“No, ma’am. He’s not here too often. I’d guess he’s at Hawke Landing.”
“Where would I find Hawke Landing?”
Grady told her, she thanked him and pulled onto the road. The drive took long enough for her blood to boil even more. She wanted to throttle Creed.
By the time she walked through the door at Cooper’s Hawke Landing, she had rehearsed a dozen times what she’d say to him. She stomped up to the receptionist desk and the pretty blonde with pale blue eyes behind wide rimmed glasses lifted her gaze from the computer. A millisecond later she smiled. “Mindy Sage? Is that you? Of course it’s you!” The woman stood and reached over the counter to drag Mindy in for a tight hug.
When she was finally released from toned arms, Mindy scanned the woman’s face and then it struck her… “Willow? Oh my gosh. You look amazing.”
“I’m fifty pounds lighter. And now a blonde.” She twirled one of the dyed strands around her knuckle.
“I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you—”
Willow waved a hand and laughed. “Honey, if you’d have recognized me, I would have been disappointed. I left the shy, timid Willow back in high school where she belonged. Anyway, what brings you to Landing? Do you have an appointment? I don’t remember seeing your name.” She searched through the open planner on her desk. “Hmm. Nope. You’re not on here.”
“I came to speak to Creed.” She thrummed her fingers on the desk.
“Oh…I’m sorry. He’s booked today. Can I add you for another day?” Willow sat back down and reached for a pen from the butterfly holder. In a click of a second, she’d gone from friendly to all business.
Mindy leaned over the counter slightly, looking down at the planner, thinking quick. “He said I could stop by any time.” She hated lying but she wasn’t leaving until she had a long, thorough discussion with the new owner of Sage Ranch.
“He did?” Her groomed brows scrunched slightly. “He’s up to his eyeballs in trouble today, Mindy. What with working on the heli and trying to get it up and running before his next scheduled flight. Then we had a missing person up on the mountain—”
“Oh, I understand.” Mindy glanced around the small office space, stalling for time. Then she remembered… “Hey, whatever happened to Vance Neil? Remember him? He was your senior prom date, right?” Willow had the biggest crush on Vance, although he didn’t know she existed. Mindy couldn’t understand what Willow had seen in the rude twerp, but with a little convincing from Mindy, Vance agreed to take Willow to the dance.
“He’s married with three kids and bald—” her brows snapped together. “Hey, wait. I see what you’re doing.” She tapped the end of the pen against the planner and sighed. “You’re calling in a favor, aren’t you?”
“No, not really. Just recalling how we were such good friends back in the day.” Seeing the softening lines of Willow’s face, Mindy could practically see the chains of resistance breaking in the woman.
“I can also recall how hot you and Creed used to be. What a waste. I would have staked my front teeth on you two getting hitched.” Willow shrugged. “I guess I was wrong, just like I had been wrong about Vance. Because you were always so nice, I’m going to let you pass, but if I get fired—”
“I won’t tell him. I’ll say that I didn’t see you if he asks.”
“Fine. He’s in the hangar, but I’ll warn you, the bear is out of hibernation.”
Smiling, Mindy took off toward the door that read “private”.
The hangar held two helicopters. One was disassembled with two wide shouldered men bent close. Her cowgirl boots thudded the polished cement floor as she strolled to where the Hawke men were discussing something about an airframe and transmission. She cleared her throat which brought the youngest Hawke’s attention up from the engine.
A smile appeared on Boone’s handsome face. He elbowed Creed who brought his tight jaw up looking at her like he could have bit nails in half with his teeth. Both wore stained white T-shirts that fit their torsos like a second skin. That was a lot of testosterone for one room.
“Well, hell. Do my eyes deceive me? Is that really Minnow coming my way?” Boone whistled through his teeth.
Mindy blinked. The last time she saw him he was a scrawny kid with a bushy head of hair, acne on his face, and a dusting of dark fine hair on his upper lip. He’d grown up and looked a lot like Creed, with less vinegar in his veins. She could practically feel Creed simmering in his anger.
“Hi, Boone—”
Mindy squeaked when he wrapped his arms around her waist and swept her off her feet, swinging her in a full circle. The deed was crushed between them, momentarily forgotten in the happy reunion. She’d always liked Boone—always enjoyed his infectious personality. Of all the Hawke clan he was the easiest going. Of course, she hadn’t seen him in so long.
Once he set her back down, she fixed the straps of her top then giggled at his excitement. At least she knew she had one friend left in Cooper’s Hawk.
“Hope I didn’t get any grease on you,” Boone said.
“I’m not wearing my Sunday best so don’t worry.” She couldn’t get over how much the man had changed…and looked like Creed and Hank. They all had dark wavy hair, broad jaws, pensive eyes, and were tall in stature.
“Girl, California has been good to you.” Boone slipped his gaze down her then whistled.
Beyond his shoulder she saw Creed’s frown. She felt a flush crawl up her neck and into her face, and certainly must have turned red. The brooding glare he had on her didn’t help with
