“Brother, I know you find what limited downtime you give yourself with a guitar in your hands and you don’t care where you’re playing it.But The Link would go bust if I didn’t have Hutch nights.You don’t owe me dick.I’ll keep an eye.”
“Thanks, man.”
“Don’t mention it.Later.”
“Later.”
They disconnected, and Hutch called Harry to tell him what Lug told Hutch.
“So rumor spreading around town is true,” Harry said.“You’ve shaken off that mess with Bree, and you’ve found somebody.”
Yes.
And no.
“She had a worse breakup than me before she hit Misted Pines, Harry.We’re feeling our way along.”
That wasn’t all the truth, but it was enough of it.
“I liked her when I met her,” Harry informed him.“Didn’t know at the time you two had hooked up, but thinking on it, she suits you.Though, gotta admit, Rus and I were wondering.When we met her, I gave her your name, and she didn’t mention she knew you.”
“Can we leave that at ‘it’s complicated?’”
“You don’t owe me any explanations, brother.We can leave it however you want.”
Good man, Harry.
“Speaking of Mabel, you know who runs the Misted Pines Community TikTok?”Hutch asked.
“No, but I can ask Meg.She’ll probably know.”
“Just tell her to tell whoever does it that they should get consent from the people they’re posting videos about.They put up one of me and Mabel, and not only did Mabel’s ex find out where she lives now, something she didn’t want him to know, they didn’t blur out the faces of the minors they put on that video.”
“Jesus, yeah,” he said irritably.“Not okay.And do we have a problem coming our way with Mabel’s ex?”
Hutch considered the annoying conversation he had with the man the day before.
“Likely,” he said.“Though, Mabel is no pushover.She’s done with his shit.And she has me.”
“Yeah.”Harry sounded a lot better.“She has you.At least we got some good news if Enstrom’s reined in a maverick.”
“Yeah,” Hutch agreed.
Just as long as it wasn’tLord of the Flies.
TWENTY
Not Even Close
Hutch
“They don’t have any mommies?”Emma asked sadly, standing with feet on one fence post, nose over the one above it, peering into the orphaned moose pen.
If nothing, the last hour confirmed what he already knew.
Brett and Abigail Buckner were fine people.
And good parents.
