Cowboy Creed (Cooper's Hawke Landing Book 1)

by Rhonda Lee Carver

  “Don’t worry about Livvy. We’ll be fine.”

  His daughter seemed to listen more to his mother than she did to him. At times he felt like he was a visitor in his own home—in his own relationship with Livvy. He thought about this as he climbed behind the wheel of his truck, started the engine and let it idle. Maybe his Ma was right, it had come to the point where he needed to do this alone, without her assistance. He couldn’t deny he’d used his Ma as a buffer on more than one occasion and Livvy knew this.

  When had he become the bad guy?

  He had no clue what a girl—or woman—needed. He hadn’t been on a date in so long he’d forgotten how to. If his parenting skills had any relation to his ability of making a woman happy, he was out of luck.

  He was still thinking of the dating/marriage thing when he drove onto Sage Ranch and climbed from his truck. He gave a look around before he headed to fix the fencing he’d been meaning to get to for a few weeks. His other intention had been to hire new hands to take up some of the slack around the property.

  The sun beat down hot. He dragged off his shirt and hung it on the post as he worked to pound the post into the ground. A hard day’s job always did his body good.

  Thirsty, he dropped the hammer, grabbed a water bottle and drank the cool liquid, then wiped is hand across his face.

  Picking the hammer back up, he started hammering, but the hair on his neck lifted. He got that queasy feeling that he was being watched. Jerking a gaze around, he spotted the silver BMW sitting on the lane, but he didn’t see anyone behind the wheel.

  Squinting, he wondered who in the hell came around these parts in a luxury car?

  Shrugging, he went back to work and once he finished, he strolled back to the barn where he found Bo finishing his chores.

  “Evenin’, Bo.”

  “Good to see you, Creed. Any luck finding hands?”

  “No, but I have a few ideas. How are you, buddy?”

  “Fine. I’ll miss this place but I’m getting old. Time to close the curtain.”

  “Never old, my friend, just finely seasoned. Were you able to switch out the grain for the cattle?”

  The other man blinked. “No, I didn’t. I forgot. I’ll do that.” He took the saddle he was polishing and laid it aside.

  Creed didn’t want to make it his business to remind someone that they were slacking but he’d noticed Bo seemed preoccupied lately. “Don’t worry. The feed store will put the new grain on the next delivery. Are you sure all is okay?”

  There was a long thoughtful hesitation. “I haven’t told anyone but Rusty, but our oldest son, Gavin, has been having some trouble finding a job. May’s been sick with worry over him, you know, since he came back from Iraq. Now is probably the best time for me to retire and take care of my family business.”

  “Have Gavin call me. He’s a good guy and I need a few good men around here that I can rely on.”

  Bo’s eyes widened. “Really? That would be very generous.”

  “You’re a good man, Bo. Rusty and I both appreciate all the years you’ve dedicated to Sage Ranch. Helping your son out is the least we can do.”

  “Thank you. I’ll tell him to call you.”

  “I see Rusty has a visitor.”

  “You didn’t know?” Bo’s tan faded.

  “Know what?”

  “I guess I assumed you knew.” Bo swiped a hand over his thin jaw. “Remember a few years back, we were at that welcome home party for Adam Case? We were sitting around the fire, drank a little too much whiskey, and I asked you what your biggest regret was in life?”

  Yeah, he remembered the party. His old buddy Adam had come back from his military contract early, injured when an IED exploded and left him without a leg. Adam had a wife and kid and although they were happy to have him home, he sensed there was a lot of concern. A man never knew what life would be like when he came back from across the pond, but losing a limb had its own barrel of issues. “Hell, beats me. I was pretty upset to see my buddy hurt.”

  “You said you regretted not chasing after her.” The corner of Bo’s mouth twitched.

  “Her?” Creed didn’t need to search his memory. He could play dumb, but the man’s gaze nailed him in accusation. That could be a problem with drinking, loose lipped confessions never helped anyone.

  “Do you need to clean out the cobwebs?”

