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The heat returned to Bella’s face with a vengeance. “In my defense, I didn’t know.”
“Didn’t know what?” Megan laughed.
“Grant’s truck is covered in mud.”
Megan gave her a funny look, clearly expecting more of an explanation.
Covering her face with her hands, Bella groaned again. “I told him to get a car wash because limited visibility could mean the difference of losing loved ones in a car crash.”
She peeked at Megan through her fingers, already knowing what she’d see.
Megan’s mouth hung open. “Oh.”
“Yeah,” Bella muttered. “I know.”
“I’m sure he didn’t know you were the one called to the scene, though.”
Bella shook her head. “That doesn’t matter. It was just so… inappropriate. The kid lost his mother… in a car accident.” She covered her face with her hands again. “I knew I should have just walked away when I had the chance. I was being so stubborn. Why couldn’t I just keep my mouth shut?”
“That doesn’t sound like you.” Megan handed Bella her coffee.
“I know. I can’t figure out what came over me.”
“Hopefully it’s a fluke?” Megan offered her an empathetic smile. “And maybe you’ll get lucky and won’t have to see him again.”
“Yeah, right,” Bella muttered. “How much do I owe you?”
“On the house.”
“Megan…”
“Don’t argue with me. Just take it and hopefully your day gets better.”
“Thanks.” Bella lifted her coffee cup. “See you later.”
She hurried out to her squad car and climbed in behind the steering wheel. The embarrassment still seared her face, and she refused to look in the direction where Grant had parked just in case she saw his truck. Today had gone from bad to worse, and now she wished she’d just stayed behind her desk instead of getting her daily coffee from Megan’s shop.
If she was lucky, Grant would forget about the overbearing sheriff’s deputy and laugh it off. While she still firmly believed he needed to improve his parenting style, she could have said so in a better way. Just because he was the epitome of everything she despised didn’t mean she should forget that he was only human.
Bella pushed thoughts of Grant from her mind as she pulled out of the parking space and started toward her office.
“How fast can your car go?”
Startled so badly that she dropped her coffee cup, Bella grabbed the wheel with both hands and jerked it to the side to pull off the road. She scrambled for the slowly leaking cup and spun around to find a familiar cherubic face behind the grate separating her from the back seat.
“Nick? What are you doing in my car?”
CHAPTER THREE
“Nick? Nick, where are you?” Grant willed his heart to remain calm. He couldn’t panic, not after he’d gotten in that argument with the deputy. If she saw him rushing around calling for his son, he’d get another earful.
“Nick!” he hollered a bit sharper. “Where are you, kid? You know you have to tell me where you’re going.”
Rocky Ridge was a small town. There were only so many places the kid could hide—even in town square. Sure, for the last week there had been a few incidents that had raised some brows, but that didn’t mean Nick was in danger.
Grant ducked to look under his truck and peered in the back of the bed. He opened the doors only to find the cab empty.
Next, he hunted around the statue and at the nearby park. When he couldn’t find Nick there, he started down the street to look in the stores. Already he was torn between wanting to tear that kid a new one and pulling him into his arms so he could never escape again.
