“All hope isn’t lost.It’ll take time.We’ll see.”
All hope wasn’t lost.
There he was, spooning me.
There I was, in the bed where he put me so he could protect me.
We’d never been friends with benefits, not from the beginning.
And we both knew it.
That was more than fine by me.
On that thought, I snuggled into my guy.
And fell asleep.
THIRTY-FOUR
Bedtime Stories
Mabel
Thursday had been dead.
Friday was a madhouse.
This wasn’t unusual.I’d already learned that things picked up on Friday due to long-weekenders hitting the area.I’d often had to come in because Abigail called me, seeing as she needed help.
But Abigail was still out with the flu.
And Hutch was still helping at Stony Bluff, driving back and forth to his place to keep an eye on the pups, as well as Tonks, since he was coming into town that night so we could have dinner at Luigi’s then go to the town council meeting.
I hadn’t been to one yet, but I heard from Abigail they were a hoot.
“Think the ones fromNorthern Exposure, but bigger,” she’d said.“A lot bigger with a lot more characters who have a whole lot to say.”
I couldn’t wait to go, not only because of that, but to hear what Harry would say about what went on at our bluff.
Now, I wasn’t so sure.
Because now, I was freaking.
First, there was a cold snap coming in, and they were forecasting snow for higher elevations, sleet for lower ones.
I was not a fan of snow driving.
Second, it was now nigh on closing, things had calmed down, but when I’d had a breather, I texted Brett to check in to see if he needed anything, and he’d replied,Maybe.Liam seems okay but I’m worried about Abby.
I’d wanted to know why he was worried about Abigail, like…badly, but since he had his hands full, I didn’t want to bother him with my questions.
So I’d just texted,You need anything, just shout.I’m in town but even if I’m not, I’ll come back down.
To that he’d replied,The best, and that worried me even more since he didn’t even have time to tap out “you’re” on his phone.
I was intermingling fretting, tidying up and restocking so my weekend staff, Clarissa and Julie, could hit the ground running when they opened the next day, and I heard Hutch come in at the back.
I watched him walk in, and I knew how cold it was getting because Hutch was used to it, so far as he seemed inured to it, but he was wearing a somewhat beat up (but that made it hot) sheepskin jacket over his flannel and thermal.
