Redemption at Hawk's Landing

by Rita Herron

  If so, how could he convince her to marry him?

  He shoved his beer away. “I have to talk to Mother.” Then he hurried from the bar. He just hoped he could persuade his mother that she was wrong about Honey.

  He didn’t want to have to choose between them...

  * * *

  HONEY HAD CRIED herself sick all the way back to Austin. She slipped into her house, the empty walls echoing with loneliness, a reminder of what she’d left behind.

  All her life she’d wanted Harrison. Had fantasized about having him touch her, hold her, make love to her.

  Had dreamed about being his wife.

  Although she thought she’d cried all her tears out, another sob escaped her and the flood began again.

  She showered, purging her emotions and praying one day she’d get past the pain of losing Harrison.

  But he was the only man she’d ever loved.

  And she would never get over him.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Two days later

  Honey hung the last of the sketches for Lower Tumbleweed on the wall of the showroom in her home office. The houses were going to be beautiful.

  The developer she was working with, a man named Tanner Baldwin, was almost as excited about the project as she was.

  Fatigue pulled at her muscles, and she stood and stretched. Everything was going well in her business.

  But at night, the empty rooms of her house haunted her.

  She missed Harrison so much that her heart literally throbbed.

  A knock sounded on the door, and she rushed to answer it. Surprise tightened her chest. Harrison’s mother, Mrs. Hawk, entered, her gaze wary as she glanced around the interior of the showroom.

  Uncertain what to expect from the woman, Honey simply folded her arms and greeted her. She’d seen the notice for the memorial service for Chrissy and knew the past week had been difficult for the Hawks.

  “Hello, Honey,” Mrs. Hawk said.

  She offered the woman a tentative smile. “Mrs. Hawk.”

  Mrs. Hawk feathered her hair behind one ear. “We need to talk.”

  Honey frowned. Was she going to try to stop her from developing that neighborhood? “If this is about the housing development—”

  “It is and it’s not,” Mrs. Hawk said, cutting her off.

  “I don’t understand,” Honey said.

  Mrs. Hawk walked over and studied the sketches on the wall. “I saw your plans.”

  Honey swallowed hard. “What is it you don’t approve of, the plans or the fact that I’m developing the neighborhood?”

  Mrs. Hawk winced. “I guess I deserve that, but truthfully I think the plans are phenomenal.”

  Shock slammed into Honey. “Really?”

  “Yes, I’m impressed with what you’re doing for our town, especially considering how some of the people treated you.”

  “Some of the people?” Honey said, hurt lacing her voice.

  Mrs. Hawk nodded. “Yes, some of them. And I’m aware that includes me.”

  An awkward silence stretched between them. Honey wanted to fill it, but her emotions got in the way. Besides, she still didn’t know the woman’s agenda.

  And she was certain Mrs. Hawk had one.

  “I came to apologize.” Mrs. Hawk’s voice cracked. “I...I misjudged you.”

  Honey arched a brow, speechless.

  Mrs. Hawk fiddled with the cuff of her satin blouse, obviously nervous. Tense seconds passed.

  Honey remained silent, waiting on the other shoe to drop. “What is it you want?”

  The woman winced again. “Like I said, I came to apologize. I was harsh toward you when you lived in Lower Tumbleweed.” She paused and fidgeted. “But I had my reasons.”

  She’d driven all the way to Austin to justify her behavior. “I know, I wasn’t good enough for your family.” Honey sighed. “You didn’t need to come here to tell me that again.”

  “That’s not exactly it.” Mrs. Hawk dropped her purse onto the conference table where Honey usually met with clients.

  “Then what is it?”

  Mrs. Hawk inhaled sharply. “When you were a teenager, you reminded me of myself.”

  Honey stared at her in shock. She certainly hadn’t expected the woman to say that.

  “I had a wild streak in me before I met Steven, the boys’ father. In fact, I didn’t exactly come from a very nice family myself.”

  “You didn’t?”

  Mrs. Hawk shook her head. “No, my mother was the alcoholic, though. She also slept around. And then when Steven and I had trouble, and I had that affair, I was terrified I was going to be like her. So I broke it off with the other man, and Steven and I made amends, and I swore I would make it up to him the rest of our lives.”

  Honey had never imagined Harrison’s mother as anything but the imposing, judgmental woman who’d hated her.

  “Anyway, it doesn’t make my behavior right, but I wanted my kids to grow up and have everything. Then Chrissy became infatuated with you and I was terrified she’d end up like me or my mother, and I...took it out on you.”

  “I would never have hurt her,” Honey said. “I think she just wanted a big sister.”

  “I know.” Mrs. Hawk’s voice cracked. “I’ve blamed myself for years for her disappearance. I thought that perhaps she’d run off because I was too harsh on her and that’s why she was taken from me.”

