The thing was, he just learned what her life had been, and she was sassing him and strutting around in her sweet jeans, shirts, sweaters, silver and boots, baking sourdough bread.
Jesus.
His chest started hurting so bad, he had to rub it.
“You need me to send Vance up there to put up some surveillance?”Lee offered.
This wasn’t a bad idea.
Hutch talked it out.“It’s been over a week, and they’ve left her alone.She got a note, their indictment on something she did.But they haven’t approached since.Even so, she reported it, and you know how things are around here.So my guess is, you know our sheriff isn’t sitting on his hands when he might have another problem that might blow up in the town’s face.”
“You decide differently, you call.For Mabel Adams, it’ll be a freebie.”
Lee was a soft touch when it came to women in general, and women in peril, specifically.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Good she’s got you close.”
“Yeah.”
“I got no more, brother, but I’ll repeat, I can do something, call on me.”
“Thanks, Lee.”
“Marker paid,” Lee said.
And he hung up.
Hutch headed to the bourbon.
Once he poured it, he threw some back and turned to take in his kitchen.
Before he got out of the Navy, he’d already decided what he was going to do when the Navy was no longer his life.He also decided where he was going to be.
As far away from anybody as he could be.
He’d never been a crowd person.He’d always been a loner.His father had been shocked when he’d enlisted, because to enlist, you gotta know how to work on a team.And not like sports.Doing it day in, day out, moment to moment.
It wasn’t that Hutch didn’t like people, he just didn’t like a lot of them all at once.
He could deal.
It wasn’t a choice.
It wasn’t a phobia.
It was a preference.
And he didn’t need much of anything.
Outside of putting up the pens, after he moved in, he hadn’t changed a thing about this property.He got the furniture he needed, nothing more.
Bree had given him endless shit about it.
Your kitchen is god-awful.You need a new one.
You need a TV.Not having a TV is just crazy.
