Her body and mind were at a war of sorts.
Tears welled in her eyes and she blinked them away, refusing to fall victim to her emotions.
The risk of seeing him had been there all along. Although she’d known the reunion wouldn’t be easy, she needed to be strong. The days of being the girl who followed him around like a puppy were long gone. Sure, he looked good—very good—but her tastes had changed. Hadn’t they?
A cocktail of hurt, anger and guilt took her body prisoner.
Lying to herself only made this harder.
She still cared for him. Still found him attractive and desirable. Not just physically, but those invisible parts of her that missed the times they’d shared. The joy he’d given her. The scab was torn away, allowing all the emotion to bleed through her.
He’d married and moved on. He could still be married and probably was.
In the end, he’d chosen a life with Melody Rumor.
Mindy had come back to Cooper’s Hawk nineteen years ago to tell him about the child she carried. Scared and confused, she’d needed him. She wanted his assurance that everything would be okay. Instead, she’d learned that he and Melody were engaged to be married. She’d gone back and forth over the course of two days whether she’d tell him or not.
Then she’d decided to write him a letter and allow him to decide what he wanted. She left it in his truck that was parked at the factory where he’d worked at the time.
Mindy had confessed everything, from her pregnancy to loving him. She’d asked him to meet her at the ice rink if he wanted her and the baby—if he wanted a family.
Sometime while she was waiting for him, she’d fallen asleep in her car, only to wake later to a knock on the window. She’d jumped up in the seat, expecting to see Creed on the other side of the glass, but instead she found a scowling Melody who looked like she wanted to rip Mindy from limb to limb.
Creed’s fiancée had come to tell Mindy that he wasn’t coming.
Mindy had doubted Melody. After all, the two women had never gotten along, but she had pulled up text messages Creed had written to her. “Mindy means nothing to me” “I’m glad she’s gone” “I never want to see her again”. Her heart had taken a terrible blow. The proof was in his words. He wanted nothing more to do with her. He especially couldn’t want an unplanned baby.
Crushed, she left Cooper’s Hawk three hours later and never looked back.
The secret could destroy lives.
Pressing on the gas, she drove up to the house, blinking away the tears that blurred her vision. The stabbing sensation of betrayal flooded her body and she wanted to run away, but she reminded herself that she was no longer afraid.
Mindy had known the time would come when she would have to face the truth. Maybe divulging the truth would help her move on.
Taking her phone from her purse, she pulled up a picture of Jane. She looked so much like Creed. From her wavy, disobedient hair. Eyes that were so pale they could be compared to a clear blue sky. And a smile that warmed hearts.
More tears fell to her cheeks and she brushed them away, focusing on the anger instead of the pain.
She really wanted to hate Creed. Mindy didn’t want to feel the burden of guilt any longer. She wanted to break herself from the secret that bound her to him.
Leaning her forehead against the steering wheel, she felt the hairs at her nape lift. She would tell Creed about Jane and then allow him to decide what he wanted.
Look at the mess she’d become.
Married seventeen years to a man she never really knew. Her daughter never knew her biological father. And Mindy’s heart was still full of love…for a man she could never have.
Over the years Creed had become the man she’d compared Branch to. When her husband had touched her, she’d feel a sense of void. Branch could never add up. He’d been in competition with her past and he never knew it. However, he did know that she’d never gotten over the pain and loss. She’d tried to be a good wife but bombed.
Lifting her head, she peered into the rearview mirror as if she could still see Creed. His bare torso only triggered a need inside her she should never have. His callused hands had left an invisible tattoo of his touch on her skin. There was still a lure, or magnetism, between them—at least for her.
Climbing from the car, she grabbed the grocery bags from the trunk and ran inside the house, bursting through the door of her childhood home. Dropping her purse and keys on the table, placing the groceries in the kitchen, she then went in search of some answers. “Daddy? Where are you? We need to talk. What in the world is that man doing on Sage Ranch? And why didn’t you tell me he was back when I got here?”
She picked up speed in the hallway, determined. The heels of her cowgirl boots clicked loudly on the pockmarked wood floors as she made her way toward the office. She came to a dead stop in the open doorway and settled her heated glare on her daddy who sat behind the cluttered desk. He brought his narrowed chin up and cool, grey eyes targeted her. “What’s all the fuss about?”
“Daddy? Didn’t you hear me?” She crossed her arms and tilted her chin. Her father had aged, looking almost frail sitting at his desk. Growing
