“You good?”
Hank kept his arms crossed as he looked down at his girl. He shrugged. “It’s not a good feeling.”
“No. I’m sorry I opened the can of worms. I think it needed to be opened, but I don’t like seeing the shadow behind your eyes.”
Hank bent his head, leaned his forehead on hers and muttered, “It was bound to be opened, better sooner than later.” He took a deep breath. “Let’s just hope nothing fucked up comes out.”
“Yeah, maybe your dad played one too many hands of poker and owed someone money,” Arissa offered lightly then added, “But since you’re already feeling shitty, maybe it’s a good time to mention that the Belles want to reach out to Noah. You okay with that?”
Hank lifted his head and gazed at Arissa. “At this point, I don’t care, what’s it gonna hurt? Do what you all want to do.” He kissed her forehead.
“I love you,” she whispered. “Maybe we can have naked steak later,” she suggested.
Hank’s eyes twinkled as his brows lifted. “I was thinking just naked you on my island later.”
Arissa’s voice grew hoarse when she replied breathlessly, “I like this plan.”
Millie walked into the kitchen, but it was the sight of her that turned heads.
“What’s wrong?” Hank demanded.
She glanced back, the hand with her phone pointing outside, before she turned back to the room. “I don’t know what I just saw.”
“What does that mean?” Maureen pressed.
Millie shook her head, like she was shaking the sight out of it. “Not going there.” She glanced up at Hank. “Dollie said the man was looking for anyone who had moved to town within a two year period of his visit.” She paused then added, “The woman really does have a hell of a memory. She said he wasn’t forthcoming, but that he did borrow her phone to make a phone call. She redialed the number after he left. It was for a law firm in Charleston. She jotted it down, created a file, and kept it because she keeps everything.”
“What firm?” Arissa asked, moving to her laptop.
“The one on Twelfth Avenue,” Millie offered.
Arissa’s fingers flew over the keyboard, her eyes lifting to Hank. “There’s still a law firm there.” Her gaze moved back to Millie. “Tell me you got a name?”
“Harley Aldridge. Retired now,” she said, and grinned like the Cheshire cat. “But I got his number.”
“This could be completely unrelated to Catherine and Henry.” Maureen said what everyone was thinking. “Just a coincidence.”
“Yeah, it probably is just a coincidence,” Arissa said. “But something is eating at Catherine and at the moment we have no idea what.” Arissa’s gaze turned to Hank. “It’s a place to start because if we figure out what’s bothering her, we’ll be better prepared to help her.”
The back door slammed closed, heads swiveled around to see Elmer. He looked disheveled with hay sticking out all over his head. Not two minutes later, an equally messy Hya appeared.
“I didn’t imagine it,” Millie whispered. “It wasn’t a day terror.”
“What the hell?” Sal said, looking between the two before he shouted, “What in the loving hell!”
“I’m not seeing this,” Maureen said, pulling out a chair and dropping into it. “I cannot be seeing this.”
Hya glared around the room. “What’s wrong with ya? Idiot fell in the barn, so I helped him up.”
Arissa put her hand over her mouth to cover the smile. “Did you fall too?” she asked then gestured to the hay sticking out of Hya’s hair.
Hya snatched it out, opened her mouth to make an excuse but shut it again. She reached for a beer, didn’t know whose it was, and drained it before she shared, “He might look like a horse, but he’s hung like one too.”
Hank’s mouth dropped open, closed and opened again. “You’re fucking kidding me!” He said lowly but enough for the room to hear him. He shook his head and looked at Arissa. “Fucking great!” he bellowed. “Now I gotta burn my fucking barn down.” He looked between Elmer and Hya and finished with, “Thanks, thanks a fucking lot.”
Millie clapped her hands. “Oh, a barn raising, I love those.”
Hya reached for a rib, tore some meat off, pointed it at Hank and said, “Yeah, you should add a loft to the new one, put a mattress up there. I’m too old to be fucking on the ground.”
“For fucks sake woman,” he grumbled before going to the fridge grabbing a new beer because Hya had drained his, and took a pull from it until he emptied it. Then…reached for another.
17
Arissa couldn’t help the smile the following day, as she sipped on her coffee while leaning against the island where Hank had fucked her senseless the night before. She was never going to get enough of him. And to think she had questioned how he felt about her when he showed it in everything he did. Heat moved through her, especially when he loved her…he held nothing back. And it was on that thought which had her smile dimming a little. He was hurting. She hated seeing it, knowing she played a part in bringing it about. She hoped like hell whatever it was his parents were hiding was something that they’d all laugh about.
The Belles’ voices pulled her attention. They were skyping Noah. Maureen had called him last night and asked if they could have a minute. To say he was thrown a bit getting called out of the blue was fair, but he’d agreed, probably more out of curiosity than anything.
The laptop was set up; the women were around it. Hya kept putting her face right up against the camera. “He’s going to see us?” she asked for the fourth time.
“If you move your head out of the camera he will,” Maureen muttered.
Hya leaned back, pulled her glasses off. “It’s been a while since we’ve seen him, but from what I can remember he gave the sheriff a run…” She paused and amended, “Not a run but he wasn’t like
