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  Dawn got ready. Melanie pushed again. And again. And then again. Sirens sounded in the distance. Finally, a shoulder emerged. Dawn tensed, her blanket ready. One more hard push, and the baby slid out.

  Dawn caught a slimy bundle of goo that was already squirming. She wiped off her…niece. “It’s a girl.” Dawn grinned, her eyes filling, her chest rioting. She handed the bundle to Melanie, who smiled and held her tight.

  Hawk’s gaze met Dawn’s, and so much emotion burned there she couldn’t breathe. Ever again.

  Then Melanie stiffened. “Oh, no.” She bit her lip. “I have to push.”

  “Baby number two,” Dawn said soothingly. It had to be just like a cow, right? She ducked to look and then gasped. “Here it comes.”

  Colton nodded at her. “You’re doing great. All of you.”

  Dawn nodded. “Get ready.”

  Suddenly, blue and red lights came around the bed, swirling through the snow.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Family is everything.

  ~ The Lady Elks Secret Archives

  Hawk finished smoothing the very ruffled feathers of the nurse on duty, explaining that Colton had been conked in the head and then forced to watch his wife give birth on the side of a road in a storm. To twins. So his ignoring orders, basically telling the doctor to fuck off, and going away from treatment and into his wife’s room was perfectly reasonable.

  The nurse, a battle-ax at least a thousand years old, didn’t quite agree. Finally, something else caught her attention, and she turned her back on him.

  Folks were beginning to pour in the front doors, no doubt to see Melanie’s babies. A woman with spiked pink hair stormed up, green eyes blazing. He couldn’t remember her name. “Where’s Dawn?”

  He smiled down at the guitar player. “You don’t like me.”

  She pressed sharp nails on her slim hips. “You’re in my way and you’re holding Dawn back. She should go on tour with us.”

  He liked that. He could get that. “Dawn’s giving her statement to the sheriff in the cafeteria down the hall.”

  Without another word, but adding a hard glare, the woman headed toward the cafeteria. Hawk lost his smile. Keeping an eye on the battle-ax, he sidled around the reception desk and hurried down the hallway to Melanie’s room.

  She lay in a bed, sound asleep, twin little cradles next to her. Colton sat by her side, an ugly purple bruise spreading across his temple and down his face. He grinned. “Thanks,” he whispered.

  Hawk nodded and leaned over to look at two very tiny girls. “They look like their mama.” Curly brown hair, petite features, stubborn chins.

  Colton nodded happily. “I know.”

  “How’s the head?” Hawk whispered.

  “Fine. Little concussion.” Colton noted the gun now strapped to Hawk’s hip. “You’re not staying.”

  Hawk swallowed. “No. We’re hitting the storage house tonight.”

  Colt’s gaze sizzled. “And then?”

  Hawk stepped back, body going cold. “Then I’m going after the rest of the organization.” God, his buddy had to get it. “If I don’t, they’ll come after me. And it’s my job.”

  “It was your job.” Colton stood and got into his face. “You’re out, and it’s time to move on. Meyer had a hard-on for you, but that was personal. Let somebody else take down the rest of them. You’re home.”

  Hawk shook his head. “I thought you’d get it.”

  “I do.” Colton clapped him on the shoulder. “You promised your buddy you’d bring Meyer to justice, and you have. You did it. You’re not responsible for the world, Hawk. You’ve done your time, and there’s plenty to do here. Time to stop running.”

  “I’m not running.” His lungs heated.

  “Yeah, you are. You’ve always thought you needed a purpose, needed to do something good, since you were left all alone here. There’s plenty of good you can do here, without getting shot at. Much.” Slowly, Colton sat back down, his gaze serious. “If you leave her this time, you’re gonna lose her. I know my sister.”

  Hawk stiffened. “You have to want her with somebody better.”

  “There is no one better.” Colt leaned back, no give on his hard face. “I’m not going to convince you, and I’m not going to get angry with you. Either you know that in your gut, or you don’t.”

  Hawk lifted his head. “You don’t think she’ll wait.” He said it as a statement, not a question.

  “She’s waited long enough.” Colton lifted a shoulder. “I’ll miss you.”

  “Ditto.” His gut clenching, his chest aching, Hawk turned and took one more look at a peacefully sleeping Melanie. “Take care of our Mel.”

