Page 57 of Shadows of You

And that would always be food. I moved to take one, and he smacked my hand.

“I’ve only got half a dozen,” he clipped.

“You’re gonna get heart failure at forty.”

Nash leaned back in his chair, patting his stomach. “Never. I’m fit as a fiddle.”

I just shook my head. “I gotta go talk to Law about a case.”

“Let me know if you need the real MVP in there with you. I’ll have it solved in no time.”

I snorted and headed for the chief’s office, knocking on the closed door.

“Come in,” Lawson called.

I opened the door and stepped in, closing it behind me.

“Hey. I’ve been combing through the evidence team’s report on the slain deer. There’s not much, other than a knife definitely made the cuts.”

I lowered myself into a chair opposite him at his desk. “I’ve got the word out with Fish and Wildlife and the Forest Service to be on the lookout for anyone acting out of the ordinary.”

Lawson nodded, and the light caught the circles under his eyes that seemed darker than just a couple of days ago.

“You okay?” I asked.

Surprise lit his features. “Sure. Why?”

“No offense, but you look like shit.”

Lawson grimaced. “Just a lot going on right now.”

“There’s been a lot going on for the past year.”

He sighed. “I know. I’m gonna get some help.”

“Help?”

Lawson wasn’t one to lean on anyone. It was as if he saw asking for help as being a burden, even though he was always ready to give it to others.

“I started looking for a nanny.”

My brows flew up. “Seriously?”

He shrugged. “The kids have a million activities now, and it’s not like I can trust Luke to keep an eye on the other two.”

There was a pain in Lawson’s voice at that admission. Whatever hormones Luke had stumbled into as a teenager had been giving his old man a hell of a time.

“It’s not a bad idea. I guess I’m just surprised you’re willing to do it,” I said.

Lawson shrugged. “Desperate times call for desperate measures.”

“Let me know if I can do anything.”

“I will.”

But I knew he wouldn’t. I guessed all of us Hartley siblings carried baggage and secrets.

I shifted in my seat. “Wanted to run something else by you.”

---