  Sympathy for the woman filled Honey. “Chrissy loved you,” she said simply. “She wasn’t running away from you.”

  Tears trickled down her cheeks. She wiped them away with trembling hands. “I was wrong and cruel to you. You deserved kindness and understanding, not my judgmental attitude.”

  Honey bit her bottom lip. She didn’t know how to respond.

  “Anyway, I don’t know if you can ever forgive me, but I realize now that I lost a daughter and have a void in my heart from missing her, and you lost a mother and you might have a void, too.”

  Honey swallowed hard.

  Mrs. Hawk continued, “I admire what you’ve done here in Austin and what you’re doing in Tumbleweed, and I wanted you to know that if you and Harrison want to be together, that you have my approval.”

  Honey’s heart squeezed. “Mrs. Hawk, I care about your son, but—”

  “No buts,” Mrs. Hawk said. “My son has been miserable the past few days. He loves you, and he’s blamed himself long enough for what happened to Chrissy. He deserves to be happy, and if that means marrying you, then that’s what I want for him.” She gestured toward herself then to Honey. “I just hope that you can find some way to forgive me and we could perhaps even be friends.”

  The woman held out her hands in an offering, and Honey read the sincerity in her eyes and voice. How could she say no?

  “You do love him, don’t you?” Mrs. Hawk asked.

  Tears blurred Honey’s eyes. “Yes.”

  A smile broadened the woman’s face. “Then let’s go tell him.”

  * * *

  HARRISON DREADED ANOTHER family dinner. Dammit, he was tired of trying to put on a happy face. He missed Honey like crazy.

  His brothers had guessed the reason for his sour mood and his mother had interrogated him, but he’d refused to talk about it.

  How could he tell her that she’d run off the love of his life? Although part of him wondered if Honey just didn’t love him.

  If she did, why hadn’t she fought to be with him?

  You know why. She hates Tumbleweed and the people in it.

  Although if she truly hated the town, why was she spending money and time developing that neighborhood for other families to move into? If she hated it, why wouldn’t she have simply sold off her father’s land and be done with the commu
nity?

  Did she think she had something to prove to everyone?

  He wiped his feet on the mat and went inside the house, surprised that his mother didn’t greet him at the door. The funeral had been heart wrenching, but afterward, it almost seemed as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

  The burden of not knowing had taken its toll on all of the Hawks.

  Brayden, Dexter and Lucas met him in the dining room, and greeted him with a drink. The scent of something cooking—maybe her Crock-Pot chicken stew—wafted to him.

  “Where’s Mom?”

  His brothers shrugged and looked around with vague expressions. Before they could discuss it further, the door opened and his mother’s heels clicked on the foyer floor. When she rounded the corner into the dining room, he was surprised to see Honey with her.

  He froze, drink midair, mouth agape.

  Honey’s gaze met his, uncertainty glinting in her eyes.

  “We have company tonight,” his mother said.

  He and his brothers traded confused looks, then his mother waved her hand toward the bar. “Well, where are your manners, boys? Someone get Honey a drink.”

  A tiny smile tugged at the corner of Honey’s mouth. Lucas rushed to the bar. “Wine? Scotch?”

  “White wine would be nice,” Honey said softly.

  Lucas poured her a glass while Harrison stood gaping at her like a lovesick fool. He wanted to swing her up in his arms and carry her upstairs, but she had turned down his proposal, and his pride and heart still ached.

  “It will take me a few minutes to get dinner on the table,” his mother said. “Harrison, why don’t you take Honey outside for some fresh air? I think she has something to say to you.”

  Honey shrugged. “Maybe this is a bad time.”

  “This is a fine time,” his mother said firmly.

  Lucas nudged him. Dexter chuckled and Brayden raised a brow in challenge. He felt like an idiot.

  Honey dampened her lips with her tongue, drawing his hungry gaze to her mouth. “Harrison?”

  He gathered his wits and gestured toward the front door. “Yes, let’s step onto the porch.”

  Her sweet scent teased at his senses as he followed her to the front porch like a dog in heat.

  “If you want me to leave, just say so,” she said as she faced him on the porch.

  “I don’t want you to leave,” he said gruffly. “I just wasn’t expecting you. Is something wrong?”

  She bit down on her lower lip then shook her head slightly. “Your mother came to see me.”

  Shock slithered through him. “God, Honey, I’m sorry. I had no idea she was going to do that. What in the world did she say to you now?”

  A slow smile spread on her beautiful face. “Actually we had a nice talk. She apologized for the way she treated me.”

  “My mother apologized?”

  Honey nodded. “We came to an understanding.”

  He rubbed his forehead, confused. “What kind of understanding?”

