“You were the only one who ever really knew me, Mindy.” His words came so low, so softly that she almost thought she imagined them.
“Creed, we were kids.”
“Is that what you believe? We were kids so we didn’t know each other?”
Swallowing against the constriction building in her throat, she blew out a long breath. “I’m not saying that—or maybe I am. What if you and I hadn’t, you know, had sex?” She had Jane and Mindy could never be more grateful. “If we’d truly known each other why couldn’t we communicate better?”
“I was a young and dumb cowboy. I look back and think how stupid I was to not tell you how I felt.” His nostrils flared and his grip tightened on the steering wheel tuning his knuckles white.
“There’s no better time than like the present.”
“You wouldn’t want to hear.” There was a truthfulness to his voice that made the hair on the back of her neck lift. He switched on his turn signal and they turned left onto a narrow road.
She sat up in the seat. “We’re headed to Hawke Landing. Or are we headed to the place where we made love?”
“Would that be a problem?”
“If you brought me out here so that we can take a tumble down memory lane—”
“Don’t worry. Not interested,” he teased her.
“Good because I’m not interested either. You’re not my type any longer.”
What had been meant as a burn didn’t work. He laughed. “So what’s your type now? Cheaters?”
“That’s unfair.”
“Is it?”
Opening her mouth, the comeback was lost on her tongue. “Me divulging horror stories about my marriage doesn’t allow you to use them as leverage.”
“And using your anger as a defense every time we start to talk about feelings and the past isn’t fair either.”
He had a point. “Old habits and all.”
“So what man is your type now?”
“A man who knows how to work his—”
He jerked his chin up, causing the truck to swerve.
“Brain.” She laughed. “Now who has their head in the gutter?” She liked teasing him.
“There’s the old Mindy I remember so well.”
“The Creed I remember could dish it but couldn’t take it.”
He snorted and chuckled. “Is this your way of deflecting the serious questions?”
“And what serious question was that?” She pulled off her hat and finger combed her hair. Things were easing right back into normal between them.
“Your type of man. You dated Jedd Brown once, didn’t you?”
He remembered that? She certainly had forgotten. “Once for about five minutes.”
With another snort, he said, “He’s living with Jedediah Moss now. Has been for five years.”
“Jedd and Jedediah? I had no clue…”
“No one did. They’re great fellows. They run the local antique shop.”
“That would explain a lot about the time Jedd and I went to a party at Darcy Clever’s house and we played spin the bottle. I broke up with him that night because he wouldn’t even sit next to me. I thought he hated me. He had the nicest hair.”
“Nah, he didn’t hate you. No one hated you.”
“Except for Melody Rumor.” Mindy rolled her eyes. She slipped off her boots and placed her bare feet up on the dash. Would he ask her to remove her feet off his pristine dash? He didn’t say a word just gave her a wide grin.
“Maybe this would be a good time to tell me what was in the letter you wrote me,” he urged.
No, definitely not the right time. “I wonder where that letter went.” She tapped her fingers on her thigh.
He darted a glance her direction. “No clue.”
“Come on, Creed. Melody took it. That’s how she knew where I was waiting. She was so angry. I thought she would blow her top.”
“What did she say?”
“Not a lot, never did. Except she did show me some interesting text messages you two had exchanged. Like just how happy you were that I left. That you wanted nothing to do with me ever again.”
“Mindy—”
“Please don’t defend her.”
“I didn’t plan to. I wanted to tell you that I never sent any messages about you to Mel. Not even when she and I were married. Any time your name came up it turned into an argument.”
“Again, it appears that Melody controlled us like finger puppets.” She allowed her shoulders to slump under the information. If Melody took the letter that meant she had to know about Jane. Why didn’t she tell Creed? What would she have gained by not telling him? “Melody got what she wanted.”
“Did she? You might think that was me, but it wasn’t.”
“We should stop talking about her because it might make me want to jump out of this truck and walk home.” Feeling a chill she wrapped her arms around her waist.
“Are you cold?” Creed reached into the backseat and handed her the beige Carhartt coat that smelled like a heady mixture of leather, animal fur and the outdoors. “That should keep you warm.”
She wanted to deny his offer, but truth was she felt a chill. Any talk of Melody made her sick, especially now that Mindy knew the truth. Sliding her arms inside the coat, she pulled it up around her chest and snuggled deeper into the sheep fur lining, finding pleasure at the scent wrapping around her. She felt a warm, tingling sensation spread through her and she realized it was the feeling of happiness, and it surprised her.
