Hawk gives me an eye roll before throwing an uncomfortable glance at Lana via his rearview mirror again. “You’re not without your charm. You’re just an acquired taste, is all. Right, Goose?”
Lana ignores him and stares out her window again.
Hawk sighs. “Lana…?”
When he gets no answer, he turns to me and shrugs. “She’s got another dad who she likes better than me, but she’s a good kid. She shoots straight, and once she sets her mind to something, she always gets the job done. Those are good things that are easy to love.”
“Agreed,” I reply without thinking — a little too quickly, judging by the looks on both their faces. “You must be very proud,” I amend.
Hawk chuckles softly, and a nostalgic glint appears in his eyes as he smiles.
“She once organized a week-long vacation to Disneyland for me and her sisters, coordinating travel plans and booking all the flights so I could collect each of them as I flew cross-country, and I swear, all I had to do was supply my credit card. She wasnine. It was a great trip, filled with activities she’d booked. The girls got to know each other, and the whole thing was fuckingseamless, Kelly — I kid you not.” Hawk grins like the proud dad he should be, and I glance back at Lana to see if she’s hearing it.
She wipes at her cheek, but she’s still looking out her window. I think she might be crying.
My chest hurts, and I don’t know what to do when I can’t demand Hawk pull over so I can hug her.
I sit bolt upright in my seat, trying not to feel anything at all, let alone severely inappropriate feelings for an off-limits woman I’ve just met when I should be steering clear of women altogether.
Hawk’s still smiling, and when he speaks again, he’s gazing out at the road before us as if he can see the past and the future converging up ahead.
“Now she’s finished her education, and she’s even got a little mining experience under her belt. Hey, Goose? Tell Kelly what you did for Scully over in Alaska last season.”
I grip the armrest on the door and turn in disbelief to my friend.
“Scully? Are you fucking nuts? You let her go toScully’s?Alone?”
My eyes rush to Lana, but her lips do that thing where they fold in on themselves, sealing the vault shut, and she looks out the window again.
Hawk shrugs. “Didn’t really get a say in the matter. I refused to let her ruffle feathers with trials on our claim for her thesis, so she bartered her way onto Scully’s claim and tested her theories there instead.”
He turns to find me glaring at him.
“What?”he asks, acting all innocent and shit. “I needed a banger season, and she couldn’t guarantee those kinds of results. Everything worked out. She did okay for herself.”
“No thanks to you,” Lana mutters from the back.
“Well, I wasn’t about to help you out when you purposely went behind my back to help the old bastard kick my ass at the end-of-season weigh in,” he argues via the mirror before turning back to meet my death glare. “I lost fifty grand and a D10 dozer on that wager.”
I want to scream — “Serves you right for not having any fucking faith in your clearly capable daughter!” — but I don’t think it’ll do me any favors. I just keep staring instead, so that Hawk and Lana both know I’m not thrilled about any of it.
Hawk splits his attention between my unimpressed face and the road.
“She did fine,” he repeats, but I don’t miss the quick check he does in the mirror, or the tightening of Lana’s arms that are now wrapped around her middle.
“She had a bit of a rough season,” he admits in a more honest tone. “But once she actuallygot those boys washing rocksherway, they all appreciated the boost in their end-of-season gold bonuses. This season, she’ll be onourside, so there’ll be more gold in the box for us, andwe’llbe the ones taking home the pot from the gamble. Me and the girls. Even split. Right, Goose?”
“That’s what is says in the signed contract I had notarized,” Lana agrees.
Hawk grips the steering wheel and leans forward to get closer to the mirror, as if he can hear better through it. “Younotarizedit?”
“Had to make it official before I sent Martha and Harper their copies,” Lana states matter-of-factly. “I have your copy and the original with me. It’s laminated. I’m here, and we’re doing this. There’s no going back on the deal.”
“That’s just fine with me, Lana Baker-Hawkins.” Hawk grunts and settles back into his seat with a lazy smile.
Chuckling to myself, I look out the window at the familiar Yukon landscape and feel suddenly very at home with my surroundings. Company included.
“Anyway. Enough shop-talk,” Hawk says in a much lighter, breezier tone that has me settling into my seat. Until he continues.
