Cowboy Creed (Cooper's Hawke Landing Book 1)

by Rhonda Lee Carver

  “Let’s be adults about this. If you’re sleeping with my ex-husband, the father of my child, we should at least have an open chat.” Melody opened the screen door and stepped inside without waiting for an invitation. She was still beautiful with large blue eyes surrounded in thick lashes. The red top she wore showed off deep cleavage and a small waist. “So how about that talk?”

  “Come right in why don’t you.” Mindy sighed. Closing the door, she geared up for an ensuing argument like the last time the two had spoken. “Creed didn’t tell me you were coming to town.”

  “Then we’re on the same page. He didn’t tell me you were back either, although I guessed.” She sashayed across the room, stopping in the center then giving a dramatic flip of her long hair.

  “I’m sure Livvy is very happy to see you.”

  “She’s very happy.” Her smile showed off an even row of sparkling white teeth. “Why are you back here, Mindy? You were living in…Florida?”

  “California.”

  “Same difference.” She waved a slender hand. The diamond on her middle finger sparkled in the lighting. “I thought we both learned our lesson about Cooper’s Hawk.”

  Seeing the other woman’s arrogant expression made Mindy’s chest tighten. “I’ve missed this place.”

  Melody’s brow snapped up. “I’ve never had those warm, cozy feelings. But that’s me. I’m not a country girl at heart.” She slipped her gaze down Mindy’s T-shirt, cut off shorts and flip flips.

  “It’s late, Melody—”

  “Do you have anything to drink? I’m a little parched.”

  “Water?”

  “I was thinking scotch.”

  “No.”

  “It’s no big deal. I won’t be staying long.”

  Mindy snapped her jaws tight “Why are you here?”

  “Oh, I was just curious.” She smoothed her hands down her waist. “So you and Creed are an item again.”

  “No, Creed and I aren’t an item.” Mindy wasn’t sure what they were doing…

  The woman’s chuckle dripped of acid. “Come on, no reason to deny the truth to me. You two always were…well, hooked at the hips,” she slurred. “Livvy told me that you and Creed were seeing each other again. You look shocked. Don’t you think my daughter speaks to me? Tells me what’s going on?”

  “I won’t deny that I care for Creed, and Livvy too.” Mindy had no reason to deny her feelings.

  “Hmm, so I’m right. You’re back and ready to sink your claws into Creed. I mean, how could I blame you? He still has it after all these years.” She spun and faked interest in a picture on the wall. “Isn’t it interesting how things have worked out?”

  “What things are you referring to?” Mindy could see where this was headed, but it was like watching a horror movie and she couldn’t turn away.

  “Don’t be daft.” She turned back around to face Mindy. “You know what I’m referring to. How I ended up with Creed instead of you?”

  Mindy lifted her chin, dropping her arms to her sides. “That’s in the past.”

  “Sure it is, but I have my daughter to think about. I want to make sure anyone who comes into her life is, well, a perfect fit.” Her crimson mouth puckered.

  “I can understand your concern, but with all due respect, I think Creed would never bring anyone into Livvy’s life that isn’t respectful or deserving.”

  With another wave of her hand as if she could wipe Mindy’s words away, she sniffed loudly. “He’s always been blind when it came to your friendship. I really never knew what he saw in you.” She shrugged. “But I must say, you’re not that skinny, freckled face, dirt under your nails girl any longer either.”

  “And you’re still the beautiful woman you’ve always been.”

  Melody ran her fingers through her hair and grinned from ear to ear. “It takes some work.”

  “I’m sure it does. Can I ask a question?”

  “Go ahead.”

  “What happened to the letter I’d written Creed?” It was time Mindy had the answers she deserved.

  “Letter? What letter?” Melody played naivety like a role in a movie.

  “To use your play of words, don’t be daft. You know what letter I’m referring to.”

  “Just as I told Creed, I have no idea what letter you’re describing. Whatever would I have to gain by taking a letter?” She snorted and her face tuned pale.

  “You’d have a lot to gain. You’d have Creed.”

