Chapter 27

27

HAWK

M y eyes were burning after all the hours I’d spent staring at screens the last few days, but things were finally shaping up and I knew my hard work would be worth it. I’d just gotten off the phone after a meeting with some of the Gold Star board members, and so far, everyone who mattered was good with buying my dad’s company.

The merger would happen soon, and once it did, I would finally be able to sleep again. Unless my dad needed me, which was also starting to happen more and more frequently at night now. He’d taken to calling for me instead of Emery, but since she already had Sawyer’s nightmares to deal with, I was only too happy to tend to Dad.

I had even less of a clue now how she’d managed it all by herself for so long, and then she went to work every day and kept our father’s business going. Honestly, it was insanity, but every single day, that also reminded me why this was so important.

As a result, I’d dived in headfirst. Putting everything else aside, I’d focused on making the merger happen sooner rather than later, and I’d already taken over operations at Dad’s company to make sure that the transition was as smooth as possible.

“Knock, knock,” Emery said as she pushed open the door to my father’s home office. “Have you got a minute?”

“Sure.” I frowned when I saw that she was a little bit pale. “Are you okay?”

Her head shook slowly from side to side. “Calen is here.”

“Calen, as in Sutton’s ex, Calen?” I asked, worry sinking like a stone to the pit of my stomach. “Are you sure?”

“Yep. I saw him myself. He showed up while we were waiting for dismissal,” she murmured. “I just saw Sutton and Winnie see him for the first time in what might be over a year. I’m not sure how long it’s been, but it looked like it’d been a while.”

“No doubt.” I felt like I’d had the wind knocked out of me. “How’d they take it?”

“Winnie was ecstatic,” Emery said, her voice still soft and a little stunned. “Sutton, not so much. She dragged him away to talk just before the kids were let out, but neither of them looked particularly happy about what she said.”

I didn’t like this. At all.

I knew it wasn’t my place, but I felt like I should’ve been there for them when he’d made his appearance. “Fuck. I’ll call her.”

“Do,” Emery said. She started closing the door again but peeked at me around it before she left me to keep working. “Be kind, Hawk. I know you two have started something new and I don’t know if she told you he was coming, but try not to lose your shit with her.”

“I won’t,” I protested, white-knuckling my phone when I picked it up. “I just want to make sure she’s okay, is all. Shit, is that what you think of me?”

She shrugged. “Emotionally, you’re a loose cannon, Hawk. Keep it together.”

I sighed. “I will, and for the record, I have been working on getting better at that.”

“I know, and it’s been showing, but again, you two have just started up again. I’d hate to see that asshole get between you.”

I inhaled deeply through my nostrils, taking a moment to let her advice sink in before I called Sutton. Emery shut the door, and as I listened to the phone ringing and ringing, I closed my eyes, so many questions I didn’t know if I wanted the answers to racing through my head.

Why is he here? Did she know he was coming? Why didn’t she tell me? How long is he staying? Did he bring the girlfriend with him? Or did he come to get Sutton back?

The call eventually went to voicemail and I stood immediately, deciding to go down to the bookstore to see her. I needed to make sure she was alright. Regardless of whether she’d known he was coming, it had to have been a shock to her system to see him again.

My heart thudded in my chest as I headed over to the store, but when I walked in, I found myself face to face with her father instead of the woman herself. I frowned. “David. Where is she?”

“What’s it to you?” he shot back, clearly not happy to see me. “Is it true that you’re taking over your father’s company?”

“Yes, it is.” I held his gaze. “Did you know Calen is in town?”

At the mention of her ex-husband’s name, David’s features contorted and he blew out a heavy breath. Groaning, he rubbed the back of his head. “No, I didn’t know he’d actually shown up. Sutton mentioned it to Mindy that he said he was coming for Thanksgiving, but neither of them thought he’d actually follow through.”

“Well, he did,” I said. “Emery just saw him at Bayshore, so I thought I’d check in with Sutton, which is why I’d like to know where she is.”

“I don’t know where she is,” he said. “Even if I did though, I wouldn’t tell you. Calen showing up doesn’t change what you and I spoke about before. In fact, it makes you need to stay even further away from her. If she’s already having to deal with him, she doesn’t need to worry about you too.”