  “Always,” Colton said, standing again. He gave Hawk a hard hug and then let him go.

  Hawk left the room, his mind spinning. He had to do his job, didn’t he? There’d always be danger, but Colton had been right about it being personal between him and Meyer.

  Dawn waited for him, arms crossed, back to the opposite wall. “You’re leaving.”

  “Yes.”

  “How long?”

  “I don’t know.” He could give her the truth. “As long as it takes.”

  “Doesn’t have to be you.” Her eyes blazed, and her stubborn jaw had set.

  Reese came around the corner, in full-on black flack- and bulletproof gear, bruises still mottling his face.

  Hawk frowned. “What the hell?”

  Reese shrugged. “I’m not missing this.”

  “You’ve been discharged?”

  “No.” Reese headed for the outside door. “We leave in five, Rain.”

  Hawk nodded.

  Dawn shook her head. “You have to be finished proving yourself. Stay home, work the ranch, help Colton with the businesses.” Never one to pull her punches, she continued, “And date me.”

  Which would put her in even more danger until he finished the job. “You don’t understand.”

  “I do. But I’m done waiting for you.” She glanced down the hallway. “I might not even be here when you get back. If you get back.”

  Hawk frowned. “You’re not seriously thinking of touring with that crazy group, are you?”

  “What do you care?” she asked, chin lifting.

  He stepped into her, his gut hurting. “I care, Dawnie. You know I do.” Her scent almost dropped him to his knees. All woman, all huckleberry.

  She reached up and threaded her fingers through his hair, tugging down. Then her mouth slid against his.

  He delved deep, yanking her into him, so much softness he could drown. Holding tight, he put every ounce of feeling he owned into the kiss, thrusting into her, slowly gentling. When he lifted up, her mouth was parted, her cheeks rosy, and her eyes dreamy. Her hands caressed down his chest.

  She gently pushed him back, and he went.

  Facing him head on, she gave a short nod. “Bye, Hawk.” Turning on a cowboy boot, she crossed the hallway and entered her sister-in-law’s hospital room.

  Without looking back.

  Chapter Twenty

  Love matters—fight for it.

  ~ The Lady Elks Secret Archives

  Two weeks. Hawk carried Reese inside the hospital and dumped him in a chair. He’d only been gone two weeks, and it seemed like a lifetime.

  Reese groaned and punched his leg.

  “Shut up.” Hawk wheeled him toward a doctor. “Doc? We have a bullet wound, a couple of knife wounds, and probably a concussion here.”

  The doctor on duty ran forward and took the chair.

  Hawk scrubbed both hands down the scruff on his face and looked for a bathroom. He had blood on his hands, a lot of it, and he needed to wash. Now it was on his face.

  After washing, he waited…and waited…and waited, wearing his black cargo pants, flack boots, and the bulletproof vest that now held a couple of holes.

  Finally, an orderly came out and said he could go on in. He stomped into Reese’s room, the same one as before, and dropped into a chair. “You�
�re not dead.”

  Reese grinned, his eyes unfocused. Good pain meds, probably. “Nope. Bullet went through—just needed stitches. Damn, that was a good raid.”

  Yeah, it had been a good raid. “We have locations of three more drug storage places, and we have the beginning of a list of other distributors and dealers.” The news, the facts, didn’t even remotely excite Hawk like they would’ve last year. “I’ve handed it all over to the DEA, which kind of placated them about our going in alone. So you can just get better.”

  Reese grimaced and settled back on the pillows. “I’ll be back in action soon.”

  Hawk frowned. “No you won’t. Geez. You’ve been in the hospital constantly. Aren’t you tired of it? Tired of getting shot and stabbed?”

  “Yeah. But they’re still out there.”

  “Sure, and they’ll always be out there.” Hawk rolled his shoulders and let the sense of home finally fill the emptiness inside his chest. “We did it. We brought Meyer to justice, and we closed down some of his operations. There will always be more. I’m tired of hunting people down for mistakes in their past, so I should probably start actually living in the present. Let’s let somebody else get them—let the DEA, who you no longer work for, do their jobs. Take some of the cushy security jobs and get off the front lines. What do you think?”

  Reese studied him. “You’re done?”

