Page 37 of Red Hunt

“Milli?” Sharon shouted across the room.

“Hey, Shar. We’re in Aisle 7,” I shouted back.

She stomped all the way through the store, her footsteps reverberating through the room until she arrived at our aisle. There she passed Max without so much as acknowledging him until she stood directly in front of me with her arms crossed over her chest.

“What’s wrong with you? Why didn’t you call me? Why do I have to hear about your accident through Jessie?”

She looked pissed, and a bit hurt, and I felt my hands go numb.

I hadn’t called my best friend. How the hell did that happen?

I closed my eyes and pulled in a deep breath. “I’m sorry.” My voice cracked. “I didn’t. I really don’t—”

“It’s okay.” She leaned down, grabbed me, and gave me a big hug before she pushed me back into my chair, not letting go of my forearms. “I was beyond worried when I heard. And for the record, you call your best friend as soon as something happens in your life. Anything. Good, bad, or boring. Understood?”

My muscles suddenly weak, I sagged back into the chair and nodded. I was still so bad at this best-friend stuff. It was ridiculous. Lucky for me, I had friends that somehow liked me with all my quirks and faults.

“So, what happened, and what’s the verdict?” She pointed at my leg.

“Not that bad. I had a minor accident, hurt my knee. A couple days’ rest, some physical therapy, and I’ll be good as new.”

Max snorted from where he was standing by a shelf, and my eyes flew to him. What did that snort mean?

Sharon turned around to Max, as well. “You disagree, Max?”

Why… How?

“You’re the talk of the town, you know. There’s even a rumor you’re her guardian angel or something.”

He snorted again and shook his head.

“Max, meet Sharon, my best friend, who’s apparently, deeply connected to the Moon Lake rumor mill.”

She gazed at me sideways, and I matched her look with raised eyebrows. Sharon wasn’t usually the gossipy kind, but apparently, she was a bit ticked off by my lack of communication. Maybe it was time for me to back off a little.

Max took a couple of steps and reached out to shake Sharon’s hand. “You’re right. She should’ve called you.” He looked directly at me with his eyebrows pulled together, creating a forehead crease.

Wait, what? Now they were banding together against me?

Sharon’s face transformed into a smile. “Right? See Milli”—she turned toward me again, still shaking his hand—“Max agrees. Next time you have an accident, you’d better call me immediately.” She chuckled in that lovely making-fun-of-herself way I loved about her.

“Now, you had something to say about the minor accident part?” She settled next to me, and we both looked at him expectantly.

His eyes met mine. I could see the exact moment he made some kind of decision because his features softened and he offered me a small smile. “Let’s just say, luck was on our side yesterday.”

He said nothing else, and Sharon looked from him to me and back to him.

But I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. This powerful man, standing right there, wasn’t just good-looking as all hell. He was friendly and funny, fiercely loyal and chivalrous, and he was still here…by my side.

“Okay. This is my cue to leave. I guess the library stays closed today?” Sharon said.

That brought me out of my stupor as fast as a train on rails. Damn. I looked at my watch. Usually, I opened the library from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. every day, and it was already 5 p.m.

“No, I’ll close up here and get over there now. I just forgot the time.”

Sharon grinned at me as if she knew exactly why I forgot. And maybe she was right. Somehow, I’d floated through the day as if I was on meds, which…honestly, I had been. I’d taken the painkillers in the morning after waking up with a throbbing pain in almost every part of my body, but it had been hours ago. Those pills hadn’t been strong enough to cause that kind of floating mental state, and gauging by the pain in my leg, had worn off hours ago.

Max closed the gap between us and crouched down. “If you really need to go, we’ll go. But today has already been a long day. I can see you’re hurting.”

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