AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Okay,” she replied. “Have a good day.”
“You, too.”
I kissed her once more before I walked out and made my way to my car. I hadn’t wanted to walk away at all, but I had to get my head back in the game and focused on the case I’d been investigating. As long as it went unsolved, the citizens of Steel Ridge were at risk, and considering Hanna was one of those citizens, I couldn’t say I didn’t have a little extra motivation now to get this job done.
I didn’t really notice the change until three nights later.
I hadn’t seen Hanna since I left her place Monday morning. I’d been working late at the office, trying to figure out that one small detail that was going to break this case wide open.
We’d spoken on the phone, though, and for some reason, I hadn’t initially realized it was happening.
Now, something was nagging at me. Because it was just after dinner, and I was going to be putting a couple more hours in at work when I decided to call Hanna.
“Hey, Leo,” she answered.
“Hi, Hanna. How was your day today?”
She sounded particularly downtrodden when she replied, “It was alright.”
“Are you sure? You sound like you’ve got something on your mind,” I returned.
There was a brief stretch of silence. “Yeah, I do,” she eventually sighed. “But I don’t think I want to talk about it right now, if that’s okay.”
I certainly wasn’t going to force her to talk, but I didn’t like knowing that she had something that was bothering her. “If you don’t want to talk, you don’t have to. But if you change your mind, I’ll listen. As long as you’re sure you’re okay.”
“I’m okay,” she assured me.
Deciding it was best for a change of topic, I asked, “Tonight’s movie night, right? Are you expecting guests to join in tonight?”
Hanna sighed again. “No. My guests that I had here checked out this morning, so I’ve got a bunch of vacancies at this point.”
“Oh, Hanna, I’m sorry. I didn’t know,” I told her. “Would you like me to come over and watch with you?”
“No. No, it’s okay. I know you’re working. Besides, I think I’m just going to go out for a drive and clear my head for a bit,” she replied.
I didn’t like hearing her sound so defeated. “My work is important, sweetness, but making sure that I’m doing all I can to keep you happy is a much bigger priority to me. Plus, I’ve been going at this hard for a few days now. It might be good I get away from it for a while.”
Following another beat of silence, her mood changed again. I wasn’t exactly sure I believed it was genuine, but Hanna managed to sound far more upbeat when she insisted, “I know you care, Leo. You’re an amazing guy, so I know that you’re worried about me. I promise I’ll be alright. In fact, I think I really need some time alone tonight. Just a little fresh air will go a long way for me.”
Hanna and I were still new, and there was no doubt that I hadn’t learned everything there was to learn about her. She had insisted she needed the time alone tonight. It went against every instinct I had to not go to her when I knew she was upset about something, but I thought it was best to respect her wishes.
“Can you promise me one thing?” I asked her.
“What’s that?”
“If something changes and you decide you need some company or even if you just want to talk, promise you’ll call me,” I urged her.
Hanna’s voice was just a touch over a whisper when she promised, “I can do that.”
“Okay. Be careful, and I’ll talk to you later if you want, or if you’re up for it, we can do dinner together tomorrow night,” I said.
“Dinner tomorrow sounds nice,” she returned.
While I couldn’t say she’d eased my concerns, I had to admit I felt marginally better knowing that she’d agreed to have dinner with me tomorrow night. I had hours between now and then to hopefully make a break in this case, and I was praying that would happen, because I wanted all of my attention to be on making sure I could help Hanna resolve whatever was on her mind.
Feeling the tension ease in my shoulders, my voice dropped low. “Alright, sweetness. I’ll let you go then, but I’ll see you for dinner around six or so, okay?”
“That works for me. Have a good night, Leo.”
