She gave him a look that clearly broadcast her feelings about him being ridiculous, then walked away to return her cart to the corral. Cursing himself for an idiot, he got in the truck and fired it up.
The awkwardness faded as they argued over which fast food drive-through to hit. It was late enough so neither of them would want to cook by the time they got home and unloaded all the groceries. She won, of course, and he ate his burger as they drove back to Whitford.
“This is the weekend your parents are coming to visit, right? And the reason for the big shopping?” she asked, once all the wrappers were crumpled up and shoved in the bag.
“Yeah. Drew’s going to make sure somebody’s out on the department ATV to cover for me, which was what I was hoping would happen when I told Mom we’d barbecue.”
“That’ll be fun. Are they all coming?”
“Yeah. I’m fielding a little guilt over moving so far away. What about you? Is the library open?”
“No, it’s my Saturday off. I was planning to go to the grocery store, but now I’ll find something else to do.” She paused to take a sip of her soda. “I’ll probably visit Paige or see what Tori’s up to.”
Too late, he realized there had been an opening to invite her over for the barbecue and he’d missed it. Had she been fishing for one? He could casually throw an invitation out there, but how would he introduce her to his family? As his neighbor? He wasn’t sure how Hailey would take that, seeing as how they were sleeping together, but if he used the word girlfriend, his mother was going to be all over that like frosting on a cupcake. He didn’t think Hailey would take kindly to the kind of speculative glances and probing questions his mom and sisters would start pestering her with.
Then Hailey changed the subject, asking him about the ATV club and how things were going, and he shoved thoughts of introducing her to his family to the back of his mind. Work was something he had no trouble talking about, and they discussed it until he pulled into her driveway.
“I’ll help you carry yours in, then I’ll do mine.” He got out of the truck and tussled with Bear for a minute while Hailey unlocked her house and propped open her screen door.
After two trips he came up with a brilliant plan to ensure he got to see her again once their groceries were put away. He liked her company, but they’d already eaten and he was having a hard time just straight out asking if she wanted to spend the evening with him. So, as he loaded up for another trip in, he snuck a box of toothpaste out of her bag and dropped it into one of his.
“Why are you stealing my toothpaste?”
Busted. He hadn’t realized she was back already. “I forgot to buy some and you bought two.”
“Even if you weren’t lying, and I saw toothpaste in your cart, that doesn’t mean you can steal mine.”
He pondered which was more embarrassing—being thought a thief or behaving like a teenager. “Having your toothpaste in my bag gave me an excuse to knock on your door later. You know, to give it back.”
“Really?” He waited for her to laugh or at least make some mocking comment. Instead, she blushed. “My garlic powder might have already jumped into one of your bags. I was planning to come over later and ask if you found it.”
It took a few seconds for her admission to sink in, and then he chuckled. “Did the garlic powder jump before or after I acted like an idiot?”
“After.” She shrugged. “We all have our moments. I’ll come over when I’m done and we can watch TV...or something. And give me my toothpaste back.”
FOURTEEN
ON THE DAY his entire family was showing up for a barbecue, Matt’s phone rang at eight-thirty. When he saw the Northern Star Lodge on his caller ID screen, he knew there was a good chance he’d be going to work.
It was Andy. “Hate to bother you, but we’ve got a couple of idiots we need to catch. I know my boy was patrolling today because you’ve got a family thing, but I don’t think it’ll take long.”
“People are tearing the place up already? They couldn’t have had breakfast first?”
“You know how it is when they travel a long distance. They hit the trail early to cover every mile they can. These guys came in from the east and, from what I understand, they’ve already done some damage on the neighboring trail system. Went off trail and were verbally abusive to a woman—a landowner, no less—who gave them hell for trespassing. By tracking complaint calls, we know they’re coming into Whitford.”
“Do you know what trail they’re on?”
“No. We haven’t heard anything since the main junction, so we don’t know which way they went. I’d just wait for them at the gas station, but if they’re carrying cans, they might not risk coming into town. Josh headed out from here and Drew went in behind his property. If you can get into town and head in from the trail to the diner, one of you is bound to run into them.”