10. Hadley

10

HADLEY

" H adley!" Vera shouted from the door leading to the kitchen in the dining hall at Wolf Creek Ranch.

Hadley stood from the small table. "I guess this is it."

Thea stepped up beside her and wrapped an arm around Hadley's shoulders. "It'll be okay. Gage won't hurt you. I think you can trust him."

Hadley turned quickly, whipping her hair around. "You think ? I need a little more than thinking."

"I'm pretty sure."

"How sure?" Hadley asked.

Thea squinted one eye. "Maybe eighty-five percent."

Hadley's fingers tingled as she reached for the bag Vera had left on the counter. Workers were starting to file in for lunch, and Vera was running a mile a minute. "That's not a high number. If your brother murders me, I'll haunt you forever."

Thea chuckled and picked up the large takeaway cup beside the bag. "He's not a murderer."

"Oh, good. I feel better now." Hadley playfully shoved Thea's shoulder.

"If you take him this roast beef sandwich, he'll probably love you forever."

"Ah, the murderer who loved me. Sounds like a great rom-com."

They walked out onto the porch where the blinding midday sun cast shadows from the trees onto the parking lot. "Brett said Beau is a good guy. He'll be there in case anything happens."

"But I've never met Beau. How do I even know who he is?"

"He'll be the one keeping a close eye on Gage. Trust me, if he's running a business and hiring Gage, he's watching him."

"You really know how to calm my nerves. I'm not getting bad guy vibes from Gage at all." Hadley threw her head back and groaned.

Thea grabbed Hadley's free hand and squeezed. "Brett's on alert, and I'll be praying for you the whole time."

"While you're at it, can you pray that my eyebrows grow back?" Hadley swiped her fingers over the area in question. "Mrs. Edward Scissorhands at the salon in town said she was going to trim them, and now my brow hairs are like a millimeter long."

Thea gritted her teeth. "I wasn't going to say anything, but they are super short."

Hadley groaned. "I'm meeting your brother for the first time like this. It's embarrassing." The rant about her eyebrows was meant to distract her from the unease, and it was working… a little.

"You know, Gage is good-looking," Thea said low.

Hadley whipped her attention to Thea. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because if he's as good to you as I think he'll be, you should know he's not like the others. I have hope for Gage."

Hadley looked down at her hand that was linked with Thea's. The fear of Thea's situation had dissipated a little, and their friendship had grown. Hadley's nights weren't as lonely anymore.

"Thanks for the heads-up. I'll keep that in mind."

Thea released Hadley's hand and wrapped her up in a hug. "Call me when it's over."

"I will."

Thea handed over the drink and turned to head back inside the dining hall.

Hadley lifted her chin and stalked toward her purple car. "You are brave, you are strong, and you are not gonna cower to a possible murdery man."

Beau's garage wasn't far from the ranch. Brett gave excellent directions, and Hadley only slowed when she pulled into the lot. There weren't any other houses or businesses around, so no one would be rescuing her if she called for help.

"So, this is happening. I'm doing this, and it's gonna be just fine. Peachy."

A tall man rested his back against a truck in the parking lot. His dark hair was cut short under a worn baseball cap, and the white T-shirt with the sleeves cut out was a stark contrast to his tan skin.

Well, the shirt wasn't exactly white. It had once been white, but grease stains were splattered on it, and the overall color was more of a bone white.

Hadley's foot slipped off the accelerator, jerking the vehicle until she caught the brake. Were those tattoos all over his arms? Good grief, he was a human canvas.

He lifted his other arm to adjust the hat on his head as he raised his chin. That arm only had a few markings on it.

But he had a beard! An actual, full beard. It was cut short, but it was thick. Guys her age were basically still babies and had some peach fuzz on their cheeks. This guy was way too old for her.

Hadley's grip on the steering wheel had her fingers aching. Thea said her brother was good-looking. She did not warn Hadley about the sexy bad boy casually waiting for her ten feet away.

Her mom would have a come-apart if she knew Hadley was drooling over a man and having thoughts about his sexiness. She'd been raised better than this!

Hadley slowly parked the car beside the truck with the decidedly not sexy man hanging around and turned off the engine.

So what? He's ridiculously handsome, and you have miniscule eyebrows. It wouldn't work out anyway.

A knock at the window startled her, and she let out a shriek. Her heart pounded a hundred miles a minute as she stared up at the sexy man looming outside her window.

Not sexy! Probably a murderer. Definitely a criminal.

Gage lifted a completely normal eyebrow at her as if to ask if she was going to come out and join the party or sit in her car all day.

She opened the door, and he stepped back to give her space. Holding her hands behind her back because she didn't know what to do with them, Hadley flashed him her best smile. "Hi, I'm Hadley."

Gage gave her a once-over. "I figured."

Good grief, she still didn't know what to do with her hands.

"Oh!" She remembered the lunch she'd brought him and ducked back into her car. "I brought you something."

She stood with the bag and drink before shoving them at his chest.

Smooth. So smooth .

Gage slowly took the bag, watching her the entire time like she might have just handed him a bomb.

"It's roast beef. Thea said it was your favorite."

Gage opened the bag and looked back up at her. "She's right." He jerked his head toward his truck.

Like a good little puppy, Hadley followed him, trying to reel air into her screaming lungs with each step. When they reached the back of his truck, he lowered the tailgate and put the drink and bag on it like it was his table.

Hadley backed up to it and hefted herself onto the ledge. Gage pulled the sandwich out of the bag and held it up to her.

She raised her hand. "I'm good. I ate before I came. That's all yours."

"Thanks. I'll give you some cash before you leave."

"No need."

