Good grief, but the chief sounded just like those movies where some drill sergeant laid into a recruit who’d dropped his gun or something.
Safely on the deck, Kit sighed and watched her son. He was talking to Gryff and showing off the shiny rocks he’d picked up by the stream.
The dog wagged his tail for each new stone.
She could only smile. Her son hadn’t been traumatized by the battle…because Caz had carried him way back in the forest. The doc said the noise from the waterfall had drowned out most of the shooting. Guns didn’t upset Aric. In the compound, the men had always been shooting their weapons.
Really, her son was doing far better than she was.
But had Gabe’s yelling bothered him?
As they went inside, Kit said, “I know Gabe loves his brothers, but he probably shouldn’t shout at them.”
“Hawk says Gabe is bossy, an’ he yells when they don’t listen to him.” Aric giggled. “An’ he said Gabe can be a butthead.”
Kit blinked. “Oh. Well, then.” Guess that took care of that, although she and Hawk might have to discuss appropriate language one of these days.
“Here, why don’t you eat some peas while I check on something.” She pulled out the sugar snap peas she’d picked yesterday. Opening the pods would keep someone’s little fingers occupied.
While Aric had his snack, Kit went into their bedroom and opened the closet where Hawk had stowed the boxes of money. The first shoebox was filled with packets of $100-dollar bills. The other shoeboxes were full of $20 bills.
She just sat there for a while, staring at the money. Daydreaming a little.
“Kit.” Hawk’s rasping voice came down the hallway and set up a tingle deep inside her.
She walked out.
Hawk stood in the living area in clean clothes, hair still wet from a shower. “The helicopter goes back to McNally’s. Want to come?”
“Yes!” Aric bounced up and down beside Hawk. “Mama, can—”
“Yes. Yes, we’ll go.” The answer popped out before she even thought about it. She shouldn’t.
But oh, the feeling of being up in the air made her feel as if her spirits lifted too. The sheer beauty of the world so far below made her problems shrink to nothing.
Besides, she needed…activity. A way to avoid thinking about what had happened, about being shot at by three men.
Yes, Hawk was a man. He scared her now and then.
Yet she loved how he cared for her son, how his blunt speech was balanced by his gentleness. There were times the sadness in his gaze made her want to hug him as if he was Aric’s age. She’d seen the quiet pleasure in his face when he simply sat and watched the lake, and she’d wanted to sit beside him.
And his laugh—those rare laughs lit her heart.
Without further talk, he packed them back into his helicopter and took off.
After a glance at her face, he flew a few circuits around the Hermitage and then the town, naming landmarks in an extravagance of two- or three-word sentences.
Then he flew them up the mountain and did the same with McNally’s Resort.
The resort had a huge hotel surrounded by numerous other buildings. A tram led upward to a small day lodge perched near the head of the chair lifts.
“What a beautiful place,” Kit said, peering out the window.
“It died a decade ago. Pretty much killed Rescue. Reopened last year. The town’s coming back to life too.”
She grinned. He’d used more words today than she’d ever heard before. Maybe gun battles were good for him.
After setting the helicopter down, he opened the back door, undid her son’s seat restraints, and let him clamber out on his own.
Then Hawk helped Kit out.
She could feel her cheeks warm at feeling his hands on her body, at being so close. He hadn’t taken advantage of her at all, but there was a very male look in his eyes when he released her and stepped back.
Aric took her hand and asked Hawk, “Can we get burgers?”
She watched the man’s hard face turn gentle. He glanced at Kit. “My treat.”
When her son gave her a puppy-dog-look, she couldn’t refuse, no matter how much it hurt her pride. “All right, sure.”
Hawk led them around the side of the massive hotel building, giving her a chance to admire the landscaping, before they entered the restaurant.
One breath brought her the aromas of grilling burgers and french fries, and her stomach growled.
“I guess I’m hungrier than I thought.” She put her hand over her embarrassing belly.
“Me too,” Aric stated.
Back in the kitchen, someone shouted.
Aric jumped and moved closer to Hawk, latching onto his jean’s pocket. Hawk didn’t seem to mind, just set a hand on her son’s shoulder.
“Have you two been here before?” she asked Hawk.
He nodded. “My partner and I haul McNally’s guests around. Aric’s my co-pilot.”
When her son’s chest puffed out, she had to smother a laugh.
“They got fries ‘n’ everything,” Aric told her, pulling her and Hawk forward.
A glint of amusement appeared in Hawk’s eyes. “We’ll eat outside.”
“A wise choice.” Kit smothered a grin. Dealing with even a quiet Aric had probably pushed Hawk’s patience to the limits at times.
After ordering and collecting their food, they went out onto a wide patio overlooking the grounds. Mountains encircled the resort, and the air held a crisp tang from the still snowy peaks. Ski season was over, and the people on the patio ranged from tourists with children to couples in shorts and hiking boots, to fishermen in flannel shirts and rubber boots.
She started to take a center table, but Hawk pointed to one near the wall of the building.
After setting Aric up with food and squirting ketchup onto the plate for french fries, Kit took a bite of her own cheeseburger and moaned happily. “I missed burgers.”
Hawk grinned. “Welcome back to this century.”
“As it happens, I prefer the twenty-first century.” She glanced at her son. He wasn’t paying any attention to them, perfectly happy with drawing ketchup circles with a french fry. “In spite of their preference for the good old days, the PZs seem perfectly happy using modern weaponry.”
“Yep.” Hawk frowned. “You need to stay on guard.”
She stiffened. That was essentially what Gabe had said. She’d relaxed too much, hadn’t she? “It bothers me that I didn’t see them coming today. And I didn’t know what to do when they did.”
His nod indicated she’d messed up. She’d kind of been hoping for a pat and a don’t worry your pretty little head about it. Only that would have annoyed her too. “What should I have done differently?”
“Good for you.” A corner of his mouth lifted, then he deepened his voice. “Mako would say, ‘You fucked up, boy. Now tell us how you’ll avoid stepping on your dick next time’.”
She laughed. Those poor boys. “Okay, tell me.”
“Close your eyes.”
She stiffened. Not a chance.
“Ah, right. Don’t look—and tell me who’s on the patio.”
“I…” She bit her lip, trying to think. “A couple of men to my right. A family, I think to the left. And…I don’t know. Who should I have seen?”