Chapter 35

35

HAWK

I t had been a busy day but a good one. I leaned back on David and Mindy’s couch, listening to David and my dad talk about the good old days while the kids played a board game on the carpet and the women got dinner on the table.

I’d tried to help. So had David and even my dad, but all three of us had gotten kicked out pretty quickly. Drinking a beer, I watched all four kids completely destroy the time-honored rules of Monopoly. I chuckled and tried not to ruin their fun by showing them how the game was actually played.

It was the wild west on that board, though. That was sure.

Winnie grabbed some more money out of the box and handed it over to Sawyer. “I want one of those big houses please, Mr. Bank.”

Sawyer glanced at the money and shrugged, plucking two hotels out and dropping them into her waiting palm. “I think you paid enough for both of them.”

“She did not,” Logan complained, eyeing the wad of cash in his brother’s hand. “You have to at least pretend to count it.”

“Nah,” Duncan intervened, grinning at Winnie like he was about to be her knight in shining armor. “Winnie’s putting up theaters. We’re building Broadway, remember?”

“No, we’re building Narnia,” Logan argued, his lips twisting as if he was disgusted by his brother’s misunderstanding of their game. “That’s why I’m the lion.”

“It’s not a lion,” Sawyer said as he leaned over to inspect the token. “I think it’s a dog.”

“It’s a lion.”

I laughed as I wondered if perhaps I should intervene after all, but then my dad changed the topic he was talking to David about and I tuned in to their conversation instead. “Do you think the Scottish dickhead is going to show?”

“Pay up, Grandpa,” Logan said immediately, beaming at my dad as he turned to him and held out his hand. “You said a bad word.”

Dad sighed but slipped his grandson a dollar bill for cussing. David chuckled, winking at Logan before he looked back at Dad. “I don’t know, but I hope?—”

He cut himself off when he glanced at Winnie, who was now busy setting up a theater camp, but even though he’d cut himself off just in case she overheard him, the message was clear.

None of us were comfortable with Calen coming here after everything he’d done to Sutton and Winnie. Nobody wanted him here and we were all hoping he wouldn’t show.

Dad nodded at David, also understanding what the other man hadn’t said, but before he could comment, Mindy’s voice rang out from the dining room. “Food’s on the table, guys! Come and get it.”

“I’m going to be first.” Duncan shot to his feet and nearly fell over the board in his rush to get out of the room.

Logan scowled after him for half a second before he was on his feet, too. “No fair! You didn’t give us any warning.”

“I never win,” Sawyer said as he slowly rose to his feet, even stopping to hold out a hand to Winnie. “Want any help?”

“Sure.” She smacked her palm into his and let him pull her up. The two of them brought up the rear as they left the room. “You’ll win one day, Saw-saw. We’re just bigger than you for now.”

Once they were gone, David glanced at the front door as if he was waiting for the doorbell to ring, and when it didn’t, he smirked. “Guess he didn’t have the balls to come over after all.”

Dad laughed, clapping David on the back. “I’m not surprised. After that shit he pulled last night, he has no business anywhere near them.”

“Do I get a dollar if you say a bad word?” I asked lightly as we strode out of the room together.

Dad arched an eyebrow at me, a slow grin spreading on his lips, and he shook his head. “You should be giving me a dollar every time you say a bad word. I’d have your whole fortune in my bank account in a matter of weeks.”

I chuckled. “Only when said Scottish dickhead is involved.”

“Amen to that,” David agreed, flashing me a wide and easy smile for the first time in years.

Mindy waved us all into our seats and I was happy when I was told to sit next to Sutton. She smiled when I took my seat. Her hand brushed mine under the table. I glanced at her. Our gazes connected and I saw the warm, soft emotion in hers, so I wrapped my fingers around hers, moving her hand over to rest on my thigh.

For a moment, I couldn’t look away from her. She was stunning in a dove gray knitted dress with her blonde hair pulled up into a messy ponytail, but that look in her eyes was what really got to me.

There was no hostility or uncertainty in her gaze anymore, no distrust, and no hurt. Sutton was looking at me like she used to, like I was everything to her, and I couldn’t get enough of it.

Eventually, as the others settled down around the table, I finally managed to avert my gaze. She and I still had a lot to talk about, and one of those things was letting Winnie know that we were seeing each other. Until then, I had to at least try not to make bedroom eyes at her mother right in front of her.

When I looked away though, I caught Mindy staring at us with a soft smile on her face. Leaning forward as the others started dishing up, she glanced at Sutton before her gaze came back to mine. “So, Hawk, it’s Thanksgiving. What are your plans from here? This is what you came to town for, right?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I have to go back to California next week unfortunately. It’s been good being home, though.”

