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I’d driven into town to pick up a couple things I needed from the hardware store, and as I was coming out, I looked up and saw Hardin through the window of the pizzeria. She was sitting in a booth, all that shiny dark hair hanging around her shoulders and catching in the sunlight that was coming through the glass pane. But that wasn’t what drew my focus.
Well, not completely, anyway.
It was the way she was leaning across the table, her face pinched and unhappy as she said something to the man sitting across from her. There was no chance I could make out what was being said from such a distance, but it wasn’t hard to tell the words weren’t happy.
Before I could think better of it, my feet were taking me across the street and heading for the pizzeria, tunnel vision directing me toward the one person I’d be best avoiding.
A voice in the back of my head was telling me to turn back around, that whatever was happening wasn’t any of my damn business, but I shoved it down and kept going. I pushed through the door, vaguely aware of being greeted by one of the employees working. I moved to the stool that always managed to be unoccupied every time I came in.
“Hey, Ford.” Penelope, one of the waitresses on staff, popped up behind the counter where I was sitting. “You need a menu?”
I forced my eyes off the booth by the window for a second to give her a friendly smile. “No thanks, Pen. Just a slice of sausage and a Bud Light, if you don’t mind.”
She knocked her knuckles against the wooden counter with its years and years of scarring that added to the character of the place. “You got it. I’ll have that right out for you.”
“Thanks,” I said distractedly, turning back to the booth Hardin was sitting in. A woman had joined her and the guy, standing at the end of the table as Hardin talked. Then the guy across from her slid out of the booth, grabbed the other woman’s hand, and together, they walked out of Junior’s.
For the second time in less than a handful of minutes, I was moving without thinking.
Her head was buried in her hands, the most adorable little growl rumbling in her throat.
“Everything okay?”
She let out a startled gasp, her head shooting up, sending all that glossy midnight hair flying. Her gorgeous eyes went wide, the swirls of green, honey, and gold flashing with recognition.
“God, Ford. You scared me. I didn’t hear you sit down.”
“Not surprised. You were too busy growling, and from the looks of it, plotting someone’s demise.”
She collapsed back into her seat on a huffed exhale. “You aren’t too far off the mark.”
“Here you go, Ford,” Penelope said, dropping my order in front of me before looking at her boss. “Can I get you anything else, Hard?”
“No. Thanks, babe. I’m good.”
Penelope took off to check on her other customers, and I turned back to Hardin as I lifted my slice of pizza to my mouth and bit down, barely holding in the groan as all the delicious flavors exploded on my tongue.
“So. You want to tell me why you look like you’re contemplating murder?”
She let out a weary sigh, exhaustion written across her stunning face as she turned to look out the window. “Not murder,” she started in a teasing tone. “Maybe just a little light maiming.”
My eyes went wide on a bark of laughter. I certainly hadn’t seen that response coming. “Light maiming. Huh. I didn’t know there was such a thing.”
A tiny smirk pulled at her lips as she lifted her soda and placed the straw between her plump cherry lips to take a drink. “Don’t get on my bad side and you won’t have to find out.”
Even with as tired and frustrated as she so clearly was, she had fire in her that refused to be tamped down. I loved that about her. Hardin Shields was never down for long.
“Deal. Now how about you tell me what’s going on.”
She stared at me across the table, and I knew exactly what she was doing. She was using her silence and shrewd gaze as a weapon to see if I’d cave and let her off the hook without explanation. I wasn’t going to. Instead, I stared right back, my brows lifted in silent challenge. I’d seen her pull this move with her brother a handful of times, and I’d seen him fold like a cheap suit under her scrutiny. I’d hand it to the guy, he was tough, for a vet. But his little sister and her kid had the man wrapped around their little fingers.
Finally, she gave up on a huff of laughter, shaking her head when she knew I wasn’t going to bend like Owen.
“That was Hazel’s father. He wanted to meet up today to introduce me to the newlove of his life,” she explained, those last words said with so much snark, it had practically dripped out onto the table.
My mouth pulled into a wince. “Ouch. I bet that was fun.”
She raised a single brow at me as she absentmindedly stirred the straw around in her cup, making her soda fizz and bubble. “It could have gone better, that’s for damn sure.”
