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“Hazel hasn’t done that in years.” Janie smacked a mug in front of Hunter. Then she turned to Grady and passed the other mug in her hand straight into his. “You have nothing to worry about with Zel. And Hunter here will behave, because he needs all of his permits to go through.” She shifted her look back to Hunter, letting it instantly morph from friendly to not so much. “And he wouldn’t want any part of the government to delay that, would he?”
What was this? Janie was threatening him to behave? With a permit issue? What did she even know about that anyway?
“I have nothing to do with those things,” Grady said.
Huh. Either the guy was a little slow and didn’t recognize the ammunition Janie had just offered—even if it was a blank—or he recognized it and simply didn’t want to use it.
Hunter ran a hand over his mouth as he passed a quick study over the other man. Grady’s expression seemed honest.
Great. He was probably a good guy. One Hunter would instantly like in other circumstances.
Hazel tugged on the brim of her hat as she sent a surreptitious glance toward the bar. Janie’s expression was like a summer afternoon in the hills—one minute sunshine and the next a thunderstorm. Wasn’t hard to figure out which man got the sun and who received her thunder.
Hazel gripped her mug as a fierce surge of irritation billowed toward her best friend. How could Janie not see that Hunter wasn’t over her?
How could she stand there and shower smiles on Grady-the-Game-and-Parks guy while Hunter sat right there?
The irony of her reaction wasn’t lost on Hazel. Just a few short months—no, weeks—before, hadn’t Bennett nearly begged her to reconcile with her brother? Instead she’d stubbornly held Hunter in contempt. Could she truly judge Janie for doing the same thing?
It wasn’t her business.
Hazel fought to keep that fact center in her mind. Whatever was or wasn’t going to happen between Hunter and Janie wasn’t Hazel’s business.
Goodness, that was hard though. Especially with this visceral reaction she had as she overheard Janie lay out a not-subtle threat to Hunter about permits. That was low—especially for Janie, who was, with every other person on the planet, kind and sweet and generous.
Only with Hunter had Hazel witnessed this bitter hardness from her lifelong friend.
Inside the front zipper pocket of her raincoat, a vibration distracted Hazel from her preoccupation. Unzipping the inner compartment, she pulled out her phone and felt a swirling mix of relief and anticipation at the name on the screen.
Conversations between her and Bennett had been stilted and bumpy over the past few weeks. But they were still talking. That was a relief.
Drawing a lungful of cinnamon-tinted air, Hazel tapped her phone and put it up to her ear. “Hey.”
“Hi.”
Hi, beautiful. Good morning, my mountain lioness. Hi there, love.Those were the ways Bennett usually greeted her over the phone. Or in person.
Not in the past several weeks though. The small, ever-present ache in her chest gave a quick punch. Hazel sucked in another quick breath, then put on a smile, as if that would make it all better. “How’s Chicago today?”
A noticeable gap spread before Bennett responded. “Zel, we need to talk.”
“I thought that’s what we were doing.”
“Yeah. I mean a real conversation this time.”
Her pulse stammered. “I’m . . . I’m not sure what that means.”
“I can literally hear you grit your teeth.”
She swallowed. She was trying here. That counted, didn’t it?
Bennett sighed. “The thing is, my dad has asked me to take in Nathan and Gemma.”
“What?” That was nowhere on the radar of her fears and expectations for this conversation. Hazel picked through her scattered thoughts—some of which were relieved among the heavy smattering of absolutely shocked. “How could he expect that of you?”
In the space of silence that fell yet again, she could imagine him gripping his neck and then running a hand over his face. “It’s . . . it’s just the way he is.” There was resignation alongside deep but subtle disappointment in Bennett’s voice.
“You said yes, didn’t you?” Hazel fought with the instinct to tell him this was a terrible idea. Things between Bennett and herself were strained already. How were they going to navigate this awkward and stormy section of their relationship with the added burden of two teenagers added to it?
