Hawks Mountain - Mobi (10 page)

“Yes, they did,” Becky agreed absently, her gaze still trained on the road.

She and Granny had brought the dog home two days ago, and other than the cast on his leg, no one would ever know he’d been hurt. And if the way he’d been eyeing the food was any indication, his appetite certainly hadn’t suffered either.

“Davy, get away from that flea-bitten, dirty mongrel!” Mayor George Collin’s voice rang out over the din of the picnickers.

At the sound of the mayor’s voice, Becky’s attention left the road. Her gaze shifted, along with a lot of other folks sitting nearby, back and forth between the
mayor
to her grandmother, waiting for the inevitable explosion from Jo Hawks. No one was disappointed.

Granny reared up, hands on hips, and strode to where the mayor stood glaring down at his son, who was lying on the grass with his arm around Jake.

“George Collins, I’ll have you know that Jake is neither dirty nor mangy. He gets a bath once a week after which he’s de-
fleaed
. And he may not be AKC material, but he’s not a mongrel, and he’s a darn sight smarter than some folks I know.” She glared directly at the mayor.

It made Becky and a few other onlookers smile to see the mayor flinch under Granny’s tirade. According to Granny, ever since he’d been elected, his ego had grown to the size of a horse barn. The way he strutted around like a Bantam rooster, a person would have thought he had been elected the mayor of
New York City
instead of the tiny town of
Carson
. When Becky was still living in Carson, George, an exceptionally good-looking man, always wore jeans and a cotton shirt. Granny said that ever since he’d taken office, he’d walked the streets decked out in a three-piece suit, white shirt and tie, and tried to avoid anyone who wanted to talk about his recent divorce from that sweet Lydia Wallace, Davy’s momma. Of course, it was still a mystery to most folks why a wonderful girl like
Lydia
had married him in the first place.

With his Bantam rooster image seriously deflated by Granny’s stinging words, Mayor Collins backed away from the irate woman.
“My apologies, Ms. Hawks.
I didn’t realize—”

“Don’t give me that, George Collins. Everybody in
Carson
knows that Jake’s my dog, and unless you’ve been living in a cave somewhere, you do, too.” Angry red tinted Granny’s cheeks.

More backing up.

More deflation.

“Yes, ma’am.
It’s just that the boy—”

Granny took a step forward. “The boy loves animals, George.
Plain and simple.
He’s a natural with them, and it’s time you saw that.”

George took another step back.

“Yes, ma’am.”
Frantically, he looked around him. “Well, I’d best be mingling now. A mayor’s duties are never done ya know.” He forced a shaky smile. “Have a good day, Ms. Hawks.” Face glowing red, he almost ran in the other direction.

Becky’s snickers joined those of the assembled crowd. George was probably the only one in
Carson
who called Granny Ms. Hawks, but then, according to her grandmother, he was always Ms., Mrs. or Mr.-
ing
people to death nowadays. Anyone would have thought he hadn’t grown up with half the population of
Carson
. Granny claimed it helped puff his feathers.

“Darn fool!
Picking on a poor defenseless animal and a young boy who aren’t doing anyone any harm.”
Granny marched back to the blanket where Becky sat. She stopped dead. A broad smile broke across her face. “Well, glory
be
. Look who’s here. I sure didn’t expect to see you today.”

Becky’s head swung sharply in the direction in which Granny aimed her grin. Nick stood a few feet away.

“Hi.” Nick walked slowly toward them, a smile curving his mouth.

Becky’s heart jumped into double rhythm. “Hi.”

“I smelled all this good food clear up on the ridge and decided I needed to come down here and get some.” He squatted beside Becky.

The way his eyes appraised her told her the food might not be the only reason he’d showed up here. A surge of pleasure rippled through her. Whatever it was that had brought him off the mountain, she thanked the Lord it had happened. Knowing his feelings about socializing, it couldn’t have been an easy decision for him.

“Here.” Granny handed him a paper plate. “Help yourself.”

Before he could dig into the food, Jake bounded over, tail wagging,
tongue
lolling from the side of his mouth. He jumped squarely on Nick. Nick tumbled backwards on top of Becky, and soon the three of them were in a tangled mess.

Becky fought to keep from landing in the food, and at the same time twisted to right
herself
, but Nick’s body had her pinned to the blanket. His face hovered inches above
hers,
close enough to feel his warm breath on her cheeks. Pinpricks of electricity danced over her nerves. She curled her fingers to keep from grabbing Nick and trapping him against her. But good sense prevailed, and she pushed against his shoulders to help him sit up. Even after he was sitting upright again, the imprint of his body on hers remained on her flesh, as if a branding iron had been applied to her skin.

“Sorry,” Nick said, pushing Jake off him, but the dog wasn’t taking no for an answer and climbed on Nick’s lap. He licked Nick’s face. Using his hand to ward off Jake’s wet tongue, Nick pushed him away, but Jake stood his ground.

“Jake, sit.” Granny’s sharp command did the trick. Jake moved away and obediently sat looking from one to the other of the people around him, his expressive face one of confusion and innocence.

By the time Jake’s enthusiasm had been corralled, they were surrounded by people laughing at their situation.

