“You’re an honorary one.” He smiled ruefully. “Seems like you’ve been a better brother to Hawk than I have these last few months.”
I thought of Hawk’s gorgeous face and the lean strength of his legs peeking out from beneath my sweatshirt. The luscious curve of his ass and the potent thrill of his laughter. His eyes gone gold withwantand the needy catch in his voice on our last hike when he’d begged for my kiss with a whispered“Please.”
I could say with certainty that brotherhood was not what I felt for him.
“I’m glad he has you.” Webb ruffled my hair playfully and stood. “And don’t worry too much about the fairy. Maybe it’ll get Hawk instead. The way he’s putting his personal business out there, I’d be surprised if he doesn’t have several cherry-picking offers by sundown.” He snorted and headed back toward the diner.
I stared at him in nauseated shock. “A-and you’d be okay with that?” I called. “With him just… just… finding some random guy, and…”
Webb turned before he reached the swinging door, grinning from ear to ear. “Jack, I was kidding! Come on. This is Hawkwe’re talking about. The king of romance novels. He’s got standards. He’s not the random hookup type.”
“But—”
“And you callmeoverprotective.” Webb laughed lightly. “I might have missed some changes in the ki—theman,” he corrected, “but of all my siblings, Hawk’s the one I’ve never worried about when it comes to dating. No matter how upset or frustrated he is, unless Mr. Darcy himself comes to Little Pippin Hollow, Hawk’s not going to do anything rash.”
Webb turned around and pushed his way through the swinging door while I couldn’t help but scream after him in my head,He already fucking has.
CHAPTER EIGHT
HAWK
“I am only resolved to act in that manner, which will, in my own opinion, constitute my happiness, without reference to you, or to any person so wholly unconnected with me.”
~ Elizabeth Bennet
I read somewhere oncethat a peacefulness follows any decision, even the wrong one. I wasn’t a hundred percent sure that storming out of the diner today had been the correct way to handle things—if I let myself remember the stunned, sad look on Jack’s face, my stomach hurt—but as I pulled my car to a stop in front of the farmhouse, I decided it felt really good to be doingsomething instead of trying to ignore the creepy-crawly feeling under my skin that something needed to be done. It was time for action. Drastic action.
“Hawk?” Drew turned in surprise as I banged through the back door into the kitchen. He was dressed in full-on tie-dye today, from his Jerry Garcia T-shirt down to his organic cotton harem pants. “I thought you were working through lunch and then heading right to your Scout thing. I was about to leave to meet Marco and the others at the diner, but I lost my keys?—”
“Check the junk drawer,” I called over my shoulder, heading upstairs to shove a few pieces of clothing in my hiking backpack. “And I no longer work at Panini Jack’s. I’m heading up to Glassy Ridge to protest the development.”
“Protest?” Drew panted up the stairs behind me and paused in my bedroom doorway to catch his breath. “You quit your job? Youloveyour job?—”
“From now on, my full-time job is saving Fogg Peak from Evola, and I’m gonna stay out there until people take notice. I’m thinking I’ll start a social media campaign. Lots of pictures showing the beautiful vistas and endangered species. Maybe tagging some environmental groups and celebrities.” I broke off for a moment, making a mental list of which activist groups I could invite to join me in the protest, and then I shook myself. First things first. “Hey, where’d Porter put my sleeping bag? He borrowed it when he was home a few weeks ago and never gave it back.”
“I thought you werealreadyprotesting the development. You sent all those letters last spring?—”
I zipped my backpack and slung it on my shoulder, then tucked a pillow and blanket from my bed under my arm. “Uncle Drew,” I said seriously, “I shouldn’t have to explain to you of all people that I cannot continue to work for The Man while the brutal machinery of capitalism is set to grind the town I love into dust. You might not be fired up to protect the wild spaces on our planet from corporate greed anymore?—”
“‘TheMan?’” He scowled. “You work forJack. And I’m as fired up as I’ve ever been, whippersnapper!”
“Then you should know our letter-writing campaign wasn’t enough. No one’s taking this issue seriously.” I headed back downstairs. “Do you know that clear-cutting often contributes to reductions in root strength and the water-holding capacity of the soil? It also reduces the area’s ability to remove carbon from theatmosphere. We’re basically agreeing to poison ourselves if we allow them to come in here with this project.”
Drew followed me down and stood in the hall as I rifled through the front closet for equipment. “But they’re not proposing to clear-cut the entire ridge. They said?—”
“Why’d they say clear-cutting if they didn’t mean clear-cutting, huh?” I demanded. “Have you asked yourself that? Doesanyoneelse care about this land?”
Drew shook his head. “Hawk, of course I care. Christ, kiddo, I haven’t used a pesticide since 1965?—”
I emerged from the closet long enough to glare at him. “I. Am not. Akid.”
Drew’s eyes widened, and his mouth shut with a clack. “Okay, then,” he said cautiously.
“Whenever I bring up my questions, everyone’s answer seems to be ‘Well, of course Evola wouldn’t do that, silly Hawk!’ and then they pat me on the head. But nobody can point to a part of the proposal where it says they won’t do that. So what if they do it? Then everyone will be really sorry, and it’ll be too late. If Dad were here, he’d…” I broke off with a headshake. “Anyway. I’ve gotta go. I told Maryanne I’d take her Mini Nature Scout Herd on a short hike, and I don’t wanna disappoint the kiddos, but then I’m pitching my tent up there and getting to work.” I stacked the camping lantern, the two-person tent, a first aid kit, and a wind-up generator on top of my blanket and pillow.
“Please take a breath.” Drew put his hand on my shoulder. “I hear you, and… maybe you have a point. I just don’t know that camping out there is the best way to make your stand. What about scheduling another meeting between the Environmental Committee and that Simon guy to see if Evola will change the proposal? Or contacting the town attorneys to see if they can negotiate?—”
“We don’t negotiate with terrorists, Uncle Drew!” I yanked a thick fleece off the hanger and dropped that into my stack as well. The nights would be cold up there.
