hard body.
“No, it didn’t damage anything.” His eyes squinted. “You didn’t straighten your hair.”
His comment had her reaching up and tucking the curly tendrils that had come out of her ponytail behind her ear. “Oh . . . yeah, I didn’t really have time.”
“Ahh. Well, I like it.”
Her stomach did a little flip and it took her a moment to find her voice. “Thank you.” She stood there awkwardly, searching for something else to say. Of course it would turn out to be something stupid. “Nice night.”
One side of his mouth tipped up. “If you like humidity thick enough to slice with a knife.”
“You should be used to humidity since you worked in the gulf.”