  No denying, he’d been hurt when she left but, in his gut, he’d known it had been the best thing for all of them. “A lapse of reasoning on my part.”

  “Oh? What if I told you she was back in Cooper’s Hawk?”

  Creed chuckled and swiped a hand down his whiskered jaw. He looked across the hay strewn floor of the barn and caught the grave expression on Bo’s face.

  Huh?

  Creed was ready to throttle the man if he was lying.

  “Nothin’ to joke about.” Creed muttered the words.

  “She’s been back a few days. The BMW is hers.”

  The loud mooing of a cow right outside the barn mingled with the heavy beating of Creed’s heart in his ears. A vivid image developed inside his head of her, his first love. His first kiss. His first…everything. At ten she’d been his best friend. At sixteen she’d become a woman overnight and stole his heart. At eighteen he’d finally worked up the nerve to make a move, but instead of treading slowly, he’d jumped off the proverbial cliff and wound up making an effing mess of things. Big time.

  He never understood why he’d become the tongue-tied, wet-behind-the ears, foolish idiot when it had come to talking about his feelings for her. For a long time she’d been one of the boys, until she woke up one day and had blossomed in all the right places then she’d been the target of all the boys’ interest. She’d always been beautiful, but she’d grown curves. Breasts. And she’d learned to work magic with her dark eyes.

  At eighteen, and not nearly as mature as he thought he’d been at the time, he’d been embarrassed at the strong reaction of his body each time she was near. If the wind caught her scent, he grew hard. If she brushed against him, he would lose his head.

  He shoved his shaking hands in his front pockets. Even now, he lost himself thinking about her. “If you’re lying, I’ll hang you by your toes—”

  Bo swung his palms up. “Hey, I like to joke about a lot of things, but even I have a line I won’t cross. Your past is one of them. I just wanted to warn you.”

  Mindy.

  Mindy.

  Mindy.

  She was home.

  His chest became heavier and his gut twisted. His jeans stretched. He was a dumbass.

  Anger sliced through him. Why the hell was she back? She left Cooper’s Hawk—and him—in her dust years ago and didn’t look back.

  Creed stepped out of the barn and looked around the green pasture. Why couldn’t he get air into his lungs? It was as if he had a ton of bricks laying on his chest. Why did his boots feel a size too large and his boxers a size too small?

  Damn. Mindy was home.

  His Mindy.

  The biggest heart break in his life had been the day she told him she needed to get out of Cooper’s Hawk and she was leaving for California. Not once had she asked him to come along. He wouldn’t have because he’d signed up for the military but being asked would have at least proven to him that she cared.

  He strolled up to his truck and pressed out the tension in his forehead with his thumb and forefinger as he wrapped his head around the idea that the girl who broke his heart was here…at Sage Ranch. Driving a BMW.

  This shouldn’t come as a great big surprise. Not really. After all, this was her childhood home.

  He rubbed his eyes and muttered a curse word.

  Mindy.

  Mindy.

  “Mindy,” he huffed out. He couldn’t think clearly. Hell, he couldn’t breathe. Clenching his hands into fists, he felt his knuckles ache and loosened the grip.

  How many times had he dreamed of what could have been if he had told her how much he cared for her
? How she made him feel? How many times had he wished he’d done things differently? If he had though, he wouldn’t have Livvy. Some paths needed to happen although unplanned.

  “She’s only back for a visit. She’ll leave and things will go back to the way they were,” he muttered to himself. Back to what way? His lonely existence?

  Better than being near a woman who’d stamped on him then kicked him to the curb.

  In the meantime, how could he dodge her?

  Cooper’s Hawk, population of six hundred, could be a pretty hard place to keep from seeing someone, at least anyone that didn’t live under a rock.

  Opening the driver’s door, he climbed in, turned the key and pressed on the gas pedal causing the door to slam shut. The tires kicked up rocks and dirt, and he coughed against the dust cloud that drifted through the open windows. Once he could manage to inhale again, he continued the narrow gravel lane toward the main road. He glanced in the rearview mirror, seeing the farmhouse in the distance. Something triggered inside him, like a dam wall cracking. When had he become weak? A coward? He had nothing to run away from. This was his town. His place. He wasn’t the one who slept with her then walked—no ran—away.

