Page 88 of The Innocent

“Maybe,” he said. “You like the city?”

Did she? It was still too early to make a firm decision. But instead of listing everything she didn’t enjoy, she’d pivot to positivity.

“Lots of restaurants. And um, stores. I can walk most places, so that’s kind of cool. Different from back home. I’ve never lived in a city this big, so it’s an adjustment, but” —she cleared her throat— “Yeah, I like it.”

Hyde eyed her, slowly nodding. “That’s a big move you made.”

Imogene shrugged. “I needed a change of scenery.”

“Yeah, I get that. Stay too long in one place, I get cagey.”

Imogene couldn’t relate. She’d lived her whole life in one state and hadn’t ever thought of leaving. Until circumstances forced her hand.

“Why Lawry?” Hyde kept his eyes locked on her, resting his elbows on his knees.

“Like I said, change of scenery.”

“Yeah, but you could’ve chosen anywhere.” He cocked his head, and his stare didn’t seem nearly as friendly. “Why Lawry?”

She swallowed the knot in her throat. “I didn’t have anything left there for me. Not my house or my grandparents. No one.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s what happens when you openly support a murderer.”

It might as well have been a punch to her gut. It wasn’t the first time she’d heard something similar and wouldn’t be the last. And? It was the truth. She lifted her sandwich and took a bite, staring down at the battered picnic table. There was a lot of shame being connected to her father. She still believed it wasn’t warranted, but she was the only one.

“You’re gonna make me ask again, aren’t you?”

She glanced up at Hyde, and his lips twitched. “Why Lawry?”

Was she really going to unload on a virtual stranger?

“I didn’t have anything left for me back home.”

“You had your whole life.” Hyde arched his brow.

He wasn’t wrong.

“But my life didn’t look the same anymore. All my family was gone. I sold my grandparents farm for my dad’s defense, so that was gone. After he was arrested, and it circulated around town, I became kind of a pariah. Even people I’d known my whole life didn’t want much to do with me. And the ones who stuck around dropped me when I stood behind my dad and his wrongful conviction.” She snorted. “Even my job asked me to resign because my situation made everyone uncomfortable.”

“Wrongfully convicted, huh?”

This was why she never spoke with others about her father.

“Everyone is entitled to their opinion.”

Hyde smirked. “Just speaking on facts, Imogene.”

Let it go.

“Sometimes key facts are missing.”

Hyde let out a soft chuckle. “A conviction tells me they weren’t missing much.”

She sighed. “I understand how it looks. But you didn’t know my dad.”

He lifted his brows and countered. “Did you?”

This wasn’t anything she hadn’t heard in the past.