Mina Starsiak Hawk Remembers Getting the Call That Beloved Sister-in-Law Died in Emotional “Good Bones” Premiere

Mina Starsiak Hawk Remembers Getting the Call That Beloved Sister-in-Law Died in Emotional “Good Bones” Premiere

While saying goodbye to her Indianapolis store in the HGTV show's new spinoff, Mina tearfully recalls she was there when she learned the difficult news

Mina Starsiak Hawk relies a terrible day for her family on the premiere of Good Bones’ new spinoff.

In the episode, which aired Wednesday, Aug. 14 at 9 p.m., the HGTV star brings her husband, Steve, and their children, 5-year-old Jack and 3-year-old Charlie, to say goodbye to her Indianapolis store, Two Chicks District Co., which she closed in late 2023.

While looking at a collage of photos on the shop’s wall, Mina shows the kids pictures of Steve’s late sister Stefanie, who died in 2020 from ethanol poisoning.

“When I got the call that Stef, Steve’s little sister, had passed away, I was there, working at the store,” Mina recalls.

<p>HGTV</p> Steve Hawk's sister, Stefanie

HGTV

Steve Hawk's sister, Stefanie

Related: Mina Starsiak Hawk Reveals New Lake House She Calls a 'Healing' Place After Loss of 3 Family Members (Exclusive)


“And when the store was done, and we did the big reveal and Stef wasn’t there …” she trails off, as the scene cuts to a shot of Mina tearfully hugging Steve at the store.

“It’s a lot more than just a store,” Mina adds. “It’s all these memories and hopes and losses, tied into this one place that we’re now walking away from, and things are very different.”

Mina made the announcement that Two Chicks District Co. would be shuttering in October 2023, the same month Good Bones ended its original eight-season run.

The shop was "self-sustaining," but it was “not in a great place,” she told PEOPLE in an exclusive interview in December. She also revealed plans to open a new store in Noblesville, Indiana, about 30 miles north of Indianapolis.

<p>HGTV</p>

HGTV

The first episode of Good Bones’ special limited season sees Mina and Steve transforming an Indiana lake house into a retreat that will have special meaning for the family.

“The lake house is going to feel very healing for Steve because he’s lost so much,” she explains of her husband.

Steve’s mother died from stomach cancer in 2018. Six months later, his father died unexpectedly after falling down the stairs. 

<p>HGTV</p> Mina Starsiak Hawk (center) with Steve Hawk's sister, Stefanie (right)

HGTV

Mina Starsiak Hawk (center) with Steve Hawk's sister, Stefanie (right)

“He’s going through life the best way he can after just some really, really epic loss in a very, very short amount of time,” Mina adds. “And because his time with his family was cut short, that’s really why we wanted this lake house for Jack and Charlie — really, for the long term, for the memories, for the experiences. So that’s, I think, why it’s really important to both of us.”

While Mina renovates the lake house on the new show, her mom and Good Bones costar, Karen E. Laine, will tackle her own project several states away.

Laine will head to Wilmington, North Carolina, where she'll "risk her retirement nest egg" turning a 120-year-old bungalow into a colorful beach house, HGTV revealed in a press release shared with PEOPLE.

<p>HGTV</p> Mina with her kids, Jack and Charlie

HGTV

Mina with her kids, Jack and Charlie

Related: Mina Starsiak Hawk and Husband Steve Share How a Family Tragedy Led Them to Give Up Alcohol

The new series will see the mother-daughter duo exploring “new beginnings" as their lives’ “evolve past their time renovating homes in Indianapolis.”

Mina previously revealed on her podcast, Mina AF, that there were tensions between her and some of her family members, saying she wasn’t “in a great place” with either Laine or her brother Tad Starsiak during the making of the final season of Good Bones.

<p>HGTV</p> Steve Hawk's sister, Stefanie

HGTV

Steve Hawk's sister, Stefanie

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Mina previously discussed filming a spinoff about her family's lake house on her podcast, but hadn’t mentioned Laine’s involvement in the show.

In October, she said that the lake house was in a “great community” about 35 minutes from her Indianapolis home.

“It’s this place that I can see in my mind that’s going to be for my family, but also for my extended family to make these new, amazing memories,” she shared. “I have so many friends that I hear tell great stories about growing up at their grandparents’ lake house and running around in the woods and building forts and just being kids, and I want that for my kids.”

Good Bones' limited series will include two additional hour-long episodes airing Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on HGTV.

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