even gave birth. I never said anything because it wasn’t my business.”
Grandpa leaned back in his seat and pinned Hunter with a pointed look. “That girl has been through enough. She doesn’t need you asking her invasive questions.”
“I’m hoping it doesn’t get to that point,” Hunter agreed. “I still have to find Roy’s killer. He might’ve been a terrible human being, but he didn’t deserve to die that way.”
“Tina isn’t a viable suspect,” Grandpa insisted. “She has health issues. Even though Roy was older, she wouldn’t be able to take him out. Besides, she wouldn’t leave Dakota long enough to do it and there’s no way she would take that boy to watch her kill his father.”
“I don’t think it’s Tina,” Hunter insisted. “Chill out. I’m not looking at her. That doesn’t mean I’m not looking at other women who were in that office. If Roy did that to Tina, what’s to say he didn’t do the same with someone else?”
That hadn’t occurred to me, but it made sense. “Can we put together a list of the people who have worked for Roy throughout the years?”
“That’s the plan,” Hunter confirmed. “And because he hid from me for days, your grandfather is going to help ... just as soon as we have lunch. It’s going to be on him, too, because I spent the entire morning protecting his granddaughter.”
“I didn’t agree to that,” Grandpa said stubbornly. “In fact ... .” He was interrupted by the front door banging open.
I shouldn’t have been surprised to see Monica. She’d probably spent the better part of the morning searching the town for Hunter. Circling back only made sense. The look on her face when she saw us sitting together made my blood run cold.
“Oh, crap,” Hunter muttered.
“This won’t be good,” Grandpa groused. “She’s about to make a scene. You know how I feel about other people making a scene. I’m the only one allowed to make a scene in my restaurant.”
27
Twenty-Seven
Even before I’d accidentally burned off her eyebrows, Monica had one of those faces best described as “angry Kardashian after finding out cameras have been banned for life.” She was beautiful, in an over-processed way, and it occurred to me that I’d never seen her without makeup. To be fair, I had spent very little time with her. She was always “on,” though, and that was never truer than today.
“Aren’t you going to say anything?” Her gaze was furious, and it was directed at Hunter.
“We should go outside,” he said as he started to push himself to his feet. He didn’t look like a man about to go before a firing squad, but he certainly didn’t look happy.
“Why should we go outside?” Monica planted her hands on her hips. “Is there something you want to say that everybody who knows what’s going on can’t hear?”
“This is a private matter.” Hunter was firm. “I don’t want my life spread all over this town for obvious reasons.”
“Your private business has already been spread all over this town,” Monica hissed. “Everyone knows that you spent last night making a fool of me.”
“Nothing happened,” I volunteered. “I swear ... he was just helping me because I was afraid.”
When her eyes turned to me, there was more than anger there. Outright hatred was reflected back. I sucked in a breath. I never thought it was possible to have someone look at me that way.
“I’m not an idiot.” Monica practically spit the words and I shrank back into my booth seat. “He spent the night.”
“On the couch,” I protested.
“Oh, nobody believes that! Do you have any idea the looks I’ve gotten since word started spreading that you were coming back? People pity me. Me!” She thumped her chest like a wrestler, which made me wonder if she could hold her own in a fight if it came to it. She looked as if she did Pilates regularly, which meant she was strong. I was essentially a third-string benchwarmer on the powder puff team.
“I didn’t even know you existed until we ran into your mother at a festival,” she continued, oblivious to the ears taking in her diatribe. “She greeted Hunter like she was his mother — and for a moment I thought she was — but then, when she was introduced to me, she made a big show of acting really sad and saying that she was disappointed he was dating and always wanted him for her daughter.”
I felt the need to say something, but what could I say? Even