Page 42 of Hardy

They stared at each other for a fewseconds, and he saw that she understood he was trying.

“Lacey and Whizz are off tosee that kid today, right?”Rose asked.

“Yep.They leave at nine,hoping to get there by twelve.”

“What happens afterthat?”

“I don’t know.”

Fighter was the one answering whileHardy was cooking breakfast.

“Who is going with them?”Rose asked.

“Ink and Baker have beenassigned to it.”

“Do you think they’ll bringher home today?”

“Don’t know,” Fighter said.“They’re in the process of buying a small place, and the deeds aregoing through.I don’t know if Whizz will even want a teenagerhanging around.”

“It’s a decision for thepair of them.”

“That it is,” Hardy said,finally finished with breakfast.He served everything up on threeplates, and put them on the table.“What are you doing today?”heasked.

“Me?”Rose pointed atherself, and he nodded.

“I’m going to clear out theattic, I think.I’ve been meaning to do it for sometime.”

Hardy shook his head.“You’re notgoing in the attic.I’ll handle the attic.”

“Oh, well, can I go over toAngel’s then?I put her off because I really want to get rid ofsome of the crap up there.”

Hardy nodded.“I don’t see why not.”Hewasn’t her keeper, and he’d get more work done if he was notworried about his woman.

“I’ll drop her off on theway to the clubhouse,” Fighter said.

“Okay.”

They ate breakfast in silence, andwithin half an hour, Hardy was waving goodbye to Rose andFighter.

Stretching his arms above his head,Hardy let out a sigh.There was no point in him putting off theattic.If he didn’t do it, Rose would.

Closing the front door, he made hisway up to the next landing, and pulled on the tug that opened upthe attic.

He climbed up the stairs and lookedaround.

“Great.”

The attic was a mess with over tenyears of crap up there.Whenever he’d bought something and not beenable to throw it out, he’d put it up in the loft.Their garage wasfilled with all the equipment to fix the bike and car.He wouldn’tdump crap in there, and so he’d sent it up.

“This is your fault, Hardy.You may as well get on with it.”

For the next hour, Hardy carriedeach box downstairs, looking through it, and either assigning it toRose to look through or he placed it in the car to send to thetrash.Aftera quick drink of cool juice—it was hot in the attic—he went backup, heading toward the back.He saw a box marked with Rose, andrecalled the moment he and Rose first moved in thehouse.

“Where do you want this,babe?”he asked.

Rose walked over, openingup the boxes.“They’re just some diaries.Put it in the attic.I’lleither add to the box or throw it out in years to come.”

He’d not given it much thought back then.Sitting down on the floor, he opened up the box and took out thefirst diary he saw.He felt like the world’s biggest asshole ashe’d not even known his woman wrote in a diary.

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