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The blonde’s lips curled up. “You two are the best. Have I mentioned how happy I am that I married you?”
They were chatting as they walked into the restaurant.
She was hearing things wrong because it almost sounded like the blonde had been talking about marrying both of the men. Maybe she was the one who needed a nap.
Maybe this was a terrible mistake and she should have stayed in North Carolina and taken the first job she was offered and been happy she’d survived. Why had she gone looking for more rejection? Her mom had been cold as ice most of the time. Any man involved with her likely had been, too.
Sometimes it was best to leave the past alone.
She rapidly made a couple of decisions. Earlier today chasing joy had seemed like a good choice, but she was tired again now, the weight of her past pressing down on her. Grief was an odd thing, and grief wasn’t confined to people. She could feel grief for the parts of her life that were done, for the trauma she’d been through.
She would go inside and have dinner with Hale and his boyfriend because it would be rude to not show up. And she was hungry. Then she would text Van and let him know she was heading home tomorrow and would have to cancel.
She’d thought having a fling while she waited for her bio dad to make up his mind would be fun, but now she worried it would be one more mistake. She was good at making them.
You need to walk into every situation with the expectation that it will go poorly. That way you’ll be prepared for the worst, and it will be a nice surprise if good things happen.
Her mom had not believed in the power of positive thinking.
Or she could give this the smallest amount of time and spend this evening making friends. Tomorrow there was a whole bunch of fun to be had at the festival, and tomorrow night she could find out if Van was a man she could trust enough to go to bed with once or twice. She could test the waters, find out how this new body of hers worked.
If it worked. She hoped it worked.
She pushed through Trio’s doors and warmth flooded her system. It was toasty inside the bar and grill, and there was a lovely, welcoming ambiance to the place.
A pretty woman with brown hair was returning to the hostess stand and gave her the biggest smile. “Hi. Welcome to Trio. One tonight, or are you meeting someone?”
“I’m meeting some friends.” She hoped they would be friends. “His name is Hale. I’m meeting him and his boyfriend. He’s got dark…”
The woman was staring at her. “His boyfriend?”
There was suddenly a big man with a cowboy hat on beside her. “Yep. She’s here to meet Hale and his partner. Or boyfriend. Whatever you want to call him. They’re not married, you know. I’m not sure why. I think Hale’s holding out on Van.”
The dark-haired woman’s jaw dropped as she looked up at the man who had a shiny star on his khaki button-down that marked him as the sheriff of Bliss County. “I’m confused.”
The sheriff simply grinned. “Me, too. Isn’t it exciting? I already called Teeny and asked if she could watch the boys for another hour or two. I promised her we would give her lots of updates.”
“Okay, then.” The woman turned back to her. “I’m Callie and I’m happy to take you over to Hale. His boyfriend isn’t back yet, though.”
“He is.” The sheriff seemed to not have any crime to deal with. He stood right beside the hostess as though he wasn’t going anywhere. “He got back from his shift a couple of minutes ago, and they’ve already had a talk about tonight’s…meet-up. He was surprised, to say the least, because he also met a…friend today who he has a meet-up planned with for tomorrow.”
“Is there a problem?” Elisa got the feeling there was a whole subtext she wasn’t understanding.
“Not at all. Zane’s going back to talk to him, but I already figured out that there has been a slight misunderstanding between the two of them,” the sheriff said. “I believe this is Ms. Elisa Leal of North Carolina. Or do you prefer Lieutenant Leal?”
She was unaware she’d done anything that should have caught the sheriff’s attention. “I’m no longer in the military, Sheriff. I’ll ask again. Is there a problem?”
“Not at all, but your father is a careful man and running a background check before Max and Rye go out to meet with him is the least I can do. Mel trusts me and if he knows I’ve cleared you, he’ll be more willing to meet with you.” The sheriff seemed to have gone serious. “He’s a good man. Just quirky and a little on the paranoid side.”