  Whether he liked it or not, he’d have to face her—had to prove to himself and to her that he no longer cared for her. No longer craved her more than his next breath. Hell, he’d been a stupid kid who’d allowed his brains to settle behind his zipper. Who the hell knew who they wanted to spend their life with when they’re ten? So what that they’d exchanged some playful vows in a barn during a tornado when they were snot-nosed kids who’d been out catching frogs. Years had passed. They weren’t the same people.

  Damn.

  Slamming his foot on the brake, he slid to a stop, causing the back to veer.

  He needed to man up.

  Jerking the steering wheel, he made a quick U-turn in the grass and peeled out. The rubber finally caught traction, causing a loud crunching sound of rocks that caught the attention of the cattle in the field. They watched him, chewing cud. He felt about as ridiculous as they looked.

  The back of the truck shimmied and he straightened the steering wheel and skillfully pulled back into the long gravel driveway, headed toward the old farmhouse that felt more like metal to magnet. He parked next to the sleek, silver BMW with Cali plates. “Well, well, well…” She certainly did have expensive tastes. The girl he remembered was into horses for transportation not pricey cars that were unfitting in redneck valley.

  This brought him some relief. Exactly. She wasn’t the girl he knew back in the day when they’re biggest concern was not getting caught after toilet papering principal Hahn’s front yard. In fact, he’d guarantee she had physically changed. With a BMW palate, she probably had collagen infused cheeks and lips and big, fake tits. He didn’t mind the latter, he wouldn’t lie, but he preferred his women real.

  “Shit!”

  He needed to get it through his thick skull that sitting there moping in his truck wasn’t tapping into the bravery he had a minute back. He was acting like a full-blown idiot. He needed to stomp right up to the door, knock and pretend nothing was cockeyed except for the welcome sign hanging on the red door.

  Once his worn boots hit rocks, he strolled up the broken stones of the walkway, took the steps to the porch two at a time, and straight up to the door. His hand was suspended in the air ready to knock when he caught a strong scent in the air. He sniffed. Smoke. Fire. And it was close. There was a no-burn order in the area so who would be stupid enough to go against the rule?

  Jumping off the side of the porch, he saw the plume of grey smoke coming from behind the house.

  Agitated, he rounded the corner and almost got knocked off his feet by the vision in front of him. There she was.

  His heart was beating fast enough to jump right out of his chest. He could only stand there and stare.

  This didn’t look like her, but it was her.

  The Mindy he’d loved had been blonde with light highlights, tanned body, and a smooth smile that was a hook to his internal fish. She’d been cute, bright eyed and fancy free. A sweet girl hidden under a layer of dangerous sass that had been his undoing.

  She bent over, sticking her firm bottom up high and his mouth salivated.

  His body hardened so fast it hurt to breathe.

  Once she stood, he concentrated on her timeless beauty. Her dark blonde hair was cut to her shoulders, angled longer in the front. One bright blonde highlight framed her face.

  The spaghetti strap to the white cami slipped down her shoulder, leading his gaze downward to the outline of her small, firm breasts. That answered his question. No implants.

  She lifted her chin. Her thin brows curved over surprised eyes, then she blinked twice.

  Lord, although she’d changed some, she was still the tall, leggy beauty that could rock a pair of Daisy Dukes like no other.

  She shook out whatever she was holding and he groaned. He recognized the shirt as his football jersey that he gave her to wear after “that one night”. He never got it back. Hell, he wanted it back.

  “I hope you’re not adding that to the burn pile.”

  He’d caught her by surprise because her deep brown eyes nailed him with a combination of disbelief and something else, something he couldn’t quite pin. The ends of her hair brushed her exposed skin in the skimpy top that dipped low, showing off the tops of creamy mounds. She was barefoot and her toes were curled in the grass. He crawled his gaze up on those amazing, knock out legs and onto her frown.

