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“I never said—” Grant started.
“Yes, my date bailed. And yes, my dad never showed up for me. That doesn’t mean anything.” By this point, Nick was watching her with wide eyes, but she didn’t care. “Looks like we have a few things in common, right?”
Grant blinked a few times. “I beg your pardon?”
She sliced a hand through the air. “Don’t worry about it.”
She’d risen by this point, and his voice lowered. “Bella, I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to offend you. That must have been hard, is all. No kid should grow up without their father.”
Her eyes darted to Nick and she scoffed but didn’t comment. At least the kid had a father figure now. He didn’t have to wonder where the rest of his family was.
“Will you sit down? I thought we were having a nice dinner.”
“Is that what you call it?”
“Yes.” He stood and motioned toward her. “Please,” Grant said.
She hesitated. It would be easier to leave and eat her food alone in her living room in front of the television. But she’d been telling herself that she needed to get out more often.
With a sigh, she lowered into her seat. “Fine.”
Grant took his seat as well. “Thank you.”
It was strange to have someone in her life ask her to stay—most of the time, people seemed relieved when she prepared to leave. Bella had heard that relationships that were worth keeping went this way. She’d just never experienced it.
That realization hit her hard in the chest and she glanced toward Grant again with new eyes. He’d shown up for Nick. He might not have been there in the beginning, but he was here now. And right now, he was saving her from having to leave the restaurant with her tail between her legs. As much as she wanted to label him as the bad guy, her gut told her she was wrong.
Grant was different.
For the duration of their meal, they spoke about benign topics like the weather, Nick’s schoolwork in kindergarten, and how they both liked living in a small town after living in bigger cities.
“It’s purely out of a favor to my boss in Billings,” Bella explained. “I would have never come out here if it weren’t for him. He said the sheriff here needed extra help for a little while. After I pay my dues, I’ll be heading back to the city and working toward becoming a detective.”
“Wow, that’s quite ambitious. But I think it suits you.”
She warmed at his compliment. “I think so, too.” They’d long since finished their food and Nick had fallen asleep with his head in Grant’s lap. She motioned toward the boy. “You’re really good with him, you know.”
He quirked an eyebrow. “I thought you said?—”
“Your supervision leaves something to be desired,” she interrupted, “but it’s clear he adores you. And if I’ve learned anything, it’s that a kid’s intuition is never wrong.”
His expression relaxed and a small amount of pride shined from his eyes. “Is that a compliment? Because if it is, I’ll take it.”
“It is,” she said quietly, tearing her gaze from his. Tonight had turned out vastly different than she’d expected.
* * *
Bella felt like hitting her head against the wall. Eli was adamantly against setting up cameras, which was the one thing she thought would help Grant’s case. But the head of the Reese family had put his foot down, claiming he was protecting the privacy of his men.
For the last twenty minutes, she’d argued with him on the phone and it was like they were backtracking. Hadn’t he asked her to come by? Yes, but he didn’t want the whole sheriff’s department crawling all over the property.
She slammed her phone down on her desk. If he couldn’t see the benefit of her help, then what was the point in asking her for it in the first place? Her head ached. There would be no arguing with Eli. As far as he was concerned, if she couldn’t figure it out on the down-low, then he didn’t want her to do anything at all.
Bella leaned back in her chair and stared at her computer. The only thing she had left to do was research the men who worked for Eli. Unfortunately, the database in Rocky Ridge hadn’t been updated in decades.
Leaning forward, she clicked on the icon in the lower left corner of her screen. She pulled up the program and typed in the first name on her list. One by one, she went through the people Eli had hired over the last ten years. Besides a few traffic violations, there was practically nothing. No red flags. No major criminals. Grant Shaw wasn’t in the state’s database, but that was to be expected seeing as he’d just moved here.
A groan escaped her lips. Normally, someone who was capable of repetitive crime would pop up on her system.
