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meant for each other.”

“I knew you’d fuck it up somehow.” Hawke snapped. “Just like

back then, you’ve hurt her and now she’s running away. Fucking

hell, Vin. Can’t you think about someone else for once?”

Vin’s temper roared to life. “I haven’t stopped thinking about

that girl since she was eight years old. She’s in my brain almost every

minute of every day. Do you think I wanted to screw up her life?’

His blast of temper seemed to cool Hawke off, because suddenly

both of his brothers were grinning at him like Cheshire cats.

Slamming his fist against the wall, he snarled, “What the hell are you

too smiling at?”

“You love her.” Roman said softly.

Hawke let out a short whoop and then turned to Roman, “You

owe me twenty dollars. I told you he was head over heels for her.”

“You guys bet on me? Your own brother?”

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“Hell yeah, and you played right into our hands.” Hawke said

with a laugh, “You think we didn’t know about what happened

between you and Lauren all those years ago. Holy hell, she was

devastated, and you looked like someone who’d just lost their

childhood dog.”

“You never said anything though. Why didn’t you kick my ass

back then?”

Roman shook his head, “You weren’t ready and neither was she.

Besides, it’s not like you would have listened to us. We were kids.”

“So what now? She rejected me.”

Hawke shrugged, and Roman just chuckled like the answer was

obvious. Exchanging a glance between them, they gave a shared nod

and then walked away in silence leaving him fuming. Every manner

of emotion bubbled under his skin. He wasn’t ready to make nice

with Lauren yet. Even though he knew in his heart she hadn’t

planned to, she’d hurt him deeply. Not that he didn’t deserve it for

what he’d done to her all those years ago, but that didn’t make it an

easier pill to swallow. Hawke and Romeo had no idea what the fuck

they were talking about. They needed to just mind their own

business.

Female laughter reached his ears from the next cabin over, and

he moved that direction. Standing out of view of the open doorway

he could hear Lacy talking to Destiny and Jeanette. Lauren, Franki

and Marilyn were in another cabin doing their best to save what

could be cleaned.

“You should have seen it, Elvis stood up with Drannon, and

Jessica Rabbit stood with me. The minister was an Arnold

Schwarzenegger impersonator. We took tons of pictures.”

“I can’t believe you guys didn’t go for something more

traditional,” Jeanette responded. The pretty doctor had her hair

covered, and for once, she was dressed down in a pair of designer

blue jeans and a purple t-shirt. Vin even knew that the shoes she wore

were borrowed from Franki, because she didn’t own an old pair of

sneakers. He’d heard them discussing it that morning over a bowl of

Roman’s secret stash of Lucky Charms.

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“Nah. I think I wanted a traditional wedding because that’s what

I was supposed to want, not because it actually suited us. We had so

much fun, and we were both laughing and crying as we said our

vows. It was absolutely perfect,” Lacy said dreamily.

Vin grinned at his new sister-in-law’s idea of perfection. He was

happy for both of them; he just wished he could find the same

happiness with the woman who held his heart.

“I don’t know why you’d want to get married in the first place,”

Destiny said softly. Vin couldn’t see her from where he was standing,

but based on the emotion in her voice, he assumed she was wearing

that painfully sad expression on her heart-shaped face again.

“Aw, honey, eventually your heart with heal, and you’ll find

someone to love, too,” Lacy offered. “Hell, if you would have told

me the turn my life was going to take a year ago I’d have laughed in

your face. I was a city girl with a big career, and now here I am

mucking out cabins on a ranch in North Dakota married to a smoking

hot cowboy.”

Jeanette laughed. “What is it about these cowboys? They’re all

so good looking.”

Vin caught himself grinning at the compliment, until Destiny

piped up again.

“Looks don’t mean anything. The prettiest packages can still be

rotten inside.” She grew quiet for moment and then said, “I’m sorry.

I’m such a downer.”

“Don’t be sorry, sweetie. You’ve been through a lot, and you’re

still hurting. Jeanette and I understand.”

“Boy, do I,” Jeanette muttered. “Give yourself time. At least

here on Crawley Creek you know you’re safe from those people who

kidnapped you in the first place.”

“Has Bran heard any more from the FBI?” Lacy asked. Vin lost

interest at this point because he’d already been updated on the case

along with his brothers. Bran kept them in the loop so that they could

be vigilant about the security of the ranch. Unfortunately for Destiny,

the law had very few leads to go on. They were basically just waiting

for the bad guys to slip up.

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Moving away from the first three women, he ran smack dab into

the other three as they came out of the next cabin.

“Hey Vin,” Franki called out, “how’s it going in the Dr. Jekyll

cabin?”

“We’ve cleared away as much mud from it as we could from all

of them. Now we’re going to start removing sheetrock,” he answered.

His eyes automatically sought out Lauren, and he cursed himself

when he found her looking back. He didn’t want her to know how

much he missed her.

“Good! We just finished in here, and we’re going to check on the

other girls to see if they need help in the Wonderland,” Marilyn said.

She used the back of her hand to wipe away sweat from her face, and

Vin stared at her flushed cheeks with concern.

“Are you sure you should be doing all of this, mama-bear? You

look pretty wiped out.”

“Pfft, I’m fine. Just need to find me a drink of water and all will

be well.” Her refusal to meet his eyes had him questioning her words,

but she didn’t give him a chance to push harder. “Come on, we’d

better get back to it if we want to finish this part before sunset.”

“Ugh, haven’t I mentioned that I’m not into manual labor?”

