Page 8 of Hard Knock Hero

When I’d left the diner, I hadn’t intended for one second to leave her there alone. Some people might assume I’d do it. But even I wasn’t that callous.

“Because I wanted to.” Truest answer I could give.

Her eyes raked over my face. “Whoare you?”

“Aiden Shelborne.”

“That’s…” Jessi shook her head, backing away. I still felt the warmth of her like a brand on the center of my chest. “Fine. I didn’t want your help. You should’ve stayed out of it.”

“Then I apologize for interrupting your friendly chat with Chester. I’ll get out of your hair. Maybe the highway is clear by now.”

“So you just roll into town, screw everything up for me, and then take off?”

I turned my head. “I’m confused. Do you want me to stick around? Or not?”

Her throat moved as she swallowed.

“Go,” she whispered. The word was defeated. “Just go.”

So I did. I went through the back door, just like I’d done earlier when I’d wanted to take Chester by surprise.

I heard the lock flip the moment the door closed behind me.

* * *

The highway was not clear.

I drove to the gas station, where a bored teenager behind the register informed me a truck had jackknifed on a bridge over the canyon, causing some sort of damage. The bridge was closed and would be until it was repaired.

At least I had a stomach full of good food. My altercation with Chester and his boys hadn’t given me a moment of indigestion. But Jessi’s worry afterward had made me pause. I didn’t like to think I’d made things more difficult for her.

But when I’d sneaked around the back of the diner, I hadn’t been thinking much at all. I’d just known that three men were threatening a woman who’d made me a damn good meal. I’d taken offense. And I’d known that, with three against one, it was better to come at them in a roundabout way.

When I had seen Chester raise his hand to her? I’d taken alotof offense at that.

What had the woman expected me to do, just walk away whistling without a care in the world? I did prefer to mind my own business, but there were limits. There were rules in a civilized society.

It was like those lines in the parking lot marking one space from the next. Had I put them there? No. Did it annoy me that I had to comply with somebody else’s arbitrary setup? Yes. That was why I hadn’t enjoyed being a soldier. But I had still parked inside those lines, because I was a grown human and not some kind of animal. And it bugged me to no end when dumbasses likeChesterandMitchweren’t playing along.

Did Jessi expect me to apologize for defending her? I refused.

Now my stomach was churning with annoyance, and that pissed me off.

Matters only got worse when I reached the roadside motel, to which the gas station jockey had helpfully directed me. No vacancy. The other highway refugees had gotten there first while I was busy defending the local diner princess.

I left my number, asking the motel receptionist to call if they miraculously had a room open up. Then I stood in the cramped lobby and used their free Wi-Fi to check my phone, since I still had no cell service in Hartley. There was some info about the jackknifed truck, but not an estimate on when the bridge would be repaired.

As I drove down Main Street again, pondering what I should do, the entire town seemed to have shut its doors. I could see better now that the wind had calmed. There was indeed some historic charm about the buildings. Brick with western-style accents, big storefront windows. Old-timey streetlights that some people might callcute. Plus the striking outlines of mountain peaks, just visible in the storm.

Yet there was something off about Hartley. Something desiccated, dried out and slowly blowing away. It made me wonder why Jessi was so determined to stay here. I would’ve loved to see it disappearing in my rearview.

I passed Jessi’s Diner. The lights were off, but I slowed down and studied the windows, trying to see if she was in there. My dirty dishes were still on the corner table where I’d left them. Given the cleanliness of the rest of the diner, I figured that was unusual. But there was no other sign of Jessi. Nor of Chester and the other idiots, for that matter.

There was a second floor above the diner, and the lights were off there too. I wondered if it was an apartment. Maybe Jessi’s apartment.

I really needed to stop wondering so much.

Finally, I spotted glowing neon in a narrow window. There was a faint light shining on a sign that saidHartley Tap & Saloon. That sounded like the right place to get warm and drown some of my sorrows, at least until they kicked me out at last call. It was either that or get back on the highway going the wrong direction and look for another hotel, which would be at least an hour back. There was no other decent route to my vacation rental except through Hartley because of all the mountains in the way. Freaking Colorado.

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