Page 80 of Cherry Picked
“Then go!” he said, pointing in my direction without looking. “By all means. We’ve already made our agreement, so godspeed. I mean, anexperienced hikerlike yourself can probably get your ass down the mountain even with a sprained ankle, right?”
“Your fault I sprained it,” Simon muttered. “You pushed me into the creek!”
“Oh, please. I called your name as I approached the creek, and you threwyourselfin. You’re just lucky I was too nice to leave you there.”
“And then you threw a boulder at my leg—”
“It was a pebble,” Hawk argued. “And only because you were trying to escape.” He looked a bit guilty but lifted his chin in a defiant gesture. “And I already apologized for that. Meanwhile,youhave not apologized for being a sneaky, underhanded, reputation-destroying liar who tried to cover up criminal trespass and destruction of public property. But sure, blame me for your misfortune. Next time I come upon a potentially unhinged person throwing a tantrum on the side of a mountain, I’ll take the time to make somesoothing bird callsto get his attention, shall I?”
Christ, I loved this man. Loved him beyond all reason and logic, exactly as he was, for all that he was, in all of his many moods. And it hit me, forcibly, that loving Hawk didn’t make me vulnerable; it made both of us stronger. The man was melded into my bones permanently now, no matter what life had in store for us, and I was so fuckingglad.
So, I did what any man in love would do when the object of his affections leaves him an opening like that.
I stepped closer to the entrance and let out my best attempt at asoothingBicknell’s thrush trill.
Hawk paused mid-rant and whirled toward me.
“Hey, Bird,” I said, drinking in his sweet face, the face of my best friend, my partner in crime, my beloved. My soul mate. “How’s it going?”
“Jack!” Hawk ran across the cave and threw himself against me, wrapping his arms around me. “Thank god,” he murmured into my chest. “Oh, thank god.”
I held him and inhaled the familiar scent of him, now edged in woodsmoke and the damp scent of the murky cave. “You okay?” I breathed against his ear.
Hawk nodded, his face still pressed against my wet shirt. “Better now, though.”
I pulled his face back and met his eyes before kissing him tenderly and slowly.
He broke off with a happy sigh. “How are you here?”
“I came up here to warn you about Simon.” My face was tight with a huge grin I couldn’t hide. “Looks like I’m the last to know about a lot of things where you’re concerned.”
“Wha—oh.” Hawk blinked, then bit his lip and blushed. “Well. Possibly.” He coughed lightly. “Simon was manipulating me the whole time he was here. Worse, he was manipulating the town.”
Hawk pulled me close to the fire to dry off before showing me the video of Simon ranting at the footbridge. When he got to the part about destroying Hawk’s reputation in an effort to sway the town’s voters, I clenched my jaw. And when Simon mentioned his offer to me, I shot the man a furious look.
“I wasneverconsidering your offer, asshole.” To Hawk, I added, “I hope you know I wouldn’t agree to something like that, Bird. I don’t want financial security if it means selling my soul to get it. In fact, I don’t want the resort to go forward at all anymore if it means letting guys like Simon run things. You were right, baby. Some things are more important than money.”
The smile Hawk gave me was incandescent. “I didn’t think for a minute that you’d agreed. But… what about a different proposal? One that will still bring tourists to the Hollow but keeps all development off Glassy Ridge, ensures the town oversight of the development and construction of a brand-new plan, and removes Simon from the Aerie project entirely?”
“What?” I frowned. “But I thought you wanted…”
“I want a future that’s better for all of us,” he said softly. “You and me, and the whole town, too. I think a lower-mountain resort complex could be a good thing. Like you said, it would bring in jobs and tourism that can only help us become more financially stable. Just think what the taxes would do for the school system. And thanks to Gracie’s excellent videography skills out by the creek—” He nodded at Gracie, who beamed back a proud smile. “—and a second video confession Simon gave us after we hauled his ass to the cave, that’s exactly what we’re going to get.” He turned to Simon and raised an eyebrow. “Or else these videos will be made public to my Instagram followers. And nobody wants that, do they, Simon?”
Simon huffed out a disgusted noise.
“What? But… you’re not making them public now?” I demanded.
Hawk shrugged. “The only actual crime Simon committed is colluding to destroy the bridge, which might result in him paying a few hundred dollars in fines. And there’s no reason to believe Evola knows what Simon’s been up to here. Simon swears he was acting alone because of the pressure he was feeling to impress his almost-father-in-law. It feels wrong to unleash social media hate on the company and open his fiancée to public ridicule when their only crime was trusting the wrong person. Instead, Simon’s going to make an enormous donation to the Rebuild Friendly Footbridge fund I’m about to start; then he’s heading back to Boston to tell his higher-ups at Evola that he’s become a Peaky for Life.” Gracie snort-giggled, and Hawk grinned. “You know, Simon, I seem to recall telling you at our first meeting that I’d change your mind about this development.”
He turned toward Simon, and his grin faded when he saw that Simon was busy hopping toward the entrance of the cave.
I took a single step in his direction, but Hawk held me back with a hand on my arm. “Let him go. His crew is probably out there removing the 4x4 that’s polluting our creek. If he wants to hobble back there, that’s his choice. He knows we have the videos.”
Simon clenched his jaw. “I’m not likely to forget. You’re threatening to ruin my career—”
“You were actively attempting to ruin our mountain,” Hawk shot back. “You made that choice. I just chose not to let you.”
“He’s going to get lost out there,” I muttered.
