But still, when Malene dropped me off, the day was dipping into evening. I called Liam to make sure that we were on to start the demolition at Hadley’s place and realized that I still didn’t have the stinking doorknob.
Like, I would seriously lose my head if it weren’t attached.
So when we got home, I ushered Lady into my truck and we headed on over to the barn. Hadley’s vehicle was there when we arrived.
“Wonder what she’s doing here,” Lady said.
“Probably just looking around,” I murmured.
Voices drifted out from the barn.
“No, of course no one knows,” Hadley said.
Knows what?
“Are you sure? ’Cause some lady was snooping around my camper today.”
My eyes widened. Was that Pete Swensen talking? Lady padded forward as if she was going to barge right in. Quick as a wink, I yanked her from the ground and covered her mouth with my hand.
A muffled sound erupted from her throat.
“Did you hear something?” Pete said.
“I don’t think so,” Hadley replied. “Let me just take a look.”
Oh crap! They would see my truck. Best to play this off.
“Yoo-hoo,” I called, walking in. Hadley and Pete stood stock-still in the middle of the barn looking guilty as could be.
Now what could they have to be guilty about?
The look of surprise on Hadley’s face was classic. “Clem, I didn’t know that you were coming out today.”
“I forgot something.” My gaze shifted from her to Pete, who looked awfully uncomfortable as she danced from one foot to the other. “Oh, hey, Pete. I didn’t see you standing there in the corner, so close to Hadley. Have you stopped drinking for today?”
His face turned beet red and I couldn’t resist, so I kept at it.
“You know, because you’re in mourning for Crystal. You were all upset this morning when I saw you. I’m surprised you managed to leave the camper to come here. You stopped drinking a while ago though, right? I’d hate it if you ended up with a DUI or worse, hurting someone on the road. Do you need me to call Tuney Sluggs and get you an escort home?”
Okay, so my tone was definitely sarcastic and accusatory. But I couldn’t help it. Both Hadley and Pete looked worried as they rubbed their heads and avoided my gaze.
“So,” I continued, “do either of y’all want to tell me what’s going on?”
Hadley shot Pete a nervous glance before answering, “We’re having a relationship.”
“Pete,” I mocked, “I thought you were all upset about Crystal. That’s what you told me. And you looked pretty upset. Was that just a lie? If so, I’m gonna say it was pretty much an Oscar-worthy performance.”
He rubbed his face. “I am upset about Crystal, but I never tried to get back together with her.”
“What? That’s not what you said earlier.”
Pete and Hadley exchanged a look. “I only said that,” he explained, “for Wylie’s sake. He has this whole thing where he thinks Crystal and I should be together. It’s like he’s obsessed with the idea. I’ve told him before that we were through, but Wylie just ignored me. To tell you the truth, I think he had a thing for her, and because she was never into him, he figured that I should be with her.”
Weird.
Hadley smiled at Pete. “We’ve been together for a little while. We didn’t want to come out about our relationship because, well…”
“Because her dad hates me,” Pete said. “He doesn’t think I’ll ever amount to much.”
