Page 26 of Tattered (Lark Cove 1)

She’s fought enough? What did that mean? My concern for Thea grew with every one of Hazel’s vague hints. A litany of questions ran through my mind, but they would go unanswered. There would be no prying information from Hazel Rhodes. She might be here, talking to me, but her loyalties were clear.

If I wanted to learn about Thea’s past, I wouldn’t get those secrets from Hazel.

“Who are you, exactly?”

She laughed, her hoarse bark ringing through the air. “I’m Charlie’s gran. And the closest thing to a mother Thea’s ever had.”

“So you look out for Thea?”

“And Charlie.”

Charlie.

“What’s she like? Charlie?”

“She’s a sparkle.” Hazel’s face softened. “Her smile is the best part of my day. You’ll see.” She glanced over her shoulder to the clock on the wall. “Want something stronger before you head over?”

I shook my head. “No, thank you.”

“Smart man.”

Jackson came back into the room at that moment and shot me another glare before resuming his conversation with the customers at the other end of the bar. When I turned back to Hazel, she was walking around the end of the bar to sit by my side.

“I think you should post more photos on your Facebook page,” Hazel announced as the legs of her stool scraped on the floor.

“Excuse me?”

“Your Facebook page.” She set down a paper boat of peanuts between us. “You don’t have many photos.”

I blinked at her. Where was she going with this? “I don’t manage that page. My assistant does.”

“Hmm.” She cracked a peanut shell and tossed it on the floor. “Tell your assistant that people like to see pictures.”

I chuckled, amused that in the last twenty-four hours, Hazel had clearly spent some time looking me up. “I’ll send him a note.”

Her peanut cracking continued, though she hadn’t actually eaten a nut yet. “Before you go over to Thea’s, I think I’d better come clean.”

“Okay.”

“I’ve been—what do they call it?—cyber stalking you.”

I grinned. “I don’t think it’s considered stalking if you’ve only been doing it for a day.”

“I might have known you for longer than a day.” She shied away an inch as she finished her sentence.

My smile vanished and my jaw clenched. “You might have known me longer than a day?”

Finally, Hazel ate a peanut and washed it down with her water. “We need to talk.”

Four words I hadn’t dreaded much before yesterday.

Four words that now made me crave tequila.

Everything will be fine.

This is a good thing.

Tonight will be fun.