Hawks Mountain - Mobi (18 page)

But with all that, Becky still had no idea where exactly she stood with this man of many moods and secrets.

Shrugging away her questions, she hurried to the porch, eager to hear what Nick had to say. When
Lydia
insisted they all have a cold drink before Nick imparted his surprise, Becky’s impatience grew almost intolerable. Adding to the frustration was Nick’s tight-lipped insistence that she had to wait for
Lydia
to hear his announcement. It didn’t help that his expression looked as happy as a fox who had found an open door into the henhouse.

Lydia
finally reappeared carrying a tray of tall, frosty glasses filled with amber sweet tea and a plate containing a few saltines with spray-on cheese spread. “I’m sorry this isn’t more elegant. You two deserve caviar after spending all this time working on my house.”

Nick grabbed his glass of tea and took a long swallow. “This is fine,
Lydia
. Thanks.”

“No thanks necessary considering what you’ve done for me.” She set the tray aside and dropped into the one empty rocker, and looked at Nick expectantly. “Now, what’s this good news you have for me?”

Setting aside his glass, Nick smiled. “It occurred to me last night that I had a buddy in
Iraq
, Chuck
Nevers
, who ran a small radio station in
Wisconsin
. He was discharged a few months after I was, so I drove down to town and put in a call to him. I asked him if he had any connections down here. He told me he knew a guy who had just started up a small station,
WCWV
in
Charleston
. Turns out, this guy is looking for newscasters, and he’s willing to take a chance on a rookie.”

Becky and
Lydia
gasped.
Lydia
clasped her hand over her mouth and tears rolled down her cheeks. Though she hadn’t uttered a word, her eyes came alive, and it was the first time Becky had seen hope in their blue depths.

“I told him about you, so he gave me the guy’s phone number and I called him.” He paused and drew a small piece of folded paper from his pocket and handed it to
Lydia
. “This is the address of the station. The guy’s name is Henry Freeman, and he’s expecting to interview you tomorrow at
three fifteen
.”

A new cascade of silent tears slipped down
Lydia
’s cheeks as she took the paper from Nick.
“Oh, dear.
I don’t know what to say.”

“Don’t say anything. Just go to that interview and wow Freeman.”

She grabbed Nick’s hand and squeezed it. “Thank you.” Then
her
smiled faded, and her full brows knitted together in a frown.

A bad feeling settled in the pit of Becky’s stomach. She glanced at Nick, who looked just as troubled. “What is it,
Lydia
?”

Lydia
hesitated to answer. “You’ve both done so much for us already.
I .
 . . ” Again she bit back her words. Finally, she drew herself up straighter. Unshed tears made her blue eyes sparkle like brilliant sapphires. “I have one more favor to ask of both of you.”

Becky couldn’t think of what else they could possibly do, but she was willing to help in any way she could. “What is it?”

“Please come to court with me for the custody hearing.”

Later, as Nick drove
out of
Lydia
’s driveway, Becky leaned over and kissed his cheek.

He started. “What was that for?”

She smiled.
“Just because.”

“Because of what?”

Becky almost told him that the kiss was in the way of a thank you for all he’d done for the Collins family. However, knowing how the most innocent of remarks could send him into another funk, she decided against answering him. Instead, she changed the subject.

“I’m almost sorry that we’re done with
Lydia
’s house. I enjoyed being with you.” The moment the words passed her lips, she wanted them back.

Nothing like putting yourself out there to be stomped on again, Becky.

He glanced at her, and then his face split into a huge grin. “I enjoyed being with you, too. And there’s nothing that says that just because the house is finished that it has to stop now.”

Becky’s vocal chords froze. She’d expected a polite dismissal or a vaguer reply, even an icy silence, but not this blatantly suggestive implication that he actually wanted to continue seeing her on a daily basis.

“I have a couple of steaks in the fridge at the cabin. How about we stop by and let Granny Jo know you won’t be home for supper, and you help me eat them?”

Dumbfounded, mouth agape, she nodded.

He laughed. “Don’t look so surprised. I told you that when I do something, I do it all the way. I like being with you. You make me
feel .
 . . Well, let’s just say that you’re the first person I’ve wanted to be around for a prolonged period of time in a very long while.”

The late afternoon sunshine coming through the truck’s windshield couldn’t hold a candle to the glow of happiness blossoming inside Becky. He liked her. Nicholas Hart really liked her. She wanted to shout it from the top of
Hawks
Mountain
. Instead, she gripped her hands together tightly and smiled.

Then a thought struck her full in the heart. Could Granny be right? Had Nick fallen in love with her?

Nick turned the steaks on the grill and then glanced at Becky where she sat sipping a glass of wine in a chaise lounge and gazing at the purple silhouette of the mountains against the sky. God, but she was beautiful. The setting sun had turned her hair to spun gold and the lengthening shadows accentuated the curve of her cheek, lips and breasts. He took a deep breath and turned back to the meat sizzling on the grill.

