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He scowled at her, but then Nick tugged on his shirt. “Just give it to her, Dad.”
The man patted his pockets and sighed. “I left it in my truck.”
She stared at him expectantly and when he didn’t move, she raised a brow. “Why don’t we go get it together?”
He stared at her, his hard gaze unnerving.
She shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “Where are you parked?”
When he didn’t answer right away, Nick pointed to a truck across the street. “Over there.”
“Nick!” he muttered with a groan, to which his son gave a sheepish smile.
“Well, you are.”
Bella motioned toward the truck. “Shall we?”
The man muttered something under his breath she couldn’t understand and stalked off toward the vehicle, followed closely by Nick. Bella stayed a few feet behind them, stopping at the tailgate of his truck as he opened the door and dug around for his ID. When he emerged, he marched up to her. Eyes not leaving her face, the man shoved the ID into her hands.
“Before you ask, I haven’t gotten it changed yet.”
Grant Shaw. Nashville, Tennessee.
Her eyes flitted up to meet his. “Changed? What are you doing in Rocky Ridge?” She gave the piece of plastic back and crossed her arms.
“I just moved here. I’m currently helping out at Sagebrush Ranch. If you need references, I’m sure one of them could vouch for me.”
Her focus shifted to the truck and she wandered around it, inspecting it for anything she might be able to add to the growing list of issues he’d need to address. “I’m assuming you plan on registering your vehicle.”
He snorted. “I don’t have to register until next spring.”
“If I were you, I’d get it done sooner rather than later.”
“Of course you would,” he muttered.
She pointed to the front of the truck. “Are you aware that there’s mud caked onto the front of your vehicle?”
“Is it a crime to go off-roading with my boy?” he asked. His eyes dipped to the name stitched on her shirt. “Whitfield.”
She shot him a warning look. “You can call me Officer Whitfield. Take it from someone who has seen things that no human being—parent or otherwise—should see in their lifetime. A child’s safety should never be taken for granted. Those lights could be the difference between you safely making it home or getting in a collision on a dark night.”
Grant stiffened. The blood drained from his face, and he dropped his focus to Nick briefly before returning an even more angry gaze to her. “Are we finished here?”
Her own eyes narrowed. The mud on the lights was enough that she could write him a citation, but it wasn’t restricting any other visibility and Bella really wasn’t the kind of person to nit-pick. This Grant Shaw was completely irritating and it annoyed her that he got under her skin.
Bella’s jaw tightened and she spoke through gritted teeth. “I really hope your lax attitude toward parenting your child doesn’t indicate a similar attitude to following the law in general. I could give you a ticket for those lights, but I’m going to let it go with a warning.”
Grant snorted as if her threat wasn’t a viable one. But before she could throw up her hands and issue him a ticket anyway, Nick tugged on her arm.
“Do you mean like speeding? My dad likes to go real fast. The whole world shoots by my window when we drive on that long road.”
Her brows shot up.
Grant choked this time instead of scoffing at her words. “Whose side are you on, anyway, kid?” he asked.
Bella snickered. Maybe it was the fact that she’d been having a bad day to start with. But this moment, right here, made it all worth it. “Smart kid.”
Grant glowered at her, and for the first time since she’d met him, she didn’t care. He’d lost this one.
