H is for Hawk (Men of ALPHAbet Mountain)

I got up from the table and paced around the room. This was so unbelievable. All this time. All this time, I’d carried this with me, only to find out my best friend had been keeping this secret from me for the last seven years.

“You should have told me. I can’t believe you did that at all, but to do it and then just pretend it never happened. That’s not who I thought you were.”

“Yes, it is,” she insisted. “I’m your best friend. And I wanted to protect you. I’m sorry it happened the way it did, and I know telling you now doesn’t change or fix it. But I just wanted to protect you.”

It took a while of pacing back and forth while she watched, thinking over everything she said, for me to calm down. Finally, the anger lessened, and I was able to think about the situation more clearly.

“I don’t like what you did. But I know you did it to protect me. So, I forgive you.”

“Thank you,” Wendy said, sounding relieved.

“But now I have to look at the whole situation in a different light. I thought he just stood me up. That something he thought was better came along, so he dropped me. There may have actually been a reasonable explanation and he could have given it to me. And we probably would have seen each other again.”

“Now I know that. I didn’t know then. I’m so sorry. I want to make it up to you. What can I do?” she asked.

I was about to say there was nothing she could do, and then an idea popped into my mind.

“Could you talk to Desiree? See if you can get Hawk more time. And maybe see if she can use her connections to find Kim?” I asked.

It was a lot to ask. Desiree’s past was a bit shady, even if she wasn’t actually the one who had done the shadowy deeds. She didn’t like to talk about her family or the things she’d seen and gone through. But having connections to the Mafia could be extremely helpful. They knew things and knew how to find out more. She might be able to track down Kim.

Wendy nodded. “I’ll ask.”

19

HAWK

I had only ever attended one wedding before. It had been a college friend who dropped out to get hitched to his high school sweetheart. The two of them were giant nerds, which I loved them for, and their wedding was themed for sci-fi television shows. I went dressed as Darth Vader, which I was sure wasn’t the norm for weddings.

So, when it came time to get ready for this one, I had to start from scratch. I was fairly certain the Darth Vader costume wasn’t going to be appropriate, but I wasn’t much of a suit-and-tie guy either. I hadn’t worn a tie since going out for an interview to the job I currently held.

Thankfully, there was a tailor only an hour or so away in a neighboring town, and I packed Rose up and went down there. An hour or so later, I walked out with a suit off the rack and an address for a lady who made fancy baby clothes. I hadn’t even thought about what Rose would wear, and the lady I was sent to sold me a beautiful dress and matching stuff to go with it. I bought it all, including the ruffly diaper cover with an embroidered rose on it.

The next morning was the wedding, and I propped the door of the bathroom open and kept the shower curtain half-open so I could hear the baby if she fussed while I was in the shower. When I was ready, I went about getting Rose’s clothes on, then packed her in the car with what I was now internally referring to as The Bag. It had ascended to singular status above all other bags in importance.

I drove down to Dee’s place to pick her up early. I certainly didn’t want her being late, and I didn’t want her to have bad memories from prom to pop up either. Getting there a half hour before she told me made sure of that. When I pulled up, I texted her, and she responded asking me to wait just a few minutes. I grinned and rolled down the windows, happy to enjoy the cool air.

When she was finally ready, she opened her door and made her way down to the car. She was wearing a pink dress and looked beautiful, and I got out of the car to open the passenger door for her. She was smiling in a way she hadn’t since I spoke to her in the hospital, and I returned the expression. It wasn’t hard. Having her in my vicinity instantly made the muscles in my cheeks react.