Franki complained. “I work behind a computer so that I don’t have to

sweat.”

Following wordlessly behind the other two, Lauren brushed past

him without even looking up, making him feel even more unsettled

than before. What was it with women that made them so darn

unreadable? Did she want him to fight for her? Or was she truly

happy with them walking away from each other?

Frustration rolling in his gut, he stomped off to find his brother

and their young ranch hand, once again determined to work his

anxiety out with good hard work.

~ ~ ~ ~

By late afternoon, the bulk of the debris from the flooded cabins

was cleared away, and four of the six had been scrubbed and/or were

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in the process of being torn apart. Lauren felt the exhaustion all the

way to her bones as she tossed her rag into the bucket and headed to

the main house. All day long, she’d listened to Lacy gush about her

wedding, and as much as she loved Drannon, she was over it.

Destiny had retreated to her room several hours before when

Bran stopped by to check in on their progress, and Marilyn had been

sent away to rest after Lauren spilled the beans about her recent heart

trouble. Unfortunately, that increased the amount of work for the four

of them that were left, but in a way, she welcomed the busy work. It

kept her mind off Vin and the obvious tension between them.

She wanted to confront him and force him to listen to her side,

but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. If he truly believed she could

be so heinous, then he clearly wasn’t the man she thought he was. It

was better to just let the chips fall and move on. Her heart was

already in pieces; there was no sense in setting fire to it as well.

Stepping into the kitchen, she froze. Hawke had Jeanette pinned

against the island, and he was kissing her for all he was worth. Their

embrace was so passionate her heart lurched in her chest. Unsure

how to back out without disturbing them, she gave the door a little

shove so that it banged into the wall behind it. The noise startled the

pair, and they jumped away from each other like scalded cats.

Lauren hurried to fill the silence, and ease Jeanette’s obvious

embarrassment. “Ugh, I’m wiped out. A long soak in that tub upstairs

is going to feel fantastic tonight.”

“Yes, yes I’m sure it will,” Jeanette said, giving her a fake smile.

The tiny line between her eyebrows gave away the unease in her

soul, but Lauren didn’t comment. Whatever was happening between

her younger brother and the pretty doctor was none of her business.

Hell, she was the last person who should give relationship advice.

“Good thing there are several tubs in this place. With the ranch

filling up with females I have a feeling we’ll be using them a lot

more,” Hawke said. He’d propped his hip against the kitchen sink,

and his demeanor was relaxed, but his eyes resembled those of his

namesake as he watched Jeanette.

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“I’m heading that way now, Jeanette, would you like to join me?

I have some great new pomegranate bubble bath I’ve been dying to

try. After I fill my tub you can snag it yourself and fill the tub down

the hall,” Lauren offered.

Jeanette looked relieved, and a real smile filled her face. “I love

pomegranate, thanks!”

“She’ll be up in just a minute, Lauren,” Hawke said, his eyes

narrowed on Jeanette. “After we finish our conversation.”

“Oh, I don’t think there’s any more to say, Hawke. Besides, I

want to have time for a good soak before dinner.” Jeanette rushed to

Lauren’s side, hurrying her out of the room before Hawke could

argue. The moment they were clear of the doorway, she sighed with

relief and Lauren laughed.

“Well done. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone put Hawke in his

place so easily since Sera died.”

Jeanette ran her fingers through her short hair and shrugged.

“That kid drives me crazy. I wish I knew how to handle him.”

“Looked like you were handling him pretty good when I came

in,” Lauren teased, making the other woman blush.

“That was…unexpected, and trust me, it won’t happen again.”

“Okay.”

“No, I mean it. I’m not getting involved with your brother,”

Jeanette insisted.

“Okay.” Lauren shrugged. “Look, you don’t have to convince

me of anything. As far as I’m concerned you and Hawke are both

adults. What you do with each other isn’t my business. Besides, I’m

dealing with my own Crawley Creek cowboy. I don’t need the added

drama.”

“Vin?” Jeanette gave her a searching look. When Lauren

nodded, she looked pleased with herself. “I’ve seen him watching

you when you’re not looking, and vice versa. There’s some definite

sexual tension there.”

“There was.”

They’d reached the top of the stairs and Jeanette paused. “Do

you want to talk about it?”

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Lori King

Laughing, Lauren shook her head, “I don’t need therapy. I just

need to bury dead dogs.”

“I didn’t mean it as a psychologist, I meant as a friend. I’m not

very good at relationship advice, but I’m a good listener.”

Entering her room, Lauren gestured for Jeanette to make herself

comfortable, as she plopped down on the bed. “I’ve known Vin since

I was eight, and we’ve had drama between us since I was eighteen.

I’m not sure there’s anything more to say.”

When Jeanette didn’t respond, Lauren fell back on her bed,

staring up at the tiny star stickers she’d placed on the ceiling all those

years ago. Back then, she’d believed that wishing on stars brought

good things, now she wasn’t sure wishing did any good at all.

“I love him.”

“Duh,” Jeanette said with a snort. “That’s pretty obvious.”

“Yeah, well, tell him that. He broke my heart when we were

kids.” Lauren’s voice caught on the bubble of emotion in her throat,

“I thought we’d moved on, but… The other night when we were out

in the storm, things happened, and we reconnected. Everything

suddenly became so intense. Like a firestorm that surrounds you,

blasting you with heat and there’s no way out.”

Tears burned her eyelids, and she swallowed hard, fighting to