Page 20 of The Sasquatch and the Hairdresser

Hal gets that adorably bashful look on his face again, and my heart gives a weird little skip in my chest.

“Please help yourself to whatever looks good,” he encourages me, gesturing toward the food again.

I don’t stand on ceremony, quickly loading up my plate with a thick slice of meatloaf, a hefty serving of mashed potatoes, steamed green beans fresh from the garden, and roasted cauliflower. To top it off, I pour a good helping of gravy over my potatoes, then head back to the table with my heavy plate.

Hal soon joins me and we tuck into our meal.

I can’t hold back a moan at the first mouthful. Damn. Every time I have a bite of Hal’s meatloaf, I can see why Baxter wanted an invite earlier. It’s honestly the best I’ve ever had. And the mashed potatoes are creamy, fluffy, comfort-food magic.

“Fucking hell, this is amazing, as always.”

He flushes with obvious pride. “Glad you like it. I’ve worked hard at perfecting my meatloaf recipe over the years. I’m sure you’ve figured it out, but feeding folks is one of my favorite things in life. Targan’s boyfriend and I sometimes trade recipes. He’s an amazing cook, but an even better baker. I think my homemade bread has gotten a lot better under his tutelage.” He looks down at his plate. “Uh, sorry. I tend to ramble when I’m nervous.”

“It’s okay. I like talking with you.” Then I frown. “Why are you nervous?”

His cheeks flush again. “Oh… uh… well, it’s just the two of us home tonight.”

My stupid heart does a strange little somersault in my chest, and I rub at my sternum.

“Uh… right. Astraea texted me earlier that she’d be back late.”

We both fall silent and turn our attention to our plates.

The vibe just got really fucking awkward, and I don’t know why.

After several long seconds of silence, Hal clears his throat and asks, “How did things go at the salon today?”

I startle for a second but then smile, my body relaxing. “Great. The last of the hair products I ordered came in, so I was able to stock the display shelves and organize the supply room. The washbasins arrived and can be installed tomorrow, right on schedule. It’s finally all coming together, and the grand opening is right around the corner.” Just saying the words sends a rush of pride through me.

Hal’s expression fills with warmth. “I’m so happy for you.”

For some reason, his simple but genuine sentiment gets me a little choked up.

“I never thought I’d be able to make this dream a reality,” I admit, my voice raspy. “Before coming to Mystic Hollow, it probably never would’ve been possible.”

Hal frowns. “Why not?”

“It’s kind of a long story, but suffice to say, I got involved with a shady piece-of-shit man who ruined my life, including my credit score. He used my personal information to apply for several credit cards that he then maxed out.” I shudder in recollection. “It became a whole thing, and it took forever to deal with the identity theft and fraud so that I wasn’t on the hook for his financial mistakes.”

Hal’s eyes widen in shock. “Oh my goodness. How horrible. I’m so sorry that happened to you.”

Me too. At one point, I wasn’t sure I could handle it anymore.

“Damien was a master manipulator. Like a schmuck, I fell for his act, so I suppose I’m partly to blame. I was a fucking idiot for sharing my personal information with him the way I did. But I trusted him.” I let out a bitter laugh. “Anyway, it was too little too late when I realized just how much he’d screwed me over. What could have simply been a nasty breakup turned into something a whole lot worse when I had to get the cops involved and press charges. That’s when he got real fucking scary…” I trail off, recalling the screaming threats.

The stalking.

And later, the violence.

All things considered, I was super damn lucky. In the end, I got away before he could follow through with his death threats, and I only ended up with a few fractured ribs, a broken nose, and a mild concussion. The assault on top of the fraud provided even more damning evidence to put the asshole behind bars.

Granted, he probably won’t be there for that long with our screwed-up justice system, but now he’ll never be able to hurt me again. I’m already pretty committed to making Mystic Hollow my forever home and never leaving. Its protective magic is just a bonus.

Hal’s expression becomes clouded with concern. “Was he… abusive?”

The note of pain in his voice touches something deep inside of me, and I hurry to look away. I don’t know why, but Hal’s been making me feel a lot of mystifying things lately.

My answering shrug is jerky and defensive. “It was mostly emotional abuse and coercion. Things didn’t turn physical until the end. I filed charges and hid out with some people I knew until Damien was arrested.”