Page 78 of Hero's Heart

Callum swirled the golden liquid around the pint glass, watching the bubbles lazily float to the surface. The Eagle’s Nest hummed with its usual chatter, the clink of silverware punctuating bursts of laughter. His eyes drifted across the bar, searching until they landed on Sloane.

She moved gracefully between the tables, her black ponytail swaying as she balanced a tray laden with plates. A smile lit up her face as she set the food in front of eager patrons. That smile, the way her eyes crinkled at the corners—it did something to him. He couldn’t pull his gaze away.

He’d spent more time in this pub over the last three nights than he had in the past month. All to keep an eye on her, make sure she was settling into the job all right. But she moved with such confidence, laughing easily with the regulars, that his worries were obviously unwarranted.

Sloane was doing fantastic.

She’d made enough her very first night to pay him back for what he’d gotten her at the general store last week. She’d placed the money in his palm with a determined glint in her eye.

“Some of what I owe you. Thank you for helping me.”

He’d wanted to tell her to keep it. But he saw how much it meant to her to stand on her own two feet. So, he’d nodded and tucked the money away, respecting her drive for independence.

Sloane didn’t need coddling. She needed someone to believe in her strength.

“This seat taken?”

Callum glanced up to see Bear hovering by the booth, two beers in hand. He waved his friend in.

“Be my guest. You’re a sight for sore eyes after the Spanish Inquisition I’ve endured the past two nights.”

Bear chuckled as he slid into the seat. “Noticed you’ve been mighty social lately. I feel like you’ve talked to more people socially this week than the past seven years combined.”

Callum grimaced. “Not by choice. Mrs. Fuller cornered me for a half hour yesterday, trying to wheedle out every possible detail she could about Sloane. Night before, it was Harriet Jones playing twenty questions. County needs to hire them as detectives, for fuck’s sake.”

“Ah, everybody’s curious.” Bear took a swig of beer, eyes twinkling. “That’s the hazard of having a new face in a small town. Especially one as pretty as Sloane.”

“Or they’re bored gossips in need of fresh meat,” Callum grumbled.

Bear shook his head, smiling. “I think it’s more that they’re protective of their sheriff. Want to see you happy for once. Can’t fault them for that.”

Callum stared down into his glass.Happy. It seemed a foreign concept after so many years spent simply surviving.

He’d been happier in the week since Sloane had been here than he had since Amelia died.

Bear’s voice cut through Callum’s thoughts. “I have to say, Sloane’s looking a lot better than last time I saw her in Moldova. I didn’t expect her to turn up here in Oak Creek. Didn’t thinkshe’d want to be around people who might remind her of her kidnapping.”

Callum sighed, rubbing a hand over his stubbled jaw. “Evidently, her home situation is shit. She needed out.”

The words tasted bitter on his tongue. That haunted look in her eyes when she spoke of her family? The way she flinched at sudden movements, as if expecting a blow?

Her life there had definitely been shit.

Bear nodded slowly. “Honestly, I’m not surprised to hear that, given how the kidnapping situation went down. Not letting us know about Sloane? What kind of bullshit was that?”

“The kind of bullshit neither you nor I can understand.” Callum tightened his fingers around his glass, knuckles going white. “She hasn’t told me what happened with her family after she got home, but I know she had to get out of there in a hurry. She’ll tell me the details when she’s ready.”

His eyes landed on her as she emerged from the kitchen, arms laden with plates again. Joy was at her side, giggling over some shared joke. The easy smile on Sloane’s face was a far cry from the haunted look she sometimes still had.

Bear followed Callum’s gaze. “I’ve worked a couple shifts this week behind the bar, and those two have become thick as thieves.”

Callum raised an eyebrow. “Really? I mean, they’re about the same age, so I guess that’s not surprising. But Joy’s so…”

“Wild? Extroverted? Crazy pants?”

Callum chuckled. “I was going to sayoutgoing. Sloane’s a lot quieter.”

“Joy has taken Sloane under her wing. It’s good to see.”

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