  “Really?” She grunted. “I already had Creed, honey. Lock, stock and barrel.”

  “If that were true you wouldn’t have felt any risk with me being in town. You wouldn’t have taken the letter and things would be much different now.”

  “Wow, you really are delusional. Fine, if it makes you feel better, I do remember something about a letter. I might have set it aside and forgotten to give it to him. Completely unintentional and definitely not out of fear that you’d come along and get him back.”

  And there came the truth.

  Finally.

  “Mom, do you know where the extra blankets are?” Jane stepped into the room and came to a sudden stop. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t know you had company.”

  “Hello. I’m Melody, an old friend of your mothers. And who might you be?” Melody oozed fake interest.

  “I’m Jane. Mindy’s daughter.”

  “Oh…well…” Several expressions flickered across Melody’s face before realization planted itself there. “Well, well, well. I didn’t know you had a daughter, Mindy. How old are you, Jane?”

  Mindy felt her heart drop into her stomach.

  “I’m eighteen. I just started my freshman year at college.”

  “How exciting.” She gave Mindy a I-caught-you grin.

  “The blankets are in the chest in the guest bedroom,” Mindy said, feeling choked.

  “Thanks. Nice meeting you.” Jane left.

  Watching her daughter leave the room, she then turned her gaze upon Melody who looked like she was the cat who ate the canary. “Hmm. Looks like someone has a big secret.”

  So obviously Melody hadn’t read the letter, at least not all of it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Melody glided toward Mindy, leaning in and whispering, “I’m not a math wizard but I think I can calculate what nine months gets somebody. Now I know why you really came back to town. It wasn’t for Creed. You were pregnant.” She pulled back slightly, holding Mindy’s gaze in a lock.

  “Melody—”

  “Don’t Melody me.” Her laughter was cold. “Are you worried that I’ll tell Creed? Now why would I do that?” She sneered.

  “I plan on telling him. It’s between us.”

  “Really? I think you’re wrong about that. I have a daughter involved in all this. Not to mention, Livvy and Jane look like sisters. Creed definitely has prominent genes, doesn’t he?” She shrugged. “Do you think he’ll ever forgive you?” Her gaze had turned frosty.

  Mindy wrapped her arms around her stomach. She kept her mouth closed.

  Melody stepped over to the door. “If I were you, I’d go back to where you came from.” The closing of the door was a finality.

  Chapter Nineteen

  CREED HEARD A noise and a second later he felt the bed sink. He’d been fast asleep so it took some time to force his eyes open. His breath came out in a hiss when he saw Melody. “What the hell are you doing, Mel?” he bit out.

  “Livvy’s bed is way too small,” she cooed. “You have this big bed all to your lonesome, Creed. You don’t mind sharing, do you, honey?” She reached out and tangled her fingers in his hair.

  He blinked, sleep quickly leaving his body. He roved his gaze down the tight-fitting T-shirt that landed high on her shapely thighs. “Melody, it wouldn’t matter if I was sleeping in a bed the size of this house it’d still be too small for the both of us.”

  She showed no signs of being hurt by his blunt words. “Come on, Creed. Don’t you ever get a hankering for old times.
Remember how good we were together? How wild and sexy we could be?” She scooted closer, roaming her fingers down his chest, his stomach, to the sheet that was tossed over his lap. No denying, they used to be hot together. She could suck a raisin through a straw and enjoyed showing off her skills. They could go all night until he could barely walk the next morning. Yet he didn’t even feel a tingle south of his waist. Over the years he’d learned there was a heck of a lot more important than a roll in the sack. Hell, if he was still the cowboy who thought with his dick, he would have Mindy in his bed twenty-four seven, if she’d take him. But he wanted more. Needed more. And Melody didn’t meet any of the criteria.

  When she swept her hand lower, rubbing his flaccid body, he wrapped his fingers around her slender wrist and lifted her hand off his body. “Save your actions. It won’t happen.”

  Her fuller bottom lip puckered. “It’s okay. Livvy is fast asleep. She’ll never know.” She leaned in, but Creed sat up straight, taking the sheet with him to cover himself.