  Hawk bit his lip. He’d wanted to come home for so long, and then he’d had a home, and he’d fucked it up. “Yeah.” His breath eased out as if he’d been holding it for years. “I’m done.”

  “Well, Dawn Freeze is definitely worth it.” Reese grinned.

  Hawk shook his head. “I screwed up,” he muttered.

  Reese nodded. “But I know Dawn, and she’s a sweetheart. She’ll forgive you.”

  Sweet? Yeah, Dawn Freeze was sweet. She was also mean as could be if necessary, and he’d earned mean.

  The doctor strode in. “I need a minute or two to check those stitches,” he said with a pointed look at Hawk.

  Hawk rolled his eyes and stretched to his feet, heading out to the waiting room. Mrs. Hudson and Mrs. Poppins perched like birds on branches in the bright orange chairs.

  Shit. His body stiffened, and he forced a smile. He approached and took a seat. “Ladies?”

  Mrs. Hudson cleared her throat and sat forward. “Sharon at the front desk told us you were here.”

  He sighed. “Ah. I appreciate your attempts to matchmake—”

  “Oh, no.” Mrs. Poppins shook her head, sending spiral gray curls winging. “We’re not. Well, not with you. You have to go, Hawk. You’ll mess everything up again.”

  He blinked. “Excuse me?”

  Mrs. Hudson drew a nicely stitched pillow from her over-sized bag. “Dawn gave it back, because she’d failed. So sad. But then we figured, Dawn hadn’t failed. You did. So we just needed to get a different stallion in the gate for her, you know?”

  Hawk frowned and took the pillow. How to Catch a Man. “Huh?”

  “We picked the wrong man.” Mrs. Hudson twittered, clapping her hands together. “Now that Dawn is going to travel with the band for a year, and now that Adam is going, too, she has another chance with the rules. It’s so simple.”

  Hawk’s head lifted slowly, his brain roaring into gear. Fast. “Excuse me?”

  Mrs. Poppins leaned toward him. “Yes. See, she can start all over with Adam and follow the rules. They’ll be engaged before they get home from tour. The boy plays a mean guitar, you know.” She smiled, all wrinkly happiness, at Mrs. Hudson. “It all worked out perfectly, Patty. You’re so smart.”

  “I’m a born matchmaker,” Mrs. Hudson said, faded eyes filled with pleasure. “We talked to Adam, and he agreed that since you’re out of the way, he feels okay making a play for Dawn now.”

  Mrs. Poppins pushed her thick glasses back up her nose. “Yes. We had no idea. He moved aside because of his friendship with you, Hawk, and now that you and Dawn are over for good, he finally stepped up.” She shook her head. “I don’t know how we didn’t see it before. They’re perfect for each other. Just perfect.”

  “Yes.” Mrs. Hudson adjusted her bedazzled jeans, contentment in her sigh. “They both are into business, and they both love music. Why we didn’t see it in the first place, I’ll never know.” Her pointed chin lowered, and she focused on Hawk. “While we love you, sweetie, you really must leave town until the day after tomorrow. After Dawn and Adam go on tour, then you can come back. We could even help you find a nice girl.”

  Mrs. Poppins nodded. “Yes. How about Anne Newberry? She could really use a man.”

  Hawk held up a hand. “No. What do you mean, Dawn’s leaving?”

  “Oh. Well, they have what I guess is called a ‘gig’ in London the day after tomorrow, so they’re flying out tomorrow. The good-bye party for Sizzled Pink is over at the Elks Lodge right now.” Mrs. Hudson gasped and pushed to her bony feet. “We should really get back, Bernie. They’ll be looking for us.”

  “Oh. You’re so right.” Mrs. Poppins stood. “Ah, may we have the pillow back?”

  Hawk’s focus narrowed to the moment. His past, his present, and then his future flashed in front of his eyes so quickly, he swayed. His head snapped up. “No.” Holding tight to the soft fabric, he ignored Mrs. Hudson’s shocked “oh my” and turned to stalk out of the hospital and into the billowing snow.

  Dawn and Adam on some European adventure? Oh, hell no.

  …

  Dawn glanced around at all the decorations sprawling from one end of the Elk’s bar to the other. “It looks like a zombie barfed pink all over.”

  Luann snorted and batted at a pink balloon. “I know, right? And I usually love pink.”