Gage sank his teeth into the sandwich, keeping his intense gaze on her the whole time he chewed. "You talk first," he said around a bite of roast beef and bread.

Hadley wiggled her hips, settling in on the tailgate. "Well, I met Thea a few days ago after she was discharged from the hospital. I'm friends with Brett, and he called me to ask if she could stay with me. As soon as she was feeling better, she went back home."

The lie tasted bitter on her tongue. She didn't like lying. Growing up, she'd always been honest with her mom, even if she'd done something bad.

"How is she?" he asked before taking another bite.

Hadley squinted. "She's not great. Her bruises seemed to get worse. She needed crutches to get around most places, and she was tired a lot. The doctors said to expect that while her body was healing."

"Did she hear from anyone else while she was here?"

Oh no. She hadn't gone over this possible question with Brett and Thea. How much should she tell? Her uncle had filed the missing person report on her, but did Gage know that? Would it be bad for Thea if Gage knew?

"Not really. Just Brett, I think."

Gage huffed, sounding kind of irritated by the mention of Brett.

"Brett's a good guy. He made sure she had everything she needed while she was here," Hadley said. It was a truth Gage needed to know.

"Good guy is a stretch. He has Patton blood."

"And you're a Howard," Hadley spat back.

"Never said I was a saint. I lost my compass a long time ago."

The surety and finality in Gage's words squeezed something in Hadley's chest. How awful would it be to endure life not knowing the love of the Lord? Until a few months ago, Hadley hadn't known what she'd been missing either. It was as if she'd been walking around in the dark, lost and hopeless, only to find a guide waiting to lead her into the light.

Thea had found that assurance, but apparently her brother hadn't.

Over half of the sandwich was already gone. The man ate like someone might snatch the food from his hands if he didn't make it disappear quickly.

"Was she going back to the same place?" Gage asked.

"I think so. Do you know where she was before?"

Gage finished chewing a bite. "Yeah."

Was that good news? He'd known where his sister was, and he hadn't told anyone. Gage should get a few trust points for keeping Thea's secret.

"Why didn't you tell her about your mom?"

Gage eyed her as he finished chewing the bite in his mouth. "Because she would have come back. Just like she did."

"But Thea cares about your mom."

"And I care about Thea."

Hadley watched him as he balled up the sandwich wrapper and pulled out the fries. What would it be like to be stuck between a rock and a hard place like Gage? "Are you involved in the things the others do?"

Gage kept his attention on the food. "I'm gonna stop you right there. This isn't about me. "

Hadley let out a huff. "Excuse me for asking," she whispered. "Tell me about your mom then. Thea wants to know."

"She's got a meeting with the oncologist this week, but they're running out of options. She doesn't tell me everything they say, probably because it isn't good news. She might be a candidate for an experimental treatment, and in that case, it would be covered. But there would also be the possibility she was in the control group and not getting any treatment."

The uncertainty brought back memories of her own mom's treatment after the stroke. The doctors kept giving updates, but Hadley couldn't keep up with the influx of information. They'd try one thing, then another, and before she knew it, she wasn't sure what was working and what wasn't.

"How are you taking it?" Hadley asked.

"Taking what?"

"The news about your mom."

Gage popped another fry into his mouth and stared toward the garage. "I'm not the one with cancer."

"Yeah, but it affects the whole family when someone is sick or hurt. I mean, she's your mom."

"I'm busy. I don't have a lot of time to sit around with my feelings."

"You work full time for Beau?"

"Part time. "

"And what else do you do?" she ventured to ask.

Gage pointed a fry at her. "Can't tell you that."

"Thea assumed you work for your uncle at his garage," Hadley said.

When Gage didn't respond, she knew she had her answer.

"Why don't you just leave your uncle and work for Beau?"

Gage let out a single chuckle. "You don't just leave the family business."

"Wouldn't it be better for you though?"

Gage shrugged. "Probably."

"Then do it."

Lifting his head, Gage pinned her with dark-brown eyes. It flipped her stomach. What in the world was going on?

"I didn't know I ordered a motivational coach."

Undeterred by his warning, Hadley kept going. "Thea got out."

"And she came right back," Gage pointed out.

Ugh. Why was he so stubborn? "Thea's a good woman."

"I can agree with that."

Hadley shifted on the tailgate, feeling bolder every second. "Are you more like her, or are you more like them?"

Gage shoved the rest of the trash into the bag and balled it up. He walked over to the driver's side door and rummaged in the cab for a few seconds. He came back holding a wad of cash out to Hadley.

"It's okay."

Gage narrowed his eyes at her, then shoved the cash a little closer. "I don't keep debts."

"Ugh. You're impossible," Hadley grumbled as she took the money.

Gage stepped to the edge of the tailgate and propped his hands on it. "I think we need to call it a day. I'll text you when I have more info about Mom."

Getting the message loud and clear, Hadley jumped off the tailgate and brushed her hands over her jeans. She would end this meeting on a good note. An undeniable feeling told her this arrangement with Gage was going to be a good thing.

"Thanks for meeting me. Thea will be happy to hear the news about your mom."

Gage slammed the tailgate closed and turned around. Crossing his arms over his broad chest, he leveled her with a serious stare. "Can you tell her something else?"

"Yeah. That's what I'm here for."

"Tell her not to ever come back. There's nothing left for her here."

All of the high hopes Hadley had clung to just moments before died. Thea was still here, which meant she was still in danger. After seeing how serious Gage was about her safety, keeping the secret from him was making her second-guess the logic behind the decision.

If Gage didn't know Thea was here, he couldn't know how to protect her.

"Okay." It was the best answer Hadley could give. She'd deliver the message, and the rest was up to Thea.