“Just hang on. Here. Hang onto the tractor. It weighs a ton.”
Without any argument, she did as he told her, wrapping her arms around the clunky tire. He stayed beside her, his hand on her back.
“I don’t want to die, Creed. I ain’t even been married yet. I want to get married first.”
“Marriage is stupid,” he sniffed loudly.
“To you it might be but not to me.” Mindy had never heard anything louder than the tornado. It sounded like a train rolling right above their heads. Fear formed inside her and she could barely breathe. “It’s here.”
“You want to get married, Mindy? Fine. Hold on.” He dropped his arm from her shoulders.
“Where are you going? You can’t go!” she whimpered.
“I’m coming back. I’m lookin’ for something.” He picked an item up off the floor then came back with a thin metal circle that looked like something her daddy used to fix mowers. “This’ll do. I’ll marry you, Mindy. Then you won’t be so scared. Promise you won’t be scared.”
Her eyes must have grown two sizes bigger. “I can’t marry you,” she said wistfully.
“Why not?”
“Cause you haven’t even asked. A girl can’t marry a boy if he doesn’t ask.”
“Stop being so bull-headed. Do you want to get married or not?” The wind whistled through the cracks in the wood and windows.
“Fine, Creed Hawke. I’ll marry you.”
“Here’s your ring. Don’t complain because it ain’t a diamond.” He slipped the circle on her middle finger of her left hand and she stared down at it lovingly.
“You’re s’pposed to say something.”
“Like what?” His nose wrinkled.
“Like how much you love me. I saw it on a movie.”
“Dang, I don’t know what to say ‘cept that you are my best friend. You make me laugh and you can throw a ball better than the boys, but don’t tell them I told you so,” he professed.
“I’ll always be your wife, Creed. Even when we’re big and grown up. But then I want a ring. A real ring. Like the one we saw in your mama’s bedroom. The one with all those pretty diamonds that belonged to your grandma.”
“What’s wrong with that?” He tapped the oversized metal ring.
“It’s way too big, Creedy.”
“Don’t worry, Minnow. One day I’m going to give you that ring you love. You watch and see.”
A loud crunching sound brought their chins up. The metal shook wildly. Parts of the roof flew away, leaving a large, gaping hole. The rest of the metal shuddered and screeched against the force of the wind.
“It’s going to carry us away,” she whined.
“Heck, I ain’t afraid of no tornado. Go away and leave us alone!” Creed yelled.
Her sobs returned. “I’m still scared.”
“I’ll hold onto you and never let go. We’re married now. Husbands protect their wives.” He held her tighter and, in that moment, Mindy believed that he’d never let anything happen to her.
“Mom? You okay?”
Mindy dragged herself from the memory and smiled at her daughter, Jane. “Yes. I’m fine. Just in deep thought.”
“Have you been able to reach Pop Pop yet?”
“No, I haven’t.” The worry returned. Although she and her father didn’t talk on the phone every day it wasn’t like him to ignore her calls. “I left him several messages and he hasn’t returned any of them.”
“When are you leaving?” Jane tucked her legs up under her on the chaise lounge. Her long, dark, curly hair was pulled up into a topknot. Her beautiful eyes caught the sun’s rays.
“In two days. After you leave for Columbia U.” Feeling an emotional stab in her chest, Mindy wanted to hide the moisture in her eyes and looked out over the calm, blue water as a boat sailed by. Growing up in Montana, Mindy had always been more of a mountains type-of-girl, but after living on the beautiful shoreline of Lake Canyon for ten years she’d grown to love the peaceful area, although the too-big custom two-story house had been her husband’s—or rather ex-husband’s—dream and not hers.
She missed Cooper’s Hawk. Missed the people, the small friendly town, and the mountains backdropped by wide open Montana skies. She especially missed Sage Ranch where her days as a child were spent barefoot and dirty, riding horses and raising goats. After chores, she spent a lot of time on the ice gearing up for figure skating competitions. That had been the carefree life she’d wanted for Jane, and she’d believed that was what Branch had wanted too. He’d promised Mindy they would buy a home in Cooper’s Hawk, but a year turned into three, then five, and then more had passed at the blink of an eye.
The day he came home and excitedly told her he found a home on the lake that he “just had to have” her hope of going back “home” had vanished. Whenever she voiced her concern about a simpler life, he’d reminded her that he was the bread winner and her hollow work as a figure skating coach was more of a hobby than a contribution.
Sadness rolled through her at the loss of many years spent unhappy.
She often wondered if they’d had another child would things have been different between them. Would they have connected at a deeper level? He’d never wanted a child though. He always said his work kept him too busy, and she guessed there were other things that kept his attention outside of clients.
On days when memories flooded her, she wondered what ever happened to Creed Hawke. Pressing her palm against the necklace she
