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“Come on,” she says in a firm voice that reminds me a lot of Hawk.
I straighten. “Yes, ma’am.”
Miss Linda trots beside me, her simple cotton dress swaying around her dimpled legs. “What’s your name?”
“Shanel, ma’am.”
“Oh, don’t call me ma’am. It makes me feel old. Just call me Linda.” She opens the front door and escorts me into a spacious foyer.
Even though I’ve seen this room through my TV many times, seeing it in person takes my breath away. Everything is stunning. High-class. Perfect.
It astounds me that Hawk lives here everyday. By himself.
Sure, he has Linda, a ton of other housekeepers, cooks, and landscapers but they all work for him. They don’t live with him.
They’re not his family. They don’t care about him beyond their next paycheck.
All off a sudden, the house doesn’t seem all that great to me.
It’s cold. Lonely.
My heart breaks for Hawk.
Linda takes me into the kitchen and pulls out a chair around the counter.
I hesitate. “Can we sit here? Isn’t there like a servants’ quarters?”
“We can use this room freely. The owner doesn’t mind at all.” She leans forward with a smirk. “He only acts tough. He’s really just a teddy bear.”
I stand in shock. Hawk and teddy bear don’t belong in the same sentence. Not unless we’re discussing Hawk tearing the head off said bear. That I’d believe.
Linda pats the chair. “Sit, dear.”
I wrap my fingers around the mug of tea she slides over.
She sighs happily. “I was just wondering how I’d fill this position. The last girl left me in quite a pickle.”
“Was she fired?” I take a sip.
“No, she fell in love with Hawk. He rejected her rather harshly and she left.”
“He seems to leave a trail of broken hearts wherever he goes,” I mutter.
Linda laughs.
“Did I say that out loud?”
“Honesty is very welcome here. You need to have tough skin to put up with him.”
“How did you do it for so long?”
“Pity.”
My eyelashes flutter.
She dips her tea bag in the mug of steaming water. “He’s a boy who has everything. But when it comes to what matters most, he’s as poor as I am.” She shakes her head. “He’s been through a lot. Losing his mother so young broke him. Turned him cold. But the more he pushes people away, the more miserable he becomes.”
I stare at my cup. Consider her words.