  Honey sipped her wine, her gaze hooded as she stepped closer to him. Then she lifted her chin with that stubborn glint that he recognized from childhood. And from their discussions about her father and the investigation.

  “An understanding that we both care about you,” she said.

  His heart picked up a beat.

  “In spite of everything, I know my mother loves me,” he said, uncertain of her meaning.

  She raised one hand and pressed it against his cheek. “So do I, Harrison.”

  His breath stalled in his chest. Did she mean that?

  “Am I too late?” Honey asked. “Have you changed your mind about wanting me?”

  A deep laugh rumbled from him, pure surprise, joy and hope, and he swung her up into his arms. “Not a chance.”

  She fused her mouth with his, and he kissed her so deeply that every cell his body screamed with hunger. “I have to know this is forever, though,” he murmured against her ear as they broke the kiss. “I know you hate this town and I don’t want you to be unhappy.” He pulled away and gazed into her eyes, pouring his love and heart into the words. “I want us to be a family, to get married and have a home and babies. And if that means leaving Tumbleweed, we will.”

  Honey looped her arms around his neck. “Home is wherever you are, Harrison.”

  “God, I love you,” he growled.

  “I love you, too.”

  He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her again.

  “And you’ll marry me?” he murmured.

  Moonlight played off her eyes, which sparkled with affection. “Yes, Harrison, I’ll marry you.”

  He reached inside his pocket and retrieved the ring that he’d bought her. He’d considered returning it, but had held on to it just as he’d held on to hope that one day she’d change her mind and have him.

  He knelt on one knee, took her hand in his and slid the diamond onto her finger.

  Tears slipped down her cheeks, but her radiant smile told him they were tears of happiness.

  The front door swung open then, and his brothers appeared. “What’s going on?” Brayden asked.

  Harrison scooped Honey into his arms, swung her around, joy overflowing from both of them.

  “I’m marrying Honey Granger,” he shouted.

  His mother appeared then, a smile on her face. “It’s about time we had a wedding at Hawk’s Landing.”

  He looked at Honey for confirmation, and she kissed him and murmured, “Yes.” His brothers cheered and congratulated them, and Harrison hugged his mother.

  Finally the dark days were over for the Hawks. A new chapter was starting, and he and Honey would make their own family and create new, happy memories together.

  Memories that would bring Hawk’s Landing back to life again just the way Honey had brought new life back to him.

  Memories that would last forever.

  * * * * *

  Look for more books in USA TODAY

  bestselling author Rita Herron’s new miniseries,

  BADGE OF JUSTICE,

  in 2018.

  And don’t miss the titles in her previous miniseries,

  THE HEROES OF HORSESHOE CREEK:

  LOCK, STOCK AND McCULLEN

  McCULLEN’S SECRET SON

  ROPING RAY McCULLEN

  WARRIOR SON

  THE MISSING McCULLEN

  THE LAST McCULLEN

  Available from Harlequin Intrigue!

  Sheriff Flint Cahill can and will endure elements far worse than the coming winter storm to hunt down Maggie Thompson and her abductor.

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  a CAHILL RANCH novel from

  New York Times bestselling author

  B.J. Daniels!

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  Cowboy’s Legacy

  by B.J. Daniels

  SHE WAS IN so fast that she didn’t have a chance to scream. The icy cold water stole her breath away. Her eyes flew open as she hit. Because of the way she fell, she had no sense of up or down for a few moments.

  Panicked, she flailed in the water until a light flickered above her. She tried to swim toward it, but something was holding her down. The harder she fought, the more it seemed to push her deeper and deeper, the light fading.

  Her lungs burned. She had to breathe. The dim light wavered above her through the rippling water. She clawed at it as her breath gave out. She could see the surface just inches above her. Air! She needed oxygen. Now!

  The rippling water distorted the face that suddenly appeared above her. The mouth twisted in a grotesque smile. She screamed, only to have her throat fill with the putrid, dark water. She choked, sucking in even more water. She was drowning, and the person who’d done this to her was watching her die and smiling.

  Maggie Thompson shot upright in bed, gasping for air and swinging her arms frantically toward the faint light coming through the window. Panic had her perspiration-soaked nightgown sticking to her skin. Trembling, she clutched the bedcovers as she gasped for breath.

  The nightmare had been so real this time that she thought she was going to drown before she could come out of it. Her chest ached, her throat feeling raw as tears burned her eyes. It had been too real. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d almost died this time. Next time...

  She snapped on the bedside lamp to chase away the dark shadows hunkered in the corners of the room. If only Flint had been here instead of on an all-night stakeout. She needed Sheriff Flint Cahill’s strong arms around her. Not that he stayed most nights. They hadn’t been intimate that long.