His Holiday Crush - Cari Z. Page 0,68

clenched into fists, and I had to remind myself to breathe. “I told him we needed a little space for a while, that’s all. I didn’t tell him to drive off for hours on end.”

Hal closed his eyes and rubbed his temple with the heel of his hand, a sure sign he was getting a headache. When the migraines came, they hit him hard, and I was caught between wanting to make him go lie down and yelling at him for making this whole thing out to be my fault. Which it wasn’t, even if it didn’t feel that way right now. “I was trying to look out for you,” I said, deliberately keeping my voice soft.

“I appreciate that,” Hal said, and I could tell it wasn’t just a line from the sound of his voice, “but I was already looking out for myself. That’s why I went outside, to get the worst of it out where the girls couldn’t see it, and so I didn’t give in and start shouting at Max.”

And instead, I shouted at him. Fuck.

It was my turn to rub a hand over my face. “Even if he meant to ask you beforehand, I was so pissed at him for working with Ariel to set this up,” I said. “He couldn’t know how things were before, though.”

“No,” Hal agreed. “All he saw were my little girls hurting and a way that he thought he could make it better. And he and Ariel have been friends ever since I started dating her. I’m not surprised he wanted to give her the benefit of a doubt.” He sighed. “I could have done that better myself.”

“Hal, no—”

“She’s been fighting depression for years, Nicky.” Hal crossed his arms, gripping his biceps hard enough the skin blanched. “She’d get treatment for a while, take pills for a while, maybe get better for a while, but these things aren’t simple. Right? You know that better than me.”

“Yeah. I know that.” I had my own treatment plan from the Veteran’s Administration for my PTSD, and I was required to keep at it in order to keep my job with the force. Hell, I’d relied on it just last night to help get me home. There had been no one to follow up on Ariel except herself…and Hal. And he hadn’t, or at least figured he hadn’t done enough of it. “She still didn’t have to leave.”

“She made a mistake,” Hal said tiredly. “One that I’m not sure I can ever forgive her for, but she made my girls happy today, and I reckon that means I’ve gotta work with her limits. For now, at least. I talked to her at the end of the call, and she said she’d try.” He shrugged. “It’s the most civil conversation we’ve had in two months, so I’m taking it as a win. And now,” he pointed toward the darkening sky, “we need to get Max back home.”

“We can’t call him.” He’d left his phone here, and it had been buzzing with messages for the past few hours, until I finally turned it off. I didn’t have a spare phone in the Jeep…

I snapped my fingers. “LoJack.” I got out my phone and pulled up the number for the precinct. “I’ve got LoJack. I’ll have the desk sergeant look him up.”

Hal visibly relaxed. “Great idea. I don’t want to have to explain to the girls why Max isn’t home in time for dinner.”

I didn’t, either. Guilt pooled in my gut, taking away my appetite and replacing it with pulsing anxiety. I needed to find Max. I needed to explain, to tell him I was sorry for how I’d acted earlier.

“Martie?” I said as soon as she picked up. “I need a favor, and I will owe you big-time for this. I need you to access the LoJack on my car and tell me where it is.”

There was a long pause. “Did you get drunk and drive it into a field or something?” she asked. “Or has it been stolen?”

“Neither. It’s with a friend, but he’s been out a long time, and I want to make sure that—”

“Oh, wait, is this about Max?” She laughed. “Why didn’t you say so, Nicky? Yeah, let me look you up. Hang on a minute.”

A few minutes later, I had a location: Barton Park Trailhead. What the hell was he doing at a trailhead this late in the afternoon? “He’s not hiking, right? He wouldn’t go hiking in the snow, in the