Overwhelmed, Lucky put her hand up to stop Desiree from saying anything more. “I’m fine. The house is fine. I’m a little sad I lost my mother’s quilt to the fire when Hawk used it to put it out, but that’s a small sacrifice. It could have been a lot worse.”
“You put the fire out?” Desiree looked surprised.
Hawk shrugged like it was no big deal, then brushed his hand over Lucky’s braid. “Sorry about the blanket. I didn’t know. I just acted in the moment.”
She gave him a soft smile. “I appreciate it. Really, I do. And I probably would have done the same thing if I hadn’t been so shocked by it all.”
“You’ve been through a lot. That’s why you should be with someone familiar. With us.” Desiree practically shoved Krystal into Lucky’s legs.
Krystal wrapped her arms around Lucky in a hug. “Hi Auntie. You got a lot of ouchies?” Krystal’s eyes held too much worry for someone so young.
Lucky couldn’t squat down with the brace on her knee and she ignored the pain to her stitched thigh, because Krystal’s hugs were the best medicine. “I’m okay, sweetie. Just some bumps and bruises and one broken pinky.” She held up the appendage with the silver brace on it, her pinky taped to her ring finger.
“Does it hurt?” Her bottom lip trembled.
“A little bit.” She didn’t want to lie and say everything was fine. It definitely was not. She ached. Everywhere.
“I need to take her home.” Hawk slid his hand to her lower back. “Come on, sweetheart. You need to get off that leg. The bright sun isn’t good for your head injury either.”
She wished she had sunglasses to block out the bright light piercing her eyes. “Do you still have the keys to my car?”
Hawk pulled them from his pocket.
“Would you mind grabbing my sunglasses from the visor?”
He went to retrieve them, while she turned to Desiree. “I appreciate you stopping by to check on me. It means a lot.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You’re just going to go stay withhiminstead of me?”
“Yes. It’s my chance to see if there’s more between us.” She wanted so much more with Hawk. A real relationship. Time together. A deeper connection. Love.
“You barely know this guy.” But Desiree knew how she felt about Hawk.
Lucky couldn’t hide it, even if she’d kept a lot of the details to herself. “That’s just it. It feels like I know him better than I know anyone else.”
Desiree’s eyes flashed with pain, then anger. “I’ve been by your side our whole lives.”
“I didn’t mean it like that.” She pressed her thumb to the throbbing headache between her eyes. “The pain meds are wearing off. It’s been a hell of a day. I misspoke.” Not reallythough. She and Hawk had some kind of…chemistry, kismet between them.
Desiree sucked in a breath like she was trying to calm herself. “This isn’t you. You don’t go off with guys you barely know.”
“I’ve been working for him for two years. We’ve been exchanging messages nearly that long. If nothing else, I know his reputation. People around town respect him, like him, admire him. He saves people. He saved me.”
“That doesn’t mean you owe him anything. And everyone also thinks he’s a gruff asshole who might be crazy.”
“He’s not any of those things. Not anymore. He’s changed. Healed. And the way he treats me…he cares.” She glared at her friend as Hawk returned, probably overhearing Desiree.
“Ready,” he asked, holding out her glasses.
She took them and slid them on. “Thank you. That’s much better.”
He kissed her on the head. “Anything for you.”
“You’re really big,” Krystal blurted out, staring up at Hawk, her eyes wide and wondrous.
Hawk squatted in front of her. “I ate all my vegetables when I was a kid.”
Krystal’s pert nose squished into a yuck face.