  “This isn’t about Livvy,” he groaned.

  She pushed herself up and the wide neckline of the shirt lowered, revealing the tops of her large naked breasts. “Please tell me this has nothing to do with Mindy Sage.”

  So, Melody knew Mindy was back in town. “Is that where you’d gone earlier? Doesn’t matter. Even if Mindy wasn’t here, I’d still feel the same. What we had is history.”

  “Fine. I’m good at keeping a secret, not as good as some, but I won’t tell a soul. I’m offering you me.”

  “No.”

  Rolling her tongue along her satin smooth lips, she smiled. “I’m not looking for a relationship again, Creed. But I have to say, I miss you in a hundred ways.” She dipped her gaze to the sheet. “I haven’t been able to find a man yet who has your moves.”

  “Save yourself the embarrassment. The only thing getting off here tonight is me off the bed.” He jumped up, wrapping the sheet around his hips.

  An ugly expression covered her face. “My God, this really is about Mindy, isn’t it?” She pushed off the bed and paraded up to him. The hem of the T-shirt stayed around her flat stomach. “What a pathetic story.” She laughed.

  “You’re jealous of her, aren’t you?”

  “What? Me jealous of her? I think it was the other way around.” She crossed her arms over her chest and wrinkled her nose.

  “She had no reason to be jealous.”

  Several exasperated expressions flicked over her face before the frown shaped her full lips. “Just as I thought. You never did get over her. You want to blame me for the demise of our marriage, but you were the problem, Creed. I’m sick of everyone thinking Mindy is such an angel. You’re mother. Your brothers. And now Livvy. I can tell you she’s far from innocent.”

  “Save it, Mel. This won’t change anything. You lied about the letter and many other things.”

  Stomping her foot, she stormed to the door, dragged it open, and looked back at him with a deep-rooted vengeance. “Did you know Mindy has a daughter?”

  “Yes, I don’t mind—”

  Her snort sounded more like a choking sound. “Well, you should. Take a good look at her. I wonder if you’ll be in Mindy’s corner then,” she ground out.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Oh, I think you know. It doesn’t take a genius, Creed. Goodbye!”

  He stood there for a long time after Melody left, trying to wrap his head around what she’d said—or rather what she didn’t say. What the hell was she talking about? What did Mindy’s daughter have to do with any of this?

  He dropped to the bed and stared at the door.

  His heart raced.

  His spine tingled.

  Mindy had said she came back to Cooper’s Hawk to speak to him nineteen years ago. Even writing him a letter explaining why.

  Why hadn’t she just come to see him?

  Unless…

  He jumped up from the bed, pacing the floor.

  How old was Jane? Had Mindy told him? She was just starting college, so eighteen or nineteen?

  Could it be possible?

  Could Mindy have been carrying his child?

  Melody had read the letter Mindy had written.

  Creed dressed and left his bedroom, taking the stairs quietly and stepped outside. He couldn’t sleep. It was still early and Mindy wouldn’t be up. His mind whirled like a washing machine and every muscle ached.

  Taking a seat in one of the rockers, he sat there as the fingers of light crawled across the sky and he heard a rooster crow. The time had come that he got some answers.

  Driving to Sage Ranch, he greeted Bo and other hands with a wave as he drove by, heading toward the house.

  He pulled up next to Mindy’s car. Creed sat there staring at the front of the farmhouse, waiting for any sign of activity. Mindy would be coming out soon. He knew she’d been checking on the livestock and feeding the goats every morning.

  If Jane was his daughter, why had she kept the truth from him?

  Because he hadn’t met her at the ice rink when she came back to town?

  The Mindy he knew and loved wouldn’t steal his daughter from him. Wouldn’t take away all the firsts, his family, a part of him.

  But she had been keeping a secret. She said so herself.

  Burying his face in his palms, he rubbed the tension from his forehead. What did he want? If he prayed that Jane wasn’t his daughter, then he felt like a jerk. If he wanted Jane to be his daughter, then he could never forgive Mindy and he’d lose her. Keeping his daughter a secret would be the biggest betrayal. How could anyone get over something like that?

