Chapter 19
Hawk
I glanced at Carter, who looked very much like he wouldn’t be of any help here. I narrowed my eyes at him, then took another sip of my water and calmed my breathing.
“Do you want the biblical version or the non-biblical one?” I asked Fern.
Half of the table guffawed or snickered, the other half groaned.
For a couple of seconds I thought Fern would drop it, but then she jutted her chin at me and asked, “I don’t know, which one do you think is more suitable for the company?”
“Daddy, what’s biblical mean?” Payton asked, pronouncing the word he didn’t know with great care.
Mal groaned. “It means it’s said in the Bible.”
Crew chuckled and mouthed “Good catch” at his man.
Payton shrugged and went back to eating.
Marielle and Elisa were watching the family like some sort of a weird tennis match, observing intently but staying quiet with amusement dancing on their features.
I took a deep breath and glanced around the table. Not everyone was staring at me or Carter, and nobody had a negative expression on their face. These were my people; I could be honest with them.
I shrugged and cleared my throat. “We’re seeing where this goes. That’s as much as I’m willing to say at this point.” I looked at Carter beside me.
He shrugged, too. “That sounds about right.”
Dad smiled slightly. “Well then, I think that’s settled.”
With that, everyone’s attention went to something else and I could relax completely.
On the rare occasion Dad stepped in to say something was done being discussed, everyone heeled.
Each one of us had been grateful for that at some point of our lives, with how nosy siblings could get.
Dad somehow managed to do it when it truly mattered.
This was the first time he’d ever stepped in for me and I was grateful.
I realized I was feeling more settled. I’d always felt like the odd man out, even if a little. My siblings were slowly pairing off and somehow I’d become one of the ones who had a relationship of my own, too.
I squeezed Carter’s thigh again, then continued to eat.
“Hawk, what did you think about the foals?” Demi asked, and I gladly sank into that conversation.
A couple of days later, I was in my office, when Carter called.
I answered with, “Hey, aren’t you supposed to be working hard?”
His warm chuckle made me feel a pleasant pressure in my chest.
“Yes, but I have a question for you.”
“Oh?”
“Would you be able to take a bit of time off? Either overnight or just have a late night otherwise?” he asked in a tone that told me he wasn’t expecting any particular answer.
“Probably not overnight right now, but leaving early and coming back late would work. How come?”
“Marielle and Elisa found some event in Colorado Springs on Wednesday they want to attend, so they’re thinking about heading there tomorrow, then spending a few days in a hotel.
I thought maybe we could go too, have dinner somewhere we don’t usually dine at.
Come back late since you can’t do overnight?
” He was trying to sound casual, but I heard how much he wanted to do this in his tone.
I hummed thoughtfully as I tried to reorganize things in my brain. I’d get Gemma and Mal to help out. Yeah. I could do this.
“Let’s make it an overnight thing. It’s not too bad of a drive in the morning especially if we get an early start after breakfast,” I said firmly, holding back the excitement that was suddenly bubbling up.
“You’re sure you have time?”
“Yeah, I’ll make it work. I’ll just work with Snoopy in the afternoon instead of the morning. It’ll be fine.” I smiled so he could hear it in my voice.
“Okay. Great. We already talked about a restaurant choice and came to the conclusion that something on the casual side would be best. I assume that sounds good to you as well?” He sounded relieved now, and genuinely happy. Something about that made me feel warm and fuzzy as fuck inside.
“Absolutely. Besides, something less fancy makes it easier to find a table this late,” I pointed out, not that he didn’t know that.
“Right. I’ll text you as soon as I have solid plans.”
“Sounds good. Talk to you later.”
“Bye.”
I put my phone down and felt a bit like swooning. A hotel night with my man? I was pretty damn sure he would get some fancy hotel and that was something I hadn’t experienced before, either.
I finished my paperwork and then went to find my sister and Mal to reorganize the schedule a little.
We ended up driving to Colorado Springs in Carter’s Jeep, because all four of us and our bags could fit in it.
Carter was going to go pick them up once they were done in the city later in the week. I thought he just wanted something to do and to hang out with them on the way back. Besides, Carter didn’t want them driving in a city they didn’t know, apparently that was what Uber was for.
I didn’t get it. They had a rental, after all. But it wasn’t my business so I didn’t say anything out loud and instead enjoyed their company on the way to the Springs.
