Folk Around and Find Out (Good Folk: Modern Folktales #2)(111)

She looked good, her skin peachy and pink, like she’d fully recovered, and her honey-colored hair was long and loose around her shoulders. She’d even put on makeup and a nice dress—not one of her ankle-length, flowing, floral skirts, but a sweater dress that ended mid-thigh and clung to her body. I swallowed the flooding spike of lust down, down, down and grabbed the railing at my left, bracing belatedly for impact of her as she unleashed her pretty smile. Then she waved, like she was excited to see me. My heart thumped, an ache where there should be a beat, a short breath puffing from my lips.

“Charlotte,” I croaked, afraid to blink.

“Hi,” she said softly, shyly, but her gorgeous eyes were brash and bold and pleased and—

Cletus stepped in front of me, blocking her from view and snapping me out of my stupor.

He made a big show of looking at his watch. “Oh. Well, there you go. I just got a notification that the cloud is working again.”

I blinked up at him, my brain clearing enough for me to grit out harshly, “Cletus Byron Winston, that is a Casio digital watch from the eighties, not a smartwatch. How would you get a notification about the cloud on a Casio?”

“And look at the time. Now I’m late. Sorry, Hank. I can’t stand around here shooting the shit, I have things to do. But y’all are welcome to use my office if you like.” He stepped around me and hustled down the steps faster than I’d ever seen him move.

He’d been fucking with me.

The whole time, the delays and opinions about where to park my truck, the threat of paperwork in triplicate. He’d been messing with me the whole damn time.

“Hank?”

I turned back to Charlotte, determined to force myself to forget about Cletus Winston’s sneaky theatrics. As soon as my eyes landed on Charlotte again, I didn’t have to force anything at all.

“Hey,” I said, stepping into the office and shutting the door behind me, my eyes roving over her. “What are you, uh—what are you doing here?”

“I needed to talk to you.” She stepped forward, but instead of meeting me, she walked to the door and locked it. Then she turned and faced me, her back pressed against the metal partition like she needed it for balance. “My phone is broken.”

As much as I wanted to stomp over and pull her in my arms, I retrained myself. Barely. “Charlotte, someone could see us here. With your ex’s family after your kids, why would you take the risk?”

“No, no.” She waved a hand between us. “Don’t worry about that. I got it covered. Kevin won’t be suing for custody.”

A breath held suspended in my lungs as I searched her features frantically. “What? What do you mean?”

“Cletus helped me. It’s all taken care of. I have, uh, information now that will keep the Buckleys from interfering with me or the kids.”

“What kind of information?”

“Part of the deal with Cletus was that I can’t tell you—”

I gritted my teeth again. “That sneaky bastard.”

“—but I can tell you this: Cletus sent a letter to old man Buckley this morning and it’s big.” Her grin became supernova, her eyes glassy with unshed tears. “I think we’re free, Hank. We’re free. Me and my babies will never have to worry about those terrible people again.”

Her relief pulled a smile out of me and instinct had me crossing to her. She threw her arms around me and squeezed, laughing, light with her joy. I was relieved too, so fucking relieved. The fear had been a real, gnawing, living thing. I’d stayed up last night hoping she’d call, but also doing research on the Buckleys, making plans, reaching out to contacts. I’d planned to take them down on my own if need be.

However—

“This is great news and I’m so happy for you, for the kids especially. But”—I drew back, cupping her jaw and giving her a quick kiss. If I took any more than that, we’d be having sex in Cletus’s office and he’d never forgive me for that—“I seriously doubt Cletus Winston offered to help without wanting anything in return. He doesn’t operate that way. Everything is a trade with him.”

“I know.” She nodded, her sunny green gaze moving over my face, like she missed the sight of me. “Sienna gave him something in return. We’re all set.”

I reared back, frowning. “What’s that? What did Sienna give him?”

“I don’t know, something about Jethro. Doesn’t matter. Sienna told me after that it was something Jethro wanted to do anyway but was letting Cletus fret over.”

Hmm. “Still, we can’t let Sienna and Jet do that without giving them something for their trouble. We need to—”

“No. We don’t.” Her hands came to my cheeks, holding me still. “We can let Jethro and Sienna be good friends to us. We can accept their help and let it be.”

Despite Charlotte’s words of assurance, I wasn’t convinced. It wasn’t how I operated. Mostly. The idea of letting them help without returning the favor didn’t sit right.

“If they were anyone else, I’d buy them something. But Sienna can buy her family anything they want.”

“Hank.” Charlotte pressed a fast, hard kiss against my mouth. “Let it go. Accept the help, say thank you, and kiss me.”