For fuck’s sake.

For a second, I considered letting it go, but then I decided that enough was enough. “I understand that you’re just trying to protect your daughter, but I want to be with Sutton and I know I don’t deserve her or Winnie, but I’m willing to try and so is she.”

His jaw hardened, his gaze turning to ice. He lifted his chin, literally looking down his nose at me. “The only thing right about what you just said is that you don’t deserve them. Don’t do this, Hawk. Especially not now that Calen is in town. Is that it? Are you jealous that the prick is here?”

“Nope. I’m worried, but I’m not jealous.”

Also not entirely true, but okay.

The fact was that he was asking if I suddenly wanted to be with her because Calen was here, and the answer to that was an unequivocal no , but I was definitely jealous that Winnie was his and that he and Sutton had had her together. I was jealous that he’d had almost a decade with her as his wife while I’d been chasing skirts all over, trying to find the exact woman whose heart he’d so carelessly shattered.

I exhaled a slightly shaky breath, looking straight into David’s eyes. I decided to get this out of the way once and for all. I just had to be careful since I didn’t know if he’d ever found out that we’d been more than friends back in the day, and the last thing I wanted to do was drive a wedge between Sutton and her dad if she hadn’t told him yet.

“I’m sorry about what I did before. I’m sorry that I hurt her, and just so you know, I’m deeply sorry that I haven’t been there for my dad and Emery. I’m working it out with them, and I need you to know that I realize how badly I failed them and that I’m trying to make up for it. The same goes for Sutton.”

“Yeah, well, keep trying,” he said. “That’s all I’m hearing from you, Hawk. ‘I’m trying’ with this and ‘I’m trying’ with that. You and Sutton are both adults. I can’t stop you from being together, but know that I won’t be okay with it until you stop trying and start doing. She deserves a hell of a lot better than the hand she’s been dealt.”

“Agreed,” I said.

The bell above the door jingled and Sutton walked in, looking shellshocked but holding it together for Winnie’s sake. For her part, the little girl was grinning widely, letting go of Sutton’s hand to rush over to me.

“Daddy came so he can see my play,” she exclaimed happily, smacking into me to give me a massive hug. “Isn’t that great, Hawk? He’s here for Thanksgiving.”

“Yeah, that’s great, Win,” I said, dropping to my haunches and hugging her back, but my gaze never left Sutton.

Her cheeks were snow white. Her hands were trembling slightly as she fidgeted with her fingers. Every single part of me was itching to gather her up in my arms and take off with her, to protect her against the villain and to be Prince Charming in her story.

But I knew it was already too late for that. First, the villain wasn’t even here right now, and second, I’d been a villain too, which was why the other villain was in the damn story at all. The only thing I could do now was to support her as best as I could.

Winnie released me and rushed over to David. He watched as Sutton’s wide, wild eyes slid to mine. As he hugged his granddaughter, he smiled and offered her his hand. “How about I take you to get some ice cream and we’ll leave Mommy and Hawk to talk for a minute?”

“I love ice cream,” Winnie said and waved at us as she followed David out of the store. He didn’t spare me another glance, but I knew it meant something that he was taking Winnie and leaving me to handle Sutton.

As he walked past her, he reached for her hand and squeezed it, and I saw the tears that jumped to her eyes in the aftermath. My heart flipped over and I strode to her, opening my arms and finally gathering her in them.

“Let me walk you home, baby,” I murmured against her hair. “You can tell me all about it if you want to once we get there.”

“Do you remember you promised to buy me a bottle of Lagavulin after we ditched my drink when Hailey pounced in the wine bar that night?” she asked, her voice muffled by my chest before she lifted her head to look into my eyes.

I nodded, a slight smile creeping onto my lips as I took her hand. “Let’s stop and buy it on the way home. Sound good?”

“Like you took the words right out my mouth,” she said quietly, leaning into me. We left the bookstore.

David and Winnie were buying ice cream right across the street, which meant he was still watching the store, and as Sutton and I left, his gaze met mine and held it for a beat. His chin tilted up slightly and I gave him a quick nod.

It was time to stop trying and start doing. I got it, man. You’ll see. I am going to deserve them and not even you are going to stop me.