It felt like this was where my heart was now and the mere thought of leaving made me feel nauseated, but it was what it was. Sutton’s fingers suddenly slid away from my thigh. I turned to her and saw that her cheeks were flushed. She was biting her lower lip, and her eyes had hit the table.

I groaned.

Fuck . I still haven’t spoken to her about this.

“Hey, Sutt,” I said as I pushed my chair back and got up. “Can I talk to you in the kitchen real quick?”

Her gaze rose slowly to mine, but the front door banged open before she could say anything. Everyone around the table sat up a little straighter, exchanging confused glances. I flashed them all a tight smile, my stomach sinking, as I realized who it probably was.

“I’m already up,” I said. “I’ll get it.”

Racing out of the dining room, I got to the foyer just in time to see Calen drunkenly trying to shut the door behind him. He was stumbling around, chuckling under his breath as he tried to hold the door and close it at the same time.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, grateful that none of the kids could see him. With any luck, I’d be able to usher him out before Winnie even noticed he was here. “You’re fucking hammered, Calen. You should go.”

He twisted to shoot me a watery smirk over his shoulder. One of his hands flew up so that he could wag a finger at me. “Not hammered. Just a little bit sloshed. I’ve come to see my Win.”

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s going to happen.” I crossed the room toward him, grabbed the door, and swung it open once more. “Come back when you’re sober.”

The guy blinked hard, swaying slightly on his feet. He tried to straighten to his full height. “I was invited.”

“You’re late and drunk,” I said flatly. “Leave the poor girl to enjoy her first Thanksgiving and visit when you’re sober.”

His bushy red eyebrows shot up and he scoffed. “You can’t tell me what to do, mate.”

“I can and I am.” From the corner of my eye, I saw David and my father striding out of the dining room and David’s features immediately twisted into a deep scowl when his gaze landed on Calen.

He glanced at me and pointed at the door. “Get him out of here before the kids see him.”

“Gladly.” I took Calen’s arm and guided him outside with the two older men trying to help me usher him out, but he didn’t go without a fight.

Stumbling a little under the force of my movements, he twisted to sneer at me, murder flashing in his eyes as he narrowed them at me. “You’re fuckin’ my wife. You can’t have my daughter too.”

I ignored him, even if my stomach had turned to steel. The guy wasn’t done mouthing off yet, though. “Winnie’s mine, asshole. You can stick it in my whore of a wife, but?—”

Red flashed before my eyes and my muscles tightened, but as I went to take a swing at him, David caught my arm and shook his head at me. “It’s not worth it. Go inside and stay with the girls.”

Calen chortled with drunken laughter. “You hear that? Go stay with the girls.”

My heart pounded and my muscles were so tight that I was practically vibrating. I forced myself to drag in a gulp of air and then I let go of Calen’s arm, leaving him with my dad and David. I stomped back inside, still struggling for air and to regain control of my heartbeat, and I paused at the window. Both dads acted like much younger men when they hauled Calen off into the dark.

A few moments later, I heard him grunt like someone had taken a swing at him and I smiled a bit, nodding slowly. It had been David’s hit to dish out after all. I’d been wanting to take a swing at the guy for a couple weeks, but Sutton’s father had been waiting for years.

Finally spinning around, I left them to it and went back into the dining room, taking my seat beside Sutton once more. Her gray eyes were stormy with worry as she glanced at me. Mindy was entertaining the kids with a game that involved them guessing what animal she had in mind.

“Is everything okay?” Sutton asked quietly, leaning closer to me. “It was him, wasn’t it?”

“Everything’s fine,” I assured her, once more taking her hand under the table and squeezing it tight. “David and Henry are on it. Don’t worry.”

Relief washed over her and I smiled before turning to grab a serving spoon. “Alright, kids. Have you all gotten some food? Because I’m starving and this smells delicious, so you better hope you got in there before me.”

Mindy shot me a grateful smile and I nodded at her before joining their game as I dished up. I did my best to help distract them from the fact that their grandfathers still weren’t back yet. Part of me wished I was back outside with them, threatening Calen and no doubt warning him to stay away.

But another part of me was happy to be here with the kids—my own ego and aggravation aside—and when Winnie grinned at me from across the table, I decided there was no place else I’d rather be. Calen might not have ever made an effort for her, but as I looked into those bright, happy eyes from across the table, I vowed that I always would.

Winnie deserved to be a priority, and in that moment, I made her one of mine.