Funnily enough, this was the first time I had any time to actually chat with Marielle and Elisa, and I found both of them really funny. Marielle was trying to hold onto her more official persona, but with Elisa and Carter’s gentle needling, she was much more relaxed than she’d been at the ranch.
“So,” Marielle said suddenly from the back seat where they were sitting.
Carter immediately glanced at me, then the rearview mirror, and grinned a bit as he continued to drive.
Elisa let out a quiet groan.
“Yes?” I asked, because clearly this was about me somehow.
“You’re a bit young and a bit little, aren’t you?” Marielle asked, her arms crossed over her chest as she attempted some sort of a playful, stern tone.
This was the most playful and relaxed I’d seen her, and frankly it was both entertaining and endearing. She was trying so hard. Carter had told me she had trouble being friends with him sometimes, given that they had a working relationship, too.
I raised a brow at her. “In general or for Carter?”
She shrugged and lifted her hands. “Either?”
I made a thoughtful face, nodded a couple of times, then said, “Well, I can’t do much about the height at this point, as I am old enough to have done all my growing. I’ve also handled studs much bigger than him before, so I’m sure it’s going to be okay.” I patted Carter’s thigh for emphasis.
The corner of his mouth jumped up and I could tell he was trying not to laugh.
“But more importantly,” I continued. “Didn’t he ask you to find out who to find and train his horse?
So, you knew exactly how old I was, and I feel like that’s something you can only blame yourself for.
If you didn’t want your boss to succumb to my tiny cowboy wiles, you shouldn’t have connected us. ”
“He’s got you there, honey,” Elisa deadpanned in a mock thoughtful tone.
We all cracked up at that, and I leaned in to kiss Carter on the cheek.
I turned to look at Marielle again. “Was that your attempt at a shovel talk?”
Before she could answer, her wife piped up again. “Yes. It was so bad. I love the woman, but holy crap!”
“I have enough siblings that I can smell a shovel talk from a mile away. Trust me, I’ve given some myself.
” I chuckled at a memory. “In fact, I might’ve given one to the girl Crew took to senior prom, and I was like…
eleven or twelve. Trust me when I say she didn’t exactly quake in her kitten heels. ”
That set us all off again and yeah, I was pretty sure if there’d been any ice to be broken, it was gone now.
We chatted about the ranch and Colorado Springs on the way. The ladies were incredibly excited about visiting some art galleries and museums in the area.
When Carter drove to the doors of Hotel Polaris, and a valet was there to park the vehicle I kept my sigh on the inside.
I’d known he’d spare no expense. He’d even insisted on upgrading Marielle and Elisa’s accommodation to this hotel when they’d tried to choose a slightly cheaper one for their stay.
There’d been a lot of bitching about that in the first half of the journey.
We grabbed our luggage—an overnight bag for both Carter and myself—and headed to reception.
In short order, the ladies were given the keys to a mountain view suite with a balcony, and Marielle’s eyes sparked fire at Carter for upgrading them for that much. Elisa, seeing how close her wife was to snapping at her boss, grabbed her arm and pulled her to the elevators.
“We’ll message you when we’re ready to leave for dinner!” Elisa called over her shoulder.
“Anyone ever told you you’re a bit of a bulldozer sometimes?” I asked Carter.
He chuckled and took the key cards from the nice person behind the front desk.
“Usually I hear steamroller, but bulldozer is not inaccurate.”
He held out his hand and I took it, then walked with him to the elevator banks. I hoped that he hadn’t gotten us a suite, because we sure didn’t need one.
To my relief, the door he opened on one of the top floors was to a large room that was just fancy, and still had a view of the Rockies, but less extravagant or needlessly massive.
I dropped my bag on the end of the bed, my brain reminding me of all those “never ever put your luggage on hotel furniture” posts I’d seen on social media. I was pretty sure this place was too expensive for it to be dirty or have icky things in the nooks and crannies of the furniture.
The door closed and I turned to look at Carter who was leaning on it, smiling.
“How did I do?” he asked knowingly.
I chuckled and made myself hold eye contact instead of looking away sheepishly.
“Really well, baby. This is incredible.”
He pushed off the door and came over to me, dropping his bag on the way. He pulled me into his arms and kissed me, and I melted into him.
Every time I was this close to him, I felt safe. He kept showing me I could relax, by reading me and anticipating how I’d feel about things.