  She dragged a tendril of hair behind her ear and he saw a helix piercing and a row of three diamond studs down the other ear lobe. Her lush lips were now drawn into a straight, irritated line that matched her death stare.

  He snarled.

  She moaned.

  Seconds ticked by in awkward silence. Someone needed to make a move or they could have a staring contest for hours. He knew because they had a few as kids.

  Clearing his throat, he pushed back the rim of his hat and smiled. “You look different.” Hard to believe this was the same girl who could spit a watermelon seed farther than any guy and ride a horse faster too. Her eyes widened and he caught a glimpse of the pigtailed, freckled face girl. And that had left Creed feeling things he’d never experienced before. A mixture of jealousy for the time he’d lost and appreciation that maybe the country girl remained.

  Slow down, bro. The girl he once knew was lost that night when he’d allowed his need to get in the way in the back of his truck and destroyed their friendship.

  “Great way to welcome me back,” she whispered.

  “That’s not my job.” Guilt wavered inside him. Why? He didn’t owe her a damn thing. Holy smokes, and why did he feel a teasing throbbing below his belt? Nope. Nope. Nope. He couldn’t do this again. He clenched his teeth and took a step forward, but she shook her head, holding up a hand to pause him.

  “Stay still.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I can’t promise I won’t punch you.”

  He chuckled but he could see she wasn’t laughing, not in the slightest. “And I can’t promise that I won’t take you over my knee and swat your tight bottom. How dare you come back,” he snarled.

  “How dare I come back?” She crossed her arms over her flat stomach and laughed. “Wow. I didn’t know I needed your permission before I came home, to my ranch, to see my daddy. You always did have an overexaggerated imagination, Creed Hawke. I see you haven’t changed one bit.” Her pert nose wrinkled. “Still thinking the world evolves around you I see.”

  She was the spitfire he knew back when. That certainly hadn’t changed.

  Several thoughts slip-slided around inside his whirling head. Her ranch? So, Rusty didn’t tell her that he’d sold most of the ranch to Creed three months ago. Sum’bitch. He knew better than to keep something as serious as the possession of a homestead under wraps. Mindy could explode and he didn’t want to be the target. Creed had figured her father would tel
l her.

  “Mindy—"

  “Creed? What are you doing here?” There was a squeak to her voice. “Why are you hanging out at Sage Ranch? Don’t you have anything better to do, or at least stay on your own territory?”

  Now wasn’t the time to burst her bubble.

  He angled his head toward the burn pit. “The fire. There’s a no-burn order in place.” There was also a tightness in his throat. Pulling himself out of his reverie, he marched over to grab the garden hose off the hook and squeezed the nozzle, extinguishing the now raging flames, splattering her with water in the process.

  “Hey! Wait! It’s a contained fire.”

  “Doesn’t matter. You know how fast a fire can get out of control around these parts.” He dropped the hose. “You could be fined for this,” he growled.

  “Oh really?” She drew the words out through those plush, kissable lips. Her dark eyes glowered. “By whom?” She tilted her shapely hip. “You always did have a bigger bark than bite.”

  “Not me, sweetheart. Sheriff Conley.”

  “That old hoot?”

  “No, his son.”

  “Same difference. Just because you have pounded a couple fence posts on the property doesn’t give you the right to boss me around.”

  “Are you testing me?”

  “Now why would I want to do a thing like that, Creedy?” She arched a high brow. What had he been thinking? She was more beautiful than ever. Sexier than ever. He liked her new confidence and the small tattoo of a cross on the inside of her wrist.

  “I haven’t been called Creedy in a long time and I’d like to keep it that way.”

  “Hmm,” she moaned deep in her throat. “Old habits die hard.”

  “You didn’t answer me about the shirt.” He strolled over and looked down into the box. An invisible fist rammed into his stomach. She was going to burn the pictures taken of them together. The memories they’d shared. Like they were nothing but trash. Anger slipped through him.