Chapter 4
Willow
“He didn’t join a mafia gang. He’s been in the army.” Annie tells me. We are catching up for coffee at my request. “The Kingsley cousins aren’t nearly as scary as everybody makes out.”
I look over at Erika, who makes a face. I went to school with these girls, and while we weren’t best friends back then, we have been hanging out more and more since I moved back to town.
Well, we were until Annie fell in love with Thorne Kingsley, the oldest of the Kingsley cousins.
And Erika is madly in love with her fire fighter Kingsley, from the good side of the family.
So these girls were the source for information about Falcon.
“Really!” Annie says. “I’ve had enough of this bad Kingsleys and good Kingsleys. They were all wild in school, but they have all grown up to be wonderful, respectful men.”
“Thorne is proof they can at least be changed.” Erika grins. Though she has told me that it is Annie who has come out of her shell and become bolder since she hooked up with her mountain man.
“Well, Thorne is determined to see his brothers settled here too. And Falcon had a lot of issues. But now he has spent some time on his own, he has his animals, he really is getting better. His cabin is close to ours and we often have him over. It took him a long time to get used to me, but now he is starting to relax around me and open up, he is actually a really nice guy.”
Nice guy might be a bit of a stretch. But then, seeing him with his baby goats, his injured chicken, maybe there is a nice guy hiding beneath the bad boy image.
Hiding deep, deep down. And for some reason, I get a mental image of Ms. Bubbleworth trying to peck and bite everyone.
Maybe Falcon just has his defenses up making him lash out and make inappropriate suggestions.
“Carter says that his uncle, Falcon’s dad, wasn’t big on school.” Erika leans to whisper as though she is sharing family secrets. “And he thinks Falcon might have a touch of ADHD, maybe even be a bit dyslexic, and that’s why he was always skipping school.”
Falcon’s feelings towards Ms. Bubbleworth hit me hard.
Had Falcon felt he was doomed because he was different?
For me, school was pretty easy. I have a loving and supportive family.
But I understand that school is not for everyone.
There are different learning styles. Even for me, with all my advantages, I still feel now that I would have liked to have different options.
And I can’t imagine what Falcon must have experienced while he was deployed overseas.
Suddenly I feel a bit sick in the stomach at having judged Falcon when I first saw him.
Though he was nasty to me before I left his place.
Deliberately trying to scare me to get me to leave.
But I can’t deny that that moment was also thrilling.
To have Falcon say those words in a deep, husky voice.
It made my knees go weak. And it may have featured in a few sexy dreams over the past couple of nights.
“Are you okay, Willow?”
“Oh, yes.” I smile at my friends. “I‘m just thinking about the run in I had with Falcon.”
“Falcon is hot. If I wasn’t madly in love with Carter, I wouldn’t mind having a run in with Falcon.” Erika pretends to fan herself.
Annie shakes her head, “Well, all three of the cousins are in town today for the Spring festival.”
“They are?” I ask loudly.
Both girls laugh at how eager that sounded.
“I mean….” I try to think of an excuse.
“It’s fine, I think we understand.” Annie grins at Erika. “Thorne made Falcon bring his baby goats and they have some animal pens set up in the town square with our donkeys.”
“Is Ridge there too?” Erika asks.
Ridge is the middle brother. He arrived back in town around the same time as Falcon, but only a few people have seen him.
“Thorne has told them they both have to be here.” Annie says with a little shrug that tells us she doesn’t really believe that Ridge will show up.
After leaving the girls I make my way straight towards the town centre.
Because I want to see the cute baby goats again.
And Annie and Thorne’s donkeys. Oh, who am I kidding?
I want to see Falcon. I want to get to know him better.
I want to feel that rush of excitement again.
I even want to see if he actually would push me up against a wall and kiss me breathless.