  Lifting his head, he stretched his gaze over the windows of the house. A light was now on in Mindy’s bedroom. A few minutes later he saw her coming from the back of the house to take the worn path down to the barn. My God, seeing her made his heart skip a beat. He wanted to be with her, spend the rest of his life with her. He wanted to believe this had all been a misunderstanding. But how could a nineteen-year-old secret be a misunderstanding.

  Slow down, man.

  Melody could be stirring up trouble. Something she had become an expert at doing.

  He needed to get the answers from Mindy.

  Get out of the truck, Creed.

  Sitting there for a few minutes longer, he decided being a coward didn’t look good on him. He’d never ran away from trouble, never feared what was on the other side of a door. If he didn’t speak to Mindy soon, he’d explode.

  He slipped out of the driver’s seat and shut the door quietly. He followed the worn path down to the field and into the open doorway of the new barn. He heard clanking and rattling and he found Mindy bent over scooping grain into a large metal bucket. The enticing curve of her firm bottom sticking up in the air didn’t deter the powerful curiosity rolling through his body.

  Watching her, he replayed in his head what he’d say to her. What he would do if Mindy admitted what Melody insinuated. The second she stood up, swiping tendrils of hair away from her flushed cheeks, he felt a familiar ache in his groin. He wanted to stroll over, wrap her up in his arms and hold her there forever. The future he’d planned had become murky.

  She saw him and after the surprise faded, she smiled, strolled over to him and set the bucket down. “Creed, I didn’t expect to see you so soon.”

  He stood there quietly. His voice was lost somewhere between joy and fear.

  Mindy must have sensed his internal tornado because the corners of her beautiful mouth dipped into a frown. “Creed? Are you okay?”

  Shoving his hands into the front pockets of his jeans, he swallowed a large lump in his throat. “I didn’t expect to be here either.”

  Several expressions flitted across her face. Her eyes widened slightly. Her shoulders slumped as if the gig was up. “You look like crap.”

  “I didn’t sleep.”

  She averted her gaze. “Must be from the company you’re keeping.” Picking up the bucket, she carried it outside. He foll
owed.

  “Mel came to see you, I know.” Another new piece to the complex puzzle. “What did you two talk about?”

  Mindy unlocked the gate to the goat fence and stepped in. The herd came running, hopping excitedly from front to back hooves as she headed toward the goat house.

  He followed her across the wet grass and waited outside the door of the small shelter as she scooped grain into feeders. “Well?”

  Mindy lifted her chin to glace at him. “Don’t you already know the answer?”

  “You don’t have any reason to be angry with me,” he huffed.

  “Maybe I’m not angry with you. Maybe I am. Hell if I know. Why are you here, Creed?”

  “We need to talk.”

  Turning her back to him, she poured the rest of feed mixture into the last feeder. “Go ahead and talk. I just need to finish my chores.”

  “Mindy—”

  She finally turned, dread lacing her lovely features. “I feel like Melody has been the puppet master for our relationship, or the lack of, for nineteen years. I know what she said to you. I saw the wicked look in her expression when she left here last night.”

  An invisible vice grabbed him around the throat and squeezed. “I need you to tell me. Mindy, tell me the truth.”

  She dropped the bucket and there among a herd of goat chomping away on their breakfast, his world turned upside down again. He could only stare. His breath came in heavy pants.

  “Creed…”

  “Let’s not mince words. I need to know,” he said in a low voice.

  “I didn’t know I was pregnant when I left Cooper’s Hawk. I found out and I had every intention of telling you. I came back, but I learned that you and Melody were getting married. I was blindsided, hurt and angry. I went back and forth, unsure what I should do, but I settled on giving you the option. I wrote you the letter, telling you that I was pregnant and I was keeping her. I asked that you meet me at the ice rink if you wanted me, wanted us, but begged that you didn’t come unless you were committed. My heart had already been broken. I swore that if you didn’t show up, I’d walk away and never bother you again.”