He still couldn’t believe that he’d actually invited her to have dinner with him, and he still wasn’t sure it was a good idea. However, he also realized that trying to stop
himself
from doing it would have equaled the effort he’d have had to expend to move
Hawks
Mountain
into the next county.

Something about this woman called out to him and drew him like a magnet. Maybe it was her selflessness.
Maybe her love of these mountains.
Maybe her compassion for other people.
Whatever it was, it had taken a hold on his heart and wouldn’t let go. Her mere presence eased his pain and refreshed his soul, and selfishly, anything that eased his pain and erased the shadow demons in his mind he wanted to keep close.

Was that love? He wasn’t sure. All he knew for certain was that Becky Hawks had become a part of his life that he’d fight God’s angels to hold on to.

He jabbed the fork into one of the steaks and flipped it over. “How do you like your steak?”

She drew her attention from the sun setting over the Hominy Ridge and smiled at him. His heart skipped a few beats. “Medium would be fine.” Then she swung her legs to the side of the chaise and sat up. “Can I do anything to help you?”

Several things came to mind. None of which had anything to do with food. Nick felt a fine sheen of perspiration blossomed on his forehead and not totally from the heat rising from the grill. He wiped it away.
“If you could grab the salad out of the fridge and a couple of plates and some silverware from the cabinet that would be great.”

“You got it,” she said, and hurried from the patio and into the house.

As Becky had walked away, the gentle sway of her hips had emblazoned itself on his mind. Evidently, out of sight did not necessarily include out of mind.

Becky rummaged through
the cabinets locating the plates and silverware. The distraction of this small, menial task came as a welcome respite from trying not to think about the man standing over the grill. She had no idea why, but for some reason her awareness of Nick had tripled in the last hour since they’d arrived at his cabin.

Every ripple of his muscles as he tended the steaks, the sound of his voice, every smile had her fighting to keep from grabbing him and doing things her granny would have frowned on.

When Becky had gotten everything assembled to set the table outside, she found a tray and piled it all on it, then headed back for the patio. Taking a deep fortifying breath, she stepped through the door. Nick looked up from his grilling and smiled. She stumbled and nearly toppled the tray.

Nick dropped the meat fork and reached for the tray. They both grabbed it and ended up standing face to face, the metal tray all that separated them. For a long time, they remained caught in the other’s gaze. Those thoughts that Granny would have frowned on bombarded Becky again. She couldn’t move and just sank deeper and deeper into Nick’s mesmerizing eyes. Her knees grew weak, and her hands began to tremble.

The rattle of the silverware against the metal tray brought her to her senses.

“
Uh .
 . . I’ve got it,” she managed in a shaky voice that sounded nothing like her.

As if rousing from a stupor, Nick shook his head, let go and stepped back. “
I .
 . . uh . . . better check the steaks.”

She nodded. But neither of them moved. The steaks weren’t the only thing sizzling. It was a miracle that the air between them wasn’t shooting sparks. Finally, she managed to drag her gaze from his and step around him. With the tray safely on the picnic table, she sank into the chaise lounge, snatched up her wine glass and took a long swallow and then another. From the corner of her eye she could see Nick jabbing the fork into the steaks as though he felt it necessary to kill the cow again.

By the time he announced that supper was ready a few minutes later, Becky had managed to gain a modicum of control over her body and her senses. But the residue of their encounter remained behind like a sleeping tiger, poised to awaken and pounce again. She had to wonder if Nick felt the same.

Nick never tasted his food. It could have been a huge plate of sawdust for all he knew. He just kept eating to keep from looking at Becky and imagining what it would be like to hold her, kiss her and make love to her into the night. No woman he had ever been involved with had ever affected him like this.
Mainly because he’d never had a romantic attachment to any of them.

But Becky was different, very different. Although he wouldn’t have admitted it then, he knew now that she’d captured his heart that day in the meadow when she’d been ready to have him arrested for trespassing.

“I guess we should clear up the dishes before it gets too dark to see them.”

Nick roused himself from his thoughts. “Yeah, you’re right.” He stood and began gathering the dishes.

Becky joined in. Together, they carried everything into the house. Becky filled the sink with soapy water and placed the glasses in it. Nick grabbed the dish towel, an alternative to grabbing what he wanted to grab, and waited for her to start washing.

She stuck her hands in the water, and the glasses clanked together.

Nick grabbed her. “Be careful. I don’t want you breaking one of them and cutting yourself.”

Without looking at him, she nodded. But he didn’t let go. Instead he rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand. The soapy water made her skin slick and hot. His pulse rate picked up. The towel slipped from his fingers and fell to the floor.

Becky slumped as if her knees would no longer hold the weight of her body. He caught her around the waist with his free arm and braced her against his body. She moaned softly, and then turned toward him.

Her lips parted invitingly, and she closed her eyes. He needed no further invitation. Lowering his head slowly, he placed his lips gently on hers. At first the kiss was gentle and sweet, but it quickly became a lot more.