Why hadn’t Creed gone after her?
Instead, he’d buried his feelings at the bottom of a whiskey bottle and tried forgetting Mindy by holding another woman.
Melody had been a mistake, one that had replicated itself too many times.
Pushing up from the chair, he strolled from the office and back into the hangar, still reeling from the rift he’d exchanged with Mindy.
“That good, huh?” Boone joked.
Creed gave him a disgruntled look. “Just what I need, another female busting my balls.”
His brother’s laughter echoed off the walls. “Good to see that things haven’t changed between you two.”
“Between Mindy and me?” He sniffed. “Everything’s changed.” Creed reached for the wrench and went back to the heli.
“Yeah? Could have fooled me. If I got too close, I was afraid I would have been scorched from the blaze.”
The tool slipped and hit Creed’s hand. “Shit!” He jerked back in pain.
“I think you need a longer break, bro. Anger’s only going to slow us down. We’ve been at this for hours.” Boone had always been the most logical one.
“I need to get it done,” Creed muttered.
“Sure, but not at the risk of breaking something.”
Realizing his brother was right, Creed sat down on a stack of crates and reached for his now warm water to down it in one gulp.
Boone opened the refrigerator and grabbed an energy drink. “Why’s she mad? She’s not one to get a hair crossway without reason. So what’d you do?”
“She just found out I bought Sage Ranch.”
His brother paused with his bottle mid-air. “What? She’s just now finding out?”
“The property belonged to us anyway. The house and surrounding acreage still belongs to Rusty.”
“You mean it belongs to you, right bro?” Boone pulled over a swivel chair and dropped into the cushion.
“I’ve told you, it belongs to all of us. I’m still waiting for you to start paying back your share,” Creed growled.
“Should have thought about that before you signed the deed without consulting with Hank and me first.”
“Hell, what choice did I have? I couldn’t bear the thought of the place being sold to just anyone. It’s not that I needed it—”
“No,” Boone muttered.
“But I wanted it. Dad wanted it returned.”
“Did you explain that to Mindy?”
“As much as I thought I should. I have one hundred sixty-seven things on my plate. I don’t need another woman to appease. Livvy hates me and mom blames me. I can’t win for losing.”
Boone chuckled and stretched his legs. “Did they mention the terrible teens in all those parenting classes you went to back in the day?”
“I’m glad you find this a joking matter.” Creed gave a fake laugh and stood, crushing his plastic bottle.
“What is your plan this time, bro?”
“My plan? For what?”
“Are you going to let Mindy slip through your fingers again?” Boone stood and yawned.
“I didn’t let her slip through my fingers the first time. She left.”
“Since you’re playing dumb, I’ll have to spell it out for you. Mindy didn’t leave. She went off to college just as you were leaving for the military. Remember the jackass you became when she left? She’s home now and I didn’t see a ring on her finger. Isn’t it about time you got over yourself and found out what could have been?”
“Let’s get back to work.” Creed ignored Boone.
Chapter Seven
WALKING UP THE flower lined pathway and stepping up onto the porch adorned with a row of white rockers, Mindy felt like she had jetted back to the little girl with pigtails and big dreams. The last time she’d been at Hawke Farm she was sitting on the steps eating a slice of watermelon and listening to Creed go on and on about enlisting into the Navy, just like his father had done. Townsfolk had thought Creed would take a different path. He’d been offered a handful of full scholarships to play football which wasn’t too bad for a small-town boy.
She looked at the step and could almost see her younger self and Creed sitting there together and the time he’d dared her to spit a watermelon seed as far as she could. Just as any nice girl would do when faced with a challenge, she spit that seed so far it landed in poor Cooter’s eyeball. That hound dog spent most of his days lounging, never hurting anyone. So she’d felt lousy when he had to wear a plastic shield around his neck for weeks so he wouldn’t scratch at his sore eye. Thankfully, he didn’t lose it.
Turning back to the door, she looked at the word “Welcome” carved into the wood sign, pretty sure it didn’t include her.
Truthfully, she realized she should turn and leave. The less she was around Creed the better. After their heated argument at Landing she couldn’t be sure what the next face to face meeting would hold.
Yet, after a long discussion with her daddy, she realized the deed was done. Much of the Sage Ranch was gone. However, when she thought of giving up the horses and the goats she wanted to cry. Where did this change leave her? She understood her daddy’s need to retire, he wanted to live his life, but it hurt her that he didn’t think to speak to her first.
If she planned on staying in Cooper’s Hawk she and Creed would have to come to some sort of understanding.
Knocking lightly, she waited.
“Come in,” came the husky rich voice of the man who had haunted her every thought over the last few days. This time she’d left her proverbial guns at home and came with a peace flag.
