Page 14 of Lost Truth
“Then I’ll be right back with this.” He held up the bucket. “And if you change your mind about a snack, you know where the kitchen is. Reece always has some wonderful home-baked stuff, so help yourself to anything you find.”
He nearly fled from the room and jogged down the hall to the kitchen. Reece was unloading the dishwasher, and Nolan sat at the table with Mina, cups of hot cocoa in front of them. It looked and smelled chocolatey good. Maybe Hayden should take a cup back to Cady.
Nolan cast him a quizzical look. “The freezer go out in your suite or something?”
“Cady had a hard time going into her dad’s place, so she’ll be staying in a guest room. For tonight at least.”
“Of course she had a hard time going there.” Reece brought a container of mini marshmallows to the table. “I don’t suppose you offered to go in with her.”
“I do havesomeempathy, you know,” Hayden said.
“Oh, I know you do, but you guys aren’t always the first to pick up on such things.”
“Well, I did, and she still didn’t think she could stay there.”
“I’m proud of you for thinking to ask.” Reece opened the container and handed it to Mina. “I should’ve thought to offer one of our guest rooms to begin with.”
“None of us did,” Nolan said. “We’re too focused on the investigation.”
Reece plopped down on a hard wooden chair. “Well, I for one hope we watch out for that. The day we start prioritizing an investigation over the mental health of our team or the people we help is the day we need to get out of this business.”
Nolan held up a hand. “Hey, now. I hear you, but let’s not be too quick to shut the business down when we’ve only gotten started.”
“She does have a good point, though.” Mina set down her cocoa. “You both do, actually. Like everything in life, there has to be a compromise, and I have confidence you’ll find it.”
Reece looked from Mina to Nolan. “Seriously, dude. How did you manage to sweep this woman off her feet?”
“I get it.” Nolan smiled at Mina. “She’s way out of my league, but for some reason she let me into the game.”
Mina took his hand in hers, and an impish smile crossed her face. “It’s exactly analogies like that one that hooked me.”
Reece mocked gagging, but Hayden saw through the joking to Nolan and Mina’s solid relationship. What he wanted in his own life. They hadn’t been together for very long, but everyone on the team knew they had a forever kind of relationship. When all the team members were old and in their rockers, Mina and Nolan would be side by side, still holding hands.
He didn’t like the way his thoughts were moving, so he held up the ice bucket. “I’ll just grab the ice.”
He marched across the room to the ice maker, taking giant steps as if he could flee his thoughts, but they came with him.
“Make sure Cady has my suite number and knows I’m available if she needs anything,” Reece called after him.
He plunged the bucket into the frozen cubes, the chilly temperature doing nothing to cool his thoughts. What was he going to tell Cady when he got back to the room? Would he tell her how to find Reece in case she needed something? Or would he give her his suite number and ask her to find him instead?
Argh.He lifted the bucket and closed the lid on the ice maker.
He didn’t like it, but his answer would be decided by what she seemed to need. The part of him who was interested in her but shouldn’t pursue those feelings hoped she would go see Reece if she needed help. Not so with the part of him who needed to protect Cady. If she was in any trouble, he would insist on her searching him out, no matter the consequences.