  Dawn laughed and noted the heart-shaped cookies over on a table. “Even the cookies are different shades.” So sweet and cute. Women milled around, eating and chatting, but the scents of bourbon and pipe tobacco still hung in the air with a sense of welcome.

  Luann glanced around, her purple hair fitting right in. “I guess I see it. I mean, why you’d want to stay here.”

  Dawn smiled. “I know. So many people search the world for this. For the sense of family and home.” The outside door opened, and she felt it. The swell of angry, branding, vibrating heat.

  Dawn rose to her feet as a defense, her entire body going on full alert. Her heart beat harder, and a fiery relief rippled through her. He was safe. God, she’d missed him.

  Hawk stood planted in the entryway, in full combat gear—badass boots, dark pants, bulletproof vest, finished off with fresh bruises across his cheekbone.

  “Oh my,” Luann breathed next to her. “Just…oh my.”

  His green gaze landed hard on Dawn, pinning her in place. “No,” he said.

  She blinked, belatedly noting both the pillow and the coiled rope in his hand. “Uh—” From the corner of her eye, she could see her mom and sisters-in-law drawing near, beaming smiles.

  “You are not going to Europe with Sizzled Pink,” Hawk said evenly, kicking a rolling pink balloon out of his way.

  She caught her breath. “Uh—”

  “I screwed up, and I get that.” He waved the pillow around. “But apparently so did you.”

  Her mouth dropped open, and she sucked in air.

  “But I met the rules, and I get to win.” He glanced down and read number one. “‘Make your man the only man around.’” He glanced up, a muscle working in his jaw. “I’ve made you the only woman in the world for me since the day you turned eighteen. There is nobody else, and there will never be anybody else.”

  Around her, Dawn could hear sighs. Long, drawn out, dreamy sighs.

  “Um—”

  “I’m not done.” He glanced down at the offending pillow. “‘Don’t give the cow away.’” His lips tipped. “Well, I did hold out for years, waiting. I mean, you started throwing yourself at me in your teens, skinny-dipping in the pond, and I always was the gentleman, even though you made it very difficult.”

/>   Dawn bit her lip. Her mother harrumphed and shook her head.

  Hawk nodded. “Yep. I’d say I passed that one. Number three? ‘The way to a man’s heart…’” He tapped the pillow against his side. “Well, now, Dawnie. I didn’t have time to make you dinner tonight, but you stay with me and I’ll cook any damn time you want. And I promise, not once will I send you to the hospital.”

  A twittering of female laughter ran through the crowd.

  Hawk read number four. “‘Let your man rescue you.’” He looked up, lids going heavy, gaze softening. “You saved my ass that night we went off the side of the road, and you know it. Besides that, the very thought of you, the idea that someday, maybe, you’d be mine, kept me alive in wars a world away.”

  The feminine sighing upped in volume around the room.

  Dawn’s knees wobbled. “Hawk—”

  He tossed the pillow to the side, and Loni Freeze caught it, holding it close to her stomach. He sobered, lifted the rope, and twirled. Almost in slow motion, it soared through the air, and landed squarely over Dawn’s head, dropping around her. Well experienced, he tugged at just the right moment, binding her arms to her sides. Hand-over-hand, he coiled the rope until his warmth brushed her front. “You’ve been chasing me for years, baby, and it’s time I caught you.”

  Tears filled her eyes.

  He reached out and lifted her chin with one knuckle. “It’s always been you, Dawn Freeze. I love you. Give me another chance—I’m here for good. I promise.”

  She sniffled and then smiled. Everything she wanted stood in front of her, giving her the world. Giving her…him. “You know it’s always been you. I love you, Hawk.”

  The room erupted with cheers, but she didn’t really notice, because Hawk’s mouth covered hers. With promise and heat, he dove deep, taking her heart with him.

  Finally, he straightened up. “I love you.” Then he glanced around at all the pink. “Sorry about the European trip and ruining your going away party.”

  Dawn frowned, her mind clicking into gear. “I told Luann the other day that I wasn’t going.”

  Mrs. Hudson and Mrs. Poppins giggled near the side doorway.

  Dawn glanced from them and then back up at Hawk. “Um, this is Melanie’s baby shower, Hawk.”