“Boy, he sure likes you, mister.” Davy Collins had joined the throng of onlookers.

Nick looked at the boy and grinned. “I guess he does.” He wiped at the moisture on his cheek. “I just wish he wasn’t so sloppy while he’s doing it.” Davy giggled.

“Why don’t you sit down here with us, Davy, and have some of my brown beans and ham.” Granny had already started fixing the boy a plate.

“Wow! Sure.” Davy sat cross-legged facing Nick. Granny handed him a plate heaped with food. Jake sat right beside him, his canine gaze focused unwaveringly on the filled plate, his lolling tongue protruding from his open mouth. “Now, Jake, you gotta wait until I’m done. So just lay down, and I’ll make sure I leave some for you.” The dog obediently lay down by Davy’s side.

Granny laughed. “The way that animal obeys him, it’s like he speaks the dog’s language.”

Becky only heard bits of the conversation. She was too busy looking at Nick. Why had he changed his mind after his adamant refusal when she’d invited him to the social? No matter. No sense looking a gift horse in the mouth. He was here and right now that’s what mattered most.

Nick had picked up his plate and was shoveling food into his mouth as fast as Davy. He paused, chewed for a bit, and then swallowed. “Ms. Hawks—”

“Granny, Nick. Everybody hereabouts calls me Granny.” She lowered her voice so Davy wouldn’t hear.
“Everyone except that overblown donkey’s behind, George Collins.”
She cast a censoring glare in the mayor’s direction.

Nick laughed. “Okay, Granny, you have got to be the best cook in a hundred mile radius.”

Inwardly, Becky smiled. On top of being here, Nick was in a good mood, happy, enjoying the food.

Granny shrugged. “So they tell me,” she replied without an ounce of arrogance. “So they tell me.”

“Mr. Nick?” Davy had finished eating and set the plate with a good amount of leftovers down for Jake to feast on. Jake needed no prodding and soon had the food devoured and looking for more.

Nick stopped eating. “Yes?”

“Would you be my partner in the three-legged race?”

Nick went silent. The last time he’d played a game with any kid, it had been a couple of innings of baseball with a bunch of kids that hung around their base camp in
Iraq
. One of them had been Ahmed. That was the day before— No. Not that. Not today. “Why not get one of your friends to be your partner?”

“The rules are a grownup and a kid.”

Still, Nick wouldn’t commit.

“The kid what wins gets a really cool bike, and the grownup
gets .
 . . ” Davy’s brow furrowed in thought. “I can’t remember what the grownups get, but I know it’s something really, really great!”

Nick glanced at Becky. Her expression said
Do it!
Still he hesitated. He turned back to Davy. “What about
your
Dad? Maybe he’d like to be your partner.”

Davy’s face crumpled. “Aw, he’s too busy being the mayor. ‘Sides, he doesn’t
wanna
sweat. Says it makes his hands slippery for when he has to howdy with his constitutes.”

“Constituents,” Granny corrected.

“Yeah.
Them.”

Despite having to smother a smile, Becky’s heart felt as though someone had squeezed it so hard she thought she’d cry out. The abandoned look on Davy’s face reminded her of little Timmy in
Atlanta
when Social Services dragged him away from his mother. Becky had fought hard and long for them to leave him in his home, but her efforts had been fruitless.
One incident in a long line of disappointments.
Then she’d come home to surprise Sonny in their bed with another woman. Their relationship had soured just like her dreams of changing the lives of the people of
Atlanta
. She’d decided then and there that she needed to go home to renew her faith in human nature, to shut out the pain in her life with a big helping of Granny’s love.

Becky waited for Nick to answer Davy. When he didn’t, she prodded him. “Go ahead, Nick. The race will be fun, and I hear Davy’s the favorite to win.”

Davy brightened. “I’m real good at it.” He grinned at Nick.
“As long as you don’t fall down.”

Finally, with reluctance showing in every line of his face, Nick nodded. “Okay. I’ll race with you. And I promise not to fall down.”

“Okay! I have to sign us up.
It’s
two dollars to race. You can pay them before the race starts.” With a wild whoop and Jake on his heels, Davy raced off.

“That was nice of you. He so needs a man to take an interest in him.” Becky kept her voice low so only Nick heard her.

Some long lost memory seeped into Nick’s mind of his desire to have his dad play ball with him, but he was always too busy at work. Their circumstances weren’t all that different, and he knew what it was like to be without a dad with whom to share his childhood, to have around when you needed him.

“My boy tells me you’re
gonna
run the three-legged race with him.” George Collins’ voice boomed above those of the people sitting around the church grounds on blankets with their families. A sudden silence fell over the throng.

Nick didn’t know this guy from Adam, but already he didn’t like him. He didn’t have time for his own kid and now he had come over here blustering at someone who did.

Nick stood up and met Collins eye to eye. “That’s right.” His tone held the hint of a challenge. “Is that a problem?”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Becky stiffen.

Granny cleared her throat and glared at the mayor, her expression daring him to make a fuss. If looks could kill, Sheriff Ben
Ainsley
would have been carting Granny off to the hoosegow.

Collins cast
her a
wary look, then turned back to Nick.
“No, not a problem at all.”